The bridge splash and the fiber evidence that turned Atlanta's child murders into one trial

The sound came first.

On May 22, 1981, police were staked out on a bridge over the Chattahoochee River. They were there because a surveillance team had heard a splash in the water below.

It was late. It was dark. The river was already a place where bodies had been found.

A car drove off the bridge. Police stopped it. The driver was Wayne Williams, a 23-year-old Black freelance photographer and music promoter. He was questioned, then let go.

Days later, the body of a 27-year-old man was found downstream.

It was the second of two killings Williams would be charged with. Not the first of the terror, and not the last of the questions.

What exactly made that splash — whether it was a body, a rock, or something else — is not established by the record. It was a sound heard by police, not a documented event.

Was it the break in the case? Was it a coincidence? Was it a man dumping something heavy into the dark?

That would require evidence.

Since July 1979, at least 28 African-American children, adolescents, and young adults had disappeared or been found murdered across Atlanta. The victims ranged in age from 7 to 28. The city's Black community suspected the killings were racially motivated.

The river was where some of them ended up. The bridge was where the story turned.

A splash in the night. A car driving away. A body found days later.

That is what the record holds. The rest was sound.

THE TERROR

Between July 1979 and May 1981, at least 28 African-American children, adolescents, and young adults disappeared or were found murdered in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

At least 28. That number comes with a caveat the record does not settle.

Victims ranged in age from 7 to 28. Bodies were discovered in wooded areas, rivers, and vacant lots across the city.

The cases terrorized Atlanta's Black community. Many suspected the killings were racially motivated.

The story became a national media sensation. Major networks and newspapers covered every development, amplifying the fear and the demand for answers.

Public protests grew. Demands for federal intervention grew with them.

The investigation was initially fragmented. Multiple police jurisdictions handled cases separately, each with its own files, its own theories, its own pace.

That fragmentation drew anger. Victims' families and community activists led the push to fix it.

Public pressure forced the creation of a special task force. The FBI became involved in 1980.

What was documented was a city in crisis. What was not established was the exact number of victims and whether all of them were connected.

The count stands at at least 28. The connection remains a question the record leaves open.

The media covered the fear. The media also fed it.

That is what the record holds. The rest was sound.

THE FIBERS

The fibers came from his bedroom, his car, and the carpet under his feet.

Forensic analysis linked those fibers — and dog hairs from his home — to the bodies of the two victims he was charged with killing.

FBI fiber analyst Harold Deadman testified at trial about the matches.

He walked the jury through the microscopic comparisons, strand by strand.

The prosecution, led by the Fulton County District Attorney's office, built its case on those fibers.