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f Department of Justics FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1980 (202) 633-2007 The Department of Justice announced today the initiation of a preliminary investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine whether four black children missing in Atlanta are being held in violation of the federal kidnapping law. Attorney General Benjamin R. Civiletti said he is authorizing the step after a review with his advisors of the disappearance of 15 black children, 11 of whom were subsequently found dead during the past 15 months. Mr. Civiletti stressed that his decision to involve FBI agents directly in the investigation was designed not to supplant or duplicate but rather to supplement and Ocal investigation. He said the federal investigation was being launched at the request of Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson and Public Safety Commissioner Lee Brown. ‘Since August, the FBI has been providing Atlanta investigators with a variety of technical and expert assistance to ensure that the federal government was fully supportive of their efforts to solve the crimes. More specifically, the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit, forensic laboratory and fingerprint data bank have been at the disposal on an expedited basis to the City of Atlanta. The FBI has arranged for the Atlanta Police Department Task Force to use the services of an expert in visual investigative analysis, a technique that uses visual display media to chart investigators" progress in handling leads and 7, aspeste/ / “5 MG DS _4/f Ff of a complex case. rr a rr i ae 4 SS