Podcasts about cbs46

Matt and Sheryl talk about various cold cases. Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI from CBS46's CSI Atlanta, Director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute (CCIRI), a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. Sheryl holds a master's degree in Criminal Justice with an emphasis on Policing. Sheryl's podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/39AxkVOTQ9HjcNqykeJHX4 Follow me on all socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insidetruecrime/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mattcoxtruecrime Do you want to be a guest? Send me an email here: insidetruecrime@gmail.com Do you want a custom "con man" painting to shown up at your doorstep every month? Subscribe to my Patreon: https: //www.patreon.com/insidetruecrime Do you want a custom painting done by me? Check out my Etsy Store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/coxpopart Listen to my True Crime Podcasts anywhere: https://anchor.fm/mattcox Check out my true crime books! Shark in the Housing Pool: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0851KBYCF Bent: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BV4GC7TM It's Insanity: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KFYXKK8 Devil Exposed: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TH1WT5G Devil Exposed (The Abridgment): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1070682438 The Program: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0858W4G3K Bailout: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bailout-matthew-cox/1142275402 Dude, Where's My Hand-Grenade?: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXNFHBDF/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1678623676&sr=1-1 Checkout my disturbingly twisted satiric novel! Stranger Danger: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSWQP3WX If you would like to support me directly, I accept donations here: Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/MattCox69 Cashapp: $coxcon69

Steve Christian was 77, a veteran who, according to a letter he left behind, was suffering from cognitive memory loss. His letter said the diagnosis made him want to take his own life.On a rain-soaked March 3, 2023, Christian shot himself in the parking lot of Brookhaven, Georgia's Blackburn Park. While waiting on an ambulance, Christian expressed his sorrow to police officers and seemingly expressed a desire to live, according to body camera footage obtained by Atlanta News First Investigates. Crews detailed Christian asking for help, recalling the veteran said he “messed up.”Police officers expressed their frustration and dismay over the ambulance's delay. One officer said, “It's going to be a gunshot wound to the lungs, second chest wound. Let's go ahead and get an ETA. They're going to need to step this up.” Another officer said, “This is unbelievable, man. I can't believe this.”After 22 minutes, a DeKalb Fire Department unit arrived, but the fire truck isn't capable of emergency transport. Twenty-five minutes after the first officer responded, an American Medical Response ambulance finally arrived.But Steve Christian was pronounced dead at the hospital.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/07/15/it-took-26-minutes-metro-atlanta-ambulance-show-up-why/

The city of Lenox, Georgia, covers less than two square miles. It's a small town in south Georgia with a big reputation for handing out traffic citations. Using figures provided by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, an Atlanta News First investigation shows Lenox relies more on the profit generated by its police force than any other Georgia town.In 2022, it collected $1.3 million from citations, nearly 73 percent of the town's budget.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/07/22/nearly-73-this-citys-budget-comes-traffic-tickets/

Someone claiming to be the son of a recently deceased man allegedly filed false probate paperwork that gave him access to everything the beloved uncle to an Atlanta family left behind.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/07/25/metro-family-loses-inheritance-family-home-even-their-late-uncles-ashes/

 When Coleen Brooks sees something out of the ordinary, she jots it down on paper. It started as a hobby that turned into a full-time career. In her 30 years as a columnist for small newspapers in Calhoun, Georgia, she estimates writing at least 10,000 articles about everything from the weather and local sports to movies.There's one column, though, that has always stuck with her, one she wrote decades ago entitled, ‘Spreading It Around,” about city trucks she saw spraying something on fields across from her home and around Gordon County.In the 2004 article, Brooks wrote a city worker told her at the time it was municipal sewer sludge turned into fertilizer. She said the worker told her the sludge was safe because it was treated with chemicals. “And when it rains, are these chemicals safe if they run off into our rivers and lakes or soak into the earth?” asked Brooks in her column.Twenty years later, Brooks' article may have foreshadowed a potential environmental disaster, impacting her and thousands of her neighbors.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/06/25/dont-poop-where-you-drink-i-residents-claim-city-contaminated-drinking-water/ 

Young Thug's trial – which has been repeatedly plagued by arrests, charges and disruptions – began on Nov. 27, 2023. Defense attorneys have repeatedly raised concerns that the trial could go on for years based on the number of witnesses the state plans to call up.Digital content producer Tim Darnell and broadcast reporter Rachel Aragon talk about the latest delay, and how a judge's future ruling on the trial could upend America's most-watched judicial drama, the trial of global recording superstar Young Thug.Full coverage of Young Thug's trial here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/news/crime/young-thug-trial/

The fastest electric Kia can now outrun the Georgia State Patrol's gas-powered pursuit vehicles.The state patrol's newest Dodge Charger police pursuit cruisers accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in around six seconds, according to tests by the Michigan State Police. A 2024 Kia EV6 GT gets to 60 MPH in 3.2 seconds. The Kia also has a higher top speed than the standard police car.The fastest Teslas accelerate from zero to 60 MPH in well under three seconds. Each new model from dozens of manufacturers — many of them building EVs in Georgia — is faster than its predecessor. Several models, including the Rivian pick-up truck, can get to 60 MPH in two and a half seconds.The concern among law enforcement is when someone behind the wheel of one of those super-fast EVs chooses to run from police. In a gas-powered pursuit vehicle, the police are outmatched in acceleration.Investigative Reporter Andy Pierrotti talks with Atlanta News First Chief Investigator Brendan Keefe about how many police-pursuit vehicles are overmatched.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/07/08/electric-cars-can-now-outrun-fastest-police-cruisers/

Atlanta News First consumer reporter Harry Samler, of Better Call Harry, covers some items you need to remember if you're planning to move.

 When Georgia state lawmakers debated a proposed law back in 2018 about granting cities the authority to install speed detection cameras in school zones, the bill's author pulled at his colleagues' heartstrings.“We've had several deaths and major injuries in the state of Georgia already in these school zones,” said then-state Rep. Chad Nimmer, a Republican from Blackshear, during a state House public safety and homeland security committee hearing. “And if they think surveillance technology is the right way to protect their children and their memaws and peepaws and mommies and daddies and the cross-walk tenants safe, they can install this if they deem necessary.”The committee chairman called it a “good bill.” Lawmakers passed it with little discussion.Nearly five years later, an Atlanta News First Investigation has uncovered the cameras have exploded in use, generating millions in revenue for cities across the state. In 2019, the Georgia Department of Transportation approved 39 camera permits. Last year, there were 290 approved permits.Public records from 54 Georgia municipalities reveal the cameras have generated more than $112 million in revenue since 2019, an amount that has some lawmakers and city leaders questioning the real motivation of the cameras. 

Paul Lowe was 93, but the husband and grandfather was still living independently and making plans for the future. He often left notes for his wife to read around the house.“One of the last notes I have [from him] is, ‘Putting this in writing, ‘Do not buy more ice cream,' said Betty Lowe. “Because he knew, if I brought it home, he would eat it.”Paul Lowe died in May at Piedmont Eastside Medical Center in Snellville, Georgia, while being treated for pneumonia. When he passed away, his family said the hospital initially told them he died from natural causes.But a lawsuit filed in Cobb County on Monday claims the hospital fatally overdosed him with morphine, and then failed to save him, despite knowing about the mistake for hours.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/03/26/family-claims-georgia-hospital-euthanized-father-through-overdose/

He never pulled the trigger, but Christian Brown nearly went to prison after going somewhere he wasn't supposed to be with a gun in his hand.It happened in December 2018 inside a stranger's home near Palmetto, Georgia. Brown used the bottom of a handgun to hit the homeowner in the head and walked away with just over $100.“Every time I look back at that, I'm like, that was not worth it at all,” Brown said. “I regret that, too. I regret everything that I did.”Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/04/15/inside-fulton-county-courtroom-giving-young-offenders-second-chance/

Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/04/01/emory-launch-study-after-anf-investigations-into-forever-chemicals/

According to an Atlanta News First investigation, metro school districts have faced teacher shortages in the triple digits.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/04/04/metro-atlanta-schools-facing-teacher-shortages-triple-digits/

Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/04/09/alleged-home-security-bait-and-switches-popping-up-after-anf-investigations/

 AT&T's recent disclosure about a security breach compromised more than 70 million current and former customers. That means online criminals may have access to your personal information on the dark web, which could give them access to your credit.What does that mean? It means there's enough information available on the dark web for someone to open a credit card or take out a loan in your name. They run up the charges; your credit takes a hit; and then it's up to you to prove you are a victim.Identity theft isn't fun, and if you can't get it removed from your credit record, the debt will follow you for seven years. If the debt ends up in collections, it could prevent you from getting better rates or taking out a future loan.Most people have heard about freezing their credit, but most don't realize how easy it is to do.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/04/03/lock-your-credit-doors-now-before-you-fall-victim-fraud/

According to state repair logs, of the 370 defective guardrails identified in a December 2023 GDOT report, more than a third of the repairs, or 33%, took longer than the required 21-day time frame.Some of the repairs took more than 100 days.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/03/07/unguarded-gdots-failure-repair-road-safety-barriers-put-lives-risk/

A Georgia man detained more than a decade behind bars and never convicted of a crime is now home with his family.Maurice Jimmerson's pretrial detention is believed to be one of the longest such detentions in American history. His release comes nearly a year after an award-winning Atlanta News First investigation, The Sixth, uncovered him languishing in the Dougherty County, Georgia, jail without a court-appointed attorney or a scheduled court date.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/03/20/georgia-man-behind-bars-10-years-awaiting-trial-is-finally-free/

Roseanne and Richard King knew they were in a bad situation when a hospital doctor in Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic, told them they'd be there for a very long time.The two left their cruise ship on Thanksgiving Day after a ship's doctor diagnosed Roseanne King with double pneumonia.The hospital in which Roseanne King was admitted charged the couple $5,100 before she even stayed one night.“And if I didn't give my card, we don't know what would have happened,” Richard King said.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/02/20/dominican-hospital-charges-atlanta-couple-7100-refuses-give-itemized-bill/

Elfreda Parks said she's lost sleep over a mountain of private parking violations on her kitchen table. Each violation is $87, and she worries she'll get more every time she goes to her mailbox.The violations began arriving in September 2023. Parks said she first received a few violations, but it got much worse over the following months. She began receiving large envelopes filled with dozens of citations at a time.“I don't need this extra stress,” she said. “I've got my own stress.”Parks has counted 292 citations totaling $25,404, but many violations were duplicates. According to Parking Revenue Recovery Services (PRRS) and the billing company's website, Parks' grand total was $10,764 in fines.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/02/28/metro-atlanta-woman-mistakenly-receives-10500-parking-violations/

Alexis Jones' water bill is astronomical, and she can't afford to pay it. She rents the house she lives in with her sister and two kids, and they've been without water since DeKalb County shut it off in November for nonpayment.Jones and her family didn't use the water; rather, it was a ghost leak in the front yard that wouldn't be fixed for nearly two and a half years.DeKalb County records show water usage at 896,000 gallons over a one-month period. The leak was large enough to fill a swimming pool daily, but the county left the water on because it determined it was on private property.The county held Jones responsible because her name was on the bill.“I'm in panic mode,” Jones said. “First off, I don't have this money. Second, how did it get to this, because again, I'm using my water as normal.”

Atlanta News First Investigates reviewed reports for people taking Ozempic, Wegovy or compounded semaglutide. There were 262 self-reported cases mentioning suicide attempts, ideation, threats, behavior, treatment; or depression.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/03/11/fda-evaluating-miracle-weight-loss-drugs-like-ozempic-suicide-risk/

 A metro Atlanta mother who was seemingly targeted in a drug case as part of an effort to be denied custody of her daughter has now been granted full temporary custody.On Friday, a Spalding County Superior Court granted an emergency motion for full custody filed by Macy Jones, who was the target of an anonymous tip that led to the investigation. Judge Ben Coker granted Jones “sole custody on a temporary basis” of Jones' and Tyler Andrews' now-four-year-old daughter.Andrews will have “approximately one hour” of “supervised visitation” every other Sunday. Previously, the couple had joint legal custody.Jones filed an emergency motion for full custody within hours after Atlanta News First Investigates told her about the case and sent her a copy of the internal investigation. Because it's a public record, we offered to share the investigative file with both Jones and Andrews when separately asking them for interviews about its contents.Andrews, as originally reported by Atlanta News First Investigates and Chief Investigative Reporter Brendan Keefe, gave an anonymous tip to Kris Voyles who was, at that time, commander of a Spalding County Sheriff's Office Special Operations Unit.Innocent mom wants to thank police who turned in their own commanderThe sheriff's internal investigation determined that Voyles assigned his drug agents to set up surveillance on Jones' griffin home to help his friend, Andrews, in a custody case.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/02/26/drug-unit-commander-fired-after-anonymous-tip-traced-father-targets-child/

Guardrails are intended to keep drivers safe in case of an accident and to prevent vehicles from oncoming traffic or hitting something. But when the barriers are damaged or defective, they can't protect drivers.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/03/07/unguarded-gdots-failure-repair-road-safety-barriers-put-lives-risk/

Although he's retired, Robert Elder feels like he's taken on a new job: fighting for his home in which he's invested more than 50 years of equity.In a lawsuit, Elder, 85, claims his southwest Atlanta home has been stolen from him by a stepson from his first marriage, Torrey Elder.Last year a new deed was filed on Robert Elder's house; not once but, according to records, three times. The first was filed in July; the second, in August and labelled “corrective deed;” and a third in September.All the deeds transferred Robert Elder's home from his ownership to former stepson Torrey. However, none of the signatures match the way Robert signs his name, according to other official documents. Torrey claims his dad did transfer the home over to him. Adding, the 85-year-old is “lying.”A series of Atlanta News First investigations have shown that under current Georgia law, no identification is required to file property paperwork in the clerk's office. No one has to prove they own the property.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/03/04/85-year-olds-home-stolen-name-allegedly-forged-multiple-deeds/

A joint investigation by Atlanta News First and Grist uncovered dozens of people who worked at a metro Atlanta warehouse who claimed in a lawsuit their former employer exposed them to a cancer-causing toxin for years.Many of the former workers now suffer from severe illness. At least four have died. The warehouse is located in Lithia Springs, Georgia. It's owned by the ConMed Corporation, which stores medical devices sterilized with ethylene oxide, a hazardous, colorless gas.The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says prolonged exposure to the toxin causes cancer and tumors.According to a Cobb County lawsuit, the process starts at a sterilization facility owned by Sterigenics located near Smyrna, Georgia. According to the company's website, it sterilized “more than 300 million critical medical products and devices” with the gas at its facility since April 2020.The sterilized products are then trucked 12 miles away to ConMed's nearly 300,000-square-foot warehouse, a facility the size of five football fields.While there, the remaining ethylene oxide seeps off the boxes of medical equipment that have been treated with the chemical, allegedly exposing workers.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/02/29/cancer-stricken-workers-claim-company-exposed-them-toxic-gas/

 Brenda Booth was still mourning the loss of her beloved sister, Claudia Marie, when she found out her sister had transferred her home's deed to a private company on April 26, 2022.“Uh, she can't sign a deed three months after she died,” Booth recalled.Families such as Booth's say metro Atlanta law police are not criminally pursuing cases of stolen homes, which is all part of a troubling trend of deed theft in Georgia.Claudia Marie died in 2022 after a long period of declining health. While Booth was preparing for her sister's demise, she could not anticipate what happened afterward.Booth sought the help of probate court attorney Daniel Kalamaro to handle her late sister's assets. Among those assets was a Clayton County home in the unincorporated community of Rex.“It's usually a fairly routine process: gather the assets, gather the debts, identify the creditors and make your disbursements and away you go,” Kalamaro explained. “That did not happen here.”“It's been a doozie.”Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/02/12/if-your-home-gets-stolen-will-police-investigate-this-family-says-no/

A nationwide shortage of ADHD medication has been limiting the supply of Adderall for almost a year and a half.While the shortage's primary culprit was believed to be supply chain issues, a new study is revealing another cause: an increase in diagnoses among adult women; in fact, the number of women being diagnosed with ADHD has nearly doubled in the last few years.That's according to a new study from JAMA Psychiatry, which revealed prescriptions for ADHD medication have jumped by more than 14% since the start of the pandemic.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/02/19/adhd-diagnoses-increase-adderall-shortage-continues/

How could a safety requirement end up killing more children than it would save?The answer to that question has allowed parents to carry babies and toddlers on their laps at 35,000 feet and more than 500 miles per hour for decades. There is also no airfare cost for a lap baby.Since 1995, the Federal Aviation Administration has relied on multiple studies showing a safety-restraint requirement for children under two on commercial aircraft would lead to many more highway deaths if parents choose to drive instead of fly.In the meantime, the FAA strongly recommends parents buy a ticket for their babies. “The safest place for your child under the age of two on a U.S. airplane is in approved child restraint system…not in your lap,” it said.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/02/12/lap-babies-still-allowed-planes-after-door-plug-blowout/

A metro Atlanta mother is now seeking full custody after Atlanta News First Investigates tells her of an attempt to have her arrested a year earlier. But where did the anonymous tip come from?Here is the full audio of a police major interviewing his lieutenant about the anonymous tip's source.

New details have surfaced involving a case about a Georgia woman accused of marrying a man after he was found mentally incompetent.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/02/21/starved-man-returned-family-wake-marriage-fraud-claims/

Water beads are often sold as toys, in craft kits, or as sensory tools for children with developmental disabilities.But the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission said children who have swallowed water beads can suffer suffer severe consequences, including internal injuries, lifelong health impacts and death.Some of the cases of children ingesting water beads in metro Atlanta have required medical attention at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA).Water beads are small, water-absorbing, often colorful balls of super absorbent polymer and can grow 100X their original size when exposed to water.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/01/29/choa-doctor-water-beads-can-expand-inside-stomach-causing-harm-children/

Thousands of electric vehicle drivers and their passengers may not be protected if involved in a crash with barriers meant to keep them alive.Newly released crash tests reveal guardrails failed involving two popular models on the road today: the Tesla Model 3 sedan and the Rivian R1T pickup.The video, obtained exclusively by Atlanta News First Investigates, shows when the Tesla hit a guardrail at 62 miles per hour, the vehicle goes through the barrier.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/01/10/crash-tests-reveal-guardrails-failed-protect-tesla-rivian-vehicles/

Keeping kindergarteners focused in the classroom is never easy, but Larkin Davidson struggles more than most.The seven-year-old suffers from multiple learning disabilities and mental health challenges.“He says, ‘I'm not smart. I wish I could talk right. My mouth doesn't work right,'” said Melanie Starrett, his mother. “It breaks my heart that he's been made to feel that way.”Starrett said Larkin can't identify all the letters in the alphabet and has outbursts in class. “He's a handful,” she said, “and I can't imagine what his teacher has gone through the last two years.”To get help, the Newton County mother sent her son to doctors and specialists for psychological evaluations and speech screenings over the past few months. That means missing school to make the appointments.All but one of the absences in Larkin's attendance records show the days were excused, which is why Starrett was shocked when his school, West Newton Elementary, withdrew him for chronic absenteeism in November.In December, the Newton County School Board also recommended “educational neglect” charges be filed against Starrett for failing to keep Larkin in class. The crime carries fines and up to 30 days in jail.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/02/05/school-marks-unexcused-absences-childs-record-after-hes-kicked-out/https://youtu.be/6VKttQtTQP0

Last week, a Marietta couple discovered their complex's mandated policy did not cover their contents when a pipe in the above unit burst and flooded their apartment.The renter's liability-only policy they purchased did not cover damage to their contents and additional expenses for hotel, food, and boarding for their dog.“Our throw pillows, our throw blankets, were completely damaged,” said Madison Kelley. “We have a large area rug that sits under the couch. It was literally flowing in the water.”Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/01/19/heres-why-couples-renters-insurance-wont-cover-their-flooded-apartment/

 Last October, Dr. Lynne Damali, a Forest Park, Georgia, chiropractor, traded in two cars for a new Jeep Grand Wagoneer.The Wagoneer gave her family everything the other cars didn't: space, luxury, and power, but Damali didn't anticipate what happened over the next two months.“They have bounced eight checks,” Damali said, referring to the dealership's payoffs on her two trade-ins that were sent to her credit unions.Damali made the deal at a Union City Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM; the dealership's new general manager confirmed the checks bounced because of a corporate processing error.Many consumers don't know that if there is a problem with their car trade's loan payoff, the owner must continue making monthly payments and insurance premiums until the payoff is complete.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/01/23/woman-trades-two-cars-one-ends-up-with-three-payments/

Deed theft, wrongful foreclosures, fraudulent loans are all ingredients for real estate fraud.Metro Atlanta families are coming home to notices saying their homes are no longer theirs, and arguing their properties were wrongfully sold without their knowledge.Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/01/16/is-it-hard-steal-your-home-georgia-experts-say-no/

Black men jailed, wrongfully accused, and arrested. One technology at the center of it all. Police use facial recognition to link people to crimes they did not commit. Atlanta News First exposes cases from Atlanta, Balitmore, New York, to Louisiana. A common denominator is that law enforcement agencies are not following policy because the policy does not exist. Randall Reid was arrested in Atlanta for a robbery which occurred in a city he never visited. Before his case, it happened to two other fathers on the East Coast. Today, the list grows. As it turns out, bias can be embedded in facial recognition software. Which means in the search for suspects, there's a list of new victims. While more police agencies are beginning to use the technology, other non-law enforcement state entities are following their lead. *******RACIAL PROFILING AT THE GATEPlainclothes drug agents search innocent passengers at airport gates across the United States, looking for cash.The drug agents seize anything over $5,000 if the passenger can't prove — on the spot — that their own money didn't come from drug trafficking. The government seizes the cash when no drugs are found, without arresting the traveler or charging them with a crime. The DEA gets to keep the money it seizes.Our ongoing investigation revealed that passengers selected for what the government calls “random, consensual encounters” are actually profiled by the drug agents who search Black men far more often than any other group of passengers.We analyzed data showing that, for drug agents to find just one passenger with money, they have to publicly search 10 departing passengers. Some of those profiled passengers are left deeply scarred by the process, even when nothing is seized.******* Poisoned without permissionThree scientists are calling for more testing of a dangerous toxin impacting residents who live in the Rome, Georgia, area. It's in response to an Atlanta News First investigation that uncovered elevated levels of the chemical compound in some residents' blood.For decades, the Oostanaula River that supplied Rome's drinking water was contaminated with perfluoroalkyl (PFAS). The chemical group is linked to serious illness, including cancer.City officials switched to a different water source in 2017, but many residents have always wondered how the contaminated water impacted them prior to the disclosure.When the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) said it didn't have plans to investigate, Atlanta News First Investigates purchased testing kits that can measure the total values of some of the most common PFAS and asked Rome-area residents to test their blood.

The Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to an attorney if you're accused of a crime and a speedy trial. But Georgia and the nation are experiencing a shortage of public defenders and a backlog of cases creating a crisis. Atlanta News First Investigates' Emmy award-winning series, The Sixth, sheds light on its impact on the criminal justice system, people accused of crimes and victims waiting for justice.

Police use facial recognition to link people to crimes they did not commit. Atlanta News First exposes case from Atlanta, Balitmore, New York, to Louisiana.  A common denominator is that law enforcement agencies are not following policy because the policy does not exist.Randall Reid was arrested in Atlanta for a robbery which occurred in a city he never visited. Before his case, it happened to two other fathers in the southeast. Today, the list grows. As it turns out, bias can be embedded in facial recognition software.  Which means in the search for suspects, there's a list of new victims.While more and more police agencies are beginning to use the technology, other state agencies are following their lead. The Georgia Department of Driver Services now use the system, too. It raises questions about privacy and state law. Read our full series here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/news/investigate/false-recognition/

Plainclothes drug agents search innocent passengers at airport gates across the United States, looking for cash.The drug agents seize anything over $5,000 if the passenger can't prove — on the spot — that their own money didn't come from drug trafficking. The government seizes the cash when no drugs are found, without arresting the traveler or charging them with a crime. The DEA gets to keep the money it seizes.Our ongoing investigation revealed that passengers selected for what the government calls “random, consensual encounters” are actually profiled by the drug agents who search Black men far more often than any other group of passengers.We analyzed data showing that, for drug agents to find just one passenger with money, they have to publicly search 10 departing passengers. Some of those profiled passengers are left deeply scarred by the process, even when nothing is seized.Read our full series here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/page/in-plane-sight/

Three scientists are calling for more testing of a dangerous toxin impacting residents who live in the Rome, Georgia, area. It's in response to an Atlanta News First investigation that uncovered elevated levels of the chemical compound in some residents' blood.For decades, the Oostanaula River that supplied Rome's drinking water was contaminated with perfluoroalkyl (PFAS). The chemical group is linked to serious illness, including cancer.City officials switched to a different water source in 2017, but many residents have always wondered how the contaminated water impacted them prior to the disclosure.When the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) said it didn't have plans to investigate, Atlanta News First Investigates purchased testing kits that can measure the total values of some of the most common PFAS and asked Rome-area residents to test their blood.Read our full series here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2023/12/06/poisoned-without-permission-georgia-town-exposed-toxin/

27-year-old Mariam Abdulrab was abducted from her boyfriend's driveway in 2021 and later shot and killed. Police soon arrested DeMarcus Brinkley, a repeat sex offender in Georgia with a long rap sheet, including child molestation.As a repeat offender, Brinkley should have been fitted with an ankle monitor. But a loophole in Georgia law allowed him to slip through the tracks, a loophole that was exposed by Atlanta News First Investigative Reporter Rachel Polansky.Now, follow Atlanta News First Investigates as Abdulrab's family and friends fight for justice, and learn how our coverage of Mariam's legacy brought a major change to how Georgia monitors its convicted sex offenders.Read our full coverage here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/mariamslaw/

Behind the Investigation from Atlanta News First has taken listeners behind the scenes from our most informative, hard-hitting stories. In this special edition of our podcast, our award-winning team of investigative journalists recount 2023's top stories, including phantom cars, shed living, kicked out, and false recognition.

Harry Samler, better known by his 'Better Call Harry' fame, has been solving problems on Atlanta's streets for almost two decades.In this special edition of Behind the Investigation With Atlanta News First, Harry looks back at some of his 2023 top headlines, including stories on predatory towing, a MARTA bus crash, and Buckhead's tunnel of darkness on Georgia 400.

Jeffery Williams (aka Young Thug) is on trial in Atlanta in a massive RICO case involving himself and five other defendants. Prosecutors allege Williams and his co-defendants are members of the Young Slime Life (YSL) gang, while defense attorneys argue YSL is simply the name of a record label, Young Stoner Life.In 2022, Fulton County prosecutors included lyrics from the rapper, referencing drugs and violence, as evidence of an “overt act in furtherance of a (gang) conspiracy.”Here are the rap lyrics that will be admitted as evidence:“Come and enroll to the YSL school and I swear I am the principal (slime!). I do not care if you slime for a dollar and chance, it's the principle.” — Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams“I never killed anybody, but I got something to do with that body ... I told them to shoot a hundred rounds ... ready for war like I'm Russia ... I get all type of cash, I'm a general.” — Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams“I was a capo in the hood way before a plaque or a mention.” — Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams“I'm at the top with bro though, ooh, head honcho ...” — Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams“I just beat a murder rap, paid my lawyer 30 for that ... me and my slimes above the law.” — S. Stillwell, M. Farley, W. Lee, Q. Nichols“Honestly, truth be told, YSL won't fold, pick his a** off from the balcony ... YSL wipe a n**** nose.” — Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams“My n***** really be slime and we committin' them crimes ... hop out and shoot ... you wanna be slime ... go catch you a body.” — Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams“Hey, this that slime s*** (hey!), YSL s*** (hey!), killin' twelve s*** (hey!), f*** a jail s*** (hey!), ... this that mob s*** YSL, this that mob life.” — Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams, D. Kendrick, M. Arnold, J. Winfrey“Money longer than the world's longest ruler, yeah, playing with YSL, n***** gon' shoot you ...” — Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams“We be on some 2Pac s***, ‘Hit Em' Up' ... n**** play with Unfoonk and get hogtied ... n**** play with Unfoonk, then they all die ... why would I lie, I got mob ties, ... knockin' off you big homie b****.” — Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams“Ooh-woo, I done for the crew, ooh-woo, I done did the robbin,' i done did the jackin', now I'm full rappin ' ... I escaped everyone of them licks ‘cuz I was supposed to be rich, I don't care nothing ‘bout no cop, I'm tellin' you just how it is.” — Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams“Gave the lawyer close to two mil, he handle all the killings ... we don't speak ‘bout s*** on wax it's all mob business, we known to kill the biggest cat of all kittens.” — Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams“I rep my life for real ... for slimes you know I kill.” — D. Kendrick“Hey, how you doing? I'm Yak Gotti, I got bodies on bodies.” — D. Kendrick“I shot at his mommy, no he longer mention me.” — Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams“Where you from? (I'm from Bleveland!) Throw your set up (YSL!) ... the opps hate the crew we gettin' this paper and we duckin' cases ... Free Lil Shannon he the one that had them runnin' with that cannon.” — Wunnie Leehttps://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2023/11/09/here-are-young-thugs-lyrics-that-will-come-up-his-trial/Emory University associate professor of law Alexander Volokh talks with digital content producer Tim Darnell about the use of rap lyrics in Young Thug's trial.Full coverage from Atlanta News First: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/news/crime/young-thug-trial/

Jeffery Williams - aka Young Thug - is one of American music's most decorated hip-hop performers. He's also in big trouble with the law, and is facing multiple gang, drug and weapons charges in his high-profile RICO trial in Atlanta.Atlanta News First's Joy Lim Nakrin and renowned Atlanta defense attorney J. Edward Shipp talk about what to expect in Young Thug's trial, as opening statements begin on Nov. 27.

#STSNation, Welcome to another episode of Surviving The Survivor, the podcast that brings you the #BestGuests in all of #TrueCrime… We continue our coverage of notorious serial killer Dennis who called himself #BTK for bind, torture, kill. Kerri Rawson, on our show last week, told us she believes her father is responsible for at least 5 more murders. BTK is now named the “prime suspect” in two unsolved killings — one in Oklahoma and another in Missouri — leading authorities to dig two weeks ago near Kerri's childhood home in Park City. He's also being looked at as suspect in at least 3 other cold cases — making it 5 in total. Tonight, the legend is back. #BestGuests Dr. Ann Burgess is an internationally recognized pioneer in the assessment and treatment of victims of trauma and abuse, and author of A Killer by Design: Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind. Among her many awards and accolades, in 2016 she was named a Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing She has also worked with FBI Academy special agents to study serial offenders, and the links between child abuse, juvenile delinquency, and subsequent perpetration. You know the super successful Netflix show Mindhunter about the FBIs first days of criminal profiling — she worked with the real-life agents the show is based on. Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI from CBS46's CSI Atlanta, Director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute (CCIRI), a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for metro Atlanta Police Department. Sheryl holds a master's degree in Criminal Justice with an emphasis on Policing. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Dr. Joni Johnston is a Forensic Psychologist, Private Investigator, and Crime Writer. As a practicing psychologist, she has worked in a medium-maximum security prison, for the Board of Parole, for the Superior Court of San Diego, and as a workplace investigator of misconduct allegations including harassment, discrimination and violence. She is the author of SERIAL KILLERS: 101 Questions True Crime Fans Ask and hosts her own YouTube channel Unmasking A Murderer. #SerialKiller #BTK #Kohberger #Kansas #OsageCounty #BTKBarns

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