FBI wants info on 43 slayings

The Clarion-Ledger, 2/13/9

The FBI asked for information Thursday about 43 unsolved civil rights-era slayings in Mississippi, saying time is running out because potential witnesses and suspects are growing old or dying.

The agency launched an initiative in 2006 to tackle cold cases from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s, mostly in the South. Though the effort hasn’t resulted in any new prosecutions, FBI Director Robert Mueller says his agency remains committed to it.

Officials from several state and federal agencies joined together in Mississippi to issue a call for help from the public.

“We owe it to the victims,” said Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood. “We owe it to future generations to know that we did everything we possibly could.”