Law enforcement agents have spent two days digging around an old farm 50 miles east of Atlanta in search of clues in an unsolved lynching of four people more than six decades ago. Agents from the FBI and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation have been searching a once-working farm five miles from Moore's Ford Bridge on the Apalachee River in rural Walton County, the scene of the 1946 murders of two black couples.

The deaths of Roger and Dorothy Malcom and George and Mae Murray Dorsey at Moore's Ford is one of the most infamous unsolved multiple lynchings in U.S. history.

The search of the 12-acre property was prompted by "recent information" investigators said they have received about the 1946 case. During the search they found some old military ordnance which was detonated by a bomb squad.

Suspects Still Alive?

Authorities said the explosives were not linked to the Moore's Ford lynching case. They also said the current residents of the property are not suspects in the case.

Although the crime took place almost 62 years ago, some advocates believe there are still suspects in the case who are still alive.

Authorities would not reveal what new information they received that prompted the search of the farm, which is located about five miles from Moore's Ford Bridge. Although the term "lynching" is usually used to describe a hanging, it actually means "putting a person to death by mob action without due process of law."

The Lynchings at Moore's Ford
On July 25, 1946, a group of armed men pulled two black couples out of a farmer's car, tied them to trees and shot them in three volleys of bullets so many times their bodies were barely recognizable. President Harry Truman sent the FBI to the area to investigate, but the agents were met with a wall of silence. Read more...

Fire In A Canebreak - The Last Mass Lynching in America
In 1991, more details of the crime came to light when Clinton Adams, a white man who was a 10-year-old boy (pictured) hiding in the bushes near Moore's Ford during the lynching, told investigators he was a secret witness to the events that unfolded on June 25, 1946. His account is examined in Laura's Wexler's book, Fire In A Canebreak.

See Also:
Ga. Authorities Probe 1946 Unsolved Lynchings

More on the Moore's Ford Lynchings:
Moore's Ford Memorial Committee
Moore's Ford Historical Marker

^{Photo: FBI Poster}