Behind the Investigation with Atlanta News First

Drug agents are no longer allowed to seize cash from innocent passengers at US airports as a direct result of this two-year investigation by Atlanta News First Investigates. The Department of Justice ordered the Drug Enforcement Administration to suspend its ‘cold consent encounters’ at departure gates nationwide because of a single video that would never have been recorded had a trave...

Eminent domain , according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is defined as the right of a government or its agent to appropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation. In Georgia, the process starts by first condemning the site. Read the full story here: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/12/04/railroaded-georgia-family-farm-fights-land-seizure-cla...

For the past 30 years, Georgia State University has run a program for experienced teachers to learn a curriculum called Reading Recovery, which is intended to help children learn how to read. Reading Recovery is one-on-one instruction in the classroom for the lowest performing students in first grade struggling to read. School districts in Georgia and across the country used its teaching methods f...

One of the world’s largest carpet manufacturers claims it was tricked into using a group of chemicals it did not know was harmful to people and the environment. The allegations are part of a pending lawsuit filed by Mohawk Industries , based in Dalton, Georgia , against 3M and other chemical manufacturers. The lawsuit claims the chemical companies “concealed and misrepresented material information...

With a single sentence, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has ended a nationwide program that had seized untold millions in cash from airline passengers without arrests. “I am directing that the DEA suspend conducting consensual encounters,” wrote Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco in a Nov. 12, 2024, directive to the Drug Enforcement Administration . The directive was an immediate response to...

A metro Atlanta daycare was behind on her bills due to delays in payments from Georgia agencies; insulin deserts are plaguing Georgia communities; and an Atlanta Falcons superfan was arrested after an Atlanta News First investigation. These are some of our award-winning team of journalists' most popular reports from 2024.

Atlanta's top consumer reporter Harry Samler has been helping our community's residents solve their problems for more than 20 years. In this year-end special, he recaps some of his top reports from 2024, including a metro Atlanta daycare owner almost having to close because of past due payments from the government; an unlicensed contractor in over his head; a $300,000 water bill; mystery...

A fake landlord tries to evict an Atlanta family from their home;  an Atlanta couple is furious with Amazon over a rushed delivery that caused thousands of dollars in damages to their home; scammers are using AI-generated images of military personnel to them into their romance scams; and a Georgia town is accused of using their police department to ticket drivers for the city's profits.  Reli...

Misdeeds, an investigative series produced by Atlanta News First from September 2023 through June 2024 , exposed a loophole in Georgia law that left local families robbed of their most valued asset: their home.  Our reporting uncovered a pattern of deed thefts at the center of real estate fraud. It’s a crime that often goes unpunished.  Misdeeds got immediate results, creating a new state law. Pre...

Zenobia Willis was on the verge of bankruptcy. Willis is a small business owner who runs a transport service for disabled adults, seniors and dialysis patients. She said the state agency she works with, the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission (NEGRC), owed her $61,000. Willis said the state-funded agency had not paid her since July. “There is no reason why it should take three months to get paid...

Daydrianna Hefner is a Cherokee County, Georgia, mother of two who had a history of substance abuse, evident by a string of mugshots from years ago. Hefner’s addiction led to prison and intervention from the Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS), which placed her two kids in foster care in October 2021. While behind bars, Hefner decided to get sober....

Since state lawmakers approved a measure allowing cities to install school zone speed protection cameras about five years ago, the number of cameras have exploded, from 39 permits for cameras approved in 2019 to 290 last year. Public records uncovered by Atlanta News First Investigates reveal the cameras have generated more than $112 million in revenue for Georgia municipalities. Read the full sto...

Thieves are targeting airport parking lots, stealing mostly high-end sports cars and pick-up trucks, some of which are later used in other crimes. Car thefts from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport have more than tripled since last year, according to statistics released by the Atlanta Police Department . Through October 2024, 301 cars were stolen, compared with 95 for all of last yea...

One of the most recognizable Atlanta Falcons superfans was arrested during the Falcons’ game Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium only hours after interviewing with Atlanta News First Investigates denying allegations she misused any money NFL fans gave to her for tailgates and events. Carolyn Freeman, who calls herself the “Atlanta Falcons BirdLady,” was arrested on one felony count of theft by decepti...

When Bill Haynes studied music in college, he told his mother he didn’t see himself as a teacher. After volunteering just one day at a Kentucky elementary school, he changed his mind. Haynes taught music in public schools for more than 30 years, the majority of that time in Georgia and at Atlanta’s E. Rivers Elementary. Haynes’ life full of music came to sudden stop eight days before Christmas 201...

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich held two north Georgia townhalls recently discuss the impact of PFAS - also known as “forever chemicals” - in the state’s drinking water supplies. A continuing series of Atlanta News First investigations has reported on the levels of the chemicals in several north Georgia drinking water supplies, including Rome and Calhoun. Read the full story here: https://w...

A South Georgia city has lost its ability to write speeding tickets for nearly six months after a state investigation uncovered it altered tickets to hide how much the city collected from citations. According to a letter by the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Safety (DPS), the agency suspended the speed detection device permits for the city of Lenox for 180 days this past July. Th...

Two former South Georgia police officers claim they were pressured to write traffic citations to generate revenue to bolster their city’s budgets. John Masters and Zack Watson, who worked for the Poulan, Georgia, police department about two years ago, said they felt compelled to speak out after Atlanta News First Investigates published a series of investigations the past year which uncovered multi...

FBI Atlanta is seeing a substantial increase in computer cookie thefts. Atlanta News First Investigates talks with Joe Zadik, FBI supervisory special agent, on how you can take more steps to protect your online personal information from thieves.

When Brittany Tucker’s brother died in 2015, “I just took it the wrong way,” she said. “I turned to drugs.” Tucker’s addiction resulted in state intervention from the Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) in 2016. Within two years, DFCS had removed all four of her kids - including an infant daughter - from her care. Georgia law says when drugs are inv...

Season 2, Episode 46 of Behind the Investigation with Atlanta News First The Facebook pages have names like Proudly American. Its cover photo shows troops marching behind US flags. But the listed contact address in Dallas, Texas, doesn’t exist. But digging three levels down into the Facebook’s page transparency feature uncovered the Proudly American page is managed by three users in Morocco. Proud...

Season 2, Episode 45 of Behind the Investigation with Atlanta News First An Atlanta News First investigation reveals sometimes in DeKalb County there are no ambulances available, but leaders are not tracking how often it happens. Read our full coverage below: ‘Call Uber’ | Why ambulances in DeKalb County might be unavailable Brookhaven parents prayed for an ambulance that never came Metro Atlanta...

Season 2, Episode 44 of Behind the Investigation with Atlanta News First After more than 20 years of litigation, Ed Heller hoped a jury would finally hold the people he believed was responsible for his wife’s death this past March. Patricia Heller died in January 2003 shortly after leaving Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in a taxi while on a business trip. She never reached her fi...

Season 2, Episode 43 of Behind the Investigation with Atlanta News First. A metro Atlanta man said he’s been fighting Geico over a stolen car insurance claim since it happened earlier this summer. On June 8, Josh Peresta parked his Infiniti Q50 sedan in the south terminal parking lot at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for a business trip to Miami. He took a photo of the parked car...

Season 2, Episode 43 of Behind the Investigation with Atlanta News First. Najwa Rucker is a used car customer who took her salesman’s recommendation for auto insurance. But state investigators said the insurance company did not exist, and following an Atlanta News First investigation , the owner of Atlanta Best Used Cars in Norcross reimbursed Rucker for payments she made to a fraudulent company c...