Dig on missing CDC researcher found in Chattahoochee River(2018):

"…According to O'Connor, Cunningham found out that he wasn't getting an expected promotion on Feb. 5 – one week before he vanished. Cunningham called out sick for work on Thursday and Friday of that week, and then returned to the CDC office in Chamblee on Monday, Feb. 12. That morning, he met with a supervisor who explained why he did not receive the promotion, WXIA reported. Shortly after that, Cunningham said he felt sick and went home.

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Earlier, Atlanta police said that Cunningham reportedly last spoke with his sister on the morning he went missing. Cunningham left behind his car, cell phone, wallet, and dog. Cunningham's father, Terrell, told the New York Times that Timothy had “a lot going on” personally and professionally, and that their most recent conversation left him worried.

The search went nationwide, and Cunningham's family was offering a more than $20,000 reward for information to help locate him.

Cunningham, a 2017 40 Under 40 honoree by Atlanta Business Chronicle, worked as a commander in the U.S. Public Health Service. He held two degrees from Harvard, and was also a graduate of Morehouse College.

Cunningham was promoted to commander in July with the United States Public Health Service. He served as team lead for the State Chronic Disease Epidemiology Assignee Program in the Division for Population Health at the CDC, associate editor for CDC’s “Preventing Chronic Disease” journal and infection control officer with USPHS Rapid Deployment Force 3.

As Population Health team lead, he supervised CDC epidemiologists assigned to state health departments and supports state chronic disease prevention.

Prior to joining CDC’s Division of Population, he spent a year with the federal agency’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine and two years with its Division of Reproductive Health.

In October, Cunningham told Atlanta Business Chronicle that he loves his job and is "very fortunate to love what I do."

"That does not mean it is always easy, but my passion for the work helps to sustain me when it gets hard," he said. "My advice is do what you love. Love what you do. Do not quit. Keep going. During the bad, pick yourself up and learn from it. Finally, take time to celebrate during the good times."

“I am using the skills I have to improve and help the lives of others,” he added."

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/04/05/body-found-in-chattahoochee-river-identified-as.html

>>8799570

The employee, Timothy J. Cunningham, 35, was promoted to commander in the United States Public Health Service in July, his family said. According to the police, he was last seen on Feb. 12.

“I feel like I’m in a horrible ‘Black Mirror’ episode,” Commander Cunningham’s sister, Tiara Cunningham, said in a phone interview on Saturday. “I’m kind of lost without him, to be quite honest.”

Ms. Cunningham, 27, was the last family member to speak with Commander Cunningham before he went missing, she said.

Although they live in different states — Ms. Cunningham in Fayetteville, N.C., and her brother in Atlanta — they are best friends and it is not unusual for them to talk multiple times a day, she said. But their brief phone conversation on Feb. 12 was a little different from most.

“He sounded not like himself,” she said, without elaborating. They ended the conversation the way they always do: “Love you. I’ll talk to you later.”

When she texted him later, she didn’t get a response. Neither did her mother, who tried to contact him that afternoon.

“That was really weird,” Ms. Cunningham said, adding that she was “devastated” by her brother’s absence.

Their father, Terrell Cunningham, 60, said his son’s supervisor told him that Commander Cunningham had reported for work but that he had left midday because he wasn’t feeling well.

When the family had difficulty contacting him, they asked a relative to check his home. The house and the garage were locked, and two windows were open.

Commander Cunningham’s father and his mother, Tia-Juana Cunningham, 60, drove all night from their home in Waldorf, Md., arriving in Atlanta early in the morning on Feb. 14.

“I just did not know what to expect,” Terrell Cunningham said. “You’re somewhat fearful and you’re praying.”

They used a spare key to enter their son’s home, where he lived alone with his dog, Mr. Bojangles, known as Bo. The dog had been left unattended, which was uncharacteristic for Commander Cunningham, Terrell Cunningham said.

They also discovered their son’s wallet, his cellphone, the keys to his car and various forms of identification, including his driver’s license and passport. His car was in the garage, Terrell Cunningham said.

Commander Cunningham had “a lot going on” personally and professionally, his father added, and his most recent conversation with his son had left him worried.

“The tone, and the numerous exchanges gave us reason to be concerned about Tim,” Terrell Cunningham said. “And I don’t know if it’s an instinct you have because it’s your child, but it was not a normal conversation and I was not comfortable.”

The police are investigating the disappearance.

“As of today we have been unable to locate Mr. Cunningham and we are seeking the assistance of the public with this case,” Officer Donald T. Hannah of the Atlanta Police Department said in an email on Saturday.

The police have found no evidence of foul play, he added. Commander Cunningham’s family has teamed up with Crime Stoppers of Greater Atlanta to offer a $10,000 reward.

Commander Cunningham’s family described him as gentle, driven, introspective and meticulous. He has two degrees from Harvard’s School of Public Health, according to the C.D.C.’s website, and has been deployed for public health emergencies such as outbreaks of Ebola and the Zika virus. He was also selected as one of The Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 Under 40 Award winners.

Anterio Cunningham, 41, his older brother, said the disappearance “totally goes against not just our core principles as a family but also his personality.”

Commander Cunningham was the kind of person who sent people handwritten notes and encouraged his siblings to excel at school, he said.

The family says that they have no idea what might have happened, but that they are trying to stay positive. For now, there are more questions than answers.

“This is just so out of the realm of, I don’t know,” Anterio Cunningham said, his voice trailing off. “Like, never in a million years would I have thought this.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/24/us/cdc-employee-missing.html

>>8799732

>>8799570

CDC scientist’s body found near area of infamous Atlanta Child Murder cases

The recent recovery of the body of Dr. Timothy Cunningham, a respected scientist at the CDC and graduate of Morehouse College and Harvard University, has shocked the city. Dr. Cunningham disappeared over seven weeks ago after telling coworkers he was feeling ill and going home. He was never seen again. When concerned family members went to his home, they found his wallet, cell phone, keys, and dog.

On Tuesday of this week, a man fishing near a bridge on an isolated stretch of the Chattahoochee River near Atlanta discovered Cunningham’s decomposing body stuck along a mud bank. For many people who lived in Atlanta during 1979-81, the location of the bridge and body of Dr. Cunningham near Donald L. Hollowell Rd (Old Bankhead Hwy) immediately brought up the memory of convicted killer Wayne Williams and the Atlanta Child Murders, also called the Atlanta Murdered & Missing.

During a two year period, 28 bodies of children and adults were found in various parts of the city that included wooded areas, behind buildings, and dumped in the Chattahoochee River. All the victims were from areas of the city where poor Black people lived. The city was under the leadership of Atlanta’s first Black mayor, Maynard Jackson, and concern reached all the way up to the White House after major celebrities including boxer Muhammad Ali became involved.

President Ronald Reagan initiated a federal task force to become involved and after a time they found a suspect at the scene of a body dumping. On the night of May 22, 1981, police were staking out a bridge over the Chattahoochee River when they heard a splash. Police stopped Wayne Williams and questioned him and got a strange story of why he had stopped on the bridge and was in the area. Two days later, the body of an adult male was pulled from the river. Fiber and dog hair evidence tied Williams to the body and to some of the victims. Williams was later charged with the murder of all 28 victims and was sentenced to two life terms. It was called a miscarriage of justice by some who believed Williams was innocent and the city was just closing the books quickly and using him as a scapegoat. The investigation revealed a very sordid picture of Atlanta at the time and included suspicion that the KKK was involved, known pedophiles in the Black community and another suspect. That other suspect was a known gay Black man who died of an AIDS in prison before the virus was eventually named.

To this day, Wayne Williams has professed his innocence and five of the Atlanta child murder cases remain unsolved. At this time, the early narrative for Dr. Cunningham’s death was that he may have tripped and fell into the river and drowned. As far as the police are concerned, the case is closed, but for many, more answers are needed.

>>8799796

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_murders_of_1979%E2%80%931981

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keisha_Lance_Bottoms