ATLANTA’S MISSING AND MURDERED: THE LOST CHILDREN (2020) I’LL BE GONE IN THE DARK (2020–21)

Over the course of five painfully heartbreaking episodes, this series chronicles the disappearance and murder of at least 30 children and young adults in the Atlanta area in the 1970s and ’80s. The manhunt led to the capture of Wayne Williams, who was convicted in 1982 of killing two adults. Nonetheless, many of the families aren’t convinced the killer(s) have been stopped—thus prompting officials to reopen the case. (Note: This case also served as the basis for the second season of Mindhunter.) (Netflix)

In 2016, Michelle McNamara was writing a book about her crusade to solve the case of California’s notorious “Golden State Killer” when she died suddenly in her sleep. This seven-part docuseries produced by her husband, Patton Oswalt, excels both as a detailed re-creation of McNamara’s doggedness to identify the man—who often whispered the ghoulish titular words to his victims in their homes—and as a riveting examination of McNamara’s life as she consumed herself with her DIY investigation. Alas, she did not live to see Joseph James DeAngelo’s arrest in 2018.

(HBO Max)