April 28, 1981 – CBS World News Roundup – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
News for this April 28th in 1981 had much to do with the return of President Reagan to the Oval Office and preparations for his address, later on that evening to a joint session of Congress.
It would be the first time the President went before Congress and the American people since the assassination attempt on March 30, and there was much speculation over the contents of the Economic address he was slated to deliver. It was sure to be an emotional event, economy or not.
Meanwhile, pressure from the U.S. on El Salvador to increase investigations into the murders of 4 American Church Women was continuing. Adding one more to the list of missing was another American; a priest, Father Roy Bourgeois was working in El Salvador as an interpreter for a U.S. news team from WBBM-TV in Chicago. He was last seen a few days earlier when he left his hotel, explaining that he wanted to go off on his own for a half-hour. He never returned. Both Bourgeois and two of the murdered Church Women were part of the same Church group known for their activism and support of leftist causes. Eyes were on the El Salvador National Guard as links to their deaths. However, President Duarte told reporters he didn’t feel the military or Right Wing extremist groups had anything to do with the murders or of Bourgeois’ disappearance.
The string of murders of young Blacks in Atlanta took another grim turn, as another name was added to the list this day. The body of 21 year-old Jimmy Payne was found in the Chattahoochee River about 10 miles west of Atlanta. Six of the past victims had been found in a river. And his body, like most of the recent ones recovered, was clad only in undershorts. An autopsy was expected to conducted later on in the day to determine cause of death, but there were no apparent marks on the body. This was the 6th body to be discovered in the past month; the highest number of victims found in any 30 day period since the baffling string of murders began in July of 1979.
And that’s just a slice of what went on, this April 28, 1981 – as reported by The CBS World News Roundup.
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