As a new day begins in the town of Silverton, its residents have little reason to believe it will be anything other than ordinary. Mother Nature, however has other plans. In the span of just a few hours, an unprecedented onslaught of powerful tornadoes ravages Silverton. Storm trackers predict that the worst is still to come, as terrified residents seek shelter, and professional storm-chasers run toward the danger, hoping to study the phenomenon close up and get a once-in-a-lifetime shot.

From 1979 to 1981, 29 African-American males, mostly children, were either missing or found murdered in metro Atlanta. The cases plagued the city until 1982, when Wayne Wiiliams was convicted of the murders of two adult men. Authorities then considered the other cases closed. Some of the parents of the slain children were critical of the way the cases were handled and believed there was some sort of cover up. Nearly four years after the conviction of Williams, "Spin" magazine editor Ron Larson and reporter Pat Laughlin come to Atlanta in search of the truth.