The Adam Walsh Case

A trip to the Mall. An innocent request that ended in a gruesome murder. The murder of that little boy struck the American Heart like no other. The issue of missing children has never been the same since. On July 27th 1981, Revey Walsh took her six year old son Adam to a Hollywood Florida Mall. Adam asked if he could watch two little boys play video games. Video games were brand new and the latest fad at the time. It was the last time his Mother saw him alive. When Revey returned to the toy department Adam was nowhere to be found. No one helped Revey look for Adam and she was told her to go to customer service. She called the police immediately but it took them forever to respond. John Walsh left his office and knew something was terribly wrong. 50 police officers and a hundred volunteers were summoned out to scour every square inch of Hollywood, Florida in with boats, cars, and in helicopters within hours. However Adam was nowhere to be found and it appeared he had been kidnapped in plain sight.

This case illustrated the fact that your child, the thing you love the most in the world could be taken in a flash even at the local Mall. John and Revey designed the first missing poster with the Adam's face, his weight, and height and plastered them across south Florida. The boy's distraught parents offered $100,000 reward for Adams return. John Walsh started to get the gut feeling that the police department was over whelmed. They were desperate to get the word out about Adam because after the first couple of days it wasn't a big story any more. A couple of weeks later on August 11, John and Revey begged for there son's life on the national television show Good Morning America. Afterwards they got the news that two fisherman had discovered Adam's severed head in a canal. But police were unable to find any clues leading to Adam's killer. Over the years, numerous suspects have emerged but none have proved credible.

Even Jeffery Dahmer the serial killer was interviewed about the case in 1991. There was another suspect however, named Otis Tool who died in prison in 1996. Most people who have looked into the case agree that he was most likely the killer and got away with murder. John Walsh hopes that there is Justice in the hereafter and that Otis Tool will burn in Hell for all of eternity. After Adam's death, John Walsh's life mission became quite clear. He quit his job as a hotel executive and tiredly lobbied congress for the establishment of the center for missing and exploited children. The agency was established in 1982. The agency has two primary missions. One is to reunite families. The other is to keep children safe from sexual exploitation. But John Walsh was far from done. In 1988 he began hosting America's most wanted. To date, Walsh has helped bring nearly 1000 fugitives to Justice.

On the 25th anniversary of Adams abduction, President George W. Bush signed into law the Adam Walsh child safety protection act into law. The Adam Walsh act makes the failure to be compliant sex offender registry a federal felony. There was bigger news ahead. In December 2008, Hollywood Florida police identified Otis Tool as Adam Walsh's killer. The cops said that circumstance proved conclusively that he was the killer. Although Adam's body has never been found, the case is now closed.