On July 27, 1981, what began as an ordinary day for the Walsh family shifted into a heartbreaking tragedy.
Reve Walsh took her 6-year-old son, Adam, to Sears in Hollywood, Florida. While she was shopping a few aisles over, Adam wandered into the video game section.
When Reve returned to find Adam, he was missing. Investigators determined that Adam left the store with a group of older boys who had been asked to leave for misbehavior, according to reports from History.com.
Adam Walsh, 6, was kidnapped on July 27, 1981. (AP)
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Adam’s parents initiated an extensive search effort, posting a $100,000 reward to garner attention for the case.
“When Adam was kidnapped… the FBI did not assist us,” Walsh recounted in a statement to Fox News Digital. “… The FBI refused to input Adam in the NCIC, or the National Crime Information Computer, which at that time in 1981 contained millions of records of convicted felons and stolen vehicles. … There was no unidentified deceased file, no missing children’s file, nothing available.”
Just under two weeks after Adam’s disappearance, his severed head was located by two fishermen in a drainage canal in Vero Beach, nearly 100 miles from where he was taken, as reported by History.com. His body has never been recovered.
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“My heart was shattered,” Walsh told Fox News Digital upon learning of the devastating discovery.
It was 27 years before Adam’s case was officially closed.
Ottis Elwood Toole eventually confessed to Adam’s murder, though he fluctuated between providing details and recanting his confession over the years following Adam’s death.
John Walsh, Adam’s father, co-founded the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. (Alex Wong/Getty Images/File)
In October 1983, while incarcerated, Toole first confessed to Adam’s kidnapping and murder, claiming that serial killer Henry Lee Lucas was also involved. However, it was later verified that Lucas was imprisoned at the time of the abduction.
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Investigators were unable to find Adam’s body where Toole asserted he had buried it, yielding no physical evidence in the case.
Months after that initial confession, Toole withdrew his statement.
Over the subsequent years, Toole continued the pattern of confessing and recanting. Another potential suspect in Adam’s case was serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who resided in Florida during that period, according to History.com.
Toole, convicted of six murders, passed away in prison in 1996. It wasn’t until December 16, 2008, that law enforcement officially closed the case, concluding that there was sufficient evidence to hold Toole accountable for Adam’s death, as reported by History.com.
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Since then, Adam’s family, including younger brother Callahan, who was born after Adam’s disappearance, have dedicated their lives to advocacy.
John Walsh and son Callahan Walsh host “America’s Most Wanted,” a program established after Adam’s death aimed at apprehending dangerous criminals. (Michael Becker/FOX ©2024 FOX Media LLC)
John serves as the creator and host of “America’s Most Wanted,” a program dedicated to hunting down criminals for over four decades, which he established in 1988 following his son’s murder.
“I grew up in a well-protected community and never imagined we would be affected by crime,” Walsh told Fox News Digital. “… Throughout these years, I’ve realized that crime can reach anyone, anywhere. No one is immune.”
The show has successfully captured over 1,190 criminals.
“My motivation stemmed from the fact that no one aided us in the search for Adam,” Walsh expressed to Fox News Digital. “We were capable of landing on the moon, yet couldn’t input missing children’s data into the major FBI database. But we pushed forward. Our love for him drove us, despite the lack of leads on his murder case, which took 27 years to resolve. Thanks to a retired detective and DA who revisited the files, Adam’s case was eventually solved. That steadfast love for him has always propelled me forward.”
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Walsh co-founded the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, a nonprofit organization in which Callahan now serves as the executive director of the Florida chapter.
On the 25th anniversary of Adam’s abduction, President George W. Bush enacted the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act into law in 2006. (TIM SLOAN/AFP via Getty Images)
On July 27, 2006, twenty-five years after Adam’s kidnapping, President George W. Bush enacted the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act into law, which established a national registry of convicted child sex offenders, strengthened federal punishments for child-related crimes, and provided resources and training for law enforcement in combating online exploitation of minors, according to History.com.
