Who Killed Adam Walsh
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On July 27, 1981, Adam Walsh, the 6-year-old son of John and Revé Walsh, was abducted from a Sears department store in Hollywood, Florida. The child’s abduction and subsequent murder shocked the nation and ignited a grassroots campaign to combat child abduction, exploitation, and murder. After decades of investigation and speculation, a suspect was finally named in 2008.
On July 28, 1981, Adam’s mother, Revé Walsh, reported Adam missing after he left a department store in Hollywood, Florida to look at video games. She later remarked that the store was situated close to a major street and she had only taken her eyes off Adam for a brief moment. Surveillance footage later released showed Adam talking with a man in his twenties or thirties.
Adam’s severed head was found two weeks later and a driver’s license belonging to Ottis Elwood Toole was found with it. Toole was an itinerant and a convicted arsonist with a long history of crime and violence. He admitted to the abduction and murder of Adam Walsh, but left many details of the investigation open to speculation. In 1996, Toole died in prison while serving life in prison.
Despite Toole’s confession and the discovery of his driver’s license at the scene of the crime, no trial was ever held and his guilt was never proven beyond a reasonable doubt. This changed in 2008, when the case was reopened by Hollywood Police Chief Chad Wagner. Also that year, Toole’s confession was confirmed using DNA evidence linking him to the crime, and Toole was ruled the definitive killer of Adam Walsh.
The investigative work of the Walsh family and their relentless advocacy work over the years resulted in the creation of the Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2006. The Act mandates a nationwide database for sex offenders, establishes new training programs for teachers, and outlines the federal government’s responsibility for issuing Amber Alerts in cases of child abduction.
After nearly three decades of investigation and uncertainty, Adam Walsh’s cold case was finally solved and justice was served in 2008. Today, the Walsh family continues to tirelessly work towards protecting the safety of children everywhere.