There are no words to adequately express how I am feeling right now.
The face of this sweet 6-year-old boy consumed South Florida when I was 14. He and his mother were shopping at the Hollywood Mall when she turned her back on him for a moment and he was gone. Forever.
Who would take a little boy, murder him, decapitate him, and throw his head into a canal off of the Florida Turnpike?
For 27 years — 27 years — the Walsh family has suffered unspeakable anguish as investigative mistake after mistake was made, and then the pedophile and convicted murderer, Ottis Toole made multiple confessions and then recanted, leading investigators on the path of other suspects.
But finally…after all of this time, the current Chief of the Hollywood Police Department has concluded that through an independent review and investigation of this case, consistent with the opinions of investigators past and present, that Ottis Toole was indeed the abductor and murderer of Adam Walsh and the case will finally be closed.
Watching the below video of today’s press conference and the tears that John and Reve Walsh, along with their 3 children shed on this day, I can’t help but to reflect on how John has taken this horrific tragedy and used it to help ensure it doesn’t happen to another man’s son or daughter.
For all that went wrong in the probe, the case contributed to massive advances in police searches for missing youngsters and a notable shift in the view parents and children hold of the world.
Adam’s death, and his father’s subsequent activism on his behalf, helped put faces on milk cartons, shopping bags and mailbox fliers, started fingerprinting programs and increased security at schools and stores. It spurred the creation of missing persons units at every large police department.
It also prompted national legislation to create a national center, database and toll-free line devoted to missing children, and led to the start of “America’s Most Wanted,” which brought those cases into millions of homes. (MSNBC)
I am shedding tears with them this afternoon. I hope that with the events of this day, they will finally experience the closure they have so rightfully deserved.
Filed under: Current Events, Tragedy | Tagged: Adam Walsh, America's Most Wanted, John Walsh, Reve Walsh
Horrendous. The fact that such evil walks the earth is beyond terrifying.
I was only three when this happened, so obviously I don’t remember the initial case. But I have watched John Walsh ever since I’m able to remember and the story of his son’s death has angered me on many occasions. Why did it take 27 years for closure to finally come to this family? I’ll still remember them in my prayers.
And I know that Mr. Toole is burning in hell now, so justice has been served ever since his death.
God bless you, John Walsh and family, for all you have done to help other families that have lost their dear ones. It’s such a tragedy that it took you losing your son/brother. Adam will forever be missed, even by those who never knew him personally.
I wonder if Henry Lee Lucas was involved, too.
For those follks too lazy to look it up on Wikipedia, Henry Lee Lucas was/is the most notorious serial killer in American history and claims to have killed 600 people. Lucas and Toole were lovers/partners in crime from about 1976 until they got separately arrested. Those two are the basis for the movie Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer starring the amazing Michael Rooker as Henry and Tom Towles as Ottis.
I was six when this story came out. I remember it pretty vividly, too. I think this event made me realize that there are people in this world who don’t care who they hurt and will hurt children for no other reason than the pleasure they derive from it. It was a loss of innocence. On the other hand, this story saved my life and my brother’s life when we were walking home from school one day and these two strange men asked us if we would help them find their puppy (real freakin’ orginal, I know). If so much attention hadn’t been given to this case, we may have thought nothing of it and “helped.” I think a lot of children owe their lives to Adam Walsh and his father’s activism. It was a heck of a price to pay, though.
Unimaginable pain for a family… for so long. It still gets to me.
As sad as this is, I’m happy for it to be finally closed. I admire John Walsh more than I could say. He took the worse thing possible to happen to a parent and took that anger and rage, hurt and every other emotion and turned into HUGE STEPS in us protecting OUR children today. It amazes me the strength he has.
Like Faiqa, I was six – same age as Adam Walsh – at the time.
Every night, I sat with my Dad and watched the NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, and remember all too well the story of the missing little boy and his senseless murder. Loss of innocence is an understatement. I never went to a mall (or anywhere) with my mother without staying closely near her.
Also, my parents sat me down and gave me the whole conversation about strangers and evil in the world. Actually, throughout my childhood, I recall my parents saying things like “there are evil people in this world that would just as soon cut your head off and throw it in a ravine, and not give it a second thought.” Sure, a bit harsh to tell a child, but sometimes the truth is the best medicine. I guess this advice has served me well… as I always have my radar on and suspect everyone, even now as I’m 33.
I also remember, around this time, at school, being fingerprinted by a police officer.
I have great admiration for John and Reve Walsh. Here are two people who showed the world two things:
1) out of tragedy, good can come – the Walsh parents did not go away. For 27 years they persisted in finding the killer of their child. And they were steady in their course.
2) Because of their activism on the part of their own dead child, they changed the world. Who knows how many children have been saved because of the changes in the way child abductions are handled, fingerprinting of children (now DNA), and the creation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
My heart broke for the Walsh Family as I watched their press conference, but on the other hand, I felt a hint of joy that the day they had waited for had finally come. Sure, they didn’t get closure, but they finally got a semblance of justice that they long believed would come.