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Adam John Walsh (November 14, 1974–c. July 27, 1981) was an American boy abducted from a Sears department store at the Hollywood Mall in Hollywood, Florida, on July 27, 1981, and later found murdered. No one was ever arrested or tried for the crime.

Adam's death earned national publicity, and Adam's father, John Walsh, later became an advocate for victims of violent crime and the host of the television program America's Most Wanted.

Contents 1 Kidnapping 2 Aftermath 3 Suspects 4 Fictional portrayals 5 References 6 See also

Adam's mother, Revé, let him play video games while she shopped at a Sears store in Hollywood, Florida, for a lamp. The children were making noise while playing the video game, and a 17-year-old security guard told the children to leave the shopping mall.

When Revé returned to the video game section, she was frightened to find that Adam was not there. She then told a Sears associate, who announced over the intercom for Adam to meet his mother at one of the information desks. Revé later said that she had no confidence that Adam would be able to locate the desks. Adam and his mother were never reunited. Investigators think Adam had been mistakenly associated with a group of older children who were causing trouble and told to leave the shopping mall. It is suspected that Adam was abducted near the front exterior of the store after the other boys went on their way.

Adam's severed head was found in a Vero Beach, Florida, canal on August 10, 1981; the rest of his remains were never recovered.

The kidnapping and murder prompted Adam's father, John Walsh, to become an advocate for victims' rights and helped to spur the formation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). As a result of his advocacy, he was approached to host the television program America's Most Wanted.

The Code Adam program for helping lost children in department stores is named in Walsh's memory.

The U.S. Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act on July 25, 2006, and President Bush signed it into law on July 27, 2006. The bill signing ceremony took place on the South Lawn of the White House, where leaders from both sides of the political spectrum joined John and Revé Walsh. The bill institutes a national database of convicted child molesters, increases penalties for sexual and violent offenses against children, and creates a RICO cause of action for child predators and those who conspire with them.

No one has been convicted of Adam Walsh's murder, although one man, Ottis Toole, repeatedly confessed and then retracted accounts of his involvement. Toole, allegedly a confidante of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, was never charged in the Walsh case. Police investigated Toole for the Walsh murder, but lost important evidence in the case. In September 1996, Toole died in prison of cirrhosis of the liver while serving a life sentence for other crimes. Afterwards, Toole's niece told John Walsh that her uncle made a deathbed confession to the murder of Adam.^[1]

Jeffrey Dahmer, arrested in Wisconsin in 1991 after killing more than a dozen men and boys, has also been named as a suspect in the Walsh murder. Some have suggested a Dahmer link to the case for many years, but the allegations earned widespread publicity on in early 2007. Dahmer was living in Miami Beach at the time Adam was murdered and two eyewitnesses place him at the shopping mall on the day that Adam was abducted. Dahmer preyed on young men and boys, and his modus operandi included severing his victims' heads.^[2] Since this rumor has surfaced John Walsh has said that he has "seen no evidence linking his son's unsolved kidnapping and slaying to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer." John still believes his son was murdered by Ottis Toole.^[3]

The days after Adam's disappearance were dramatized in a 1983 NBC television movie, Adam, with actors Daniel J. Travanti and JoBeth Williams portraying Adam's parents. The real John Walsh appeared at the conclusion of the broadcast to publicize photos of other kidnapped children, years before hosting America's Most Wanted.

1. ^ Associated Press, "Walsh: No Dahmer link to son's slaying"; URL accessed February 9, 2007
2. ^ " Walsh: No Dahmer link to son's slaying", the Associated Press; URL accessed February 9, 2007
3. ^ Associated Press, "Walsh: No Dahmer link to son's slaying"; URL accessed February 9, 2007

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