On July 27, 1981, more than 40 years ago, my family changed forever. Many people already know this story. That day, my wife Revé and my 6-year-old son Adam were shopping at a Sears department store in Hollywood, Florida. Soon after noon, my wife asked Adam to watch other children playing on a model video game console-a seemingly safe place. But a few minutes later, when she came back from three aisles away, Adam was gone.
Later, we learned that a 17-year-old part-time security guard mistakenly believed that Adam was part of a quarrel between children playing video games. The guards divided them into groups and ordered them to leave the store through two different doors. Adam has disappeared, and our lives will no longer be the same.
In the chaotic days that followed, I never gave up hope that Adam could be found safely and taken home. We even offered a reward of US$100,000 to attract as many people as possible to the case. I am full of confidence in this system.
However, the local police claimed that the 6-year-old Adam must have walked away by himself, and there was almost no law enforcement assistance. I had to do a lot of basic work by myself. I tried to put his case in the media. After 16 days of his disappearance, Adam’s photo was finally broadcast on national television. On that day, part of Adam’s body was found in a drain about 120 miles from our house. The rest of his remains have never been found. Because the police refused to release Adam’s body, Levi and I held a memorial service with an empty coffin.
In the weeks and months after Adam’s death, I was very sad. But then something changed. I realized that in order for Adam’s meaningless and completely destructive death to have some meaning or purpose, I needed to take action. At that time, my wife founded the Adam Walsh Children’s Resource Center. Together we embarked on a journey to prevent other families from having to endure the same unthinkable tragedy.
Those early years were difficult, but we persevered. Within a year after Adam’s death, the Missing Child Act was signed into law in 1982, followed by the Missing Child Assistance Act of 1984. The former is a simple piece of legislation, only one page, but its power is incredible.It requires that FBI Send any missing children to the current National Crime Information Center (NCIC)-this is exactly what I asked the authorities to do after Adam disappeared. Before we worked hard, there was no national database of unidentified deceased children.
With these victories, it felt like the pain of Adam’s death, and the omnipresent anger and frustration that had enveloped me since then, finally began to feel less primitive. But I haven’t finished yet-it’s far from over.
To say that I have questions about the way the police handled the Adam case is an understatement. But I know that in order to help other children like Adam and their families, I need to launch a campaign to help law enforcement. I decided to put aside my frustration with the pace of justice and do my best to speed it up for others.I have testified in every state of the country to support legislation that protects all children, and in Congress About a hundred times. I still.
Although I am fighting for justice, I know that the real way to catch violent criminals, such as taking away my son’s monster, is to find our way on TV screens in living rooms across the country. It suddenly occurred to me that if everyone in America could see Adam’s face in the days after his disappearance, maybe we could find him alive. What if millions of people around the world could see the faces of criminals who need to be taken from our streets?
But it was not easy for me to achieve this goal and preside over the journey of America’s Most Wanted Criminal (AMW). Someone asked me about this show, but I have the conditions to participate: I want to operate the hotline and equip it with real people, not the police. I refuse to show the faces of any child victims on TV. Without lust, I want to select the case and work directly with the bailiff and the FBI. I will pass these tips to the police. In fact, I chose the first case we reported on AMW: David James Roberts. This child killer is on the FBI’s most wanted criminal list. No one knows where he is. After the show aired his case on February 7, 1988, he was arrested within a few days.
The show was very popular and attracted millions of viewers. I tell people that when they call to tip, they can remain completely anonymous. I was serious. Through a phone call, people can finally participate and make the world safer. For more than 25 years, the show has assisted or ensured the capture of 1,186 fugitives. Since then, in my TV work, I have participated in the capture of hundreds of people.
I am very happy to see that we can achieve so much with the help of the public, but there are endless cases of terrible people and tragic missing children. This work requires turbocharging, so we created slogans and lists such as “The Dirty Dozen”. This is a list of the most dangerous criminals we track; the goal is to maintain public interest even after they turn off the TV.
But most importantly, this work allows me to contact and help families across the country. They are facing the worst tragedy imaginable like me, and after coming out, the other side only wants one thing: justice.
There are a few cases that stand out to me, but I will never forget two very special cases involving missing girls. The first is Jaycee Dugard, who was taken away by a mentally disordered kidnapper and rapist for 18 years before she finally recovered. Then there was 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart who was captured from Salt Lake City. The day she came home, my family and I were in Utah. When she walked in the door and said: “I’m sorry Adam; you can’t find him, but you found me.”
My heart will always be with the victims and their families who believe in my story. However, these families would not find justice without the tenacious and hardworking members of the U.S. Marshals and FBI. Over the years, we have worked side by side; they are amazing people, and I am very grateful for their hard work.
In the long 27 years after Adam’s death, I finally got the justice I had been seeking when I officially identified his murderer in 2008. A brave man named Chad Wagner became the chief of police in Hollywood, Florida, and risked his career to be released from the Adam case file. Sheriff Wagner worked with the tenacious retired homicide detective Joe Matthews and the retired district attorney Kelly Hancock to solve the case. For many years, I knew in my heart that Ottis Toole was responsible, so justice was done, which gave me some comfort. However, the fact that it was so delayed ignited my desire to help other families.
Sometimes I wonder why after experiencing my own life in the spotlight, I choose to live and work in a place so close to tragedy year after year. People always ask me: “Aren’t you exhausted?” “Aren’t these cases always reminding you of your pain?”
Then I thought of my father: my hero. He is the son of an Irish immigrant and volunteered to fight for his country after the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. He won 15 medals, including a Purple Heart. When the brave man died of cancer, I secretly took Adam—he was a baby at the time—to see him in the hospital. I asked my father what advice he has for my new father. I will never forget what he said: “Good people do nothing, and evil prevails.”
I live my life with this motto. So, when Adam was taken away, I wanted to make sure that his life was not wasted. Because the most important thing is Adam and all the other victims.
Every day, through the work I do, I keep Adam’s memory alive. In my struggle for justice, when tracking criminals or lobbying in Washington, or even just asking a family to confide their children’s case to me, I felt Adam was with me. He lives by us to deal with the peace brought about by the unimaginable family.
What a precious legacy he provided. This is the legacy of my struggle for every day, and I feel very honored.
John Walsh is a world-renowned crime fighter, victim advocate, and host of America’s most wanted criminal. The show helped capture more than 1,200 fugitives and bring home dozens of missing children. Walsh continues to seek justice for his son Adam who was killed in 1981. He is currently hosting with his son Callahan a show that was discovered by the investigation with John Walsh. Callahan’s daily work is missing and abused in the country. Children’s Center (NCMEC). So far, the show has helped bring 26 fugitives to justice and found 8 missing children.
All opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own.
