Omicidiseriali

The killer of a 6-year-old boy, whose death launched nationwide advocacy efforts for missing children and many other crime victims, has finally been named 27 years later. Police say Adam Walsh was killed by Ottis Elwood Toole, who once confessed to the crime then later recanted. Toole, who confessed to dozens of murders, died in prison in 1996. Adam is the son of John Walsh, who turned the personal tragedy in his life to a tireless effort to help missing children and victims of crime. He co-founded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and started the still popular television show “America’s Most Wanted” in 1988. Adam Walsh was abducted from a mall in Hollywood on July 27, 1981. His severed head was found two weeks later in Vero Beach, 120 miles north of the mall. His body was never found. Missing Children’s Act When John and Reve Walsh turned to the FBI for help, they discovered the agency would not become involved in such cases unless proof could be provided that an actually kidnapping had taken place. As a result, Walsh and others lobbied Congress to pass the Missing Children’s Act of 1982 which allowed police to become involved in missing children cases more quickly and created a national database of information about missing children. Walsh has long believed that Ottis Toole (pictured in mug shot) was the killer of his son, but evidence gathered by police at the time — carpet from Toole’s car and the car itself — was lost by the time DNA technology was developed that could have linked the carpet stains to Adam Walsh. Over the years, there have been several suspects in the Adam Walsh case. At one time, there was speculation that serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer may have been involved in Adam’s disappearance. But the other suspects were eliminated by investigators over the years. Death Bed Confession Toole was a convicted serial killer, but he also confessed to many murders that he had nothing to do with, according to investigators. In October 1983, Toole confessed to the murder of Adam, telling police he grabbed the boy at the mall and drove about an hour north before decapitating him. Adam’s head was found in Ft. Pierce, Florida about 120 miles north of Hollywood. Toole later recanted his confession, but a niece of his told John Walsh that on Sept. 15, 1996 from his death bed Toole admitted to the kidnapping and murder of Adam. “For years we have asked the question, who could take a 6-year-old boy and decapitate him. We had to know. Not knowing has been a torture, but that journey is over,” a tearful John Walsh said at a news conference today. “For us it ends here.”