1981 Adam Walsh Murder has been SOLVED!

1981 Adam Walsh Murder has been SOLVED!
Police Close Case Of John Walsh's Child Adam Walsh Was 6 Years Old When He Died In 1981 Tuesday, December 16, 2008 – updated: 3:03 pm EST December 16, 2008 HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- Hollywood police announced Tuesday they have solved the 1981 killing of 6-year-old Adam Walsh, whose father later gained fame as the host of "America's Most Wanted." Adam's parents, John and Reve Walsh, long ago derided the investigation as botched. Both were expected to attend the news conference. The boy went missing from a Hollywood mall on July 27, 1981. Fishermen discovered his severed head in a canal 120 miles away two weeks later. The rest of his body was never found. Hollywood police said a man long considered the lead suspect in the boy's death has finally been conclusively linked to the crime. But the consclusion came too late. The accused, a serial killer named Ottis Toole, died in prison more than a decade ago. Toole had confessed to the killing, but later recanted. He claimed hundreds of murders, but police determined most of the confessions were lies. Toole's niece told the boy's father, John Walsh, her uncle gave a deathbed confession to the crime. http://www.wsbtv.com/news/18292133/detail.html?rss=atl&psp=nationalnews

STATEMENT ON THE CLOSING OF THE ADAM WALSH HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION December 16, 2008 This afternoon, John and Reve Walsh, parents of Adam Walsh, who was abducted from a Hollywood, Florida shopping mall on July 27, 1981 and brutally murdered, joined with the Hollywood Police Department and the Broward County Prosecutor, in announcing that Adam’s case has been closed and that Ottis Toole was responsible for this brutal, unspeakable crime. Toole was never charged with Adam’s murder, but died in prison while serving a life sentence for other crimes. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) expresses its profound gratitude to those who worked tirelessly on this investigation for 27 years, and its hope that today’s announcement will bring some measure of justice for the Walsh family. The tragedy of Adam Walsh shook a nation to its core. Adam’s abduction was the most high-profile child abduction case since the Lindbergh kidnapping, and it fundamentally changed the way America addresses the problem of missing children. Twenty-seven years ago, for all intents and purposes, you could not enter missing child information into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC). Today, you can, thanks to the Missing Children’s Act of 1982, which became law as a result of the tenacity of John and Reve Walsh. When Adam was abducted, most police departments had mandatory waiting periods before they would even take a report of a missing child. Today, waiting periods are outlawed by law. Twenty-seven years ago, there was no National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Today, there is, thanks to the vision of John and Reve Walsh, who founded NCMEC. Twenty-seven years ago, there was no coordinated, national response to the problem of missing children. Today there is, and more missing children come home safely today than at any time in the nation’s history. Adam’s legacy is all around us, in the way police respond to missing child reports, in the dramatic expansion of the role of federal law enforcement, and in the professionalism of law enforcement and child-serving professionals at all levels who are better prepared and respond more swiftly and effectively than ever before when a child disappears. Twenty-seven years ago, John and Reve Walsh turned their anger and indignation into action. John became America’s foremost champion for crime victims. Together, they battled to change the nation’s laws and create new systems to keep children safe. They are true American heroes and deserve the gratitude of every person. John and Reve Walsh have brought compassion and justice to millions. Today, after twenty-seven years, we hope that they will finally achieve some sense of justice for themselves and their family. They deserve it. http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=3890

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