Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder and assault. Reader discretion is advised.
Adam Walsh was six years old when he was reported missing on July 27, 1981, from the Sears Department Store at the Hollywood Mall in South Florida. His mother allegedly left him unsupervised in the toys section before he disappeared. A large-scale hunt for Adam Walsh took place until August 10, 1981, when the victim’s severed head was found in a drainage canal near Vero Beach in Indian River County. His body was never found.
In the days after Adam Walsh’s disappearance, his parents—John Walsh and Reve—searched for their son in a massive hunt. It was actively televised across the country. Fox News reported that they pleaded with the public to provide any potentially helpful leads, further announcing a reward of $100,000 to draw attention to the case. John Walsh also recalled paying for the gasoline of those who promised to help in the search. Meanwhile, local authorities allegedly made a “huge amount of mistakes” in the investigation.
Adam’s mother, Reve Walsh, reportedly left him there to watch a group of older boys playing video games. Later on, investigators came to know that a security guard had asked the older boys to leave because they were causing trouble. Among these boys was Adam Walsh, who may have left the location with them. He was likely abducted outside the mall, according to the History Channel.
In 2006, John and Reve reportedly hired a former Miami Beach homicide detective, Joe Matthews, to look into the case. The cold case was finally re-opened. In 2011, Matthews released a book that compiled the evidence that he found upon investigation that was seemingly overlooked by authorities. He pointed to some 98 photos of Otis Toole’s Cadillac. They were taken by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, according to NBC Miami.
Who were the possible suspects in Adam Walsh’s murder?
Otis Toole was an American serial killer who was convicted of six counts of murder between 1961 and 1983. He confessed to hundreds of murders. However, a lot of the claims were found to be false, and his confession to killing Adam was recanted. Authorities also couldn’t find sufficient evidence to prove that Toole killed the boy.
Briefly, authorities suspected that Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer who was convicted of killing and dismembering 17 males in the years between 1978 and 1991, could be the killer. However, there was no evidence to prove that Dahmer would have murdered Adam Walsh.
After 2006, Joe Matthews reportedly found photos that revealed a machete which Toole possibly used to dismember Adam Walsh’s body. Many other pieces of evidence were allegedly overlooked by the police. NBC News reported in 2008 that the Florida police confirmed Otis Toole as Adam Walsh’s killer. He died of cirrhosis at the Florida State Prison on September 15, 1996, twelve years before he was proven to be the murderer of Adam Walsh.
In the years that followed the tragedy, Adam Walsh’s father, John, became an active victim and child rights activist. He began hosting a national TV show titled America’s Most Wanted, where he advocated for the protection of children and encouraged viewers to be on the lookout for profiled criminals.
Titled “The Lost Boy,” this episode from Cold Blood season 4 follows the disappearance and murder of Adam Walsh. The show is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
