Adam Walsh Murder Officially Closed

Deceased serial killer Otis Toole has been formally declared the killer of Adam Walsh back in 1981. The death of the six year old led John Walsh to pursue not only his son's killer, but criminals in general, with a father's vengeance. Walsh always believed Toole to be the killer of his son, and lobbied numerous attacks against the Hollywood Police Department's work on the case. "It was shocking, inexcusable and heartbreaking."

Adam disappeared 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. His father's efforts on his behalf led to putting faces on milk cartons, shopping bags and mailbox fliers, the start of fingerprinting programs and increased security at schools and stores. It also spurred the creation of missing persons units at every large police department. The case also prompted national legislation to create a national database and toll-free line devoted to missing children, and led to the start of "America's Most Wanted," which brought those cases into millions of homes.

Rest in peace, Adam, and may God provide peace to your parents with this closure on your fate. May they take no small comfort in the knowledge that the terrible end to your brief life has undoubtedly saved thousands of other parents from suffering the same fate due to their dogged activism. This world has an empty hole where your life was to have been.