Adam Walsh Abduction and Murder
‘Bringing Adam Home – the Abduction that shook America’, a book by Les Standiford and Joe Matthews brings to light the reality of and the mistakes that had occurred several times and again in the Adam Walsh murder case. It is so ironic that John Wash who had produced America’s Most Wanted, the famous and praised program on television, had failed in finding the murderer of his child Adam Walsh. It was the murder that had stirred up every American heart and was the reason behind the much awaited Child Protection and Safety Act in the United States.
On a very normal and beautiful summer afternoon in Florida, in 1981, Revé Walsh was planning to take her six year old kid to the local Sears store which had finally got the lamps she was searching all over for a long time. Like every American mother she took her son, Adam, with her to the store. When they were about to go to the exact store where they had the lamps, Adam insisted on playing the video game. They had come up with a new Asteroids game which Adam was fascinated about. His mother wanted to disallow that but as the store with the lamps was just a few steps away she allowed him to play the game. Revé then went ahead to buy those lamps and to her disappointment the lamps were not yet available at the store. But she did not know that in some time she was going to face a bigger disappointment and the biggest regret and tribulation of her life.
When she returned to the gaming zone, she found that console Adam was sitting vacant. Adam was nowhere to be seen. They found Adam’s austere head after 13 days in a canal in Florida. After a long and exhaustive search by the police, they pointed John Walsh, the father, as the main suspect. But later, they convicted that Ottis Toole and Henry Lucas, who were already in trial for many other such cases, for the murder of Adam Walsh but were never tried for this crime as Toole was already dead by that time. The case was finally closed in 2008, twenty seven years after Adam’s death. But during these 27 years, America did see some productive work in the field of protection and safety of the American kids.
1. Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act: This act enables various schools and also various child welfare agencies to get access to the FBI’s criminal records. It has also enforced the National Sex offender registry law in which the accused sex offenders have to register their whereabouts at regular intervals depending on the cruelty of their offense. It was signed on the 25th death anniversary of Adam Walsh.
2. Code Adam: It’s a program initiated by Walmart for the security and protection of children in the event of a child missing from a store or shopping mall. It was enacted as a law in 2003 and now all the federal office buildings have to employ the program. If someone informs about a missing child the Code Adam is acted upon. Once the missing information is received all the exterior gates of the store or mall are closed not allowing anyone to go out of the premises. If the child is not found in 10 minutes then the law enforcement is called upon. Then the law enforcement takes care of the situation.
3. National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children: It is a nonprofit organization established in 1984, with a motive of assisting in child welfare issues and creating awareness about such issues. They assist in trying to locate missing or abducted kids and also help sexually or physically abused children. John Walsh along with Noreen Gosch worked hard to establish this organization after noticing the lack of effective mutual work between law enforcements and government agencies.
4. America’s Most Wanted: It was a television program produced and hosted by John Walsh to uncover the truths behind many cases and try to capture the actual culprits. The program has an affluent history of twenty three years, in which they have managed to put more than 1000 fugitive behind the bars.
Adam’s story has been scripted in two movies and many books. It not only uncovered the gruesome reality of missing and later abused American kids but also the shortcomings of the law and the governmental agencies. This is just one of the many cases that America has seen in regards with child abduction and murder. This was much published because of the influential parents. There are many other cases which don’t see the daylight in a court house or on papers. Americans should be made aware about the organizations that will assist them in such scenarios. There are other such organizations working for the welfare of children like Megan Nicole Kanka Foundation, Jimmy Rice Foundation, Polly Klaas Foundation which are the result of similar somber stories of kidnapped and murdered children.
One hopes that we find better and safer lives for our kids with the existing law structure and governmental agencies. One must hope that America does not become home for more such Acts, Laws, Alerts and Foundations which are an outcome of such regrettable catastrophes to families, societies and the nation.
