When Adam Walsh was abducted 27 years ago, it shocked the country. Now, it seems, it takes a lot more to shock us. Adam was 6 years old when he disappeared from a Hollywood, Fla., Sears store on July 27, 1981.
Two weeks later, his severed head was found in a canal 120 miles away. The boy’s body was never recovered. During a news conference on Tuesday, police in South Florida closed the case, saying they believe the boy was killed by a man named Ottis Toole, who died in prison years ago.
Recent news of the Walsh abduction renews attention to the importance of looking at open missing children cases in your area. The parents of missing children may also carry interesting stories.
John Walsh, Adams’ father, became a high profile “crime fighter” after his son went missing. During the news conference, he urged parents of missing children to never give up.
“America’s Most Wanted” provides some insight into the changes that the Walsh tragedy spurred:
The Walsh family’s tragic story woke up a nation to the danger of child predators after NBC aired two movies about their life. “Adam,” in 1983, and “Adam: His Song Continues” in 1986, dramatized the incredible heartbreak and then resilience of the Walshes. In a bold and courageous move, the network ran a roll call of missing children at the end of the movies, leading to the recovery of 65 children.
John and Reve Walsh’s experience taught them that the nation was in desperate need of leadership in the fight to protect children, and they decided to create something positive out of their personal tragedy. From the ad hoc organization they put together to help with the search for Adam, they established the Adam Walsh Child Resource Center, which eventually merged with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), which they co-founded in 1984.
In 2006, President George Bush signed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.
The White House says the bill protects children by:
1. Expanding The National Sex Offender Registry. The bill will integrate the information in State sex offender registry systems and ensure that law enforcement has access to the same information across the United States, helping prevent sex offenders from evading detection by moving from State to State. Data drawn from this comprehensive registry will be made available to the public so parents have the information they need to help protect their children from sex offenders.
2. Strengthening Federal Penalties For Crimes Against Children. The bill imposes tough mandatory minimum penalties for the most serious crimes against children and increases penalties for crimes such as sex trafficking of children and child prostitution. It also provides grants to States to help them institutionalize sex offenders who have shown they cannot change their behavior and are about to be released from prison.
3. Making It Harder For Sex Predators To Reach Our Children On The Internet. The bill authorizes new regional Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforces that will provide funding and training to help State and local law enforcement combat crimes involving the sexual exploitation of minors on the Internet. The holidays must be tough for parents of missing children. This may be an especially good time, then, to look into old cases.
The holidays have to be tough for parents of missing children. This may be an especially good time, then, to look into old cases.
