Police: 1981 Murder of Son of America's Most Wanted Anchor John Walsh Is Solved

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — The investigation into the 1981 murder of Adam Walsh, the 6-year-old son of "America's Most Wanted" anchor John Walsh, is finally closed.

Hollywood, Fla., Police Chief Chad Wagner announced Tuesday that the department had concluded that Ottis Toole, a serial killer who died in jail in 1996, was the man who kidnapped and decapitated the young boy. (MORE)

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Ottis Toole liked to work with his friend, Henry Lee Lucas. I remember reading about these guys many times. They're horrible creatures. I'm glad they finally have the answer to what happened.

FOXNews.com - Police: 1981 Murder of Son of America's Most Wanted Anchor John Walsh Is Solved - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

Police: Drifter killed Adam Walsh in 1981 - CNN.com

Jessica said:

Ottis Toole liked to work with his friend, Henry Lee Lucas. I remember reading about these guys many times. They're horrible creatures. I'm glad they finally have the answer to what happened.

FOXNews.com - Police: 1981 Murder of Son of America's Most Wanted Anchor John Walsh Is Solved - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

Police: Drifter killed Adam Walsh in 1981 - CNN.com

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I would love to see the evidence used to link Adam Walsh to Otis Toole.

Vader said:

I would love to see the evidence used to link Adam Walsh to Otis Toole.

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From what I've heard it's from DNA found on evidence collected before DNA testing was possible, which is why the case was only closed now

Toole confessed decades ago. He confessed and retracted his confession many times over the years. He died twelve years ago.
The case is not so much "solved" as it is "closed". Officially closed.

I'm not a parent yet but could only imagine losing a child because of something like that and never having the answer. I'm glad the Walsh family has that closure.

Such a tragedy. But yet, out of this so much good has happened. John Walsh is a great stand up guy and he has done so much for children's rights and putting so many criminals behind bars.

We were talking this morning how sad it must be for so many years having this hang over their family and now it's finally over for them. It's been going on for as long as I've been alive (born in 1981).

americanwoman said:

Such a tragedy. But yet, out of this so much good has happened. John Walsh is a great stand up guy and he has done so much for children's rights and putting so many criminals behind bars.

We were talking this morning how sad it must be for so many years having this hang over their family and now it's finally over for them. It's been going on for as long as I've been alive (born in 1981).

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You took the words right off of my keyboard. C'ept I've been alive longer. :lol:

To put a bit of a sour note on this news...

I hear the man identified as Adam Walsh's killer described on the news as a "violent pedophile." Scanning through his Wikipedia article, he seems to have been quite...disturbed and heinous, (though much of it seemed like a tabloid piece, and needs many more reliable sources), but I saw nothing whatsoever about him having a clinical diagnosis of pedophilia, and the media seems to merely be repeating John Walsh's assertion that he was a pedophile.

A CNN article that I read identified Toole as a "convicted pedophile. But "pedophile" is a term intended to refer to a paraphilia, whereas "convicted" is a legal term. There can be no "conviction" of "pedophilia," and the media's mis-identification of the term only serves to foster public misunderstanding of it.

This is troubling, because along with "terrorist," the term "pedophile" is a word intended to function as a control mechanism and to silence dissent and rational thought.

There is also really no concrete evidence that Toole sexually assaulted Adam Walsh, since they only found his head.

Kernel Sanders said:

From what I've heard it's from DNA found on evidence collected before DNA testing was possible, which is why the case was only closed now

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Ah. Very good. I am happy the Walsh family has closure.