Adam Walsh case solved 27 years after the crime (attorney, civil, divorce)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The intense focus on the parents is one thing John Walsh, and Ed Smart have been trying to advocate for parents of missing children, because it takes precious time in the beginning of an investigation--fine, consider parents a suspect, but also invetigate the crime, don't wait to do the work, of looking for the criminals. That was a problem, police just tried to focus investigations on parents, without considering other suspects. I admire all the parents of missing children who are working with police and news groups. A job no one would want, "expert on Having Your Child Abducted", I think these people are so strong. Mr. Klaas. Mr. Walsh, thank you.
It only happens ALL THE TIME. You read about it in the news, almost on a daily basis. WHENEVER family members are killed, the other family members are prime suspects.
I realize that other family members are prime suspects when a person is killed; I just don't think there was any possibility of that in this case. There was just too much evidence against Toole; for example, the DNA from the inside of his car that was lost during the original investigation and unearthed by Matthews later. Also, I can't imagine a parent initiating and maintaining a nationalized television program--whose purpose was to prevent the very crime that happened to his child--being able to sustain that type of intense involvement for any period of time, much less over two decades, if he were indeed the killer. In addition, Walsh didn't appear to possess any other pathologies and I'm sure he was deeply scrutinized. There just doesn't seem to be even a slight chance, the way there does appear to be with, say, the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend and O.J. Simpson's involvement.
I just read a review of the book Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction That Changed America and didn't realize that Adam Walsh's killer was not found until 2008, 27 years after his murder. It gives one hope that similar cases may be solved, such as the JonBenet Ramsey case. I also didn't know that Adam and some other children were asked to leave the Florida Sears store by a security guard because they were arguing about playing a video game.
I remember Otis Toole's name coming up as the killer many years ago, so why the rehash now?
Hmmmm......I always thought he was abducted from a park that was right across the street from the Walsh home. Vaguely remember that Mom had been checking on him every few minutes from a window and that he disappeared between her re-checks. Anyone else remember it this way?
No, they were in a Sears store and he went to play a video game while mom was shopping.
I admire all the parents of missing children who are working with police and news groups. A job no one would want, "expert on Having Your Child Abducted".
It seems that up until this case, there was no collective knowledge about the dangers of leaving one's child in a public place unattended. Or maybe society as a whole was less dangerous? As kids in the 1960's and 1970's, we all played without any adult supervision in neighborhoods, parks, stores, streets, etc. It appears that after this case, everything changed. Kids born in the 1980's, after the Walsh case became so well known, seem to have been closely supervised everywhere they went.
Hmmmm......I always thought he was abducted from a park that was right across the street from the Walsh home. Vaguely remember that Mom had been checking on him every few minutes from a window and that he disappeared between her re-checks. Anyone else remember it this way?
I'm actually reading the book now. Adam was abducted from a Sears store. A teen-age security guard broke up a disturbance between some kids in the video department and shooed the kids outside. Adam was among the kids. His mother was a few aisles away looking at lamps. When she went to get Adam he was gone.
She asked the security guard if she knew where Adam was and the S.G. denied knowing anything. When the police came to the sore the S.G. didn't tell them she'd shooed all the kids outside.
Adam was picked up by Toole who offered him candy and toys. I'm 1/3 of the way through the book but it's already obvious that the Hollywood, FL police blew it BIG TIME. Toole confessed and there was evidence in his car.
John Walsh had absolutely NOTHING to do with his son's murder.
I'd urge you all to read the book. While graphic and disturbing it is very well-written and researched. (I cannot believe the hell John Walsh and his wife were put through because of the lousy job of investigating the police did in this case. Unbelievable. It could have been solved years earlier.)
Interesting. I wonder if at some point in time we will read a book about Jon Benet, and hopefully her killer will be behind bars. And the cloud over her family will be laid to rest.
I'd urge you all to read the book. While graphic and disturbing it is very well-written and researched.
Thanks for the information. I didn't realize that the security guard was a teenager; that explains a lot. I can't imagine what she must have had to live with all these years. I'm going to try to get the book.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
