A law enforcement source familiar with the case confirmed to ABC News that police will name Ottis Toole, a drifter who died in prison in 1996, as Walsh's suspected killer.
Ottis Toole
I very much agree with this. When I first heard he was suspected, I just knew it was him. I am so glad that this family can have some kind of closure after 27 years. The news conference was heartbreaking, to say the least. I admire the Walshes for all they have done and endured over the years.
In the end, there was no smoking gun, no new evidence, not even anyone police could charge. All they had was what was right in front of them the whole time.
And, so, on Tuesday investigators finally closed the 27-year-old case of a little boy whose gruesome killing helped spur improvements in finding missing children and catapulted his father to fame as the host of "America's Most Wanted."
"For 27 years, we've been asking who can take a 6-year-old boy and murder and decapitate him. We needed to know. We needed to know," said John Walsh, the father of Adam, the victim. "The not knowing has been a torture, but that journey's over."
Police said the man long considered the lead suspect, Ottis Toole, was conclusively linked to the murder, but largely with circumstantial evidence that they've had all along. And it came far too late: Toole died in prison more than a decade ago.
"Our agency has devoted an inordinate amount of time seeking leads to other potential perpetrators rather than emphasizing Ottis Toole as our primary suspect," said Hollywood Police Chief Chadwick Wagner. "Ottis Toole has continued to be our only real suspect."
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — Authorities in South Florida say they've finally solved the 1981 killing of a boy whose father later gained fame as the host of "America's Most Wanted."
Hollywood police said Tuesday that a man long considered the lead suspect in 6-year-old Adam Walsh's death has finally been named as the man responsible for the crime. But he won't be tried: Serial killer Ottis Toole (AH'-tis TOOL) died in prison more than a decade ago."He ended up really producing a generation of cautious and afraid kids who view all adults and strangers as a threat to them and it made parents extremely paranoid about the safety of their children," Mount Holyoke College sociologist and criminologist Richard Moran told the Associated Press.
I was an 11-year-old girl living in South Florida the day Adam Walsh disappeared. What I remember most was the constant reminder of him at that time: A photo of Adam holding a baseball bat, with a grin that showed missing front teeth. It symbolized a new fear -- a change in our feelings of safety. Before Adam's disappearance, we could ride our bikes anywhere. Afterward, there were lots of questions. "Where are you going?" "When will you be home?" "Who will you be with?""For 27 years, we've been asking who can take a 6-year-old boy and murder and decapitate him. We needed to know. We needed to know," said John Walsh, the father of Adam, the victim. "The not knowing has been a torture, but that journey's over."
And, so, on Tuesday investigators finally closed the 27-year-old case of a little boy whose gruesome killing helped spur improvements in finding missing children and catapulted his father to fame as the host of "America's Most Wanted." A year after Adam's death, Congress passed the Missing Children Act. A national center, database and toll-free line devoted to missing children were created. John Walsh went on to host the television show "America's Most Wanted." He claimed hundreds of murders, but police determined most of the confessions were lies. Toole's niece told the boy's father, John Walsh, her uncle gave a deathbed confession. Toole had confessed to the killing, but later recanted. Police said the man long considered the lead suspect, Ottis Toole, was conclusively linked to the murder, but largely with circumstantial evidence that they've had all along. And it came far too late: Toole died in prison more than a decade ago.
"Our agency has devoted an inordinate amount of time seeking leads to other potential perpetrators rather than emphasizing Ottis Toole as our primary suspect," said Hollywood Police Chief Chadwick Wagner. In the end, there was no smoking gun, no new evidence, not even anyone police could charge. All they had was what was right in front of them the whole time.
John Walsh has said he believed Toole killed his son. He says not knowing was torture, but "that journey's over."
Whatever your thoughts about Walsh's efforts on behalf of missing children over the years, at least he and his wife, Reve, finally know who killed their little boy. "Who could take a 6-year-old and murder and decapitate him? Who?" John Walsh said at a Tuesday news conference in which Reve placed a small photo of Adam on the lectern. "We needed to know. We needed to know. And today we know. The not knowing has been a torture, but that journey's over."
Did the Adam Walsh case change how your parents approached safety? Did it make you more fearful?
Police say Fla. boy's 1981 murder is solved
"Ottis Toole has continued to be our only real suspect."
In 1981, 6-year-old Adam Walsh went missing from a Hollywood, Fla., shopping mall, sending all of South Florida into a tailspin. Today, more than two decades later, Adam's killer has finally been named: Ottis Toole, a suspect who had twice confessed and recanted, admitted to the crime on his deathbed, Toole's niece told Adam's father, John Walsh. Adam Walsh Case Finally Closed. Adam's disappearance and death compelled his father, John Walsh, to become a national advocate for missing children. He helped put missing children's faces on milk bottles and mailbox fliers in the days before Amber Alerts could spread in minutes via e-mail.
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