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From the Associated Press (archives)

November 22, 1983, Tuesday, AM cycle

Parents Of Slain Boy Drop Suit Against Mall

DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD, Fla.

The parents of Adam Walsh on Monday dropped their negligence suit against Sears, Roebuck and Co. and the Hollywood Mall, saying the court battle has hurt their crusade against crimes to children.
No settlement was disclosed.

"It's the children who suffer the most in this," said John Walsh, father of 6-year-old Adam, who was slain in 1981. "I have to work for effective social change and keep making people aware." Hollywood police say 36-year-old drifter Ottis Elwood Toole has confessed to abducting young Adam in July 1981 from the mall. Chief Sam Martin has said Toole also confessed to decapitating the boy and burying his body in a marsh. However, Toole later recanted that confession to his defense attorneys.

The boy's body was never found.

The case was the subject of an NBC television movie, "Adam," earlier this fall.

The negligence suit was filed in Broward Circuit Court July 22. Judge J. Call Lee signed the dismissal order and said he knew no more about the dismissal than was detailed in the joint agreement.
Under terms of the dismissal, neither side can file suit against the other.

Walsh and his wife, Reve, contended that an untrained mall security guard chased Adam and other children away from some video games after an argument between the youths. The suit said the guard's action contributed to the boy's abduction and murder.

The couple's private life became a central issue in the litigation through publicized pretrial statements from a long-time family friend, James Campbell.

In a 165-page deposition Campbell gave to Sears' attorneys Nov. 4, he detailed his love affair with Mrs. Walsh during the two years he lived in the family's home.

Campbell, who coached Adam's baseball team and was the boy's godfather, said Walsh and his wife smoked marijuana and used cocaine.

Campbell had been a suspect in the killing, but he said detectives visited him in October and told him he was no longer a suspect.

Walsh and his attorneys tried unsuccessfully to have the deposition barred from litigiation saying Sears was making a "malicious attempt to discredit my family."

Following the suit's dismissal, mall attorney Rex Conrad said mall management would not elaborate on reasons for the dismissal.

"John and Reve Walsh have directed all of their efforts over the past 2 1/2 years toward creating awareness to the problem of missing children and to effect social and legislative changes on a local, state and national level," the agreement said.

The three-page document also contained a statement that Sears "wholeheartedly" supports the Walshes in their efforts to prevent crimes against children.

Color me stunned. I was only 12 in 1983.

I remember the kidnapping (obviously), because I grew up in Florida, and all Florida parents went absolutely goofy after Adam was stolen.

I had no idea about this stuff. I had heard rumors about Reve having an affair, but I didn't know the guy lived in their house! And the only thing I knew about JW's cocaine use was some photos I saw in a tabloid of what looked like him smoking crack with some slut.

I'm gonna go and scrape myself up off the floor now.

In a 165-page deposition Campbell gave to Sears' attorneys Nov. 4, he detailed his love affair with Mrs. Walsh during the two years he lived in the family's home. Campbell, who coached Adam's baseball team and was the boy's godfather, said Walsh and his wife smoked marijuana and used cocaine.

My goodness, Miz. No wonder John Walsh didn't have a problem with the Van Dams when he interviewed them. What a creep, and his wife too. Did Damon share after the interview? Enquiring minds need to know (or maybe not!).