Adam Walsh case may finally be solved

tCPalm News ^ | 12-16-08 | Sun-Sentinel

[prismsinc]

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — A little boy's murder that shocked parents everywhere, launched a national television crusade and confounded detectives for more than two decades may finally be solved.

Hollywood police today are expected to identify Ottis Toole as the killer of Adam Walsh, the 6-year old snatched from a Sears store at the Hollywood Mall on July 27, 1981.

Adam's severed head turned up two weeks later in Vero Beach and his body has never been found.

[netmilsmom]

Everyone is giving prayers for John Walsh. Is the boy’s mother dead?

[Repeal The 17th]

Warn’t that thare feller in that movie “Deliverence”?
Or maybe it was “Brother Where Art Thou?
But I just know I’ve seed him some whares afore.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Complicating matters is the fact a Jacksonville detective fed Toole inside information about the Walsh case and manipulated the dimwitted man in hopes of selling the book and movie rights, according to Broward Sheriff's Office investigative files.

Before declaring any "victory for the justice system", I want to know exactly what happened to this "detective".

[Texan Tory]

“There was a point in time when homosexuality was classified as a mental/psychological disorder. The gay lobby had that removed in 1972/73, I believe. We have been making payment on that ever since.”

Most gay men never kill anyone, let alone a young boy. I don’t see how the reclassification in 1972/73 has any bearing here. I’m not gay, and it’s hard for me to even understand the basis for same-sex attraction, but I’m willing to bet that most gay men are just as horrified as you are by the killing of this innocent boy.

[fatima]

“Adam”is one of the saddest movies I ever watched.My husband and I sat there and cried.
“Synopsis: Adam is the heartbreakingly true story of the disappearance of 6-year-old Adam Walsh (John Boston) at a South Florida shopping mall. Adam’s anguished parents John and Reve Walsh (Daniel J. Travanti and JoBeth Williams) turn to the FBI for help in finding their son, only to discover that the federal organization does not involve itself in such cases. As hope for Adam’s return fades, the Walshes begin an organization to aid and comfort other families of missing children. The story does not end happily ... Full Synopsis”
http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie/adam.2/

[PowderMonkey]

I recall seeing interviews of Toole and Lucas. You could immediately see that there was something dangerously wrong with them. You could sense it, and it didn't take a clairvoyant to see it. They were the kind of people you instinctively avoided during chance encounters at highway rest stops or neighborhood bars. All the alarm bells would go off the minute they spoke. There's far too many of them walking loose among us even now, and they're the reason I never travel anywhere unarmed.

[El Gato]

He died in 1996.

Well, then he's been nice and toasty for 12+ years now. But he's still got lots of time yet to enjoy the heat. And the burning sulfur.

[pgkdan]

Good. In that case I hope he’s spent the last 12 years burning in hell and has an eternity more to look forward to.

[don-o]

Aspiring comedian?

Do not quit your day job.

[krb]

Adam's severed head turned up two weeks later in Vero Beach and his body has never been found.

Oh man, I never knew that. :-(

[dbz77]

Apparently Mr. Toole had been extradited to a higher jurisdiction over ten years ago.

[dbz77]

He died in 1996.

Consider it an extradition.

[Luke21]

My son was born in 1981, the year Adam was murdered. His death had a profound impact on me. I cried so hard during the movie with Daniel Travante and Jobeth Williams, and never finished it. There was a scene where Travante as John Walsh enters Adam's bedroom and speaks to his son up in heaven, telling him that they will have another baby. I still can't watch it.

My wife and I were called over protective. Our kids were always in our sight. We even walked them to school. People said we were paranoid. But they are all grown and my precious one year old grandson is never out of mommy's sight, being raised the same way.

John Walsh is a very great man. Adam remains in many of our hearts.

[advertising guy]

Lucas was caught wanderin around in a town called Henrietta Tx.........a tiny town

[smokingfrog]

Adam Walsh case

[Skid Marx]

I recall seeing interviews of Toole and Lucas. You could immediately see that there was something dangerously wrong with them.

Oh yeah. These are the kind of offenders who transcend labels like 'gay' or 'transvestite', or really any kind of category a sane citizen would recognise. Crimes committed by such are difficult to investigate because of this. They're the reason the death penalty exists, and that the .45ACP is our friend.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

I don't know how John Walsh can find the strength to go on with his life after this horrific crime to his child. Me? I would have probably curled up inside a Jack Daniel's bottle.

I also want to add that Walsh is an amazing host. I don't know if he already had experience in television but if he didn't then wow. An ordinary citizen becoming the host of a television show?

[radiohead]

I suppose there are a lot of younger people who don’t remember this case. Just last night we went into a store in the mall that had a ‘Code Adam’ sticker on the door. Some people don’t know what that is or why it’s there, but I remember. I may have been naive, but when this case happened I certainly thought of the mall as a safe place. No more.

[bunches]

“I lived in Hollywood Florida when this happened”

I saw the movie “Adam” sometime in 1982.

At that time my little son was 2 years old. One day when we took he and my daughter to the mall, he got away from me when my back was turned and I didn’t know where he went.

My heart stopped and everything felt like it was going on in slow motion. We looked for him all over the mall, they announced he was lost over the mall intercom and everyone, I mean EVERYONE in the mall looked for him, because the movie and its tragic aftermath was still on everyone’s mind who had seen it.

After what seemed like an eternity ( I still don’t remember how long) my sweet boy was brought back to us by a gentleman who took care of the kiddie rides down at the other end of the mall, where my son had run off to.

26 years later I am still grateful to that man. When you child is lost, even for a little while, the crippling feeling of helplessness, horrible fear and icy fingers on your heart cannot be explained except to someone who has been through it.

I must have hugged him for 10 minutes when he was brought back to me.

[advertising guy]

I can only imagine...but when Adam’s head only was found....grown adults hit their knees in pain