Fla. police close books on ’81 Walsh killing
John Walsh seems thankful the case is closed but cautions it doesn’t provide closure. He has maintained Ottis Toole was his son’s killer even though in February 2007 it was suggested by some Jeffrey Dahmer was responsible.
America’s Most Wanted (AMW) issued the following statement regarding convicted killer Jeffrey Dahmer and the murder of Adam Walsh:
“Despite news stories prompted by the publication of a recent article in a Florida newspaper, America’s Most Wanted is aware of no credible information connecting Jeffrey Dahmer to the murder of Adam Walsh, the son of AMW’s host, John Walsh.
While he appears to have come to grips with the case being closed, he has not always been comfortable concerning how the investigation of Adam’s disappearance has been handled by law enforcement.
In 1997, Adam’s father, John Walsh, released the book “Tears of Rage,” that criticized the police department’s work.
“So many mistakes were made,” he said. “It was shocking, inexcusable and heartbreaking.”
In any given missing child case from Trenton Duckett’s disappearance to Coralrose Fullwood’s murder you will read about the lack of resources to investigate all the leads or of delays due to limited manpower and finances. These are some still missing children either victims of violent family abductions or seemingly gone without a trace.
Walsh is credited with helping to spearhead the effort to find all missing children. Many praise his work but not everyone.
Robert Moran, Mount Holyoke College sociologist and criminologist, had this to say about how the Adam Walsh case transformed missing kid searches
“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,” Moran said.
In her August 13, 2006 article, How Dangerous is Childhood in the Palm Beach Post Nicole Neal cited many factors.
In our effort to protect children from even the most remote chance that they might be harmed, in teaching them that danger lurks around every corner, have we reared a generation of overly fearful young adults, emotionally tethered to their parents and seemingly incapable even of walking across a college campus without holding someone’s hand via cellphone?
Authorities question guilt of suspect in Adam Walsh murder
“I was appalled, absolutely appalled,” Pat Brown, a criminal profiler in Washington, said of the decision to close the case. “There is no reason to close a case without sufficient evidence that one particular person has committed the crime.”
