In 1981 a young boy named Adam was abducted by a stranger from a shopping plaza. It would take almost three decades to bring closure to his family but in that time Adam’s legacy would forever change the way America views and handles missing children cases.You can learn more about the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children here.Did you know you can listen to this episode ad-free? Join the Fan Club! Visit https://crimejunkieapp.com/library/ to view the current membership options and policies.Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit: https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/precedent-adam-walsh/
Ravée Walsh and her son Adam went to the local Sears store, but after Ravée's errand, Adam was nowhere to be found, sparking a search that ended in tragedy.
Two eyewitnesses linked Jeffrey Dahmer to the abduction of Adam Walsh in the Hollywood mall, but another suspect, Ottis Toole, was convicted based on a jail cellmate's testimony alleging that he enticed Adam away from a wig store before severing his head and throwing it into a canal.
In 1984, John Walsh co-founded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a national organization that lobbied for the Missing Children's Act and has helped recover over 348,000 missing children.