Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction That Changed America by
Les Standiford
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
Me: "The book I'm listening to is REALLY pissing me off!"
Friend: "Then why are you still listening to it?!"
Me: "It's really good!"
It seems odd to give four stars to a book that angered me so much but this is a pretty powerful book! As a child of the 70's and 80's, I was aware "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh had a little boy who disappeared. But as a child, I had more important things to worry about than whatever happened to him. So, it was likely natural curiosity about the little boy I grew up vaguely knowing about that led to this book landing a spot on my TBR list.
On July 27, 1981, Reve (Rev-A) Walsh took son Adam to a lamp sale at Sears. Leaving him to play at an Atari display, she headed over a couple of aisles to pick up the lamps. That was the last time she ever saw Adam alive. Two weeks later, his severed head was found in a drainage ditch; the rest of his body would never be found. For the next 27 (!!) years, Reve and John Walsh would be left to wonder what had happened to their son before finally getting closure in December of 2008, thanks in large part to Detective Joe Matthews.
Joe Matthews was working as a detective in Miami when Adam was kidnapped and murdered. Loaned to Hollywood, he quickly dismissed the prime suspect pegged by lead detective, Jack Hoffman. And that's when things went south. I tried to keep in mind I did not know the bias of this book's author as I listened, but man, was this case bungled after the family friend Hoffman wanted to fry was cleared!
With Adam's severed head as the only physical evidence, the case went cold until 1983 when Ottis Toole, while being investigated for another murder, confessed to killing Adam Walsh as well. This would start off a long series of twists and turns in this case with the end result the same at each one: Toole, despite knowing things that were never made public, was never arrested for nor tried for Adam's murder due to lack of physical evidence. As Standiford stated, it's like the Hollywood police department was going out of their way to prove Toole innocent, even though he would ultimately be revealed to be a serial killer!
Over the course of the years, evidence would be found, "lost," not processed, left out of the case file, etc. Clothes matching the description of what Adam was wearing that fateful day were found where Toole hinted his body may be. They were not shown to John and Reve for identification until 15 years later. The ransom letter from Toole John Walsh had the foresight to copy before handing over to the police was never put in the file. Eye witnesses who did not realize at first they had witnessed the abduction and who could positively ID Toole were dismissed. Crime scene photos were never processed - until Matthews, acting as a private investigator in 2008, asked for copies of them. The list goes on and on. As I told my friend, it's like Hoffman decided that since he couldn't have his way, he took his marbles and went home.
I think the thing that made me the most upset about this is there were no repercussions for the long line of officers who so badly mishandled this case. Standiford speculates that rather than face the embarrassment of having botched this so badly, Hollywood just tried to make it go away (to which I thought "Hey! Solving the case would make it go away!")
As Matthews would ultimately prove, this case could have been definitively solved in 1983. Not 2008. 1983. TWO years after Adam Walsh was murdered. But instead his parents had to wait TWENTY-SEVEN years for closure. I can't imagine the anguish of having someone who has intimate knowledge confess only to never be prosecuted because those in charge of the investigation basically just didn't want to do it (as the book makes it sound). Seriously, how the Walshes did not sue the department is beyond me!
Of course, there is good to have come from this senseless crime with the introduction and passage of several laws surrounding the kidnapping and exploitation of missing children. VICAP was created to assist the FBI. "Code Adam" was enlisted by big box stores to mobilize employees when a child is reported missing. And, of course, "America's Most Wanted" has been instrumental in catching well over a thousand fugitives, included several from the FBI's Most Wanted list. As angry as I am as to how this investigation played out over the years, a part of me can't help but wonder if all this good would have still come if the case had been solved quickly?
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