Making Lemonade and A Big Difference

John Walsh is a name that probably feels familiar to you, but at first you may not remember why.  He is a man who, together with his wife, made lemonade out of one of life’s most rotten lemons, and created a living and lasting legacy in response to a parent’s worse nightmare.  You know not only his name, but likely his face and his voice, as the host of a television program with increasing popularity and success:  America’s Most Wanted. (www.amw.com)

In the early 1980’s, John worked in the hotel management industry and lived with his wife, Reve, and six year old son Adam in Hollywood, FL.  In July of that year, Adam was abducted from a department store.  Adam’s severed head was later found in a canal, though his body was never found.  The prime suspect in the murder, who later confessed to the crime while in prison serving several life prison terms for other crimes, was never charged or convicted.  He died in prison in 1996.

The Walsh family’s grief turned into a passion for helping other missing or abused children.  They worked for the passage of federal laws protecting children including the Missing Children Act of 1982, which provides a mechanism for parents to enter information on their missing child into the FBI National Crime Information Center (NCIC) computer system, and to verify that the FBI verify that the local police department taking the missing child report has entered the information into the computer system.  They were also instrumental in passage of the Missing Children's Assistance Act of 1984, which coordinates federally funded missing children programs, established and operates a national toll-free telephone line for missing children as well as a national resource center and clearinghouse. 

John and Reve Walsh went on to create the Adam Walsh Child Resource Center, a non-profit organization focused on legislative reform.  That organization eventually merged with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which in addition to legislative lobbying efforts, helps find children reported missing as a result of abduction or running away, and assists physically and sexually abused children, through distribution of photographs of missing children and coordination of tips about them received from the public. (See www.missingkids.com)

While John and Reve Walsh have served on NCMEC’s Board of Directors, the organizations and legislation they developed, and the nationally televised show they created will live on well after their personal involvements, making a definite and positive difference in the lives of the world’s youngest victims of crime and their families.