Police Say Walsh's 1981 Murder Solved

[RWC130 594]

Police Say Walsh's 1981 Murder Solved

AP

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (Dec. 16) – A serial killer who died more than a decade ago is the person who decapitated the 6-year-old son of "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh in 1981, police in Florida said Tuesday. The announcement brought to a close a case that has vexed the Walsh family for more than two decades, launched the television show about the nation's most notorious criminals and inspired changes in how authorities search for missing children.

"Who could take a 6-year-old and murder and decapitate him? Who?" an emotional John Walsh said at Tuesday's news conference. "We needed to know. We needed to know. And today we know. The not knowing has been a torture, but that journey's over."

http://news.aol.com/article/police-say-wal...6982x1201021314

[smwells 7]

http://news.aol.com/article/police-say-wal...6982x1201021314

I am glad that they have some closure after 27 years.

But I have to ask would this case have stayed active if John Walsh was not in the spotlight with AMW and other venues?? It would seem to me that a case of this age would be shelved, unless new evidence recently appeared.

What is the normal procedure for these types of cases?

[ny10570 745]

Maybe not as much in the spotlight, but these cases are usually kept alive by the investigating detectives. They take these personally and don't quit on them. I know of one case personally where while the original investigator is long since retired he still stays up on the case and still keeps in touch with us. And this wasn't a child abduction, just one of the hundreds of unsolved adult murders every year.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Glad to see the family finally got closure after all these years and after all the effort he has put in to assist missing and exploited children and the law enforcement community.

You could still see his pain after all these years and anyone who is a parent felt it with him as the tears rolled down his face. That is a fear and a pain only a person with kids can even begin to understand.