On July 27th, 1981 Adam Walsh was in a Sears store at a Florida mall, shopping with his mother. She was just a few aisles away while he played video games. Not many minutes later she was in a frantic state searching the store for Adam. The store clerk called his name on the sound system, and nothing.

Police were called quickly, a helicopter was in the air, and several on ground searches were in active force. A parents nightmare was coming true fast! A few days later, Adam’s parents pled on Good Morning America for any leads on their missing child. And although Adam’s parents were making his disappearance as public as possible, the search was very unorganized. Four days after his disappearance—law enforcement explained that they had hit a wall.

Sixteen days after Adam’s disappearance, the unimaginable happened. Two fisherman found Adam’s head floating in a canal near the Floridian turnpike.

Through their despair, shock, and grief, Adam’s parents founded Adam Walsh’s Outreach Center For Missing Children—only four days after their own son’s funeral.

Although this is a tragedy that no parent should ever have to experience, Adam Walsh’s Child And Safety Act was enacted very quickly, making Children’s laws more powerful than they ever have been.

The Adam Walsh Child and Safety Act Timeline:

Due to America’s Most Wanted success, 17 most wanted criminals were found. And yet John Walsh’s son’s killer was still not identified, nor the rest of his remains found.

Twenty Seven years after Adams’s murder the serial killer Ottis Tule confessed to his niece on his death bed that he had killed Adam. And although he had confessed years before, he like several predators of young children often confess to murders they haven’t committed.

In recent years, law enforcement have apologized to Adams parents for their very little knowledge on effective ways to search for missing children—and identifying their killers. They also have admitted to several families, that before the Adam Walsh disappearance, they were very unorganized in searches for missing children, and did not have much training in this line of duty. But let’s be honest, no apology can bring Adam back.

Nothing can bring Adam Walsh, Megan Kanka, or any child who was taken by violence back. Their families will never watch them grow into individuals they’d hoped they’d become— and the nightmare will never really end.

We owe these families, and these child victims a debt of gratitude. They are the reason why countless children are alive today.