Tuesday, Jan. 05, 2010
Ottis Toole
In December 2008, 20 years after the debut of America's Most Wanted, the show's host, John Walsh (pictured), received some long-delayed personal justice. Florida investigators finally concluded that Ottis Toole — an inmate who died in prison in 1996 — was the killer of Walsh's son Adam, who had been abducted and murdered in 1981. Walsh, a former hotel-management executive who helped create the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children following his son's death, has hosted the show since its first season. While Adam's murder was never featured on the show — Walsh and police long believed Toole to be the killer — to this day, the program focuses heavily on capturing criminals who have exploited children.