Bringing Adam Home (42 page)

Given the other documents uncovered by Matthews, it might be theorized that an addled Toole had somehow confused John Walsh with John Reaves Jr., the man who’d paid him big bucks for the rights to his life story. But to Matthews, the explanation is much simpler than that. Just as Toole had explained away a previous inconsistency in his story to an investigator: “I just like fucking with the cops.”

In any event, it is hard to fathom that a police agency that had invested twenty-seven years in the hopes that the Adam Walsh case would somehow go away saw much to gain by admitting to the world the embarrassing truth as to “what had been in front of their faces” all those years, other than to see justice served, that is.

F
or Joe Matthews and John and Revé Walsh, justice has in fact been served in this case, and life goes on. Matthews continues as senior investigator at
America’s Most Wanted,
as a contributor at Fox News, as a motivational speaker, and as an investigative consultant to television programmers, media outlets, and the private sector. He regularly tours the United States as chairman of DNA LifePrint, promoting corporate sponsorships of events that provide biometric fingerprinting, digital photographic records, and DNA identification of children to communities. He often conducts seminars and lectures on homicide investigation, investigative interviewing, and polygraph procedures throughout the United States and Canada.

John Walsh, of course, carries on as executive producer and host of
America’s Most Wanted,
the longest-running show in Fox Network history—“The good guys do their thing Sunday through Friday,” he likes to say, “but on Saturday night,
I
kick ass.” He and Revé also continue their work on behalf of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as well as on behalf of any number of national and state initiatives related to the protection of children, a never-ending process. In a recent appearance on
Oprah
, Walsh pointed out that even though Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act in 2006, the legislation will as a practical matter cease to have any effect beyond 2010 unless government funding is reauthorized and provided.

And even if legislators are persuaded to authorize the dollars, the mere fact that juvenile sex offenders might register their addresses regularly is no guarantee of anything, as a recent
New York Times
story makes clear. For eighteen years following a rape conviction in California, Phillip Garrido reported his whereabouts to authorities in precise accordance with the schedule demanded of him. But that did not stop him from kidnapping and raping another young woman, fathering two children by her, and holding them all prisoner in the backyard of the home he dutifully kept registered all the while.

It is a chilling reminder that the threat of evil is ever-present and that all the noble deeds and intentions on earth cannot stamp out catastrophe and loss. Broward County medical examiner Dr. Ronald Wright spoke to John Walsh of such matters in the aftermath of the initial investigation, trying to give a grief-stricken parent something to cling to. In his profession, Wright had seen horror stacked on horror, plenty of evidence that there was no shortage of hell right here on earth. As to what had kept him sane in the face of all that he had witnessed, it was a simple sense of purpose. “It
is
that simple, John,” Wright said. “There is evil. And there is good.”

Once Adam Walsh stepped inside Ottis Toole’s Cadillac on that day, almost nothing, it seems, could have saved him. And when that car’s heavy door slammed shut, it seemed to mark the end of America’s innocence. Can there truly have been a time when audiences believed in
The Brady Bunch
? Was there really a time when a parent could bring a forgotten lunch or book bag to school without passing through security gates and showing photo ID?

Still, the refusal of John and Revé Walsh to submit to such evil and the actions of Joe Matthews in tracing it to its source also remind us that—even in such weary times as these—goodness can prevail.

Acknowledgments

S
incere thanks are due to Mitchell Kaplan, who saw from the beginning what this endeavor might become; to agent-without-peer Kimberly Witherspoon, who has yet to accept no for an answer; to Jeanne Wilmot, who got it right, right off; and to Dan Halpern and Bill Strachan, who brought this book lovingly into the light.

The authors would also like to offer thanks to Revé and John Walsh, not only for their assistance but for everything they have done on behalf of children and parents everywhere; to Susan Schindehette, who blazed this literary trail, for her advice and encouragement; to the gracious volunteer staff at the Hollywood (Florida) Historical Society; to indefatigable Florida International University reference librarian Adis Beesting; to indispensable adviser Robert Rotstein, Esq.; and to irreplaceable reader Rhoda Zelda Kurzweil.

Particular thanks are also due to any number of individuals within the community of law enforcement and justice, but especially to Joseph Kaplan, attorney for the Miami Beach Fraternal Order of Police, and former Broward County prosecutor Kelly Hancock.

Les adds his own special thanks to Kimberly, Jeremy, and Hannah Standiford, who believed in and encouraged him and reminded him each day why this story simply must be told. We trust that “Z” would have been proud.

And, from Joe Matthews: How do I begin to thank my wife, Ginny, for her love, dedication, and loyalty? Her encouragement from the moment of Adam’s abduction drove me not to give up. Thanks to my children—Joey, Greg, Michael, and Christina—their spouses, and all of my grandchildren for reminding me what is really important. To my brother Peter Matthews for being my big brother, and to my kid sister Mariann Kresge and her son Emir for being very special to me. To my dear friends and colleagues Tom Hunker, Pat Franklin, and Bernie Winer for their advice and support, and to my lifelong friends Tom Panza and Dick Brickman for being there for me always. To my assistant, Mary Alvarez, for having the patience of a saint, and to John and Revé Walsh for their unquestioning trust, which allowed me to give them the justice they so much deserved. And to Hollywood Chief of Police Chad Wagner and Broward County Chief Assistant State Attorney Chuck Morton for their integrity and their desire to put justice first.

Cast of Characters

Lyle Bean
Hollywood PD detective of little help in obtaining FDLE photos

Jimmy Campbell
Walsh family friend, and Hoffman’s chief suspect in 1981

Joel Cockerman
Boy who was escorted out of the Sears store with Adam

Barry Gemelli
Union Correctional Institution administrator who heard Toole’s deathbed confession

Mary Hagan
Identified Toole in Sears near video game display

Kelly Hancock
Walsh family attorney and former Broward County prosecutor

Robert Harley
Ottis Toole’s stepfather

Leroy Hessler
Hollywood PD deputy chief of police in 1981

Ron Hickman
Hollywood PD detective, Hoffman’s partner

Jack Hoffman
Hollywood PD detective in charge of the Adam Walsh case

Larry Hoisington
Hollywood PD detective to whom Toole confessed in 1983

Dick Hynds
Supervisor of detectives for the Hollywood PD in 1981

Bobby Lee Jones
Cellmate and former coworker who dented Toole’s Cadillac

Steve Kendrick
Brevard County homicide detective who took Toole’s first confession

Henry Lee Lucas
Toole’s lover, convicted serial killer

Sam Martin
Hollywood PD chief in 1981; retired 1986

Ginny Matthews
Joe Matthews’s exceedingly understanding and patient wife

Joe Matthews
Twenty-nine years a cop and detective, Miami Beach PD

Mama Margaret Matthews
Joe’s mother

Arlene Mayer
Heidi Mayer’s mother, who also identified Toole at Kmart

Heidi Mayer
Twelve-year-old girl Toole attempted to abduct from Kmart

Faye McNett
John Reaves Jr.’s aunt, who sold her Cadillac to Toole

William Mistler
Pest control company owner who witnessed Adam’s abduction

John Monahan Sr.
Hotelier and Walsh family friend

Chuck Morton
Broward County chief assistant state attorney

Phil Mundy
Broward County State Attorney’s Office investigator

Linda McHenry Orand
Toole’s sister-in-law, to whom he confessed in 1981

Sarah Patterson
Ottis Toole’s niece, to whom he confessed while in prison in 1996

Frank Powell
Ottis Toole’s adolescent nephew, brother of Frieda

Frieda “Becky” Powell
Ottis Toole’s adolescent niece, lover of Henry Lee Lucas

John Reaves Jr.
Owner of Southeast Color Coat, Jacksonville

John Reaves Sr.
Owner of Reaves Roofing, Jacksonville; Toole’s employer

James Redwine
Troubled son of Toole’s landlord Betty Goodyear

Wendy Sapp
Ottis Toole’s niece to whom he confessed the murder of Adam

Michael Satz
Elected state attorney for Broward County, 1976–present

James Scarberry
Hollywood PD chief, 1999–2007

Gerald Schaffer
Toole’s cellmate at Starke, convicted serial killer

Elton Schwartz
Miami attorney who volunteered to defend Toole

Kathy Shaffer
Sears security guard, seventeen years old in 1981

Mark Smith
Detective who conducted Hollywood PD cold case investigation in 1995, and again in 2006

Vinetta Syphurs
Ottis Toole’s sister, to whom he confessed while in prison

Buddy Terry
Homicide detective, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office

Howard Toole
Ottis Toole’s brother, from whom he stole a pickup truck

Norvella “Rita” Toole
Ottis Toole’s wife

Ottis Ellwood Toole
Drifter, pedophile, convicted killer

Sarah Toole
Ottis Toole’s mother, who died in May 1981

Jay Via
Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, detective who took Toole’s second confession in 1983

Chad Wagner
Hollywood PD chief, 2007–present

Adam Walsh
(1974–1981) Son of John and Revé Walsh

John Walsh
America’s Most Wanted
host and child victims’ rights advocate

Revé (Ree-vay) Walsh
Child victims’ rights advocate

Richard Witt
Martin’s successor as chief at Hollywood PD, 1986–96

Dr. Ronald Wright
Broward County medical examiner

About the Author

LES STANDIFORD
is the bestselling author of twenty books and novels, including the John Deal mystery series, and the works of narrative history The Man Who Invented Christmas, a New York Times Editor’s Choice, and Last Train to Paradise. He is the director of the creative writing program at Florida International University in Miami, where he lives with his wife, Kimberly, a psychotherapist and artist. Visit his website at www.les-standiford.com.