In 1981, Walsh was a partner in a hotel management company in Hollywood, Florida. He was living the American dream. He and his wife, Reve, had a beautiful six-year-old son, Adam, the joy of their lives. But that joy was shattered on July 27, 1981, when Adam was abducted and later found murdered. The Walshes have never received the closure that America's Most Wanted has brought to the lives of so many crime victims. The prime suspect in Adam's murder, Ottis Toole, was never charged in the Adam Walsh case; he died in prison while serving a life sentence for other crimes—taking the truth to the grave with him.

It wasn't long after Adam's death that the Walshes turned their grief into positive energy to help missing and exploited children. Battling bureaucratic resistance and legislative nightmares, John and Reve's work led to the passage of the Missing Children Act of 1982 and the Missing Children's Assistance Act of 1984. The latter bill resulted in the founding of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which maintains a toll-free hotline number (1-800-THE-LOST) to report a missing child or the sighting of one. In their son's memory, they also founded the Adam Walsh Child Resource Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to legislative reform. Recently, the centers, originally located in West Palm Beach, Fla., Columbia, S.C., Orange County, Calif., and Rochester, N.Y., merged with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Walsh serves on the board of directors of the National Center.

The story of the Walsh family's tragedy has been dramatized in the 1983 NBC television movie Adam, and a 1986 sequel, Adam: His Song Continues. Following the airing of the broadcasts, a roll of missing children was featured, leading to the recovery of 65 youngsters.

In 1984, Esquire magazine voted John Walsh "one of the best of the new generation"; since then, his quest for justice has been featured in newspapers and magazines around the nation. CBS Portraits has named him one of the "100 Americans Who Changed History."

Law Enforcement officials around the nation have also honored Walsh for his efforts. In 1988 he was named the U.S. Marshals' Man of the Year, and two years later, he received the same honor from the FBI--the bureau's highest civilian award. Walsh has received hundreds of other honors, including the 1984 Father of the Year Award. He is the only private citizen to receive a Special Recognition Award by a U.S. Attorney General, and he's been honored in the Rose Garden four times by three presidents: Clinton, Bush, and Reagan (twice).

Today, Walsh continues his lobbying efforts, testifying before Congress and state legislatures on crime, missing children and victims' issues. His efforts include lobbying for a Constitutional Amendment for victims' rights. He also runs a production company, Straight Shooter, in partnership with America's Most Wanted Executive Producer Lance Heflin. In its first year, the company syndicated Manhunter in 45 countries and created the syndicated America's Most Wanted: Final Justice in the U.S. In 1995, Walsh executive-produced the highly rated made-for-TV movie If Looks Could Kill and received his first prime-time Emmy nomination for Street Smart Kids, a labor of love he created and produced for the Fox network. In 1998, he published No Mercy, a book which takes its readers behind the scenes of America's Most Wanted.