Journal of Criminal Justice Education

ISSN: 1051-1253 (Print) 1745-9117 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcje20

Bringing Adam Home

Christina L. Carpenter

To cite this article: Christina L. Carpenter (2016): Bringing Adam Home, Journal of Criminal
Justice Education

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10511253.2016.1141969

Published online: 10 Feb 2016.

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Download by: [Kentucky Department of Public Health], [Christina Carpenter] Date: 10 February 2016, At: 20:24
 Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 2016

Book Review
Downloaded by [Kentucky Department of Public Health], [Christina Carpenter] at 20:24 10 February 2016

Standiford, L. & Matthews, J. 2012. Bringing Adam home: The abduction that
changed America. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN: 978-0-061-
98391-7. pp. 291, pbk.

It is every parent’s worst nightmare. You take your child to a store and the
child ends up missing. You retrace your steps, trying desperately to figure out
how you and your child may have been separated. You run to the front of the
store and ask that an announcement be made, beckoning your child to meet
you immediately. You take your child’s photograph around to employees, ask-
ing if they have seen him or her wandering the store. You do whatever is nec-
essary to locate your child and bring them home safely. If your child is lost
inside of the store, a speedy recovery is possible. Unfortunately, this is not
always the case. It is estimated that, in the United States, a child is abducted
or reported missing every 40 seconds. That is an average of over 2,000 reports
per day and 800,000 annually. The majority of these cases involve a child hav-
ing been taken by a parent or guardian as a result of a custody dispute. Stran-
ger, or stereotypical, abductions account for 24% of all missing children cases
each year. In overall instances where a child has been abducted and not simply
wandered off, most estimates claim that between 44 and 50% are murdered
within the first hour after their abduction, 74% within three hours, and an
overwhelming 91–99% within the first 24 hours.
It is difficult in our contemporary age to imagine a time in America in which
the safety and security of the youngest members of society were not safe-
guarded and strictly monitored. Even 35 years ago, however, there were no
AMBER Alerts, no sex offender registries, no missing children databases, and
no advanced technology that could aid law enforcement agencies in the rescue
and recovery of a child. Most of these revolutionary measures did not become
common until the late 1980s through to the mid-1990s, and typically only came
about due to the loss of a child through abduction and death. The 1983 day-
time abduction of 12-year-old Ann Gotlib, for example, played a major role in
the establishment of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
and the practice of posting missing child information on billboards. The Polly
Klaas abduction and murder in 1993 by a repeat criminal offender heavily influ-
enced the passage of Three Strikes laws across the United States, requiring
mandatory life sentences for repeat felony offenders. Seven-year-old Megan
Kanka’s 1994 abduction, rape, and murder by a repeat sex offender led to the
 2 BOOK REVIEW

passage of “Megan’s Law,” requiring law enforcement to disclose the locations

of registered sex offenders to the general public. Before these cases captured
the attention of a nation, however, one case started a chain reaction that
resulted in historical changes to how missing children cases would be handled
in the future and how the perpetrators who abducted these children would be
dealt with by the criminal justice system.
Downloaded by [Kentucky Department of Public Health], [Christina Carpenter] at 20:24 10 February 2016

In Les Standiford’s emotionally charged and disturbing true crime novel

Bringing Adam Home, readers are introduced to how missing children cases
were handled—or mishandled, as the case may be—in the early years of the
1980s. The main premise of the book—which is 291 pages long, divided into six
chapters, and has a “Cast of Characters” list in the appendix—is to provide a
powerful and definitive account of the abduction, murder, dismemberment,
and recovery of six-year-old Adam Walsh as recounted by one of the original
investigators on the case, Detective Sergeant Joe Matthews. Matthews’ experi-
ence with the Walsh case would lead him on a 27-year journey that culminated
in one of the most famous cold cases of the 20th century finally being solved.
It was this journey that led Matthews to report his eyewitness account to Stan-
diford, whose unique style of presenting not only the facts behind the case but
the intermediary storylines of all of the people involved led to an account
which is heartbreaking, memorable, and intensely educational. In addition to
combing through the details of what ultimately became one of the most per-
plexing cases in modern history, Bringing Adam Home also provides a look into
the history of what has been termed the “child victims’ rights movement,”
including the establishment of organizations whose main goal is the protection
of children and laws that have been passed to ensure harsh penalties against
offenders who commit crimes against children.
In the very brief first chapter simply entitled “In the Beginning,” readers are
immediately introduced to the basic facts of the Walsh case. More specifically,
Standiford describes the fateful events of 27 July 1981 when six-year-old Adam
John Walsh was abducted from a Sears store in Hollywood, Florida while
accompanying his mother on a shopping trip. The chapter then quickly jumps
forward to February 2006 to a press conference on Capitol Hill where outspo-
ken child victims’ rights advocates John and Reve Walsh lobbied for the pas-
sage of H.R. 4472, later known as the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety
Act. After fielding an insensitive question at the press conference, and with
the 25th anniversary of their son’s abduction and murder looming, the Walshes
soon enlisted the help of family friend and former Miami Beach detective Joe
Matthews to resurrect their son’s cold case and prove conclusively who had
committed the crime.
In chapter two, “Blood of the Lamb,” Standiford recounts the days immedi-
ately following Adam’s disappearance, including statements made by Reve
Walsh concerning what actions she took upon realizing that Adam had van-
ished, the recollections of people considered “of interest” to the initial inves-
tigation, and how Detective Sergeant Joe Matthews became involved in the
investigation from the beginning. Also described is the exhaustive search for
 BOOK REVIEW 3

Adam which yielded no clues to his whereabouts and a shocking phone call
which would forever change the course of the investigation. Chapter three,
“World of Hurt,” introduces readers to the story of Ottis Toole, a drifter long
suspected of the abduction and murder of Adam Walsh. Standiford tracks
Toole’s life from his early childhood to that fateful day in 1981 when Toole
saw a young boy standing alone outside of a Sears store. The chapter also cov-
Downloaded by [Kentucky Department of Public Health], [Christina Carpenter] at 20:24 10 February 2016

ers the time period after Adam Walsh’s partial remains were discovered, the
search for the rest of the child’s body, and the heartbreaking moments when
the Walshes realized that their child was never coming home.
In chapter four, “Through the Boneyard,” Standiford provides an exhaustive
analysis of the inner workings of the criminal justice system as it related to
the Walsh case after it had become apparent that the missing person investiga-
tion had turned into a homicide investigation. First, the author chronicles the
actions taken by the Hollywood Police Department after the partial recovery
of the little boy’s remains as well as the immediate impact that Adam’s mur-
der had upon the life of Ottis Toole. The chapter then seamlessly jumps two
years into the future—1983—and discusses Toole’s pending legal problems,
including arson and murder, as well as his association and possible crimes com-
mitted with a suspected serial killer. Also extensively described is the moment
when Ottis Toole became irrevocably connected with the search for Adam
Walsh’s killer by his own admissions to law enforcement.
Standiford spends a great deal of time in chapter four detailing the proce-
dures followed during a homicide investigation, mostly pertaining to the gath-
ering and testing of evidence relevant to the case. In regards to the handling
of key pieces of evidence in the Walsh case, Standiford reminds readers that
evidence was gathered and analyzed in accordance with the scientific forensic
standards available in the early 1980s when most modern forensic devices were
in early development or did not exist. It is therefore implied that any scientific
errors committed during the course of the investigation can be explained by
the crude methods of the time. However, it is also suggested that the mis-
guided role that law enforcement played in the investigation is not so easily
explained.
While Standiford had explained the possible forensic errors made in the
Walsh case in chapter four, the regrettable actions and mistakes made by law
enforcement officials are more staunchly presented in chapter five, “As Evil
Does.” The blatant flaws perpetrated by the Hollywood Police Department—
especially the lead investigators in the case—are analyzed in detail, from Ottis
Toole’s first confession in 1983 through the mid-1990s and revelations that the
department had lost key pieces of evidence pertinent to the investigation. It is
also in this chapter that Standiford notes the re-emergence of Detective Ser-
geant Joe Matthews into the case after his abrupt dismissal years before, and
the beginning of Matthews’ longtime relationship with the Walshes, spurred by
a single offer of assistance in bringing their child’s killer to justice.
It is in chapter five that the author, in addition to discussing the progression
of the case through the years, brings the many varied storylines surrounding
 4 BOOK REVIEW

the case back to the Walshes themselves. The immediate effects of Adam’s
abduction and murder on the Walshes is chronicled as well as their entrance
into and influence on the then-growing child victims’ rights movement. This
included lobbying efforts that proved instrumental in establishing many well-
known programs and organizations, such as the passage of the Missing Children
Act of 1982 and the founding of the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Downloaded by [Kentucky Department of Public Health], [Christina Carpenter] at 20:24 10 February 2016

Children in 1984.
Chapter six, “Thunder from Heaven,” recounts the final years of the open
investigation into the murder of Adam Walsh, beginning with a description of
how the crime had impacted missing children cases decades after its commis-
sion, “redefining a nation’s indifference to a significant problem.” As the years
progressed, new horrifying cases of child abduction and murder shocked the
nation, new legislation and crime prevention techniques became the accepted
norm, but the Walsh investigation remained officially unsolved. It was under
these circumstances that Reve Walsh asked Detective Sergeant Joe Matthews
to prove once and for all who had murdered her son. Standiford discusses Mat-
thews’ actions extensively, detailing his two-year, nine-month cold case inves-
tigative review, including reviewing the 10,000 page case file, reinterviewing
witnesses, seeking out previously unquestioned witnesses, and discovering evi-
dence never before examined by previous investigators. The independent
investigation finally led to an inescapable conclusion and the closing of a case
which indelibly changed how child abduction in the United States would be
viewed forever.
Three main components made Bringing Adam Home an eternally haunting
and unforgettable work of literary excellence. First, Standiford’s method of
writing provides an articulate, carefully crafted work which not only concen-
trates on the investigation of the Adam Walsh murder, but brings together all
of the storylines of the people most affected by the case, making readers feel
that they are a part of the story. Second, Standiford provides quotes at the
beginning of each chapter from convicted murderer Ottis Toole, detailing the
crimes he committed and confessed to. This element keeps the audience
engaged and never lets them forget that Toole committed the despicable acts
which are the basis of the book. Finally, by exposing the flaws in the response
by law enforcement and the mistakes inherently made throughout the exten-
sive investigation of the case, Standiford allows readers to tap into the raw
emotions that John Walsh himself first exemplified in his 1997 work about his
son’s murder, Tears of Rage. However, whereas Walsh’s text had relied on
emotion and conjecture to imply Ottis Toole’s guilt, Standiford and Matthews
provide inescapable proof and definitive judgment.
Bringing Adam Home is an intensely emotional and difficult work to exam-
ine, but it provides both closure and celebrates accomplishment. The child vic-
tims’ rights movement has come far in the last 30 years alone and this book
marks those occasions while providing the knowledge that the ending of one of
the most famous cases within that horrifying circle has been written. This book
should be highly recommended to educators and students studying the history
 BOOK REVIEW 5

of child abduction or the child victims’ rights movement. It is also recom-

mended for parents so that they may never forget how this one case influ-
enced how their children are kept safe and protected. Child abduction is a
global phenomenon which may never cease to exist completely, but through
powerful stories of success and failure in recovering missing children, such as
Bringing Adam Home, we are reminded that the price of failure is too high to
Downloaded by [Kentucky Department of Public Health], [Christina Carpenter] at 20:24 10 February 2016

pay and some children have paid the ultimate price in order that we may learn
how to better protect them.

© 2016 Christina L. Carpenter

University of Louisville
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10511253.2016.1141969