About John Walsh
Anti-crime activist John Walsh is the longtime host and a producer of America’s Most Wanted, the nation’s #1 crime-fighting show that has helped law enforcement capture more than 1,100 dangerous fugitives and brought home more than 50 missing children.
Walsh never sought the role of crime fighter and victims’ advocate, but it has been his life’s mission since July 27, 1981 – the day his six-year-old son, Adam, was abducted from a shopping mall near his home in Hollywood, Florida. Adam was found murdered two weeks later. The case remained unsolved for 27 years, but with assistance from dedicated active and retired criminal justice professionals, Adam’s case was finally closed in December 2008.
The Walshes’ experience revealed to them the desperate need of a coordinated national response to the issues of missing and sexually exploited children. Together, they lobbied for the passage of the Missing Children’s Act, which resulted in the founding of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). NCMEC has assisted law enforcement, families and child welfare with more than 400,000 cases of missing children who were recovered over the last 39 years.
John Walsh has been widely recognized for his tireless crusade to protect and save children. Three presidents have honored him for his efforts, and his work has been acknowledged in the Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and People magazine. Walsh was named by CBS Portraits as one of the “100 Americans Who Changed History”. In 1988, he was named the U.S. Marshals’ Man of the Year and received the same award from the FBI in 1990. In 2003, he was made an Honorary U.S. Marshal, an award he shares with only seven other men.
John and his wife, Revé, have been blessed with three more children – Meghan, Callahan and Hayden – and have three grandchildren. They remain very active with NCMEC and continue to fight for victims’ rights and for justice throughout the United States and wherever children or crime victims are in need.