Suspected Murderer of Boy, 6, Is Dead
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From Times Staff and Wire Reports
The prime suspect in the kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh, 6, was reported dead. Ottis Elwood Toole, 49, died Sept. 15 at a prison hospital in Raiford, Fla., after being diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. Police believed Toole killed Adam, whose 1981 disappearance outside a Hollywood, Fla., mall set off a nationwide manhunt. The crime helped lead to the creation of the TV series “America’s Most Wanted.” Police said Toole confessed to killing the boy, whose severed head was found two weeks after his abduction. He later recanted.
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