John Edward Walsh is an American TV personality, victims’ rights advocate, criminal investigator and creator of America’s Most Wanted TV show.

PERSONAL LIFE

John Walsh was born on December 26th 1945 in Auburn, New York. He went to the University of New York at Buffalo. After he completed college, he married Reve Drew in the year 1971. He functioned as a hotel developer. Shortly after their marriage, the Walshes settled in Southern Florida, where John got involved in making high-end luxury hotels.

The pair took in four children (presently only three living) namely Meghan (born 1982), Callahan (born 1987) and Hayden (born 1994) and Adam Walsh, who was snatched from the Sears Department store at the Hollywood Mall and was slain two weeks afterwards in the twelvemonth 1981. He was just six years old at the time of his abduction.

Adam’s death was heartbreaking for the couple and filled with grief they decided to contend for many other youngsters who are abducted or have been missing since long. After this incident John agreed to take his passion of fighting against crime in ‘America’s Most Wanted’ which proved to be a really successful TV show.

CAREER

After Adam’s death, Walsh family founded ‘Adam Walsh Child Resource Centre’, a non-profit organization dedicated to legislative reforms and this later on merged with the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children and John Walsh serving as a member of the panel of managers.

John and Reve, in 1984, helped in handing the ‘Missing Children’s act of 1982’ and ‘Missing Children’s Assistance Act of 1984’as a result of their unending efforts to protect minors from such kind of abductions and murders..

In 1983, Walsh’s story was cooked into an NBC TV film “Adam” in which John and Reve were portrayed by Daniel J. Travanti and JoBeth Williams. At the broadcast of the movie, John and Reve appeared to publicize the photos of those kids who were missing and eventually more or less children were retrieved. In 1988, Walsh secured a deal with Fox entertainment and launched a TV show ‘America’s Most Wanted’, one of the longest running prime-time series on network tv and it proved to be really helpful in capturing over a thousand criminals.

From 2002 to 2004, John also hosted his daytime talk show ‘The John Walsh Show’. He won popularity and was well recognized face among the public for his anti-crime activism. He is also the emcee of an American TV show ‘The Hunt with John Walsh’ which aired in July, 2014. He is also dishing up as the voice of American multicast network –Justice Network.

RECOGNITION AND HONORS

In the year 1988, John Walsh was named The US Marshal’s Man of The Year and in 1990 received the FBI’s highest civilian award. In 1997 Walsh published his best- selling book ‘Tears of Rage’ and his second book ‘No Mercy’ published in 1998. He received his prime-time nomination for ‘Street Smart Kids’ which he had produced for Fox. He also has a share in Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington DC. In 1996, he was chosen as one of 50 most beautiful people in world by people’s magazine.