John Walsh: still out for justice

By Madeleine Marr1/27/2011

John Walsh wants to go global. The longtime host of America's Most Wanted, 65, was at National Association of Television Programming Executives this week to talk up the idea for a new show, World's Most Wanted. Sounds like an excellent plan. Walsh's FOX program -- on the air since 1988 -- has led to the arrest of more than 1,000 criminals, including accused Thanksgiving Day killer Paul Merhige last year. For the upstate New York native who made South Florida his home for many years, tracking down "society's garbage'' is still personal. In 1981, his 6-year-old son Adam was abducted from a Sears in Holly- wood, Fla., and murdered. About his idea for taking his crusade to other countries: "I recognize this is a global society. Bad guys know no boundaries." Walking through the Fontainebleau, Walsh is stopped constantly -- people just want to look at him or shake his hand. "They'll come up to me say, ‘Go get 'em!' It's more than gratifying, it's reaffirmation that I'm doing the right thing," Walsh said of his career. "Citizens are desperate for justice."