Hearing 'Code Adam' at Walmart might be scary — but every parent should know what it means

Walmart is one of the biggest retail chains in America and across the globe, and this also means that people put their trust in the firm not just for the quality of products but also for their safety. This is why Walmart has several codes to inform the staff and the shoppers about the situation if anything untoward happens inside their stores. Normally, these codes are named after colors. For example, code red is when an explosion occurs inside a store, code blue is when there is a potential bomb threat, and code brown is when there is an active shooter situation. But there is one code that is not named after a color, instead, it is named after a person.

Not many people may be aware of code Adam, even though it indicates one of the most common things a shopper may have to deal with in a store. Code Adam informs shoppers when one of them has their kid at a Walmart. The code takes effect when a shopper informs an employee that they’re unable to find a child they had come to the store with. The employee will then relay the message on the intercom and describe the child’s appearance, according to a report by Irish Star.

It’s then the duty of the employees and the shoppers who understand what it means to look for the child. Law enforcement officers are also called immediately to assist with the search and a lost child is found inside the store itself on most occasions. But sometimes things can take a wrong turn when a child leaves the store without a parent or guardian. The kid could run into traffic or become an easy victim for kidnappers and predators. Therefore whenever a code Adam is in progress, it is important for everyone to listen to the appearance of the missing child and do their best to look for them. Once the child is found, an employee informs the shoppers and other staff members that code Adam is no longer in effect, and everyone can go back to their usual activities.

You may wonder why code Adam is named the way it is while all the other codes are named after colors. Well, there’s a dark and heartbreaking story behind that involving a six-year-old named Adam Walsh, who walked into a Sears store with his mother Reve Drew on July 27, 1981. He was left by his mother at a kiosk that had video games, with a few other kids. When she came back to get him, he was not there and she was informed by the store that a ruckus among the kids had ensued after which they were asked to leave.

Adam was a shy boy, as per his parents, and left with the other kids without informing the store manager about his situation. He was nowhere to be found outside the store either and the next update about him came on August 10 when his severed head was found in a drainage canal about 130 miles from the department store. The rest of his body was never discovered.

Convicted serial killer Ottis Toole confessed to the murder of Adam but was never convicted for that particular crime since there was not enough evidence. In 2008, the investigators concluded that the serial killer was indeed Adam’s murderer, and the case was closed.