BEDFORD CO., Va. – 26 years ago, a Bedford man walked out of a parking lot and was never seen again. James “Slim” Walker disappeared on April 7, 2000, and his family has spent more than two decades searching for answers — with no closure in sight. Now, new questions are surfacing about what really happened that day.
A man hard to miss
At 6 feet, 7 inches tall and just 140 pounds, Walker was a familiar figure around Bedford. His towering, lanky frame earned him the nickname “Slim” — a name almost everyone in town knew him by. He was 53 years old when he vanished.
According to the missing person report filed with the Bedford City Police Department, Walker was last seen between approximately 9:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. on Friday, April 7, 2000. He was reportedly sitting in his friend Donald Adams’ car in the parking lot of the Food Lion in the Peaksview Shopping Center on Longwood Road while Adams and two others went inside the store.
There are conflicting reports about whether Walker, a smoker, stepped out of the car for a cigarette during that time. When his friends returned, he was gone.
‘That’s all I want — to bring dad home.’
For Walker’s son Bobby, the years without answers have been filled with grief. Birthdays, holidays and milestones have all come and gone — each one a reminder that his father never came home.
“That’s all I want, is to bring dad home,” Bobby Walker said.
The disappearance has taken on new significance after surveillance footage from that day was reviewed. Bobby says what the video revealed raised more questions than it answered.
“We believed people were involved,” Bobby Walker said. “Dad walked away from the Food Lion. Finding out after the fact, with the video, dad wasn’t even there.”
Suspects still alive, son says
Bobby Walker says he believes multiple people are responsible for his father’s disappearance — and that those individuals are still alive today.
“There’s two, maybe three living right now, maybe three,” Bobby Walker said. “They’re old.”
He has not publicly identified those individuals by name.
Investigation continues
Sheriff’s investigators, now led by Jason Hinton, have reviewed the surveillance footage from the day Walker disappeared. 10 News reached out to the Bedford Sheriff’s Office for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
For Bobby Walker, the wait for answers continues — but his hope has not faded.
“That’s all I want, is to bring dad home.”