Who took Johnny Gosch?

 

Johnny Gosch was a West Des Moines, Iowa paperboy who mysteriously vanished on September 5th, 1982. Johnny was one of the first cases to appear on Milk Cartons, in the United States. He was presumed kidnapped, and as of 2012, the case has remained cold, but open. Normally, Johnny's dad helped him with his paper route. But, for reasons unknown, Johnny did not wake his father that morning. Instead, he ventured out alone, in the company of the family dog, before dawn. The other paper carriers in the area remember seeing Johnny at the paper drop to pick up his newspapers for his route. However, this would be the last time Johnny would be seen by multiple people. 

A neighbor named Mike reported that he had seen Gosch, talking to a man in a blue two-tone Ford Fairmont. He was unsure what the two were talking about as he had witnessed this from his bedroom window. As Gosch headed home, Mike saw a second man following him. Mike wasn't the only one who witnessed this however, another boy, John Rossi had seen Gosch talking to the man in the blue car as well. He thought this was strange. (When Rossi was placed under hypnosis, he gave a few numbers from the license plate, and said the car was from Warren County, Iowa.)  

Soon after, John and Noreen Gosch started to receive phone calls from angry customers who had not yet received their papers. John searched the area and found Johnny's wagon filled with newspapers, and the dog tied to it, two blocks away from their home. However, Johnny was nowhere to be found. 

They immediately called the police to report Johnny missing, but back then even with a child, you could not report a missing person until 72 hours had passed. The police did not take the case seriously and therefore did not show up for 45 minutes. At first, the police were convinced that Johnny had just run away. However, they soon changed that initial statement and decided that Johnny had indeed been kidnapped, but they were unable to find a viable motive. 

A few months later, Johnny was spotted in Oklahoma when a boy shouted to a woman for help, the boy was dragged away by two men. Over the years several private detectives were working on the case. In 1984, Gosch's picture along with a picture of Juanita Rafaela Estevez was placed on a milk carton that was distributed all over America. They were the second and third children to appear. 

Another Missing Paperboy:

Eugene Wade Martin was another paperboy from West Des Moines, Iowa. He vanished without a trace on August 12, 1984, between 5 and 5:45 in the morning. He has a scar on his right knee and suffered a broken wrist at some point. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a redshirt, and a gray pullover. 

Eugene normally delivered his newspapers with his older stepbrother. However, for reasons unknown, like Gosch, he ventured out of the house alone in the early morning hours. There was a belief that because the Iowa State Fair was in town that Eugene wanted to make some extra cash. 

Witnesses had seen Eugene talking to a clean-cut white male in his 30s sometime between 5 and 5:45 in the morning, at Southwest 12th Street and Highview Drive. Some of these witnesses stated that the conversation had seemed "father-son" in nature. While other witnesses claimed they had seen Eugene folding newspapers and talking to this man at some point between 5:45 and 6:05 in the morning. 

Sometime between 6:10 and 6:15 in the morning Eugene's paper bag was found outside of the area with 10 papers still folded inside. It was when customers started calling in complaining that Eugene's manager went out, found the bag, and delivered the remaining papers. Around 8:00 in the morning the search for Eugene had begun. 

Federal agents were convinced that there might be a connection to the Gosch case. They treated Eugene's case as kidnapping and issued a nationwide bulletin describing the man last seen with Eugene. The man they were looking for was between 30 and 40 years old, 5 feet, 9 inches tall, clean-shaven, and with a medium build.

Even though police assured the public that they were receiving some useful information. Nothing ever came of it and either of these boys was ever found. At one time they had even offered a $94,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the boys. However, nothing had come from that either. James Rowley, who was working on the case, said that he too could see similarities in the two cases, but had one burning question above all others. Why the two-year gap?

This wasn't normal behavior of serial killers and kidnappers. He said that a criminal has a growing appetite for crime. Which doesn't normally leave room for what he calls "lengthy holding patterns". A third boy, 13-year-old Marc James Warren Allen, also disappeared from the area in 1986. He has heard all the theories, conspiracy, and otherwise. None of them make any sense. 

After 30 years, there still haven't been any developments in the two cases. According to Noreen Gosch however, she was informed of Eugene's kidnapping by a private investigator a few months before the boy's disappearance. She was supposedly told that the kidnapping would take place in the second week of August 1984 and would involve a paperboy on the southside of Des Moines. 

Third Missing Boy:

Marc James Warren Allen mysteriously vanished on March 29th, 1986. It was the day before Easter when Marc told his mother he was going to a friend's house, who lived down the street. However, Marc would never arrive at his destination. 

His kidnapping was initially thought to be connected to Gosch and Martin's disappearance. Though this could never be proven. 

For one thing, Marc had been a handful; often got into trouble, and shifted between his parent's houses frequently. But, things said and done the night he disappeared indicated that the boy had no intentions of running away. For starters, he asked his mother to save him some of the pizza they were having for dinner that night. 

His mother Nancy, watched him walk the sidewalk before he disappeared behind the bushes. And that was the last time she ever saw her son. He was wearing a light blue t-shirt, blue jean shorts, white socks, and gray tennis shoes with velcro tabs. The last time she saw him. He also has a small scar on the top of his head. 

Even now in 2021, no evidence connects his disappearance to Gosch or Martin. However, because he is from the area, he is often bunched with the boy's disappearances. 

Now, this is where the story takes an unusual turn because Noreen claims she has since had contact with her son!

Noreen's Claims

According to Noreen, in the early morning hours one morning in March of 1997, she was woken by a knock at the door. Waiting outside the door was 27-year-old Johnny, with an unidentified male. Noreen had claimed that she had immediately recognized her son, but that he lowered his shirt to reveal his birthmark so that she'd know it was him. Noreen claims they talked about things for over an hour. He would always look to the other man as if seeking approval to speak.

It wasn't until September of 2006, that Noreen found pictures at her front door. Some of these pictures can be found on her website. The one-color photo shows three boys bound and gagged, and a black and white photo that Noreen is convinced is Johnny also tied and gagged. The third photo is of a man that appears to be dead, who could have something tied around his neck. Noreen has a gut feeling this is one of the people who took Johnny. 

Over the years, Noreen has become extremely vocal about how the police handle missing children cases. She even established the Johnny Gosch Foundation in 1982, and she has visited schools and done seminars on sex predators. Noreen had even fought for The Johnny Gosch Bill, which mandates the immediate investigation of missing children. The bill first became law in 1984, and similar laws were passed in at least eight other states. 

In 1984, Noreen testified in Senate hearings on organized crime, speaking on organized pedophilia, and how it likely played a role in her son's abduction. Because of this, Noreen started receiving death threats. 

In 1989, Paul A. Bonacci told his attorney he had been abducted into a sex ring with Gosch, and that he even played a role in Gosch's kidnapping. His attorney believed that Paul was telling the truth. Noreen even met with Paul, who told her things that he could have only known, if he had known Johnny. He even described a stammer, Johnny only had when he was upset. 

However, the FBI and police do not believe that Paul is a reliable source, and have not bothered to interview him at all. 

So what happened to Johnny Gosch? Who took him? And is he out there somewhere unable to go home? These are all burning questions that may never be answered. 

All three of these missing person cases are cold but remain open to this day.