Johnny Gosch was 12-years-old when he disappeared in 1982 while running his paper route to earn extra money. Johnny woke up before sunrise to deliver his papers in West Des Moines, always making certain they arrived on time. Everyone in the neighborhood could depend on Johnny. Johnny’s parents knew something was amiss on September 5th when neighbors called their home to complain that their paper had not yet arrived.
The Search for Johnny
John and Noreen Gosch alerted the police of their son’s disappearance and began searching the neighborhood looking for Johnny. The police ruled that Johnny’s disappearance was not a kidnapping since there was no ransom note or demand for money, and forced the Gosch family to wait for 72-hours to report him missing.
Although police refused to help search for his son, John continued looking around the neighborhood, eventually finding his delivery wagon filled with all the undelivered newspapers of the day. The wagon was located about a block and a half from Johnny’s house.
It is the last trace of Johnny Gosch.
Police eventually searched for Johnny but never found any evidence to suggest his whereabouts or what happened to him. The Gosch’s went on national TV in hopes of spreading awareness about Johnny’s disappearance. Two people did come forward claiming they saw Johnny talking to a man in a blue van but this lead went cold since police did not have a license plate number or additional information.
Noreen Claims Johnny Visited Her
The case grew cold until 15 years later when Noreen Gosch claimed he visited their home for a brief time. In 1997, Noreen said she awoke to a knock on her door around 2:30 a.m. It was Johnny and Noreen immediately recognized him. Her now 27-year-old son raised his shirt to reveal his birthmark and they spoke for about an hour. Johnny had a friend with him whom Noreen claims he would look at for approval before he spoke.
Noreen claimed Johnny told her he was in danger during the short visit but refused to reveal where he lived. Johnny and the man disappeared into the night, never to be seen or heard from again.
Noreen told her story to the FBI and had them create a sketch of Johnny. They did but it led nowhere. Without evidence aside from Noreen’s word, however, the FBI doubted her story. She explained that she felt Johnny was abducted as part of a child sex ring and felt that the FBI would not investigate in order to protect big names involved in the crime.
More Claims by Noreen
The Johnny Gosch case again received media attention in 2006 when Noreen came forward claiming she had photographs of her son held in captivity. Noreen claimed the photographs were left on her doorstep. Although many of the boys in the photographs were identified, one boy was not. She believed this child was Johnny.
Johnny Gosch Bill in Iowa
Noreen’s efforts to find her son and bring more awareness to missing children cases paid off.
In 1984, Iowa passed the Johnny Gosch Bill, requiring police to immediately investigate missing child cases rather than wait 72 hours as they had required in his case.
Nearly 40 years after the disappearance of Johnny Gosch, the case remains unsolved.
Thanks for reading this story and for your continued support. Be sure to hit the social share tabs to share it with your friends and acquaintances on social media. Leave your comments about this case below to get the conversation started.
