Families, friends, and different societies have witnessed the disappearance of people without any trace. Well, this happens to be the exact case of Johnny Gosch, a 12-year-old paperboy who went missing in Des Moines Iowa in 1982. He was believed to be kidnapped but the mysteries behind his disappearance have not been solved.
Even in his missing state, Gosch managed to change America. He became one of the first persons to be featured on milk cartons as part of the campaign to find missing children. Also, The Johnny Gosch Bill was created in Iowa and several states adopted something similar.
There are different theories as to what exactly happened to him and although no arrests or prosecution have been made in relation, his mother and a man who claimed to have met him pointed suspects.
How Gosch Disappeared After He Met a Stranger in a Blue Car
In the early hours of September 5, 1982, the then 12-year-old Johnny Gosch disappeared. The day started as normal until there were complaints that he didn’t deliver papers at the time he should have.
At first, no one thought it was odd until his father, John Gosch found his papers but there were no traces of him.
There were accounts that he was seen talking to a stranger in a blue two-toned car and one of those who gave the testimony thought something was up.
The witness, John Rossi said Gosch had told him that the man needed help with direction.
Rossi thought it was strange and he gave a little of his attention to the license plate. The bad part, however, is that Rossi couldn’t remember the plate number.
Another paperboy gave the account that he saw Gosch take his paper route and a man followed him. In a similar vein, a neighbor heard a door slam and saw a silver Ford Fairmont sped out.
He was last seen at 42nd Street & Marcourt Lane, West Des Moines, Iowa.
Johnny Gosch was Initially believed to be a Runaway
When Johnny was reported missing to the police, his parents were told to wait 72 hours before he would be classified as a missing person. Perhaps fueled by several cases of young people leaving home, authorities initially believed that the younger Gosch was another runaway.
There was no motive for Johnny to leave home. Based on several tales told about his family, he loved his family and was loved right back. Like several other kids, he had ambitions, would buy himself supplies for model rockets from the proceeds of his work, and would sometimes buy his mother roses.
He had an older sister and his father, John Gosch would help see him out for his paperboy work.
This being said, Johnny would later be declared kidnapped but unfortunately, no arrests have been made and his family and friends never had any closure about what happened to him.
Johnny was not the only paperboy to vanish mysteriously. On August 12, 1984, also in Des Moines, a 13-year-old boy, Eugene Martin disappeared. Another 13-year-old, Marc Allen went missing in 1986 and was never found.
Suspects in His Disappearance
One of the most held-on theories about Gosch’s disappearance is that child pornographers could have abducted him. His mother, Noreen Gosch believes child pornographers Phillip Paske and John David Norman were responsible for her son’s kidnapping. She has also mentioned names such as Lawrence King, Rusty Nelson, and a military officer named Michael Aquino as key suspects in her son’s disappearance.
In 1985, there was some form of closure when a man named Robert Herman Meier II (19 years old at the time) claimed to have an idea about what happened to Johnny. He stated that the boy was sold to a high-level drug dealer.
In his claims, Gosch was taken as part of a large child slavery. Although he claimed he would bring back the boy, he was later arrested for wire fraud on the Gosch’s. Noreen criticized his arrest, claiming that people who knew about her child’s whereabouts would be scared to come forward.
In 1989, another man came forward with a testimony. 21-year-old Paul A. Bonacci claimed to be part of those who kidnapped Gosch. His story went deeper when he told his attorney that he was equally abducted into a sex ring and he met Gosch.
Authorities ruled out his story even though his attorney and Gosch’s mother believed him. Noreen believed the story because Paul Bonacci described things about her son that were never said out in public and he knew details that only Johnny could have shared.
There are reports that He was Seen a Few Times After His Disappearance
About 6 months following Johnny’s disappearance, he was reportedly seen by a woman on a street corner in Oklahoma. He was out of breath and was looking for help.
He told the woman his name but was snatched by two men.
For a long time, it remained only an encounter for the woman until she saw his case on TV and recognized him. It was at that time that she told her side of the story, but anonymously.
Noreen also claimed that about 6 people have come in contact with Johnny. Most of them were victims of a similar fate as him.
Gosch’s Mother Claimed that He Visited Her Years After His Abduction
It was 15 years in early 1997 since Johnny vanished and was never found. This changed a little when at about 2 am in March, Johnny alongside another man showed up at his mother’s home.
He was 27 at the time and Noreen recognized his voice before she opened her door. She felt it was her long-lost son and Johnny proved his identity anyway.
The visit lasted about an hour or two. He told her what happened to him and his story was very similar to what Bonacci had confessed. A part of the story was similar to Meier’s who had earlier said Johnny was sold out.
Regardless, Johnny held back a lot of information and would seek approval from the man he visited with.
Before he left, he told his mother that he had been warned never to contact her or she might get killed.
Anyway, there were no witnesses to this story and Noreen’s account has been questioned.
See Also: Who is Jake Cefolia? Facts About the United Airlines Exec’s Disappearance
Is Johnny Gosch still Alive?
At the time of this report, Johnny is believed to be alive. According to a CNN extensive report about his missing, Johnny told his mother “he was on the run, hiding from the people who took him, barely able to support himself.”
Also, the report shows that Noreen “said Johnny told her he wouldn’t be safe until the perpetrators were arrested and brought to justice. He asked her to do something about it.”
Several decades passed, and Bonacci, who had earlier claimed to have met Johnny, stated that Gosch was alive and had a family of his own. He also claimed that Gosch had visited him.
He also claimed that Johnny is in hiding and last visited him in 2018.
His mother has not stopped speaking about him and the place of law enforcement in missing children’s cases. She started the Johnny Gosch Foundation in 1982 and pushed for The Johnny Gosch Bill.
The bill was passed in Iowa in 1984. It states an immediate police response to reports of missing children. Several other states adopted a similar bill.
In 2014, a documentary, Who Took Johnny was released. His mother has equally written a book, Why Johnny Can’t Come Home about him and his disappearance.
Whatever the case, Johnny’s case is one of Iowa’s cold cases of all time.
