Johnny Gosch

Case background and investigation

John David "Johnny" Gosch, born November 12, 1969, was a 12-year-old newspaper carrier for the Des Moines Register in West Des Moines, Iowa. According to the Charley Project, his father normally went with him on his Sunday route, but on September 5, 1982, Johnny got up at about 5:45 a.m. and left without waking him, taking the family's dachshund, Gretchen.

Witnesses told authorities that Johnny was seen near 42nd Street and Marcourt Lane speaking with a man in a two-tone blue Ford Fairmont who appeared to be asking for directions, the Charley Project reports. Iowa Cold Cases, citing other carriers who were present, adds that a man was later seen following the boy on foot. Around 7 a.m. customers began phoning the Gosch home to say their papers had not arrived. The dog came home alone, and Johnny's wagon, still loaded with newspapers, was found two blocks from the house.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) says police at first suspected an abduction, then considered that he might have run away when he could not be found; he is now presumed to have been abducted, and the Charley Project classifies the case as a non-family abduction. His mother, Noreen Gosch, publicly criticised the early police response. According to Wikipedia's summary of contemporary reporting, Iowa's governor signed the "Johnny Gosch Bill" in July 1984, requiring police to act immediately on reports of missing children, and other states passed similar laws. That year his photograph appeared on milk cartons alongside that of Eugene Martin, a 13-year-old Des Moines carrier who vanished on August 12, 1984. NCMEC notes that a third boy, Marc Allen, 13, disappeared in Des Moines in 1986. No link between the cases has been established.

Noreen Gosch has said that her son, by then an adult, came to her apartment with an unidentified man one night in March 1997 and stayed for more than an hour. NCMEC notes that Johnny's father doubts the visit took place and that law enforcement has never confirmed it.

In 2006 she reported finding photographs at her door showing bound and gagged boys, one of whom she believed was Johnny. According to the Charley Project, a Florida officer said he had investigated the same pictures in the 1970s, before Johnny disappeared, and Iowa police suggested the delivery may have been a cruel prank.

No arrest has ever been made. NCMEC reported in 2022 that West Des Moines police still hold the case evidence and continue to receive tips each year. The case remains open and unsolved.