Iowa paper boy mystery

Johnny Gosch 12

Sept. 5,1982

515-222-3320

Eugene Martin 13

Aug 12,1984

515-283-4864

Marc Allen 13

March 29,1986

514-283-4811

All from West Des Moines,IA

2 of the 3 boys delivered papers for the Des Moines Register. It was originally reported that all 3 did,but Marc in fact never did.

Most believe all 3 cases  are linked,however because all 3 boys vanished every 2 years over a 4 year period.

Johnny:

The first to be abducted was Johnny Gosch age 12 in 1982. His mom has never given up and works tirelessly to find him. http://www.johnnygosch.com/

There was a blue car possibly a Ford Fairmont at the place where the kids picked up their papers and asked Johnny for directions then turned around and asked an adult carrier the same. A bit later a couple in bed heard a loud muffler some say was from the same car looked out but did not see a boy.   

Johnny was the first missing child on a milk carton. There were several possible sightings of Johnny. One woman said he ran up to her said he was Johnny but a man pulled him away. Another woman got a dollar bill from a boy which read in cursive help I’m Johnny Gosch.

His mom says a man brought Johnny to see her when he was 27 and she id’d he by a birth mark. Some people believe Noreen Gosch wild claims of sex traffic groups covered up by the Govt. etc. and some say she has lost her mind due to grief. I think some of her claims may be valid,but she goes too far out there.  A one time an online blogger was thought to be Johnny. This theory went no where. Early one September morning in 2006, Noreen Gosch said a mysterious envelope showed up on her front doorstep. Inside, she said, she found three disturbing photos of several boys, all tied up. One of the boys appeared to be Johnny. Noreen Gosch wrote a book titled: Why Johnny Can’t Come Home in 2000.

Eugene:  Eugene’s abduction was identical to Johnny’s. He was taken from his paper Route on a Sunday morning. Ret. Detec. Rawley says this is the only case he had that still bothers him. He has a giant poster of Eugene in his garage which will stay up until Eugene is found or Rawley dies. He was on the case until 2001 when he retired.

Eugene’s dad did not want to die until he knew Gene was there waiting for him his sister tearfully said.  His newspaper bag was found at an intersection just outside Des Moines. The manager at the paper after receiving calls asking where peoples papers were found the bag and delivered the papers. Why was Gene’s home not called like Johnny’s? And why did the manager not notify someone? About 20 min. before his abduction Gene was seen talking to a man described as being old enough to be his dad.

Authorities said they were treating the Martin case as a kidnapping and had issued a nationwide bulletin for a man described as between 30 and 40 years old, 5 feet, 9 inches tall, clean shaven and with a medium build.

NOTE: Eugene Martin’s father, Donald Martin, passed away on Dec. 27, 2010, due to complications from Alzheimer’s Disease and colon cancer. Donald Martin served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War from 1963 to 1966. He earned the Good Conduct Medal, Expert M-1 Rifle Medal, Sharp Shooter M14 Medal, along with the Vietnam Service Medal.

Marc:

Marc was walking to a friends house the evening before Easter. When he did not come home by the next  day his mom called her mom to see if he was there to get his Easter basket. He was not. So, she called the friends he was to meet up with the night before and learned to her shock and horror that he never arrived. She then called police who told her to wait 48hrs. Why did not of Marc’s friends call his house to see where he was when he did not show up? That lost time. So did the police by waiting 48hrs.  

Allen told Brilbeck she didn’t know whether her son’s disappearance was linked to the disappearances of Johnny Gosch and Eugene Martin, but said police seemed reluctant to help her because of the other missing teens.

“I just feel like, at this time, they were just afraid of …afraid of what would happen with the Eugene Martin and Gosch thing. I got the distinct feeling that they did not want parents to be frightened to let their children sell newspapers or do different things,” she said.