Johnny Gosch
12 YOA at time of disappearance
West Des Moines, Iowa
September 5, 1982
It's a story that catapulted Iowa into the national spotlight, changed state law and continues to draw awareness to human trafficking. It's a recurring nightmare for parents across the nation... and a living nightmare for Noreen Gosch that has unwillingly launched her into a life of public service.
On September 5, 1982, Johnny Gosch left his home to work his Des Moines Register paper route. What happened after that has been the subject of speculation. According to Noreen Gosch, two men approached him, he was thrown into a vehicle and kidnapped.
"Last September I received a packet of photographs," Gosch said during a May 2007 abuse prevention conference in Cedar Rapids. The image of a young boy, hog-tied and wearing only his underpants and socks illuminated the wall beside her. "This is my son Johnny near the time when he was kidnapped. His is still 12 years old in this picture."
Gasps and sobs filled the hotel conference room on that day in May, but Gosch stood in quiet testimony to what she believed happened to her son 25 years ago.
"I knew immediately it was my son and it has also been confirmed by forensic specialists at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children who have examined and compared [the photos] with existing pictures I had," she said.
"My hope is that the latest report saying you are still alive is true and that one day we will be able to see each other again," Gosch wrote in a personal note to her son on a website she created in his honor.
She also posted a list of the things she knows 25 years after her son was kidnapped. She begins the list with noting how it all feels "like it was yesterday."
Gosch believes her son was taken for the purpose of satisfying pedophiles, that he was sold into a human trafficking network. She's had reports that he is alive and living in fear his life will be ended by those who wish to silence his knowledge of the trafficking network. And, of course, that the photos sent to her are of her son and were taken shortly after he was kidnapped.
A month after Johnny was taken, Noreen founded The Johnny Gosch Foundation and developed a program called "In Defense of Children." She has toured the nation, providing nearly 1,000 personal appearances on missing children, law enforcement, human trafficking and overall awareness. On July 1, 1984 a bill she authored -- the Johnny Gosch Bill -- was passed into Iowa law. It mandates immediate police involvement when a child is missing. It has since been adopted by eight additional states.
That same year, she traveled to Washington, D.C. and testified before Congress as a part of hearings on organized crime. Her testimony led to death threats and also, in part, the eventual establishment of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. She was invited by Pres. Ronald Reagan to the opening and dedication of the center.
She has also worked on two documentaries, one for HBO and another for the State Department. Her story and Johnny's story was the focus of a book, Why Johnny Can't Come Home
that
originally published in 2000.Sources and References:
America's Most Wanted: John "Johnny" David Gosch
The Johnny Gosch Foundation
Point Blank: by Tim Schmitt
Portland Independent Media Center
Educate-Yourself
What Happened to Johnny Gosch?