Mom gets photos of son missing for 24 years

[MLA]

This is so bizarre and creepy. . .

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- The mother of a boy abducted 24 years ago said she's bewildered by two photographs left at her front door, apparently showing her son and two other children bound and gagged.

The old photos appear to show 12-year-old Johnny Gosch with his mouth gagged and his hands and feet tied. The boy is wearing the same sweatpants Johnny was wearing when he disappeared while delivering newspapers on the morning of September 5, 1982, his mother said.

"It's like reliving it," Noreen Gosch told The Associated Press on Thursday night. "But the bigger picture is, 'Why are they doing this?'

"Whoever had these photos had them for 24 years. I don't understand why they would do this now. It must be some kind of message."

Gosch said investigators confirmed the photos were authentic and likely taken within "hours or days" of the abduction. She said they were checking for fingerprints that could lead them to the source and possibly a breakthrough in a case that has long baffled authorities. The other boys in the photo were unidentified.

"We are in the process of researching where they came from and whether they've been doctored up," West Des Moines police Lt. Jeff Miller told the Des Moines Register.

Johnny's disappearance triggered nationwide fears of child abductions. He was one of the first faces of missing or abducted children to appear on milk cartons across the country.

Several theories have developed since he vanished before dawn while delivering Sunday newspapers. His newspaper wagon was discovered near his West Des Moines home, but few substantial clues have surfaced since then.

Gosch believes her son was taken by child pornographers. She told authorities he briefly contacted her in 1997 but feared for his life and declined to give details about where he was. She believes his abductors got him involved in crimes, which is why he is hiding his identity.

The National Center for Missing Children is examining the other boys in the photograph and trying to match it with its database of missing children.

"These kids have parents someplace," Gosch said. "I'm sure they feel the same way I did. ... Hopefully we can do some good and give these parents some peace."

Johnny was Gosch's youngest of three children, and she has devoted her life to finding him, from raising money for private detectives to following her own leads and prodded police to try harder.

She also wrote a book called "Why Johnny Can't Come Home."



From CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/01/missing.boy.photos.ap/index.html)

[maplekitty]

Wow, the fact that he called her 15 yrs later is pretty crazy in itself!
I wonder if he's still alive today?

[lawyerlee]

How horrible. I can't imagine how you deal with hearing from him after 15 years and still not knowing where he is or what you can do. And these pictures appearing would just make it that much harder. :(

[jnettie]

That is incredibly strange. There must be something more to this.

I don't know whether I hope he is still alive or not. The life he must have lived...how horrifying! To call his mom 15 years later in fear. He'd be 36 now. I wonder if he's ashamed of what he's become or if he's still under someone's control. Could you imagine!

[December27JJB]

Wow thats creepy!
Jnettie- I am with you, I dont know whether I hope he is alive or not either.

[jajacobsen]

That is so incredibly sad for his family, especially his mother. I feel so sorry for her.

[diam124]

This is a weird story. This is what Wikipedia says:

Noreen Gosch left her porch light on for her son for 11 years.

In February, 1999, Noreen Gosch testified in Omaha Federal Court, during a case involving Lawrence E. King, Jr. and the Franklin Credit Union scandal, that her son had visited her in 1997.

By Noreen Gosch's account, she was awakened one night in March, 1997 by a knock at her apartment door. Waiting outside was Johnny Gosch, now approximately 27 years old, accompanied by a man she had never seen before. The other man never identified himself, and never spoke, but seemed nervous and serious. Johnny divulged that his had been a targeted, not random, abduction, in 1982. His captors had forced him into a decade of child sex-slavery. Johnny explained that as his survival was a potential security breach for the conspiracy, he was currently, and probably permanently, in hiding, and would likely never see her again. Johnny and the unidentified man left the apartment. After this visit, Noreen Gosch finally turned off her porch light.

Prior to her 1999 testimony, Noreen Gosch had not mentioned this incident in public. Johnny Gosch was not seen by a single witness save his mother, nor had he returned to the childhood home still occupied by his father.

Noreen Gosch, in her book Why Johnny Can't Come Home and on her website johnnygosch.com, continues to assert that her son is alive and in hiding, and to publicize the notion that an international government conspiracy of Satanists, pedophiles, and pornographers is behind the disappearance of the young paperboy from West Des Moines.

[greenbunny]

:eek: That gives me the willies. Holy crap!

[jnettie]

Holy crap is right! :eek:

[MLA]

Wow. That's just so creepy.

ETA:

So, I was intrigued by this and came across a website (http://www.rense.com/general67/gannn.htm)that asserts that Johnny Gosch is Jeff Gannon. I don't know how credible the site is, but here are some snippets:
As most of you already know, Noreen Gosch is the mother of Johnny Gosch. When Johnny Gosch was 12 years of age and working as a paperboy for the Des Moines Register newspaper, he was kidnapped not far from his home. It was a quiet Sunday morning, around 6A.M. on September 5, 1982, when Johnny had left his home on foot to collect his assigned stack of newspapers to deliver around his quintessential "Leave It To Beaver" neighborhood. Just as he was about to pick up his bundle of newspapers, he was forcefully nabbed off the street, shoved into the back seat of a strange car, drugged, and permanently removed from his family. Johnny's childhood would be destroyed while his family was shattered and consigned to a life of endless grieving.

Years later, on February 5, 1999, in a civil action in a U.S. District Court in Lincoln, Nebraska, Paul Bonacci painstakingly recounted the sordid, heart breaking details of Johnny Gosch's abduction and forced participation in an elite government sponsored pedophile sex slave ring, that dehumanized and controlled its young, hapless victims using techniques such as drugs, murder, satanic rituals, sexual abuse, and torture, resulting in MPD (multiple-personality disorder). The children were systemically programmed and "zombified" as part of the CIA's ongoing, under-the-radar MK-ULTRA (MK = mind control) mind control program.

And that brings us to the Jeff Gannon conundrum. In addition to the potentially devestating legal battle over her book, Noreen is still trying to determine if Jeff Gannon is indeed her son Johnny Gosch. Those who say there's not enough credible evidence to demand a DNA test, which would finally resolve this issue, are simply WRONG! For example, Jim Rothstein, a retired NYC Detective, who spent 35 years on the force, much of it investigating child slavery and pedophile rings, asserts that the evidence is strong that Gannon is actually Johnny Gosch. "To me Gannon looks like Johnny," Rothstein opines-- "Everything just fits - the profile, the M.O., everything, "

Then there's Ted Gunderson, a retired FBI agent who has worked on the
Johnny Gosch case for over a decade. On Gunderson's website his bio reads, *Prior to retirement in 1979, Ted Gunderson had over 700 persons under his command and operated a $22 million annual budget." His complete resume is here: http://www.tedgunderson.com. Gunderson says he has a credible source that is certain Jeff Gannon is Johnny Gosch. "My source has told me in the past that he has maintained contact with Johnny Gosch," Gunderson reveals, "Let's just say he's in a position to know." "The kids are all in touch with each other. It's a bond they all share." Gunderson concludes with, "The only way I'd be 100 percent sure is if there was a DNA test or if he admitted it."


It seems like a lot of crazy conspiracy theory stuff, but it's interesting.

[K-L-U]

:eek: That gives me the willies. Holy crap!

Holy crap is right! :eek:

Ditto above!!!! That is a crazy story. How horrible for the mother and son. My heart is broken for both.

[MLA]

And I just found this (http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?s=3226392)from the NBC station in Iowa:

In 1982, a paperboy named Johnny Gosch was kidnapped in West Des Moines . For years, his disappearance made national headlines. And now, 23 years later investigators are investigating new developments in Johnny’s case.

If you lived in Iowa during the 1980’s, you've heard about Johnny’s disappearance and his mother’s agonizing search. You may not have heard conspiracy theories involving satanic pedophiles connected to the U.S. government, kidnapping and selling kids into prostitution and forcing them into pornography, but Johnny's mother, Noreen, says she believes that's what happened to Johnny. Even more unusual, Noreen believes Johnny is still very much alive, and once again, in the limelight.

In January, a journalist named Jeff Gannon asked softball questions to President Bush at his weekly press briefing. The questions were so factually inaccurate, people started asking questions. Soon, media colleagues learned Jeff Gannon was really Jim Guckert, a former homosexual prostitute calling himself "Bulldog." But, private investigators say Guckert’s story is full of holes. Investigator James Rothstein says, "Going back to his high school, the Guckert picture doesn't look anything like he does now a days.” That was the first clue former New York City Police Detective found. KWWL talked him in his hometown of Saint Martin, Minnesota . Rothstein told us, "This is no accident that a guy like Gannon ends up in front of the press corps in the White House.”

Further investigating led Rothstein back to Iowa and a case he'd been working since 1982. Johnny Gosch disappeared on a warm September morning while he delivered the Des Moines Register. Witness say Johnny was hit with a tranquilizer dart and quickly taken away in the back seat of a car. For weeks people searched for Johnny, but found nothing.

When we talked with Johnny’s mother, Noreen Gosch, she told us Johnny visited her in 1997, “The night that he came here, he was wearing jeans and a shirt and a coat on because it was March. It was cold and his hair was long, it was shoulder length and it was straight and dyed black.” After the visit, Noreen had the FBI create a picture she says looked like Johnny. But, in light of recent events, people like Rothstein question the picture’s accuracy. He says John has had plastic surgery, “I do have information that Johnny was worked on and this is quite reliable information.”

Perhaps just as reliable as the recent phone call Noreen Gosch received telling her Jeff Gannon is her son. Mrs. Gosch says, "He’s been in touch with Gannon for months and months and knows him to be Johnny Gosch. And, that’s what this gentleman has gone on record and said.” Investigator Rothstein says, "That’s when Noreen called me and said, 'Hey, what do you think?' I looked at the photos and it looks like it could be, you don't know.” We asked Mrs. Gosch, "Is it possible to look at these and say this is my son or this isn't my son?" Mrs. Gosch replied, "I don't know if it’s Johnny for sure. I just don't know. That’s why I have requested DNA because I think that would be the conclusive way to prove it one way or the other. There are enough features that are identical to my son’s when you compare and put the two photos together to make me want to ask for DNA.

And, while the idea may seem far fetched, investigator Rothstein says everything fits, “When you look into the whole abduction of Johnny, what happened, the cover-up that took place, the way the kidnapping was done. This was a professional job and it fits the profile that I have seen over the years as a professional investigator." Rothstein says his investigators asked Gannon about Johnny Gosch, "We had somebody down there already that knocked on his door and the minute he said do you know this woman in Iowa? And, he slammed the door in his face." And, during another attempt, he asked him if he was Johnny Gosch. And, Gannon’s reply was, "I really feel Noreen’s pain." He didn't deny he was Johnny Gosch, but he didn't admit it either.

That leaves only one way to find out the truth. Mrs. Gosch says, "Even though there is so much resemblance to Johnny, I just feel like the DNA has to be done to make it conclusive before I could say yes or no for sure." So far, any attempts to obtain Gannon’s DNA have been unsuccessful. Rothstein says if Gannon is Gosch, he will protect that identity at all costs, "You have to realize that even from the self-admitted information that he admitted that he was a male escort, you get involved in criminal elements and before he can come forward, he better have a real good legal team behind him and that way he will be able to defend himself or work a deal before he comes out because this is no accident that a guy like Gannon ends up in front of the press corps in the White House.”

Some people suggest Jeff Gannon to be the product of government training. An operative who uses sex to black mail government officials. Others like James Rothstein suggest Johnny Gosch became Jeff Gannon to expose the criminals who kidnapped him, destroying his life and putting his family through hell.

[DiscoDiva]

Creepy! That just gives me the heebie-jeebies!

[imagirliegirl]

It all sounds pretty weird to me. Why would the mother of an abducted child not call the cops if her son contacted her or showed up at her door? I mean, seriously. There's no way in hell I'd let my SON who was KIDNAPPED leave my doorstep with a weird man without at least putting up a fight.

Just my own personal cynicism I guess, but the whole story seems a little off. Almost like these "encounters" with him were fabricated to draw attention to these photos. Which are more than likely nothing more than someone like that Karr (I killed John Benet freak) trying to stir stuff up and get some weird attention.

[diam124]

I agree - there is just something strange about the mother and the visit. Plus, some articles say that nobody saw him the morning he was abducted after he picked up his papers, but then others say that someone saw him get hit with a tranquilizer dart? :confused:

[paulinaaa]

I did some more searching and it gets even weirder. This is the web site the mom set up about her son. She even posted the two pics that she has recieved. It might be down due to traffic.

http://www.johnnygosch.com/

[JamBray]

That is really creepy, and those pictures are highly disturbing. While I feel horribly for what the mother has had to endure for all of these years, the story is very weird, especially the visit she got from her son in 1997 and the whole government conspiracy thing. Well whatever the end result, I hope that she can one day get some sort of peace from this hellish nightmare, and that they can perhaps figure out what really happened to her son.

[ginastorm]

How sad and scary. My heart goes out to the family.

[HeatherFL]

That is quite creepy. I understand that everyone deals with things in their own way and they want to find out who these other two boys are, but I am surprised she posted those photos on the website.

Whatever the truth is, I hope it comes out. This is highly, highly disturbing.

~H.

[diam124]

From MSNBC...


Investigator: Photos not of missing boy

DES MOINES, Iowa - The photos of bound and gagged boys that were sent to an Iowa woman whose son disappeared 24 years ago were investigated in the late 1970s and are not her missing son, a retired Florida sheriff’s investigator said Wednesday.

Nelson Zalva, who now works for the Hillsboro County, Fla., State Attorney’s Office, said he investigated the same photos while working for the county’s sheriff in 1978 or 1979.

“I remember this case,” he said. “I identified the kids portrayed in the photos. It was definitely investigated by me several years prior to the disappearance of Johnny Gosch.”

The photos were in an envelope left at the West Des Moines home of Johnny’s mother, Noreen Gosch, on Aug. 27.

One photo, in black and white, shows a boy bound and gagged on a bed. Another is a color photo of the same boy in a similar pose with two others boys.

Noreen Gosch turned the photos over to police, who have been investigating the authenticity of the photos and any connection her son.

One of first faces on milk cartoons
Johnny was 12 when he disappeared from his neighborhood before daybreak on Sept. 5, 1982. His photo was became one of the first of a missing child to be put on a milk carton. Police have said they believe he was abducted but they have few clues.

Zalva said his investigation never resulted in an arrest because the children in the photos never admitted that the suspect touched them inappropriately. He said the boys in the photos had voluntarily posed for the photos, but he couldn’t recall why.

“Basically, what happened is someone, maybe it was one of the parents, found the photos and called the sheriff’s office and deputies went out there, impounded the photos and the case was assigned to me for investigation,” Zalva said. “I worked a long time on it, getting the kids identified.”

Lt. Jeff Miller, a West Des Moines Police spokesman, said the investigation is continuing into who left the photos at Noreen Gosch’s house.

“If they are not of Johnny Gosch, someone is playing a horrible prank,” he said.

Miller said Gosch has been informed of the Florida investigation.

A telephone message left Wednesday morning for Gosch was not immediately returned.

[kari]

The whole thing smells fishy to me :confused: