The kidnapping disappearance of Johnny Gosch - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Hawker · 09-30-2006, 10:48 PM

This happened in the early 80's I believe. Did UM ever do a segment about this? The mother was just in the news recently claiming someone left a photo at her doorstep of her son and 2 other boys bound and gagged on a bed. I saw the photo on her website, it's pretty chilling if it's legit. The photo was obviously taken shortly after the kidnapping, as Gosch would be a grown man now.

Some people have connected him to an alleged pedophile ring in D.C. that provided sex slaves to high profile politicians and dignitaries. There is a book by former Nebraska state senator John DeCamp called the Franklin Cover Up that deals with this. Apparently there is court testimony by one of the victims supposedly caught up in this ring confirming its existence, and he claimed he knew Johnny Gosch and was forced to participate in a snuff film with him. Very weird stuff.

Kane · 09-30-2006, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hawker

This happened in the early 80's I believe. Did UM ever do a segment about this?

They most likely didn't, because I don't recall such a story being on the show. However, it was featured on America's Most Wanted in the early 1990s.

Johnny Gosch disappeared in 1982.

DarkDante · 10-01-2006, 01:15 AM

There is a thread about this case located here

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...d.php?t=181869

Many of us are at the very least skeptical about Mrs. Gosch's claims regarding many aspects of her son's case.

Hawker · 10-01-2006, 03:11 AM

From what I understand the pedophile ring story did not originate with the mother but with independent researchers looking into the Franklin Cover-Up scandal, and Gosch's name came up in Paul Bonacci's testimony, who claims to have been a victim of this ring led by Larry King, head of a S&L in Nebraska. King is serving time for theft from the company and Bonacci won a civil judgment against him. Bonacci claimed to have taken part in the kidnapping of Gosch, and the judge found him to be credible.

The Washington Times did a whole series of articles in the late 80s about the King scandal and it's connection to prominent politicians and Bush I administration officials

kadrmas15 · 10-01-2006, 02:04 PM

Well I know Johnny's dad has said that he doesnt believe his ex-wife. He said he didnt believe her claim that Johnny visited her in 1997 and he doesnt really find this picture that was found by her to be credible either. It sounds like Johnny's dad thinks his ex-wife is just a total nutcase. I know they divorced back in the early 1990's and Johnny's disapperance and his mom's reaction to it had a lot to do with the divorce.

Kane · 10-01-2006, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kadrmas15

I know they divorced back in the early 1990's and Johnny's disapperance and his mom's reaction to it had a lot to do with the divorce.

That's not surprising. A tragedy involving a child (disappearance, murder, death from an illness, etc.) can easily put a strain on a marriage, especially a marriage that goes through the murder of a child. In fact, John Walsh once said that 80 percent of the parents who lose a child to homicide get divorced.

CowboyStudTied · 04-21-2009, 12:50 PM

he was maybe sold possibly to the black market

Clockworkhigh · 05-10-2012, 11:43 PM

Okay, opening up an old thread here, and to be honest I never paid attention to the Gosch case until now. I have watched footage the last hour to figure things out. It is one of the strangest cases I have ever seen.

It starts out normal. Johnny is delivering his paper route in 1982 on Sunday morning. He is seen being dragged into a car by two men. So far so good. But the twists only begin. Johnny always was required to go with either one of his parents on the route but didn't this morning. That is a fantastic coincidence or just terrible, terrible luck. If it is the former then it might tie into a theory that his parents, or his dad, was in on it.

There are those mysterious pictures that pop up. There is the sighting of Johnny 6 months after his abduction at a gas station pleading with a woman to help him but he is dragged away by two men. There is the admission of a man who claims he was involved in the abduction of Johnny because he was "forced" to do it based on his own experience as an abused child in a pornography ring. Then in 1997 Johnny's mother claims he comes to the door and talks to her for three hours. Very, very strange. He says he can't stay long, he is in danger but that he is alive. She never reports it until a few years later.

Even stranger, Johnny's dad and mom split up in the early 1990s. Johnny's dad is the exact opposite of Noreen. He is skeptical of every single lead. He didn't believe the inmate who claims he helped abduct Johnny. He didn't think the picture looked like Johnny at all because his "ankles" look different. Really? That is bizarre. I have no clue how to even describe my own ankle's let alone my son's. Maybe he just wants to disagree with everything his ex-wife says but either way, he seems far to dismissive for my liking.

Lastly, the former White House reporter Jeff Gannon. Look, I have no idea where he is now. It seems to me that he vanished after all this stuff came out that claims he is Johnny Gosch. Just on the surface he does seem to look like Johnny as an adult, just saying. In the interview I saw him in, the host conducts a very bizarre interview barely even letting him talk to say his side. Basically the host is trying to persuade everyone that it isn't Johnny without "Jeff" even saying anything. Jeff speaks weird, almost robotic, in the interview too. He could have easily squashed the story right there if he was persuasive during the interview but while he claims he would take a DNA test he never did as far as I know. Why is that? Why not give the Gosch family peace of mind? Why not go out of your way to put the story to bed?

So much of this case is very, very weird. Is Johnny actually Jeff Gannon the mysterious reporter that know one knows too much about?

jasonbigley · 05-11-2012, 12:28 AM

This is a VERY VERY weird case indeed. First off all, I have to wonder, if Johnny was sold into a sex ring, how come they claimed all these sightings of him in the USA? Was it a traveling sex ring? Then the mom (Noreen Gosch) claims that 2 men (one was supposedly Johnny) visited her apartment at 2:30 in the morning in 1997. She claims that he told her he could never make contact with her again because his life was in danger. If I was a parent, I would have done everything in my power to keep him there the night he visited. I would have called the police immediately. I would NOT have let him leave again like that (especially when there is a 15 year gap involved here). I dont know why Noreen would let 2 strangers in her apartment at 2:30am. Im not shure if Noreen is telling the truth or not. She may have been so grief stricken over this that it affected her mental health. They recently had a special on Johnny Gosch on Nancy Grace: Missing America. The one phychologist said that there probably was not much more law enforcement could do because most likely he died very soon after he was abducted and buried in a remote location. She also went on to state that parents in this situation are ripe to be used and abused by private investigators and/or phychics because they know the parents are in a terrible emotional state and they will search every expert in the book until someone tells them what they want to hear. I feel bad for Johnny's parents. No one should have to go through something tragic. If I had magical powers, I would reunite Johnny with his parents (and every missing kid with their parents). Then for the evil perpetrators, I would throw them into a HOT HOT fire pit and watch them suffer.

Orange_Sody_84 · 05-11-2012, 01:53 PM

Quite honestly it's one of the stories that can keep me up at night. So bizarre and disturbing indeed... Maybe it's better not to know what happened.

asmitty · 05-11-2012, 03:54 PM

This will sound odd, but I grew up on this case. I'm from Des Moines, IA. Johnny was taken from the suburb of West Des Moines when I was 2 (the day after my 2nd birthday to be exact). The disappearance of Johnny Gosch was the bedtime story we all heard to scare us about strangers growing up. "Don't talk to strangers or you'll get kidnapped like Johnny Gosch."

The case is steeped in mystery and surrounded by strange events. I remember adults in Des Moines, my familly and parents of friends, making remarks concerning Noreen being someone who wanted to keep herself and her son's case in the limelight. Many of these comments hinted and/or implied that she was doing so in a negative way or for her own benefit more than to see the case solved. I can't speak for any of that, it's only what I remember.

I agree with you, Clockworkhigh, that it is a remarkable coincidence that Johnny went missing the one time he tackled the paper route alone. Two years after Johnny went missing, another paperboy named Eugene Martin went missing in Des Moines (this time less than 6 blocks from my grandmother's home) under nearly identical circumstances. The only real difference in the two cases, is that Johnny made it to the spot to pick up his papers before being taken while Eugene was still on his way. In Eugene's case, as in Johnny's, the boy normally has someone with him. Eugene's older step-brother normally joined him but did not in this case. This similarity makes me think both boys may have been targeted ahead of time and stalked until they were alone.

It's an odd case, for sure, and one that has kept me thinking over the years.

RobinW · 05-11-2012, 05:01 PM

I've spent a lot of time reading about the Johnny Gosch case and it's simultaneously one of the most fascinating and disturbing mysteries of all time. However, spending too much time studying it can make one's head explode, especially with all the crazy conspiracy theories.

I often think there's at least some truth within the wild stories that Noreen Gosch has told, but I can never take anything she says 100 % seriously. My breaking point with her was when she posted "mysterious" photos that she claimed she received on her website which featured a bunch of guys in robes standing over a child. She asked for help identifying the men in the pictures, but the "photos" were clearly stills from a movie or TV show. I mean, my God, these so-called photos had a network logo in the right-hand corner!

Clockworkhigh · 05-11-2012, 07:38 PM

Alright and Jeff Gannon? What is his story. He never took a DNA test as far as I know.

Look, it might be outlandish to think he is Johnny Gosch but in the interview I saw him in he had every opportunity to "humanize" his points but he didn't. Stuff like: "My Aunt (maybe even say her name) was in the delivery room when I was born, she could tell you." He just says some weird stuff. Even about the DNA test. "Yeah I can take one, but they could have gotten some the other day when I pricked my finger." Again, with the past tense. Or how about a picture of when he was young, where he grew up, etc. He did nothing in that interview that was anything but a teleprompter-type of response. It was robotic and lacked any genuine attribute.

How about a face to face with the mom? Or dad? Geez, you think you'd know your kid, even 30 years later. Do what you have to so you can go on with your life.

Maybe it isn't him, but he had every opportunity to persuade me he wasn't and he didn't in that interview.

Zoe F · 05-11-2012, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clockworkhigh

Alright and Jeff Gannon? What is his story. He never took a DNA test as far as I know.

Gannon is twelve years older than Gosch. We know that Gannon graduated college in 1980. Gosch wasn't kidnapped until 1982. If they're the same person, your only options are that Gosch led a secret life as a ten year old college student or Gannon is a time traveler.

My personal view is that Noreen Gosch is either lying for some reason known only to her, or she has absolutely lost her mind. I lean toward the latter. I haven't been able to give her story any credence since she took the composite drawings of Michaela Garecht's kidnapper and tried to claim they were of a guy named "Tony" who kidnapped her son. And no, there isn't a single thing linking those two kidnappings in any way whatsoever.

Clockworkhigh · 05-11-2012, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoe F

Gannon is twelve years older than Gosch. We know that Gannon graduated college in 1980. Gosch wasn't kidnapped until 1982. If they're the same person, your only options are that Gosch led a secret life as a ten year old college student or Gannon is a time traveler.

My personal view is that Noreen Gosch is either lying for some reason known only to her, or she has absolutely lost her mind. I lean toward the latter. I haven't been able to give her story any credence since she took the composite drawings of Michaela Garecht's kidnapper and tried to claim they were of a guy named "Tony" who kidnapped her son. And no, there isn't a single thing linking those two kidnappings in any way whatsoever.

That's the thing, Gannon in an interview said he was 48 years old (in 2005). I don't care if you drank 20 bottles of water a day, there is no way you can look that young at 48 years old. He looked in his mid 30s back in 2005 which would be the same age as Gosch was. If Gannon was truthful you think he'd jump at the chance of a simple DNA test right? Something about him bothered me.

And Noreen? She is either the stupidest, sneakiest or most mentally ill person profiled on a case like this. Her son knocks on her door 15 years after he disappeared and she does nothing because he claims his life is "in danger"? Come on. I would tied my kid up with a rope and call the police so he couldn't leave. At that point you would have to kill me before I would let my son just walk out of my life again. So she either didn't call the cops and she is truthful, she is lying through her teeth intentionally which throws the investigators in limbo or she imagined everything and its a mirage which shows you how sick she is and is something I have sympathy for

09-30-2006, 10:48 PM	#1
Hawker Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Mar 19, 2005 Posts: 5	The kidnapping disappearance of Johnny Gosch This happened in the early 80's I believe. Did UM ever do a segment about this? The mother was just in the news recently claiming someone left a photo at her doorstep of her son and 2 other boys bound and gagged on a bed. I saw the photo on her website, it's pretty chilling if it's legit. The photo was obviously taken shortly after the kidnapping, as Gosch would be a grown man now. Some people have connected him to an alleged pedophile ring in D.C. that provided sex slaves to high profile politicians and dignitaries. There is a book by former Nebraska state senator John DeCamp called the Franklin Cover Up that deals with this. Apparently there is court testimony by one of the victims supposedly caught up in this ring confirming its existence, and he claimed he knew Johnny Gosch and was forced to participate in a snuff film with him. Very weird stuff.

10-01-2006, 01:15 AM	#3
DarkDante Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 27, 2002 Posts: 1,569	There is a thread about this case located here http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...d.php?t=181869 Many of us are at the very least skeptical about Mrs. Gosch's claims regarding many aspects of her son's case.

10-01-2006, 03:11 AM	#4
Hawker Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Mar 19, 2005 Posts: 5	From what I understand the pedophile ring story did not originate with the mother but with independent researchers looking into the Franklin Cover-Up scandal, and Gosch's name came up in Paul Bonacci's testimony, who claims to have been a victim of this ring led by Larry King, head of a S&L in Nebraska. King is serving time for theft from the company and Bonacci won a civil judgment against him. Bonacci claimed to have taken part in the kidnapping of Gosch, and the judge found him to be credible. The Washington Times did a whole series of articles in the late 80s about the King scandal and it's connection to prominent politicians and Bush I administration officials

10-01-2006, 02:04 PM	#5
kadrmas15 Retired from Board 03/03/11 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 11, 2006 Location: Minnesota Posts: 1,910	Well I know Johnny's dad has said that he doesnt believe his ex-wife. He said he didnt believe her claim that Johnny visited her in 1997 and he doesnt really find this picture that was found by her to be credible either. It sounds like Johnny's dad thinks his ex-wife is just a total nutcase. I know they divorced back in the early 1990's and Johnny's disapperance and his mom's reaction to it had a lot to do with the divorce.

04-21-2009, 12:50 PM	#7
CowboyStudTied Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Apr 06, 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 54	he was maybe sold possibly to the black market

05-10-2012, 11:43 PM	#8
Clockworkhigh Member Forum Regular Join Date: Apr 29, 2009 Posts: 604	Okay, opening up an old thread here, and to be honest I never paid attention to the Gosch case until now. I have watched footage the last hour to figure things out. It is one of the strangest cases I have ever seen. It starts out normal. Johnny is delivering his paper route in 1982 on Sunday morning. He is seen being dragged into a car by two men. So far so good. But the twists only begin. Johnny always was required to go with either one of his parents on the route but didn't this morning. That is a fantastic coincidence or just terrible, terrible luck. If it is the former then it might tie into a theory that his parents, or his dad, was in on it. There are those mysterious pictures that pop up. There is the sighting of Johnny 6 months after his abduction at a gas station pleading with a woman to help him but he is dragged away by two men. There is the admission of a man who claims he was involved in the abduction of Johnny because he was "forced" to do it based on his own experience as an abused child in a pornography ring. Then in 1997 Johnny's mother claims he comes to the door and talks to her for three hours. Very, very strange. He says he can't stay long, he is in danger but that he is alive. She never reports it until a few years later. Even stranger, Johnny's dad and mom split up in the early 1990s. Johnny's dad is the exact opposite of Noreen. He is skeptical of every single lead. He didn't believe the inmate who claims he helped abduct Johnny. He didn't think the picture looked like Johnny at all because his "ankles" look different. Really? That is bizarre. I have no clue how to even describe my own ankle's let alone my son's. Maybe he just wants to disagree with everything his ex-wife says but either way, he seems far to dismissive for my liking. Lastly, the former White House reporter Jeff Gannon. Look, I have no idea where he is now. It seems to me that he vanished after all this stuff came out that claims he is Johnny Gosch. Just on the surface he does seem to look like Johnny as an adult, just saying. In the interview I saw him in, the host conducts a very bizarre interview barely even letting him talk to say his side. Basically the host is trying to persuade everyone that it isn't Johnny without "Jeff" even saying anything. Jeff speaks weird, almost robotic, in the interview too. He could have easily squashed the story right there if he was persuasive during the interview but while he claims he would take a DNA test he never did as far as I know. Why is that? Why not give the Gosch family peace of mind? Why not go out of your way to put the story to bed? So much of this case is very, very weird. Is Johnny actually Jeff Gannon the mysterious reporter that know one knows too much about?

05-11-2012, 12:28 AM	#9
jasonbigley Member Forum Regular Join Date: Apr 14, 2008 Location: California Posts: 501	This is a VERY VERY weird case indeed. First off all, I have to wonder, if Johnny was sold into a sex ring, how come they claimed all these sightings of him in the USA? Was it a traveling sex ring? Then the mom (Noreen Gosch) claims that 2 men (one was supposedly Johnny) visited her apartment at 2:30 in the morning in 1997. She claims that he told her he could never make contact with her again because his life was in danger. If I was a parent, I would have done everything in my power to keep him there the night he visited. I would have called the police immediately. I would NOT have let him leave again like that (especially when there is a 15 year gap involved here). I dont know why Noreen would let 2 strangers in her apartment at 2:30am. Im not shure if Noreen is telling the truth or not. She may have been so grief stricken over this that it affected her mental health. They recently had a special on Johnny Gosch on Nancy Grace: Missing America. The one phychologist said that there probably was not much more law enforcement could do because most likely he died very soon after he was abducted and buried in a remote location. She also went on to state that parents in this situation are ripe to be used and abused by private investigators and/or phychics because they know the parents are in a terrible emotional state and they will search every expert in the book until someone tells them what they want to hear. I feel bad for Johnny's parents. No one should have to go through something tragic. If I had magical powers, I would reunite Johnny with his parents (and every missing kid with their parents). Then for the evil perpetrators, I would throw them into a HOT HOT fire pit and watch them suffer.

05-11-2012, 01:53 PM	#10
Orange_Sody_84 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Aug 05, 2010 Location: Myrtle Beach Posts: 234	Quite honestly it's one of the stories that can keep me up at night. So bizarre and disturbing indeed... Maybe it's better not to know what happened.

05-11-2012, 03:54 PM	#11
asmitty Member Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 01, 2007 Location: South Dakota Posts: 523	This will sound odd, but I grew up on this case. I'm from Des Moines, IA. Johnny was taken from the suburb of West Des Moines when I was 2 (the day after my 2nd birthday to be exact). The disappearance of Johnny Gosch was the bedtime story we all heard to scare us about strangers growing up. "Don't talk to strangers or you'll get kidnapped like Johnny Gosch." The case is steeped in mystery and surrounded by strange events. I remember adults in Des Moines, my familly and parents of friends, making remarks concerning Noreen being someone who wanted to keep herself and her son's case in the limelight. Many of these comments hinted and/or implied that she was doing so in a negative way or for her own benefit more than to see the case solved. I can't speak for any of that, it's only what I remember. I agree with you, Clockworkhigh, that it is a remarkable coincidence that Johnny went missing the one time he tackled the paper route alone. Two years after Johnny went missing, another paperboy named Eugene Martin went missing in Des Moines (this time less than 6 blocks from my grandmother's home) under nearly identical circumstances. The only real difference in the two cases, is that Johnny made it to the spot to pick up his papers before being taken while Eugene was still on his way. In Eugene's case, as in Johnny's, the boy normally has someone with him. Eugene's older step-brother normally joined him but did not in this case. This similarity makes me think both boys may have been targeted ahead of time and stalked until they were alone. It's an odd case, for sure, and one that has kept me thinking over the years.

05-11-2012, 05:01 PM	#12
RobinW Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 14, 2010 Posts: 1,874	I've spent a lot of time reading about the Johnny Gosch case and it's simultaneously one of the most fascinating and disturbing mysteries of all time. However, spending too much time studying it can make one's head explode, especially with all the crazy conspiracy theories. I often think there's at least some truth within the wild stories that Noreen Gosch has told, but I can never take anything she says 100 % seriously. My breaking point with her was when she posted "mysterious" photos that she claimed she received on her website which featured a bunch of guys in robes standing over a child. She asked for help identifying the men in the pictures, but the "photos" were clearly stills from a movie or TV show. I mean, my God, these so-called photos had a network logo in the right-hand corner!

05-11-2012, 07:38 PM	#13
Clockworkhigh Member Forum Regular Join Date: Apr 29, 2009 Posts: 604	Alright and Jeff Gannon? What is his story. He never took a DNA test as far as I know. Look, it might be outlandish to think he is Johnny Gosch but in the interview I saw him in he had every opportunity to "humanize" his points but he didn't. Stuff like: "My Aunt (maybe even say her name) was in the delivery room when I was born, she could tell you." He just says some weird stuff. Even about the DNA test. "Yeah I can take one, but they could have gotten some the other day when I pricked my finger." Again, with the past tense. Or how about a picture of when he was young, where he grew up, etc. He did nothing in that interview that was anything but a teleprompter-type of response. It was robotic and lacked any genuine attribute. How about a face to face with the mom? Or dad? Geez, you think you'd know your kid, even 30 years later. Do what you have to so you can go on with your life. Maybe it isn't him, but he had every opportunity to persuade me he wasn't and he didn't in that interview.