CONSPIRACY THEORY PROJECT

Blanca Cabanas
 DISAPPEARANCE OF
JOHNNY GOSCH

John David Gosch (November 12, 1969 – disappeared

September 5, 1982) was a paperboy in
West Des Moines, Iowa, who disappeared between 6
and 7 a.m. on September 5, 1982. He is presumed to
have been kidnapped. As of 2022, there have been no
arrests made and the case is now considered cold, but
remains open.
 FACTS/EVIDENCES

• His mother, Noreen Gosch, said that Johnny escaped

from his captors and visited her with an
unidentified man in 1997. Gosch's father, John,
divorced from Noreen since 1993, has publicly
stated that he is not sure whether or not such a
visit actually occurred. Many have also
speculated that the visit did occur, but it was
someone else pretending to be Johnny.[2]
Authorities have not located Gosch or confirmed
Noreen Gosch's account, and his fate continues to
be the subject of speculation, conspiracy theories,
and dispute.Noreen Gosch insists that boy is
Johnny.[3]Gosch's picture was among the first to
be featured on milk cartons as part of a campaign
to find missing children.
 STORY

• On September 5, 1982, Johnny with 12 years old, vanished without a trace from
Des Moines, Iowa, while on his morning newspaper run. Without any evidence or
leads, the case went cold and has remained unsolved, but there have been a number of
conspiracy theories about what happened to him.
• Some people believe that he was forced into a child sex ring , that was operating in
Nebraska. His mother, Noreen, received pictures of a man tied up in a basement,
leading her to believe the theory was true, though the man in the picture could not be
proved to be Gosch and there was no other evidence to prove the theory.
• In 1997, Noreen said her now grown-up son visited her with his captor. She said he told
her he was all right and that he was still alive, igniting even more conspiracies that he
was still alive. But police could not corroborate the mother's story.
• Finally, there is a conspiracy that White House reporter Jeff Gannon is JohnnyGosch
because they share similar political characteristics. This theory was also never proved
•
 EUGENE MARTIN

• Two years after Gosch's disappearance, another central

Iowa paperboy met a similar fate. When the Iowa
State Fair kicked off for the year in 1984, Martin
relied on his Des Moines Register paper route to
earn spending money.
• He usually delivered newspapers with his older
stepbrother, but on the morning of Sunday, Aug. 12,
1984, he went alone. Around 6:15 a.m., Martin's bag
was found on the ground with folded newspapers
still inside. He was never seen again.
• Many thought the circumstances behind Martin's and
Gosch's disappearances were similar
•
 ARGUMENTS/
TESTIMONIES

• The president namechecked Johnny Gosch and

Eugene Martin, Iowa paperboys that disappeared
from the Des Moines area in the previous two
years. “We’ve pledged our full support in the
search for these two boys.”
• “Johnny Gosch and Eugene Martin epitomized
boyhood innocence and vulnerability,” writes
historian Paul M. Renfro in his 2020 book
• “Their disappearances symbolized not just physical
losses but also the losses of innocence, childhood,
whiteness, middle-classness, and
midwesternness.”
 HISTORICAL TIMELINE

• He disappeared between 6 and 7 a.m. on

September 5, 1982.
 CURRENTS EVENTS

•
•Forty years after his disappearance on Sept. 5, 1982,
Johnny Gosch in particular remains at the center of
conspiracy theories. True crime podcasters, populist
politicians and QAnon influencers have made a meal of
the cold case, picking and choosing which wild
explanation for the disappearance best suits their
narrative.
•“There's no continuation and finish of a grieving process
because you can't," Noreen said. "It's still open.“
 WEBSITE

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/in-depth/news/2022/08/31/
johnny-gosch-disappearance-west-des-moines-boy-40-year
-update-what-to-know-case-noreen-gosch/10153238002/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Johnny_Gosch
https://littlevillagemag.com
/johnny-gosch-case-40th-anniversary-conspiracy-theories/