Years went by with no new leads. Then, in 1997, Noreen claimed that one early morning, at 2:30 A.M., she was awakened by the sound of knocking. When she opened her front door, her son Johnny, now 27, was standing there with a man she had never seen before. Noreen claimed that the two entered her apartment and that they spoke for over an hour before departing.

“Johnny would look over to the other person for approval to speak,” she told the Des Moines Register. “He didn’t say where he is living or where he was going.” Though Noreen worked with the FBI to create a new sketch of Johnny’s current appearance, the case went cold again. She claimed that she did not contact the police when Johnny showed up because he warned her that doing so would be detrimental to his safety. Noreen claims that her son confirmed that he had been the victim of a pedophile organization and had been cast aside when he grew older. However, he still feared for his life and lived under a new identity, deeming it unsafe to return home. John has stated his uncertainty as to whether or not the visit occurred—the couple has been divorced since 1993.

The next bizarre development came on September 1, 2006. Noreen Gosch returned home to find several disturbing photographs at her doorstep. She claimed that one of the photos showed Johnny, bound and gagged, with a brand-mark on his shoulder. Another photo showed three boys bound and gagged. Just two weeks later, the Des Moines police department received an anonymous letter, which read:

Gentlemen,

Someone has played a reprehensible joke on a grieving mother. The photo in question is not one of her son but of three boys in Tampa, Florida about 1979-80, challenging each other to an escape contest. There was an investigation concerning that picture, made by the Hillsborough County (FL) Sheriff’s Office. No charges were filed, and no wrongdoing was established. The lead detective on the case was named Zalva. This allegation should be easy enough to check out.

In fact, a detective in Florida named Nelson Zalva confirmed that he had investigated the photo of the three boys and could find no evidence that anything criminal had taken place. Despite this, Noreen maintains that the other photograph is indeed of Johnny, that he was the victim of a child prostitution ring run out of Omaha, Nebraska, and that there is a cover-up that stretches from local law enforcement all the way up to the FBI.

Two similar disappearances in the area could support an active child predator theory. In 1984, Eugene Martin, another young paperboy, vanished on his route in the early morning hours. In 1986, 13-year-old Marc Warren Allen disappeared on his way to a friend’s house just down the street.

Face on the Milk Carton: What Happened to Johnny Gosch?

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