IA IA - Johnny Gosch, 12, West Des Moines, 5 Sept 1982 #4

For some individuals It would be an easier decision if they knew more details from the meeting. I do not think Noreen has discussed all the questions she may have asked Johnny on his visit in the late 90s. If she asked several questions and shared the answers, that only Johnny would know about specific events, then I would believe it was him for certain. For those who think it was someone playing a cruel joke on Noreen, I have to disagree because it seems like such a sick disturbing and well practiced thing to do before going meet Noreen if one wanted to pretend to be Johnny. Also, we often hear how mothers know their children no matter how long it has been since they have seen them A mother never forgets her child's eyes, So some say. Remember also, Noreen did not want to talk about this meeting, it came out during court when the question was asked "if she has ever seen her son since his disappearance" She didn't want to risk lying/perjury so she told the truth. Unless you believe she needed to lie at that specific moment to help bring awareness back to the decades old case? Overall Noreen seems legit and honest. She remains involved in helping other families who have suffered the loss of a child.
 
I was also just thinking about the civil lawsuit involving Lawrence E. King and Paul Bonacci.
A judge believed the facts of the case enough to reward Bonacci 1 million dollars which is still unpaid by Mr. King.

Summary:
in *advertiser censored* lawsuit A federal judge in Lincoln, Neb., has awarded $1
million to an Omaha man who claimed the former manager of a defunct
Omaha credit union forced him into child *advertiser censored* years ago.
Senior U.S. District Judge Warren Urbom said the judgment for Paul
Bonacci, 31, was a "fair amount" for mental and physical injuries
Bonacci attributed to Lawrence King.
 
I was also just thinking about the civil lawsuit involving Lawrence E. King and Paul Bonacci.
A judge believed the facts of the case enough to reward Bonacci 1 million dollars which is still unpaid by Mr. King.

Summary:
in *advertiser censored* lawsuit A federal judge in Lincoln, Neb., has awarded $1
million to an Omaha man who claimed the former manager of a defunct
Omaha credit union forced him into child *advertiser censored* years ago.
Senior U.S. District Judge Warren Urbom said the judgment for Paul
Bonacci, 31, was a "fair amount" for mental and physical injuries
Bonacci attributed to Lawrence King.
 
No. 1) because I don’t think the visit ever happened and 2) because I think Johnny was killed shortly after he went missing.
Do you think that Noreen is lying about the visit? Or the person who came to see her wasn't Johnny? That's the thing, to go from 1982-1997 by being abducted and still being alive. Very, very doubtful. On researching this topic, I found a tragic trend that most people are killed within as little as three hours following an abduction.

<modsnip: not an approved source>

Satch
 
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<modsnip: referenced post removed> It is true statistically speaking that most individuals are killed within the first 3 hours. However, in the past decade we have seen several cases in which individuals have been found after being held captive anywhere from 10 months to 20 years.
In the pedophile world, someone like Johnny would be considered a trophy. He was the first milk carton kid. I think that being said, he has much more of a chance of surviving.
I also think he survived based on Paul Bonacci confirming several details to Noreen about Johnny that Noreen never disclosed to the public. One example being that of Johnny knowing yoga and special breathing techniques which Noreen taught him. Also I say it often, but all of this is part of a larger web which is connected to the Franklin Scandal.
 
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<modsnip: referenced post was removed> It is true statistically speaking that most individuals are killed within the first 3 hours. However, in the past decade we have seen several cases in which individuals have been found after being held captive anywhere from 10 months to 20 years.
In the pedophile world, someone like Johnny would be considered a trophy. He was the first milk carton kid. I think that being said, he has much more of a chance of surviving.
I also think he survived based on Paul Bonacci confirming several details to Noreen about Johnny that Noreen never disclosed to the public. One example being that of Johnny knowing yoga and special breathing techniques which Noreen taught him. Also I say it often, but all of this is part of a larger web which is connected to the Franklin Scandal.

johnny would be almost 50 today and the people who kidnapped him would be elderly, if not dead already.
 
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johnny would be almost 50 today and the people who kidnapped him would be elderly, if not dead already.

Those who believe this might think, well, should Johnny come back home, and would he be in danger if his captors were dead? The problem is that JG would be used to such a different lifestyle and environment that it could be very, very difficult for him to return to his childhood life, if not impossible.

Most believe that JG is dead, and has been for a long time, but because of so many twists, turns, questions, people, who's credible? who's a crackpot here? It is sadly very likely that the whereabouts of JG, dead or alive may never be known. I did learn that one of those photos of the kids tied up that investigators linked to kids playing an "escape game" One of the boys was never identified. Noreen thinks that that is Johnny. Do we have any idea about the year that those photos that surfaced in I think it was 1996, were taken?

Satch
 
Do you think that Noreen is lying about the visit? Or the person who came to see her wasn't Johnny? That's the thing, to go from 1982-1997 by being abducted and still being alive. Very, very doubtful. On researching this topic, I found a tragic trend that most people are killed within as little as three hours following an abduction.

<modsnip: not an approved source>

Satch

I don't think she would lie intentionally. Losing you child is going to mess with your head. Whether she actually saw her son, someone else, or fantasied the meeting it was probably real to her. Or she was trying to get a reaction from someone she believed took her son.
 
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I don't think she would lie intentionally. Losing you child is going to mess with your head. Whether she actually saw her son, someone else, or fantasied the meeting it was probably real to her. Or she was trying to get a reaction from someone she believed took her son.
Some say that Noreen dreamed the events of March 1997. I had a few bad dreams as a child that I remember to this day. Something like that would be so emotional that Noreen would remember that dream for life.

If she did not dream this, someone came to visit her, either Johnny or pretending to be him.

Satch
 
Those who believe this might think, well, should Johnny come back home, and would he be in danger if his captors were dead? The problem is that JG would be used to such a different lifestyle and environment that it could be very, very difficult for him to return to his childhood life, if not impossible.

Most believe that JG is dead, and has been for a long time, but because of so many twists, turns, questions, people, who's credible? who's a crackpot here? It is sadly very likely that the whereabouts of JG, dead or alive may never be known. I did learn that one of those photos of the kids tied up that investigators linked to kids playing an "escape game" One of the boys was never identified. Noreen thinks that that is Johnny. Do we have any idea about the year that those photos that surfaced in I think it was 1996, were taken?

Satch


It appears that on August 27, 2006, Johnny’s mother received an unmarked envelope at her front door that contained three photographs. Too bad Amazon Door bell cameras didn't exist at the time. :(
 
wondering if anyone else here has been in a deep whole with the files that the fbi released on The finders case. Lots of links back to the franklin cover up, johnny gosch, and the mcmarten preschool trail. The Finders Part 01 of 01


I have been slowing digging up more and more about the Finders Cult. I am so fascinated by the whole thing.
Johnny Gosch's red wagon will be displayed at state fair

Sep 5, 2019

---

37 year of Johnny Gosch disappearance

Sep 5, 2019



Sheeshhh Ron Samson, the paint is peeling off the wagon for goodness sake. Some "caretaker" you are buddy ole pal.
:p:D
 
Collection of Various Johnny Gosch Articles Part 1

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis, Missouri

08 Mar 1984, Thu • Page 44

Bob Greene
Where Is Johnny Gosch?
"I don't think there is a more compelling story in the country than the case of Johnny Gosch, the young West Des Moines, Iowa, boy who was kidnapped from his newspaper route on Sept. 5, 1982 and who may still be held captive by the man or men who took him. Johnny Gosch was 12 on that day. He left the house with his red wagon and his dog Gretchen to deliver Sunday-morning Des Moines Registers. The dog returned home without him. His wagon, full of newspapers, was found on a street corner. Johnny was simply gone. ' His mother and father, John and Noreen Gosch, started an exhaustive campaign to try to And the boy. A composite drawing of a man suspected of being the kidnapper was distributed nationally. Enough funds were raised to establish a 100,000 reward for Johnny's safe return. " As awful as all kidnap cases are, this one was especially wrenching. And then, last month, a development occurred that made Johnny Gosch the story of Johnny Gosch almost 1 unbearable to contemplate. According to his mother, Johnny called home three times. As Mrs. Gosch told reporters in West Des Moines, the first call came just after midnight on a Wednesday. "I said, 'Who is this?"' Mrs. Gosch recalled. "I thought maybe It was a crank. I could tell it was long-distance. "He said, 'This is Johnny. I said, 'Are you all right?' He said, 'No.' His voice was slurred, as if he had been drugged, and he was crying. I asked, 'Where are you?' and someone slammed down the phone." In another call a few minutes later, Mrs. Gosch said, her son begged her to rescue him. "He was pleading for help," she said. "He said, 'Just get me out of here, Mom. They've got me here, Just get me out...' "That's how I knew it was Johnny. His voice went through ranges of emotion, and when you hear someone throughout their lives, hear their voices change at different levels, then you recognize it again. His voice has deepened a little since he was kidnapped, but I know it was Johnny. I have no doubt." As in the first call, the next two ended with the phone being hung up. Each call lasted less than 40 seconds; Mrs. Gosch said she assumed it was the kidnappers flUT-ll It A "I'""' who had ended the calls. Mrs. Gosch said that there have been at least 15 sightings of her son in the southwest United States since he was kidnapped. According to her, on several occasions he has tried to identify himself to members of the public Last March, she said, a boy believed to be Johnny ran up to a woman near a small shopping center just off a highway and said. "Please help me; I'm John David Gosch." The woman reportedly said that a man chased the boy, pinned his arm behind him, and led him away. The boy broke away again; the man captured him again. The woman thought it was a father disciplining his son. Months later, when the woman saw Johnny's picture on a television show about missing children, she realized who he had been. In another instance, according to Mrs. Gosch and private investigators, a boy edged up to some customers at a gas-station truck stop and said something to the effect of "I'm Johnny Gosch" before a man retrieved him and took him away. The thought that the boy is still out there, being held captive by the man or men who apparently took him from his newspaper route, is so chilling that reporters and law enforcement officers who usually try to stay emotionally detached from their stories and cases find themselves dwelling on the details of this one, and trying to figure out what more they can do to help. It is every parent's nightmare the idea of his or her child in desperate trouble, begging for rescue, apparently being moved at will around the country to avoid detection. It makes one start thinking of wild, dramatic attempts at solution: if President Reagan could hold up Johnny's picture at one of his live press conferences, so everyone in the country could be made aware of his situation; if every newspaper in the country could run his picture on Page One... The thoughts go on and on. Investigators say that Johnny apparently is in the custody of two men and "pretty much under wraps." Johnny has had two birthdays since he was kidnapped; he is now 14. One of the kidnappers, according to investigators, may be a middle-aged man with dark eyes, black hair and a moustache the same man witnesses have said they saw talking to Johnny in West Des Moines minutes before he was taken. In the meantime, all that the rest of us can do is continue to keep our eyes open. Those of us in the newspaper business can print Johnny's picture one more time, and hope it sticks in people's memories. Although most newspapers that carry my column do not normally use photographs with it, I'd like to ask editors to publish Johnny's photo with today's column. And we can remember the words his mother says she heard coming over the phone: "Just get me out of here, Mom. They've got me here, just get me out..."
--------------------------------
Fort Lauderdale News
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

21 Mar 1984, Wed • Page 14

14A Fort Lauderdale News, Wednesday, March 21. 1984
Johnny Continued from page 1A (Will find and post page A later date)

"Since then the telephone has brought them news, sometimes hopeful, other times less so. The telephone has brought them support, love and encouragement from friends and malicious calls from cranks. Four times, they believe, it has brought the voice of their kidnaped son. Now they are waiting for the final phone call, one saying he has been recovered. For the Gosches, the last year and a half has been a nightmare. First, they lost their son, a youngster just starting the 7th grade who liked to build rocket models and play in a backyard tree house. He was the only child of their marriage and the youngest of three in the family. Second, they charge, bungling by law enforcement agencies has left them no choice but to try to find Johnny themselves. "If we sound a little bit bitter about the way things were bandied in this case," said John Gosch, 40, "we are." Since that Sunday when Johnny vanished minutes after 6 a.m. just as he turned a corner on his paper route, the family has lived in a world defined by the ring of a phone, the click of tape-recording equipment, the reports from private detectives, the distribution of flyers, the calls from the media and the constant bake sales, candy sales and jewelry sales that keep money coming in. It is a world whose parameters are hope, fear, anger and frustration. "You don't get used to it," said Noreen Gosch, 40. "It's as much pain now as at the beginning. You just learn to be more patient ... I believe, and I have from the beginning, that I will see my son again. If I really thought he was dead someplace, I probably wouldn't have this drive, this fervor." That drive has led the Gosches to mount a public campaign for the return of their son. So far it has REPORTED SIGHTINGS OF JOHNNY f 'N "jj OKLAHOMA 2 (-TESJ HOUSTON ,JlJ( i TEXAS TAMPA S, y FLORIDA I 1 ' " 1 i XJ""' '"l frtj)Cil included the printing and distribution of 100,000 flyers bearing Johnny's picture; the Help Find Johnny' Gosch Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises funds for the search; and numerous press conferences, television appearances and speaking engagements. In addition, the Gosches usually appear several times a week at "abduction awareness" seminars to teach others about the dangers and tactics of kidnapers. Nearly every waking moment that they aren't at work (John is a farm chemical salesman and Noreen is a secretary) is devoted to the search for their son and to encouraging the publicity they feel may lead to his return. As part of their search, the Gosches themselves have become media figures, appearing on television and in newspapers and magazines. All the exposure has been a double-edged sword for the Gosches, who resent questions about Johnny which suggest he might have disappeared on his own. The Gosches have given up all semblance of privacy in the attempt to find their son. If the publicity helps bring Johnny home, they feel, it is worth it Staff nif by GALE ENGELKE "I want him back alive," Noreen Gosch said. "I don't delude myself. I know the odds. But I know that every day without finding a body is a ray of hope." The Gosches say their high-profile campaign is necessary because law enforcement agencies did not do everything possibe to find Johnny, particularly in the critical first days after his disappearance. Indeed, relations between the Gosches and the West Des Moines police and the FBI have been strained from the outset when, the Gosches said, they bad to fight hard to persuade the local police not to classify Johnny as a runaway. (A police spokesman said Johnny was reported "missing-involuntary" on the morning of his disappearance). Law enforcement agencies are circumspect when they discuss the Gosch case. Said one FBI agent: "When your child's missing, you're so wild with worry and grief, it's easy to lose your perspective. No matter what they do, no police agency can do enough." rftrb Hawkins, special FBI agent in charge of the Omaha division (which includes Des Moines), said, "I'm not going to get in any dis agreement with the Gosches, and I'm not going to discuss the case anymore. It is a top-priority personal crime in this office. ... We're working leads right now." Orville Cooney, chief of the 28-man West Des Moines police force at the time of Johnny's abduction, said, "I feel the Gosch family got better service than (they) would have gotten anywhere in the United States in terms of manpower and length of investigation." Cooney, now retired, said Johnny's was the first kidnapping bis force handled. The question of why Johnny was kidnapped has been raised so many times Noreen Gosch can recite the possibilities in an almost detached fashion: "a cult, *advertiser censored*, prostitution or just someone in a one-on-one situation who decided to take a child and keep him." The other question she and her husband are asked most frequently is how they have managed to cope, how they live with not knowing wher! he is or what has happened to him. "I justlook at it as I don't have a choice," said John Gosch. "I just remember who the real victim is. The victim is Johnny," said Noreen. The family has hired the private detectives because, John said, "we wanted some answers." Christenson is the second the family has employed since Johnny's abduction. Right now, the Gosches are running the search from their two-story brick home on a quiet cul-de-sac in West Des Moines, a suburb so seemingly secure, so comfortable that one visitor referred to it as "Leave It to leaver Land." Outside the house, a porch light burns constantly. Inside, pictures of Johnny are everywhere. In Johnny's room, a suitcase filled with his favorite clothes sits on the bed, ready to be carried to him on a moment's notice. But as each day passes, it appears less probable Johnny will return. The sightings in the last 18 months that have kept the Gosches' hopes alive have led nowhere. One woman who told Christenson she may have seen Johnny is a mother of three and a disabled former truck driver who lives outside Tampa. She said she saw a boy who looked like Johnny stumble into a local truck stop last year very late on a Sunday night. But, she said, the boy she saw "couldn't have been more than 5 feet 6 inches tall," an inch shorter than Johnny was when he disappeared. The other men and women who Christenson said saw Johnny alive now deny they saw the boy. Lonnie Knight, a police captain in Cisco, Tex., said, "I don't know what in the world you're talking about. I never saw this boy. I never took a report of a sighting, and we got no record of anyone taking a report about him." William Gribbens of Roby, Tex., said he "never laid eyes on him." According to Gribbens, an 8-year-old local boy noticed a poster containing information about Johnny's abduction hanging in Gribbens' gas station and said be might have played with the boy in the picture. A reporter who called a fourth phone number of a supposed "sight-er," John Keers, reached television station KTRK in Houston. The reporter was told no one by that name had ever worked there and was directed instead to John Kells, the station assignment editor, who said he was familiar with the Gosch case. "Last year there were some people in a shopping center who said they saw Johnny Gosch," he said. "But they couldn't agree on how tall he was, what color his hair was or what he was wearing. I dismissed it as nothing. We never used the story. I don't know how you got this number. I never saw the kid." Reporters were unable to reach the fifth "sighter" who, Christenson said, lives in El Paso, Tex. Asked about the discrepancies in his list of sightings, Christenson said, "I'm not responsible if the phone numbers aren't good anymore. Those sightings are a year old. People move." When informed that Knight, Gribbens and Kells had denied hav ing seen Johnny, Christenson repeated the previous statement and added, "Well, maybe they don't want to get involved." According to Christenson, the dead-end sightings were generated by another detective who had worked on the case. Though the reported sightings have not led to Johnny's recovery, the Gosches and their supporters refuse to give up their search. On a recent Friday night, 30 friends and a few strangers assembled in the Gosches' living room for a biweekly meeting of Help Find Johnny Gosch. The foundation has helped raise much of the $80,000 the Gosches say they have spent on the search. Over the last 18 months there have been a variety of fund-raising projects, including fashion shows; the sale of "Find Johnny Gosch" buttons, bumper stickers, jewelry and baked goods; benefit ' dances, and garage sales. But the biggest income producer to date has been the sale of choco-' late bars. The foundation buys them in bulk from World's Finest Chocolate Inc., in Chicago, and makes about 47 cents on each bar sold for $1. Each bar bears the message ' "Help Find Johnny Gosch" and carries the Gosches' home telephone number. To date, the Gosches estimate nearly 70,000 bars have been sold. ; At one point the family had 36,000 : bars stored in the basement. Though the Gosches are grateful for the sales, they said they thought . it was "deplorable" families should feel forced to resort to such meas- ' ures in order to raise money to ; search for their child. "If someone ; had told us two years ago our son's life would depend on candy bars and : buttons, we wouldn't have believed it," John Gosch said. Johnny's disappearance has had a ' sobering effect on other neighborhood children. Greg and Cathy Cud-worth, the Gosches' next-door neighbors, said, "There are no singles anywhere. It's definitely the buddy system. Some kids are even afraid to take out the garbage after dark."

---------------------------
The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles, California

09 Aug 1984, Thu • Page 5

*advertiser censored* Called Trigger for Child Molesting
Bv JOAN RADOV1CH.
Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON

"*advertiser censored* triggers child molestation by helping molesters justify their actions and by conditioning children to accept the abuse, an FBI special agent told a Senate subcommittee Wednesday. Agent Kenneth V. Lanning. holding a pamphlet titled "How to Have Sex With Kids," testified that "hundreds of thousands" of pedophilestypically men with sexual preferences for young boys and girls are in the United States. Pedophiles "almost always" are collectors of child *advertiser censored* and erotica, he said. Lanning acknowledged that the causes of sexual abuse by pedophiles are complex and do not spring solely from effects of *advertiser censored*. But, he declared, "certainly we know this material fuels their fantasies and they use it to lower the inhibitions of children." Similarly, Katherine Brady, an incest victim and activist in child abuse prevention, testified that "*advertiser censored* trained me to respond to my father's sexual demands." "The *advertiser censored* frightened me; it confused me and yet it excited me, and I felt trapped," declared Brady, who said she was sexually abused from ages 8 to 18. Concern about child molestation has heightened in recent months as allegations of sexual abuse of children have surfaced from the Virginia McMartin Pre-School in Manhattan Beach to a city-funded day care center in New York City. Senator Testifies Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa. ) said the upsurge in pornographic materials may be causing the increase in charges of child molestation. An assistant county attorney in Austin, Tex., filed suit last month to have "How to Have Sex With Kids" declared obscene because of its detailed "how-to" approach, even though the authors did not include nude photos or drawings. Although there is a need for more government regulation of material that arouses pedophiles, it is impossible to outlaw everything that is appealing to them, Lanning said as he held up a pedophile's scrapbook that included children's underwear ads. "Can we outlaw everything that these people find arousing?" Lanning said. "We know for a fact that . . . they become sexually aroused watching TV programs such as 'Leave It to Beaver.' " But despite heightened concern nationwide, the government has not done enough to investigate cases of missing children, many of whom are abducted by pedophiles, the mother of a missing child charged. "We must begin to realize that we are living in a society which has been programmed to believe, 'If it feels good ... do it.' 'If you want it . . . take it.' " said Koreen N. Gosch, whose 12-year-old son, Johnny, was kidnaped nearly two years ago in West Des Moines, Iowa."

-------------------------
Lincoln Journal Star
Lincoln, Nebraska

17 Oct 1984, Wed • Page 39

Evidence said insufficient in Iowa newsboy sex case DES MOINES, Iowa (UPI) -
"Police say they need more evidence to file charges against a newspaper employee who confessed to having sexual contact with several young newspaper carriers under his supervision. Frank Sykora. 37. was fired from his receipts soar; receipts plod State sales tax receipts are less than last year's receipts, also the result at least partly of the food sales tax repeal The reduction is of no concern to state officials because it was anticipated. State sales tax receipts are tracking projections fairly closely, according to recent monthly reports of the state Revenue Department. According to the Omaha World-Herald, Omaha City Finance Director William Miskell speculated that the strong sales tax collections in Omaha may be the result of a more diversified and vigorous economy. The lagging farm ecomony may have less of an effect on Omaha than other parts of the state, Miskell said. job in the circulation department of the Des Moines Register late Monday after a private investigator alleged that Sykora had sexual relations with at least seven male carriers. ' Assistant Polk County Attorney Ron Wheeler said he does not have sufficient evidence to file charges. But Des Moines Police Chief William Moulder said Tuesday that his department's investigation is continuing and charges may be filed "In any criminal investigation, a confession alone is not enough," Moulder said. "We need a victim. We need corroborating evidence. There also is a question here of a statute of limitation. We don't know if this happened five years ago, 10 years ago or yesterday." Sykora, a former Marine, went to police headquarters Monday to be interviewed and submit to a polygraph test. Moulder said the test indicated Sykora had no involvement in the disappearance of paperboys Johnny Gosch and Eugene Martin. Gosch disappeared from his West Des Moines route Sept. 5, 1982. Martin vanished from south Des Moines under similiar circumstances Aug. 12."

---------------------------------------
The Des Moines Register
Des Moines, Iowa

15 Aug 1985, Thu • Page 8

Some transcription issues, my apologies. I may have missed an AD also. So if you comes across Beatrice Spoons, it was an AD portion I missed deleting)


Complete transcript of interview with Meier about Gosch
(cut off portion of article........."One given "important details" that hadn't been publicized before. They included a scar Johnny had on an ankle from a motorcycle accident and details of a blue van that was believed to be parked in the neighborhood Sept. 5, 1982, when the boy disappeared. But Meier said it was the Gosches who told him about the scar. Meier was evasive about a positive identification of Gosch. He said he scouted the house where Gosch was being held but didn't get close enough to see the boy. He said, however, that he was told the boy was Gosch. Meier is a slightly heavy, blond, blue-eyed man who appears to be modestly dressed, according to Noreen Gosch who, along with her husband, met with him at the Kansas City International Airport July 14 to discuss details of the alleged rescue plan. Meier has tattoos on his arms including one, Noreen Gosch said, that is labeled "Maltese Falcon." The following is a complete transcript of The Register's interview with Meier: Question: Rob? A. Who's asking? Q. I'm Frank Santiago, a reporter for The Des Moines Register. A. What's the name again? Q. Frank Santiago. A. How did you find me? Q. I understood that you talked to a newspaper there in Windsor. A. How did you find me? Q. We talked to some people there. A. (After a long hesitation) ... I said I was going to turn myself in to the . FBI at the border. If you (expletive) this sensitive arrangement by notifying the local police ... , Q. I'm not a policeman, Bob. I'm a reporter for The Des Moines Register. A. I guaranteed them (the Windsor newspaper) the interview. Q. It's already in the paper up there. I haven't seen it. I'm in Iowa. The story is already out. A. With this address? Q. No, no, no. Just the interview about you turning yourself in. A. (Expletive) you guys work fast. Q. I'm not interested in telling anybody where you are. I just want to know what got you interested in the Gosches in the first place. The family is from Des Moines here. Why are you interested in turning yourself in? The family said when you talked with them in Kansas City you were kind of revolted about these things happening to kids and that's why you wanted to help them out. A. Well, look, it was like this. Originally, this thing was supposed to be valid. I was a front man. I wanted the planner. Q.OK. A. When the money was received, EL MM rnviisi.F.oF.sHN4"' "Ptgf Rilbbit" t: f Wainc 4 Co New York S London. 1983 fl Thurs.. Aug. 15, 1985 transcript I Johnny Gosch May be in Mexico the guy who was setting it up got (expletive) because it wasn't enough. He knew what he would have needed to pull it off, and it wasn't enough. He said he wasn't going to do it. I said if he wasn't going to do it, I was going to burn. So I blew it off and ran. Q. Did you take the money or give it to somebody else? A. At this point in time I don't want to comment about that. Q. OK. That's fine. Bob, your information about the boy. Is it good information? A. It is. Q. What makes you say that? The FBI is very skeptical here in Iowa about your story. They say they don't see anything to it. What information do you have about the boy? A. All right now. I'll tell you the plain truth. The FBI is not going to acknowledge one way or another if that information is good or bad. What I know is that if this information is leaked to the press the people will not only go underground but that the odds are about 99 percent they'll put a hit on me. Q. So what basically can you tell me? Where is the boy? Is he in Mexico? A. He is. Q. How do you know that? Have you seen him? A. I'd rather not say until I've talked with a lawyer. Q. Where In Mexico is he? A. The FBI knows. Q. Are they telling us the truth, that it's Mexico City? A. Probably not. The reason why I gave an interview is I don't want B.S. spread to the press. I want them to know. Q. What do you want the people down here to know, including the family? A. That it was too late. That it had gone too far. I had no control over the situation. State of interview with Meier about Q. What had gone too far? I don't follow you. A. Well, either way I would have gotten the name, so I decided to play the game. I really don't know that I should be talking to you. Q. Well, this is really a big case down here. There are two boys missing and I don't know if you are aware of that. There's a deep concern about what happened to these two boys. I would like to know what's coming down here. Why did they pick him out? What are they doing with him? And how did he get down there? And how did you come across the family? Where did you get this information about the scar on (Johnny's) ankle you told the family about? A. Well, you realize that no matter what I say and what I do they are going to bring me to Des Moines and I'm not going to get a fair trial. Q. What do you want to say, then? A. You see the point is that information has come to me in the past few hours that is very important that I do no more talking to you about specifics. Q. OK. What do you plan to do here? Turn yourself in at the border? A. I can tell you exactly what will happen. I can help you out there. The agent I talked to is special agent Stan Walker. They're going to pick me up, take me to Bay City, Mich., to a federal marshal and hold me there. I should 'Suffice it to say I have reason to believe that hes alive. be there and then go on to Milan, the federal penitentiary, and then they'll try and work extradition and get me to Des Moines. Q. This is the deal you worked out with them? A. No. This is what they told me they're going to do. Q. OK. Why are you turning yourself in? A. Why? Q.Yeah. A. Because you cannot run from the FBI. It's unbearable. Q. Bob. What happened to the boy? We'd like to know. Without putting anybody on the spot and endangering yourself. Tell us what you know. Where did you get the information about the scar and the van? A. Gosches is where I got the information on the scar. Q. They said they got it from you. A. I know nothing about that. That's (expletive). Q. They told you that? A. That's right. Q. Where did you get the information about the van? A. From the guy who set the whole thing up. Q. OK. You mean the guy who set the kidnapping up? A. No. The guy who was going to set up the retrieval. Getting the kid back. Q. Where is this guy from? A. Houston. Q. Houston. How did he find out about it? A. Because he's involved in it. In the kidnapping. Q. Who are these people? Why are they interested in boys? A. Why do you work for a newspaper? Because it makes money, right? And it's not just boys they pick up. Q. Anyway, this guy is involved in it and he lives in Houston. Did he live up here at one time? A. I think so. Q. You think he's telling you the truth or just leading you on? A. I have no reason to believe he lied tome. Q. Can you tell us that you've seen the boy? Please, that's important here. A. Suffice it to say that I have very good reason to know that he's alive. Q. Tell me why. This is very important here. A. (Hesitation) Q. Give me one bit of a clue, one bit of information that you really know. A. You realize what I say will not be admissible in court as evidence. It will upset a jury . . . Q. No . . . where did you see this kid? A. I went to Mexico almost two months ago. (Hesitation) Damn it, I really shouldn't talk. Q. No, no. Tell me, this is important. A. We ran a recon ... to see the perimeter and the inside. (Hesitation) Q. And what happened? A. Suffice it to say I have reason to believe that he's alive. Q. Recon of what? A. A house. Q. A house with children in it? A. Yeah. Q. Recon ... in other words you went down and looked it over. A. Yes. Q. What did you see down there? Maybe this is another boy who looks 'Look, that kid couldn't have said much even if he wanted to. like this boy. I mean, he's a pretty common, ordinary looking fellow for his age. A. (Hesitation) Q. How did you know it was him? A. I'm trying to think of a way to say this. Q. Did he tell you his name? A. I didn't get that close. Q. Did he tell you he was from Iowa? Did he tell you he was a newspaper boy? A. Look, that kid couldn't have said, much even if he wanted to. I seriously doubt he could have remembered much. Q.Why? A. You have any idea what they've gone through? Q. I have no idea. A. If people think they've got it bad, they're crazy. The emotional and psychological trauma is frightening. Q. Bob, where in Mexico is this house? Mexico City? A. It's a big town, all right. Q. But how did you know it was this kid? A. I was told. Q. You were told he was Johnny Gosch? A. That's correct. Q. By the guy from Houston? A. You're trying to put words in my mouth. You're trying to make me talk. Q. Tell me about his house, it's important. Tell me about this kid. We want to know if this is (expletive) or if it's really good information. There is a feeling around here the police haven't done what they're supposed to do. A. They can't. Q. What did the kid look like? A. I really don't want to say until I have had time to consult an attorney. You can rest assured I have no intention of making a statement to the police in any way, shape or form about anything. Q. Did you see this kid with your own eyes? And somebody told you he was Johnny Gosch? A. That's very likely. Q. Have you heard about Johnny Gosch before? A. No. . Q. The family said you saw their appeal when they went to Washington asking for information about their son. A. I heard about it later. Q. What are these kids doing in this house down there? Are they kept as slaves? Sexual exploitation? What's the problem there? A. You might say that it's not unlike the way you would keep a puppy. A pet. You have a dog? They keep you company when you are alone, don't they? Q. You mean they are kept in squalid conditions? A. No, I didn't say that. You're taking it way out of context. You're not understanding what I'm saying. Q. They are kept like pets rather than people? A. Right. You don't torture your pet, do you? Q. Then why are they kept? For what reason? A. I don't pretend to understand the human brain, nor do I pretend to delve into that subject. I don't know why people do things. It's ludicrous you would ask me my opinion on this. Q. Well, I thought maybe you would have some insight. if V Noreen Gosch Gave Meter JI 1,000 A. It's not a dirty place at all. Q. Why are they there? What are they being used for? A. I have no first-hand knowledge. Q. Why aren't you telling the police about this? A. Because I don't want to die. Q. There would be retribution here? A. Oh, yeah. Q. The FBI says the Hell's Angels are involved in this thing. A. They are not in any way, shape or form. Q. Then who's involved? Is this an organized effort? A. It's organized but not by a motorcycle club. The people that run it . . . there's a word for it. They're kind of like their own little mob. I know they are not tied in with the other family. If they are, it's a distant tie. It's a collaboration of people. Q. Are they Mexican or American people? A. Both. I never gave any type of details to the government that a motorcycle club was involved. Q. Well, that's what's been put out. A. I told them that. Well, that's not true and it's going to cause a lot of problems. I mean, I might as well take a gun to my head and blow my brains out. Because it's not going to matter any more. The Hell's Angels are not going to care. Either way. Q. Bob, I don't want to harp on this thing, but it's important. What can you tell us that can convince us other than your work here that that boy down there was Johnny Gosch? A. I never said the boy was Johnny Gosch. Q. I thought you said you had good reason to believe he was. A. I did, but I didn't say specifically that that's who he was. Q. Why are you in Canada? A. I like Canada. I like Canadian whisky and I like Canadian women. That's why I came here. So I could have some Canadian whisky and some Canadian women before I went to jail. Q. Are you spending the money now? A. Huh? Q. Are you spending the money now? A. I don't have the money. I don't have to spend money here. Q. Why didn't the police or the FBI arrest you Sunday? I understand they talked to you in Saginaw but did not arrest you. A. What was your name again? Q.Frank Santiago. A. Frank, it takes a grand jury indictment to issue a warrant for an arrest. They didn't have a warrant. Q. So you took off when they came back the second time? A. No I humored them. I told them what they wanted to hear. I said everything. Q. You told them everything. That you met with the family. Didn't they come back later to arrest you? A. Yeah. They called me. They left a message to call them. I called them and they said they needed to meet with me and talk. That clued me. Q. So that's when you took off. A. You can say that. I'll tell you something though. They didn't move quick enough because it was nine hours after I was supposed to meet them that I crossed the border, and I Mexico rescue attempt failed, Meier told Gosches Continued from Page One apparently after being advised to obtain legal advice first. Meier spoke with FBI agents after arriving in Windsor, according to Robert Keane, an FBI agent in Des Moines. Keane said agents in Michigan "were trying to negotiate his turning himself over." Keane said he did not know who initiated those negotiations. FBI agents initially located Meier Sunday in Saginaw, where, according to agent David Oxler of Des Moines, he admitted contacting the Gosches by telephone and meeting with them in Missouri in July. Meier also admitted receiving money to be used for locating their son, Oxler said. Keane said agents interviewed Meier in Saginaw. Asked why Meier was permitted to leave after questioning, Keane said FBI agents needed a warrant before they could arrest him. Monday, the day after being questioned by the FBI, Meier checked in at the Canadianna Motel in Windsor, according to desk clerk Persa Samanc. She said Meier registered under his own name and was driving a motorcycle. Wednesday evening, she said, Meier told her he was going out for dinner and a haircutHis motorcycle Gosch crossed the border without any problems. t Q. Anything else you can tell us, Bob? Like I said, this is important. How did these people take this kid in Des Moines? Did they say? A. You can use your imagination on that It was very easy, I'm sure. Anyone intent on doing something will do it. The same way that if they are intent on breaking into your home, they'll break in. A lock is not going to stop them. It will just take more time. Q. Why did they pick this boy and why did they pick him on a newspaper route? A. Ha. You're asking me why people do things. Q. Yeah, but why? It's sounds kind of dangerous. Aren't there enough kids sitting around bus depots to snatch that are running away from home than to pick a kid from a good home in a quiet residential area? A. He had breeding, right? Q.What? A. He had breeding. Q. That's what they were looking for? A. You tell me. Q. How do we know that you're not just creating this whole thing about Mexico and the money and the other things? A. You don't. Q. You're sincere? A. Would you talk to me if I wasn't? It takes all kinds of people to know this 7 told them FBI what they wanted to hear. I said everything. world. Some of these people aren't exactly wrapped right. Q. Bob, are you 19 years old? A. Yes. Q. Have you ever been to Iowa? A. Nope. Q. What time are you turning yourself in? A. As soon as the arrangements can be made to have an attorney present. I would say five hours at the border. The FBI agent did what he had to do just like what you put in the paper has to be accurate. At no point in time did I consider running. Could you tell me what was in the FBI's release? Q. ... according to the FBI, Noreen Gosch told the FBI that you told them Johnny Gosch had been kidnapped by Hell's Angels motorcycle club members and was being he'd in Mexico City by a man named Enrico Gonzales. ' Gonzales was said to have bought the youth for $5,000. ... A. I would say they have brought in the Hell's Angels to make it more credible or to cause me more problems. I'm not certain why they have done that. However, I will not turn myself in unless there is an immediate retraction. I mean immediate, right now. 1 ' Q. Of the Hell's Angels? " A. That's correct. Q. You're going to have to talk tethe FBI about that. It went into not only the newspaper but went out all over the media. It was a news release. A. Is there any way you could get ahold of a nationwide broadcasting company like CBS? Q. That would not do it. But I will tell you you can get hold of the U.S. attorney here because he's the one who issued the statement. A. Well, I'm going to call the FBI. Q. The U.S. attorney is the guy who issued the statement. A. Get them on the horn if you can. Q. I got your number up there. You're in a motel and I'll tell them to call you and you talk with them. A. You tell them to call me immediately. Q. How can they contact you? The ; guy I talked to on the desk there didn't : know your name. . A. You better let me have the number for the U.S. attorney. (The telephone number was given to him.) Q. Anything else you want to add? A. No. remained in front of his room, she said. Noreen Gosch said Tuesday that Meier, also known as Samuel Forbes Dakota, first called her after the family's nationwide offer to pay a $400,000. ransom for their son. She arranged the July 14 meeting in Kansas City. During that meeting, a man identifying himself as Dakota told the Gosches that their son had been kidnapped by Hell's Angels motorcycle club members and was being held in Mexico City, Mexico. A Mexico City man named Enrico Gonzales was said to have bought the youth from the motorcyclists for $5,000. The Gosches later wired Dakota four $2,500 cashier's checks and a $1,000 money order. Noreen Gosch told FBI agents that Dakota called her again July 24, saying that a rescue attempt in Mexico had failed and that three rescuers had been killed in a shoot-out. An FBI investigation found, however, that no shoot-out matching the one decribed to the Gosches occurred in Mexico City. Dakota also told the Gosches that Gonzales had fled to Dearborn, Mich., where another rescue attempt would be made. The Gosches were to travel to Cleveland, Ohio, July 28 to get their son. The couple alerted the FBI, and agents were sent to the meeting site. . there but, no exchange occurred

------------------------------
The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles, California

21 Aug 1986, Thu • Page 2

Missing Iowa Teen Phones Home From Santa Barbara
DES MOINES, Iowa (UPI)-
"Missing Knoxville youth Jason Rodgers, the subject of a nationwide search after he vanished from the Iowa State Fair last weekend, showed up in California on Wednesday night. Authorities said the 16-year-old had planned the trip for some time and had purchased his airline ticket two weeks ago. Gene Meyer, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, said Jason, who ended a five-day search for his whereabouts by phoning his parents, purchased a $129 one-way ticket to Santa Barbara in early August. He apparently had planned to vanish from the crowded Iowa State Fair, Meyer said. "He went to the fair with friends, talked to a teacher and made sure people saw him," Meyer said. "He seemed to have known it would be difficult to track a disappearance from the fair." Jason, who last was seen on the fairgrounds Saturday afternoon, telephoned his parents about 9 p.m. Wednesday after a halfway house counselor who picked him up on an Isla Vista, Calif., highway persuaded him to call, Meyer said. Jason's disappearance sparked numerous rumors paralleling his case with that of missing Des Moines paperboys Johnny Gosch and Eugene Martin. The paperboys disappeared two years apart about the time the fair was being held. Jason disappeared two years after Eugene. A man who answered the phone at the Rodgers residence late Wednesday identified himself as a relative and said Jason's parents were leaving as soon as possible for California to pick up their son. "Linda doesn't know why Jason ran away, but both she and Ron are very relieved, and they're going to bring Jason home," the relative said."

---------------------------

Daily Press
Newport News, Virginia

17 Sep 1986, Wed • Page 9

Boy's kidnappers known, mother says
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)
"The mother of missing paperboy Johnny Gosch said Tuesday that both she and police know who abducted her son four years ago and that police are "doing everything within their legal boundaries" to arrest them. Noreen Gosch said she has known the identities of three Des Moines men and a pedophile "contact" in Houston for six months, and that her knowledge has caused numerous threats against members of her family. She declined to identify the men. Lt. Lyle McKinney of the West Des Moines police, who has worked on the Gosch disappearance, said he was aware of Mrs. Gosch's statements but would have no comment. "The Johnny Gosch disappearance case is an active investigation," he said. "We will act on any information furnished to us." He would not say if police know the identities of the abductors. Mrs. Gosch had vague answers to several questions, saying her news release had "hidden messages" that the abductors would understand. She said there was a risk that the kidnappers would try to flee but "that would be revealing, too, wouldn't it?" Gosch disappeared while preparing to deliver Sunday news-, papers near his West Des Moines home Sept. 5, 1982. "We now have evidence providing the identity (of the abductors)," Mrs. Gosch said. "The crime was organized. We know who these people are and where they are located. We have received very serious threats to members of the family concerning this aspect of the investigation. It is in our best interest to bring this information out to the public."
 
Collection of Various Johnny Gosch Articles Part 2
-----------------------------

The Des Moines Register
Des Moines, Iowa
18 Nov 1986, Tue • Page 11

<modsnip: removed copyright violations (copying articles from paywalled site)>

---------------------------------
The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles, California
05 Apr 1990, Thu • Page 192
-----------------------------------
The Des Moines Register
Des Moines, Iowa
18 Jul 1991, Thu • Page 18
-----------------------
Quad-City Times
Davenport, Iowa
19 Jul 1991, Fri • Page 14
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The Des Moines Register
Des Moines, Iowa
11 Nov 1991, Mon • Page 8
 
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I would love to track down the full 1994 episode of America's Most Wanted where John Walsh sets up a meeting between Noreen and Paul Bonacci.
One huge crucial question that needs answering is....WHO is the prison guard that supposedly owned the ranch that Paul Bonacci takes America's Most Wanted to visit in Colorado? The ranch has underground area where they supposedly kept children. There was also initials carved into the wood. They mention it was owned by a missing prison guard. I have yet to find out anything regarding who this person may or may not be. Why wouldn't he be a person of interest? Why not a huge search? Then as always we cases like this which may involve powerful people like politicans, military ( Michael Aquino), what happens after the airing? The ranch burns down. Yeah that isn't suspicious at all.



Again who is this prison guard!!!! It is driving me mad. Why isn't there a search for this man? Why wasn't there an investigation after the American's Most Wanted episode aired to see how why who demolished it almost immediately after the episode aired. Suspicious.
I've emailed the producers of the show several times and have never gotten a response on how to track down or purchase old episodes.
 
Again who is this prison guard!!!! It is driving me mad. Why isn't there a search for this man? Why wasn't there an investigation after the American's Most Wanted episode aired to see how why who demolished it almost immediately after the episode aired. Suspicious.
I've emailed the producers of the show several times and have never gotten a response on how to track down or purchase old episodes.

Check local government records and MSM reports of structural fires in that area during the time frame. See if there is a fire department report of the fire with any details of cause or fire marshal investigation. Use the address to run down ownership of the property in the public tax records.
 

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