Mom gets photos of son missing for 24 years
 

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/01/mis....ap/index.html

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."

Jesus. That's so disturbing.

The kid was a redhead, right? If so, his kidnapping haunted me terribly when I was younger. HBO used to show all these "missing kid" specials & they terrified me. I can still some kids' pics in my head, and remember names. Awful.

Here is a link to the website with the photo. I just can't bring myself to post the photo here. :sorry:


http://www.nbc5.com/news/9778102/detail.html#

GRRRRRRRR :mad: :mad: :mad: I HATE that this stuff happens to innocent kids. I wonder what the motive was for giving that poor woman those pictures NOW? :shrug: I pray for all mothers/fathers of abducted children.....

This is so disturbing. I don't even have words :distress:

That's sad! There are some really sick twisted people roaming this earth!

So, the other two kids, were they missing at the same time, same area as well? or are the other two kids just other missing kids from somewhere else that he's been tied up and pictured with?

i so remember this, cuz where i live we had paper boy abductions at the same time, & that iowa is the state right nest to us, tho our perp was caught & executed in 1996~ i have kept up on johnny's story for yrs~ i remember his mother being on the news when her son contacted her in 1997~ it is all just so sad, whata living nightmare~

sick...twisted...
maybe there are prints and they will lead to something...

Oh man, that picture is so horrible! I remember this boy's face because it was such a huge deal to kids all over the world, you know? But I didn't realize that he contacted the mother in 1997. I think the abductor maybe gave the boys heroin and they became addicted- and ending up getting some kind of trouble. I know that sounds kooky, but that's what child pornographers do- get the kids hooked on heroin so that they'll become dependent upon them. Maybe it was the son who left the picture on his mother's doorstep? This is awful- so so sad. I hope there is some resolution for this poor mother who has lived a life of hell all these years.

I just do not get it - it sickens me to tears.

Then, I go on cnn.com and read this, which I could not bring myself to post here as well:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/09/01/do....ap/index.html

People like this ought to be put on an island with others just like them.

Good God :distress: Look at the little sweet dog...how anyone can abuse such innoncent being as children and dogs....it really and truly makes me sick :(

I cried when I saw it and then thought someone oughta tie him to a chair so he is defenseless and then beat the crap out of him and see how he likes it :mad:

Me too...and I agree - he needs to be beaten by someone much bigger than him - and all means of self-defense should be taken away.

It really hits close to home because I'm certain my babygirl was abused before I got her. Once in a while she still gets scared. For instance, last night I got home - she greeted me with her usual happiness..and I with mine. Then I stopped and took my belt off and she just cowered and wimpered. I wanted to cry - I dropped the belt and just held my poor dog - telling her I'll never hurt her...I seriously don't know how anyone could hurt something so sweet :distress:

Having played a small part in the Scottie rescue here, I have seen things that would HORRIFY most. This one sick fukc lit his dog on fire for fun - they had pis of the healing - my hands shook as I saw them.

I met the dog a year later when they did the parade of rescues at a show and it was so happy just to there. I cried for days.

:distress: Oh my god. That's disgusting...boy...thanks for bringing down my Friday evening :p

Didn't mean to :angel:

But, the good side to that story is the dog bounced back. Scotties are a very resilient breed.

ha -I wasn't really blaming you - this whole thread is a downer -- but I do hope that, like the dogs we've discussed that the mother in the original post gets the resolution she has been waiting for for years.

The other two kids are still unidentified.

Oh God, this is awful. What that poor mother must be feeling right now.

The back story on this case is mind blowing. I'm not saying it's true or false but if you have a little time and feel like reading, check this page out:

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache...s&ct=clnk&cd=7

That is some weird @$#@$.

Wow, poor Clancy. Thank God she's with you! :angel: Animal abuse sickens me too.

And that poor doggie in the article. :(

That is one of the creepiest things I've ever seen.:(

I am freaking out after reading that!!!!:eek:

Holy ****, that's more unbelievable than any soap opera. If it's all true, I'm scared to go to the mother's and Jeff Gannon's websites. :eek:

That is some f*cked up ****. :shocked:

I say a prayer for all those hurting and who have been hurt by the beyond-sick people that live among us in this world. My heart hurts for those children and all the other children. That picture will haunt me. :(

Amen to that.

I am now obsessed about this whole Gannon is Gosch theory!!!

My curiosity got the best of me and I looked him and Johnny Gosch up on Wikipedia (not the most reliable thing, I know; I can't bring myself to visit either Noreen's or Gannon's websites). It seems that Noreen's ex-husband (Johnny's father) doesn't believe the story about Johnny visiting Noreen in 1997. So, it seems that it's not exactly an undisputed fact that he even contacted her. And apparently, she was on a radio talk show discussing the Gannon/Gosch thing, and Gannon called in saying he was not Johnny Gosch and was willing to have a DNA test to prove it, although he apparently never did.

On the other hand, why would someone send Noreen these pictures now?

^ The whole thing is just too weird, with or without the whole Gannon conspiracy theory. And, if Johnny really did visit his mom in 1997, then to me he's not a missing person anymore. :shrug:

he visited her w/ his looks somewhat changed & under a huge shroud of mystery, i saw when his mother was on a talk show & he came at night & stayed for a very short time~ she said he was a nervous wreck the whole time, thinking that his contacting her could end in more murders including his mothers, if his captors knew he was to contact her~ she never came out w/ the story of him coming to see her until that paul bonnacci(*sp), talked in front of nebraska's supreme court~ then it was out, so johnny's mom came forward & confirmed she saw him briefly & that he couldn't really give her any info~ it was more just for her peace of mind & that he was still alive

i live in omaha, nebraska where the frankilin credit union/child pornograpy/exploitation happened~ it was a huge horrble thing~ it is still brought up from time to time because of our connection w/ johnny gosch & other children involved~ there was a huge media spectacle here last week, w/ alot of the people involved who are known talking about it all once again~ it is just so unreal that something like this could happen & so tremendously heartbreaking for the parents left behind~

also as i said in a previous post at the same time, we had a child killer here taking paper boys, thinking it would be attributed to the johnny gosch case, but this perp was caught & confessed & was executed~

it was a real scary time being a kid in my hometown at that time:distress: :distress: :distress: ~

I am now obsessed with this story...
WHY HAS DATELINE NOT JUMPED ALL OVER THIS??????

So Jill, I have to ask. Do you think that Johnny visited his mother that night in 1997? As a mother myself, I believe her. I think there is no reason for her to make that up.

I think the media has covered this case to a certain extent. It's just that the story seems so far out to people that it's difficult to believe. But's it's certainly not implausible, IMO.

i do believe that she saw him that night, something in my gut says she isn't lying~ i just can't how tragic this must feel, i am a mommy too & the thought of this happening is just mortifying~

Because there doesn't seem to be any hard evidence to support the theory.

& when has this ever stopped the media?


:shrug: john mark karr:shrug:

JMHumbleO~

& it was in the media when it all 1st happened, in the 80's, 20/20 & such, i remember geraldo coming here & des moines & it has been brought up from time to time, & it again was prevelant in the media after johnny's mom said she had a meeting w/ him in '97~ johnny's mother was on catherine crier yesterday~

He confessed. Plus there was a trail of email showing he was obsessed and similarities between the ransom note and some of his high school writings.

& isn't that what they said about patsey also? we all want that crime solved, but law enforcement was just grasping in this case, & the more & more things come out about it, they look pathetic in what was reported & what was fact~

there were more non-similarities that similarities in the writing~ & the media did blow it way out a porpotion, i saw patsey ramsey's sister saying that they told her there was a definite dna match, when they hadn't even swabbed the guy for dna yet~ it was all just a mess~


i think johnny's story has more to it is all, maybe cuz it is close to my heart, who knows:shrug: ~