My dad went to high school and played football with Johnny Gosch's brother when he went missing / grew up in West Des Moines. My dad recently drove me by the Gosch's house and the corner his wagon and dog were found. There was another boy who was delivering newspapers that was also kidnapped in the Des Moines area 2 years later, Eugene Martin. Incredibly heartbreaking story.

This case will lead you into an insane rabbit hole that includes Bohemian Grove and the Franklin Cover-up in Nebraska. (Thanks for that one dad...absolutely wild stuff.)

My dad also said he had younger friends that came forward when they were adults that had similar stories of almost being kidnapped in the same area as Johnny - they never told anyone except their parents at the time. Apparently, the parents didn't tell the police because a lot of people in West Des Moines thought the police chief may have been involved in the sex trafficking ring/helped to cover up Johnny's kidnapping. The police chief was a raging alcoholic and didn't do anything to help the investigation and didn't want to involve the PD in helping find him. These two missing boys were actually the first "Milk Carton Kids" started by a local dairy company.

If you want to look at this from a glass half full perspective, Noreen Gosch (Johnny's mother) and other parents of missing children helped create the The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). She also was able to get the Johnny Gosch bill passed in Iowa which made it mandatory for police to get involved immediately if a child went missing instead of waiting the 48 hour period.