Noreen Gosch
Mother of Jonny Gosch, the first boy on the milk carton add
S: What happened when Johnny Gosch went missing?
NG: Johnny started out on his paper route at 5:55 am on 9/5/1982, a man pulled up next to him on the sidewalk as he and two other boys were getting their papers ready for delivery. The man acted strange ... Johnny said to the other boys " there is something weird about this guy and I am scared, I am going home". Johnny left, the man in the car started his engine, but before pulling away from the curb, he flicked his "dome light" in the car 3 times. Then he sped away. A second man came out from between two houses and followed Johnny, he was signaled by the man in the car ... flicking his light. He followed Johnny around the corner. A few minutes later the man in the car pulled up next to Johnny, he was then shot with something which made him collapse on the ground, a boy in his bedroom across the street saw the whole thing. Someone jumped out of the back seat, picked up Johnny's feet and the man who followed him grabbed his shoulders, they threw him into the car and sped away. We received phone calls within a short time and people said they did not receive their newspapers, so his father went to help him. Within minutes his dad came home and said " call the police... Johnny is gone... he has been kidnapped". So I called the police. It took them 45 minutes to respond and we only lived 10 blocks from the police station. I called the District Manager of the newspaper and she gave me the names of everyone who would have picked up papers at that corner. By the time the cop arrived, I had all the information. I gave it to the police officer and he said " did your son ever run away before". He basically was not going to look for Johnny. I told him there were 5 witness's, one of them being a Des Moines Attorney, all very reputable people.
S: Did the law enforcement help?
NG: Law enforcement did not help... the police chief kept screaming "runaway" despite the fact we had 5 witness's to the kidnapping. I called the FBI myself, they came to the house and said " we will not be entering the case because the POLICE CHIEF DOES NOT WANT OUR HELP". Kidnapping is a federal crime and they were refusing to investigate.
S: Were there any organizations that you could go for help?
NG: The only organization at that time was Child Find, who mostly helped families where it was a parent who took the child in the case of divorce. So no, there was not anyone to turn to at that time.
S: Why did the Milk Carton Campaign start?
NG: The Milk Carton campaign was started in Des Moines, Iowa, at Anderson Erickson dairy. Johnny was the first child to be put on a milk carton. It was to raise awareness to the problem of missing children.
S: What is your opinion on the Milk Carton Campaign? How big of an impact was it? Was it effective?
NG: The Milk Carton Campaign, was huge at the time, no one had ever done that before.. it spread all over the country. It was very effective and later was canceled because there were a few people who thought it was scaring children. But it did raise awareness, which was the purpose.
S: How was Johnny's image incorporated into the Milk Carton Campaign?
NG: Johnny was the first child to be put on the Milk Carton, and his picture and story was featured in Life Magazine of 100 Photos that changed the World.
S: How has the lookout for missing children changed since then?
NG: There is much more attention given to missing children now because several parents joined with me to create new laws and foundations, such as the National Missing Children's Center. I also wrote legislation and got them passed, in Iowa and on the Federal Level. We created the Johnny Gosch Foundation too for the same purpose, and it is based in Iowa.
S: What do you think is the best way to spread awareness on missing children?
NG: The continuation of the media doing stories on missing children when it happens, showing the childs photos so everyone can be searching for the child.
S: Do you think people are more aware on missing children today?
NG: Yes, I do believe they are more aware due to all the work which has been done by a number of parents along with others who volunteered to help with the awareness programs. During the 30 years he has been missing, I have done over 800 speeches for Civic groups, churches, in schools and for police departments.
S: Is there anything else we should know about?
NG: Many children are now being taken for the purpose of being sold into prostitution by Human Traffickers. They take the children and sell them to pedophiles who pay high prices for the children.
NG: Johnny started out on his paper route at 5:55 am on 9/5/1982, a man pulled up next to him on the sidewalk as he and two other boys were getting their papers ready for delivery. The man acted strange ... Johnny said to the other boys " there is something weird about this guy and I am scared, I am going home". Johnny left, the man in the car started his engine, but before pulling away from the curb, he flicked his "dome light" in the car 3 times. Then he sped away. A second man came out from between two houses and followed Johnny, he was signaled by the man in the car ... flicking his light. He followed Johnny around the corner. A few minutes later the man in the car pulled up next to Johnny, he was then shot with something which made him collapse on the ground, a boy in his bedroom across the street saw the whole thing. Someone jumped out of the back seat, picked up Johnny's feet and the man who followed him grabbed his shoulders, they threw him into the car and sped away. We received phone calls within a short time and people said they did not receive their newspapers, so his father went to help him. Within minutes his dad came home and said " call the police... Johnny is gone... he has been kidnapped". So I called the police. It took them 45 minutes to respond and we only lived 10 blocks from the police station. I called the District Manager of the newspaper and she gave me the names of everyone who would have picked up papers at that corner. By the time the cop arrived, I had all the information. I gave it to the police officer and he said " did your son ever run away before". He basically was not going to look for Johnny. I told him there were 5 witness's, one of them being a Des Moines Attorney, all very reputable people.
S: Did the law enforcement help?
NG: Law enforcement did not help... the police chief kept screaming "runaway" despite the fact we had 5 witness's to the kidnapping. I called the FBI myself, they came to the house and said " we will not be entering the case because the POLICE CHIEF DOES NOT WANT OUR HELP". Kidnapping is a federal crime and they were refusing to investigate.
S: Were there any organizations that you could go for help?
NG: The only organization at that time was Child Find, who mostly helped families where it was a parent who took the child in the case of divorce. So no, there was not anyone to turn to at that time.
S: Why did the Milk Carton Campaign start?
NG: The Milk Carton campaign was started in Des Moines, Iowa, at Anderson Erickson dairy. Johnny was the first child to be put on a milk carton. It was to raise awareness to the problem of missing children.
S: What is your opinion on the Milk Carton Campaign? How big of an impact was it? Was it effective?
NG: The Milk Carton Campaign, was huge at the time, no one had ever done that before.. it spread all over the country. It was very effective and later was canceled because there were a few people who thought it was scaring children. But it did raise awareness, which was the purpose.
S: How was Johnny's image incorporated into the Milk Carton Campaign?
NG: Johnny was the first child to be put on the Milk Carton, and his picture and story was featured in Life Magazine of 100 Photos that changed the World.
S: How has the lookout for missing children changed since then?
NG: There is much more attention given to missing children now because several parents joined with me to create new laws and foundations, such as the National Missing Children's Center. I also wrote legislation and got them passed, in Iowa and on the Federal Level. We created the Johnny Gosch Foundation too for the same purpose, and it is based in Iowa.
S: What do you think is the best way to spread awareness on missing children?
NG: The continuation of the media doing stories on missing children when it happens, showing the childs photos so everyone can be searching for the child.
S: Do you think people are more aware on missing children today?
NG: Yes, I do believe they are more aware due to all the work which has been done by a number of parents along with others who volunteered to help with the awareness programs. During the 30 years he has been missing, I have done over 800 speeches for Civic groups, churches, in schools and for police departments.
S: Is there anything else we should know about?
NG: Many children are now being taken for the purpose of being sold into prostitution by Human Traffickers. They take the children and sell them to pedophiles who pay high prices for the children.