Johnny Gosch — The Paperboy Who Never Came Home

On September 5, 1982, 12-year-old Johnny Gosch set out before dawn to deliver newspapers on his regular route in West Des Moines, Iowa. His dog returned home alone. A neighbor, Mike Frazee, saw Johnny with his wagon near 42nd Street and Marcourt Lane, and also observed a man in a car slowly following the boy. Frazee assumed the man was a parent. Moments later, Johnny and his wagon were found abandoned in the street. His papers were scattered. Johnny Gosch was the first missing child to appear on a milk carton, launching a national movement. Witnesses described a blue AMC Gremlin and a man in a checkered jacket watching him. Decades later, Johnny's mother Noreen Gosch claimed her son appeared at her door in the middle of the night as an adult in 1997, telling her he was alive but could not come home due to ongoing danger. This has never been verified. In 2006, a set of photographs surfaced showing bound children — one believed by Noreen to be Johnny. The FBI investigated and could not confirm or deny the identity. Johnny Gosch remains officially missing.