197: The Disappearance of Johnny Gosch

In the early morning of September 5th, 1982, 12-year-old Johnny Gosch set out for his morning paper route in West Des Moines, Iowa. Typically, Johnny’s father woke up early to help him with delivering the papers. Recently, Johnny had been begging his parents to let him complete the route on his own. His parents told him that he couldn't. However that Sunday morning, he didn’t wake up his father and left to collect his newspapers. Other paperboys saw Johnny speaking to a man in a car and then continuing on his way. Several witnesses reported seeing the car again and a man walking out from between two houses to follow Johnny. Later that morning, neighbors began calling Johnny’s parents to ask why their paper hadn’t been delivered. Johnny’s dad went to look for his son and found his abandoned wagon and his little dog that he’d taken with him. Johnny was nowhere to be found. 39-years-later, there still has not been a proper investigation into his disappearance and he has never been located. Was Johnny simply a runaway or was he abducted and forced into the world of child trafficking? Want access to our first 45 episodes? Grab em here! We've made them available for free to anyone who signs up! Remember, these episodes were recorded when we had no idea what we were doing, so just keep that in mind. The audio isn't the quality we would want to put out now, but the cases are on point! Visit killerqueens.link/og to download and binge all the archived episodes today! Hang with us: Follow Us on Instagram Like Us on Facebook Join our Case Discussion Group on Facebook Get Killer Queens Merch Bonus Episodes Support Our AMAZING Sponsors: Evite - Evite is helping make my celebrations feel extra special and they can help you too. Head over to Evite.com/queens to choose from thousands of design options to create and send invitations for free. Harper Wilde - Stay in your comfort zone. Go to HARPERWILDE.com/queens today so you can get 20% off your first purchase—because the only thing better than a comfortable bra is getting a discount just for being a KQ listener. Care/Of - For 50% off your first Care/of order, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code queens50. Lost Hills: Dead in the Water- Lost Hills investigates the dark side of Malibu, California. Beneath a seductive facade, this city of billionaires, celebrities, and surf bums is hiding something menacing. Season 2 takes place in the late 70s and early ‘80s, as Malibu was changing from a low-profile beach town into a celebrity haven, full of new money and hard drugs. When a Malibu woman and her son mysteriously drowned, her husband was arrested for their murders—and ultimately convicted. But to this day, many people—including the victim's family—claim he’s innocent. And listen back to season 1, which chronicled the horrifying story of a man killed in a Malibu campground while sleeping beside his young daughters—and exposed a law-enforcement coverup. © 2021 Killer Queens Podcast. All Rights Reserved Audio Production by Wayfare Recording Music provided by Steven Tobi Logo designed by Sloane Williams of The Sophisticated Crayon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices