Has Johnny Gosch Been Found?

In 1982, a paperboy named Johnny Gosch was kidnapped in 

West Des Moines

.  

For years, his disappearance made national headlines. And now, 23 years 

later investigators are investigating new developments in Johnny’s case. 

If you lived in 

Iowa

 during the 1980’s, you've heard about Johnny’s 

disappearance and his mother’s agonizing search. You may not have heard 

conspiracy theories involving satanic pedophiles connected to the 

U.S.

 

government, kidnapping and selling kids into prostitution and forcing 

them into pornography, but Johnny's mother, Noreen, says she believes 

that's what happened to Johnny. Even more unusual, Noreen believes Johnny 

is still very much alive, and once again, in the limelight. 

In January, a journalist named Jeff Gannon asked softball questions to 

President Bush at his weekly press briefing. The questions were so 

factually inaccurate, people started asking questions. Soon, media 

colleagues learned Jeff Gannon was really Jim Guckert, a former homosexual 

prostitute calling himself "Bulldog." But, private investigators say Guckert’s 

story is full of holes. Investigator James Rothstein says, "Going back to his high 

school, the Guckert picture doesn't look anything like he does now a days.” That 

was the first clue former New York City Police Detective found. KWWL talked him 

in his hometown of 

Saint Martin
, 
Minnesota

 . Rothstein told us, "This is no accident 

that a guy like Gannon ends up in front of the press corps in the White House.” 

Further investigating led Rothstein back to 

Iowa

 and a case he'd been 

working since 1982. Johnny Gosch disappeared on a warm September morning while he 

delivered the Des Moines Register. Witness say Johnny was hit with a tranquilizer dart 

and quickly taken away in the back seat of a car. For weeks people searched for Johnny, but found nothing. 

When we talked with Johnny’s mother, Noreen Gosch, she told us Johnny 

visited her in 1997, “The night that he came here, he was wearing jeans 

and a shirt and a coat on because it was March. It was cold and his 

hair was long, it was shoulder length and it was straight and dyed black.” After the visit, 

Noreen had the FBI create a picture she says looked like Johnny. But, in light of recent 

events, people like Rothstein question the picture’s accuracy. He says John has had plastic 

surgery, “I do have information that Johnny was worked on and this is quite reliable information.” 

Perhaps just as reliable as the recent phone call Noreen Gosch received 

telling her Jeff Gannon is her son. Mrs. Gosch says, "He’s been in 

touch with Gannon for months and months and knows him to be Johnny Gosch. And, 

that’s what this gentleman has gone on record and said.” 

Investigator Rothstein says, "That’s when Noreen called me and said, 'Hey, what do you think?' 

I looked at the photos and it looks like it could be, you don't know.” We asked Mrs. Gosch, "Is it 

possible to look at these and say this is my son or this isn't my son?" Mrs. Gosch replied, "I don't 

know if it’s Johnny for sure. I just don't know. That’s why I have requested DNA because I think that 

would be the conclusive way to prove it one way or the other. There are enough features that are 

identical to my son’s when you compare and put the two photos together to make me want to ask for DNA. 

And, while the idea may seem far fetched, investigator Rothstein says 

everything fits, “When you look into the whole abduction of Johnny, what happened, the cover-up 

that took place, the way the kidnapping was done. This was a professional job and it fits the profile 

that I have seen over the years as a professional investigator." Rothstein says his investigators asked

 Gannon about Johnny Gosch, "We had somebody down there already that knocked on his door and the 

minute he said do you know this woman in 

Iowa

? And, he slammed the door in his face." And, during 

another attempt, he asked him if he was Johnny Gosch. And, Gannon’s reply was, "I really feel Noreen’s 

pain." He didn't deny he was Johnny Gosch, but he didn't admit it either. 

That leaves only one way to find out the truth. Mrs. Gosch says, "Even 

though there is so much resemblance to Johnny, I just feel like the DNA 

has to be done to make it conclusive before I could say yes or no for 

sure." So far, any attempts to obtain Gannon’s DNA have been 

unsuccessful. Rothstein says if Gannon is Gosch, he will protect that identity at all costs, "You have to 

realize that even from the self-admitted information that he admitted that he was a male escort, you get

 involved in criminal elements and before he can come forward, he better have a real good legal team 

behind him and that way he will be able to defend himself or work a deal before he comes out because 

his is no accident that a guy like Gannon ends up in front of the press corps in the White House.” 

Some people suggest Jeff Gannon to be the product of government 

training. An operative who uses sex to black mail government officials. Others like James Rothstein suggest 

Johnny Gosch became Jeff Gannon to expose the criminals who kidnapped him, destroying his life and putting 

his family through hell. 

For more information on Johnny’s abduction, Click Here.

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