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The On September 5th, 1982, 12-year-old Johnny Gosh vanishes while delivering Sunday newspapers in West Des Moines.

His red wagon, still full of papers, is found near the start of his route and just a short distance from his home.

More than one witness reported seeing Johnny talking to a stocky man in a clean 1979-1981 model blue two-tone car near the newspaper drop.

It is believed that the vehicle had a Warren County Iowa license plate.

The suspect was described as a man around 5 foot 9 inches tall, approximately

175 pounds, with dark eyes, black eyebrows, black hair combed back, and a black mustache,

appearing to be in his early to mid-40s, with a heavy beard or unshaven appearance, and possibly of

Latin appearance. Another witness saw a silver Ford Fairmont speed away northwards from where

Johnny Gosch's wagon was found. Neither driver has come forward nor has been identified. And what

involvement, if any, either vehicle had in the abduction of Johnny Gosh remains a mystery.

Less than two years later, on August 12, 1984, another paper boy, Eugene Martin, disappears from Des Moines under nearly identical

circumstances. Witnesses saw Eugene talking to a man near the intersection of Southwest 12th Street

and Highview Drive. The man is described as clean cut, and he appeared to be in his 30s, possibly driving a

1972 or 1973 green Chevy Malibu with gray primer marks.

He has never been identified.

In September of 1984, Anderson-Erickson Derry and Des Moines, Iowa printed photos of the two local paper boys who had disappeared while on their routes, on milk cartons, marking the official start of the milk carton kid phenomenon.

In October, 37-year-old Frank Sikora was fired from his job in

the circulation department of the Des Moines Register after a private investigator claimed

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