On January 1st, 1988, 17-year-old John Lango walked out the front door of his home in

Potsville, Pennsylvania, never to return.

He was treated as a runaway, but now more than three decades later, all signs indicate John

never meant to disappear on his own.

John Lango's case unfolded just outside the boundaries of New England.

However, I'm sharing this mini episode alongside other audio check shows to bring attention to unsolved

missing persons cases in honor of National Missing Persons Day. The cases

you'll hear about on Crime Junkie, The Deck, and Dark Down East are all part of a special series that started

with a song by Soul Asylum called Runaway Train.

With the help of Namas, the band Soul Asylum featured a total of 36 missing kids in multiple versions of the video for their song Runaway Train.

21 of the cases were resolved as a result of the video.

But there are still some cases on that original list

that are still waiting for answers.

John Lango is one of them.

I'm Kylie Lowe and this is the case of John Lango on Dark Down East. To those who knew him best, John Francis Lenga was a friendly, popular guy and a loyal friend.

West Chippala reports for the Republican Herald

that when John was younger, he played baseball

and rode his bike around Pottsville.

John's best friend, David R Rona said they played video games together

and sometimes went roller skating at the rink in town.

As an older teenager, John's interests evolved.

He liked nice clothes and trendy sneakers

...