IA IA - Eugene Wade Martin, 14, Des Moines, 12 Aug 1984

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Just came across this thread for Eugene. I've been thinking so much about these boys lately. Eugene's case received so little publicity compared to Johnny's and I could never understand why. Even though Des Moines is a large city (for the midwest), these kind of things just didn't typically happen in Iowa. I feel especially sad for his family. Recently, I read Eugene's step-mother had passed away and his father is in a nursing home with Alzheimer's Disease. All these years and still no idea what happened to him. Heartbreaking.
 
Mr. E said:
Same old, same old. Some people think it's him, and I'm sure some think it is not. Who knows what's happening investigation-wise. I have read that all of the photos have been given to the authorities (FBI? Although that seems unlikely given Noreen's feelings for them...) and have (or have not, depending on where you look) been verified.

Milopedes, crazy or not, LE should look into Noreen's claims; they should have done it then, and they should do it now.

I'm not sure that Noreen is still playing with a full deck -- I know I wouldn't be after what she's been through -- but I don't think her information (pictures, leads, whatever) should be discounted because of it.
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I agree that LE should examine the validity of her claims. At the very least, they could simply discredit her in some way. But as you point out, it could also lead them in a positive direction toward solving the crime(s).

I'm sure something like that takes a toll. I cannot fathom losing one of my children. Death is one thing, but abduction and all the uncertainties surrounding it very likely have a powerful effect upon one's mental well-being. I pray it is something I never have to endure, and wish that no one else did.

I checked out her site, briefly, and looked at some of the photos. Again, I haven't read too much. It was my impression that she "allegedly" had contact with her son, who is an adult now and in hiding? Did he escape? Was he released? Is there any proof she ever had contact?

The photos in the mail is creepy. Unless she is conjuring up this "evidence", at the very least someone is messing with her and it should be looked into.
 
Mandy113 said:
Just came across this thread for Eugene. I've been thinking so much about these boys lately. Eugene's case received so little publicity compared to Johnny's and I could never understand why. Even though Des Moines is a large city (for the midwest), these kind of things just didn't typically happen in Iowa. I feel especially sad for his family. Recently, I read Eugene's step-mother had passed away and his father is in a nursing home with Alzheimer's Disease. All these years and still no idea what happened to him. Heartbreaking.
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It is heartbreaking. My guess is that one case had more publicity because it occurred first, had a very active (energetic) parent, and it involved some odd follow-up occurrences (i.e., mailed photos, controversial allegations, etc.).

Not fair . . . but a good conspiracy / mystery gains more traction. Plus, Noreen has a website and at least 1 book, right?
 
Mr. E said:
mnegri1973, Noreen DID go to the police. From her book, p. 63, she states that after she received the information from Sam Soda about the second kidnapping, "I did go to the Des Moines Police Dept., asking if I could play the tape of the meeting with Mr. Soda for them. The person at the desk would not allow me to talk to a Detective, he kept saying if they "felt my information was of importance they would call me". Repeatedly, I told them that I had a tape recording and in a couple of months there would be another paperboy kidnapped. They treated me as though I had lost my mind and they didn't want to be bothered with me." (All grammatical errors are Noreen's, not mine.)
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Not trying to be argumentative, but I just have a really hard time believing that she really went to the DMPD or the WDMPD and they ignored her and her tape recording. I mean cause if she did have a recording and she was ignored by the PD she could have taken that tape to the Martin's and they could have sued the PD for not following up on a threat.

I just have a really hard time believing a lot of the stuff that Noreen has said and continues to say about the kidnappings.

Mel ~
 
Mandy113 said:
Just came across this thread for Eugene. I've been thinking so much about these boys lately. Eugene's case received so little publicity compared to Johnny's and I could never understand why. Even though Des Moines is a large city (for the midwest), these kind of things just didn't typically happen in Iowa. I feel especially sad for his family. Recently, I read Eugene's step-mother had passed away and his father is in a nursing home with Alzheimer's Disease. All these years and still no idea what happened to him. Heartbreaking.
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It always bothered me as well about how little Eugene's case received vs. Johnny's case. My friend and her family would wear a shirt that had both boy's pictures and info on them. I just always felt so badly for my friend. I can remember my parents talking about the cases and how they wondered if Johnny received more media attention then Eugene due to the Gosch's had more money and lived in a pretty nice area of Des Moines where as the Martin's lived in a not so well to do area of Des Moines.

I have lost touch with my friend over the years and had not heard about Eugene's step mom and his father. This is just so sad.

Mel ~
 
mnegri1973 said:
Not trying to be argumentative, but I just have a really hard time believing that she really went to the DMPD or the WDMPD and they ignored her and her tape recording. I mean cause if she did have a recording and she was ignored by the PD she could have taken that tape to the Martin's and they could have sued the PD for not following up on a threat.

I just have a really hard time believing a lot of the stuff that Noreen has said and continues to say about the kidnappings.

Mel ~
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I can understand that, and who knows, maybe she is lying. Her book is rambling and tends to sound a little crazy. I remember from when the kidnapping happened that Noreen became frustrated with LE because they wouldn't listen to her or take her seriously. They told her to go home and forget about it because her son had just run away. This was in her book, but it was also reported at the time. I wouldn't put it past LE to ignore her about tapes warning of another kidnapping, but you're right, with just her word, who is to say it actually happened? I'd be interested to know her answer if someone were to ask her if she gave the tapes to the Martins.
 
Yarg! I went and tried (upon suggestion) to read the Johnny Gosch thread starting from the initial post on the topic. I wanted to find out more about that case and the Eugene Martin case.

Let me say this: I have a massive headache!!! And I only made it to Post #108. Too much infighting, misinformation, and overly strong opinions. In cases like this, opinions eventually get confused with facts . . . so for the uninformed, it is difficult to get up-to-speed on a case. Not to mention, links are old and this story involves a cast (allegedly) of so many characters . . . whew! Maybe more on another day.
 
milopedes said:
Yarg! I went and tried (upon suggestion) to read the Johnny Gosch thread starting from the initial post on the topic. I wanted to find out more about that case and the Eugene Martin case.

Let me say this: I have a massive headache!!! And I only made it to Post #108. Too much infighting, misinformation, and overly strong opinions. In cases like this, opinions eventually get confused with facts . . . so for the uninformed, it is difficult to get up-to-speed on a case. Not to mention, links are old and this story involves a cast (allegedly) of so many characters . . . whew! Maybe more on another day.
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Yeah, this whole case is so complicated and out there. It's hard to know who's who, who's telling the truth, what IS the truth, etc. I've been on another site that speaks about Johnny; I've seen doctored photos and heard out-and-out lies. One minute a person involved is trustworthy; the next he's a liar. It's like a bad novel. I feel sorry that this kid's disappearance is mixed up in all this craziness. I'd love to know what is really the truth.
 
I am originally from Des Moines and lived there when the Johnny Gosch and Eugene Martin cases happened. My son was just a little younger than those boys and also a paper boy so I remember it all very well. From day 1 the police treated Noreen Gosch like she was crazy. I saw a frantic mother trying to get anyone to listen to her and DO something to try and find Johnny! I can't speak for the Martin family but maybe there wasn't as much publicity around Eugene because they didn't want to be made to look crazy too. JMO
 
Mandy113 said:
Just came across this thread for Eugene. I've been thinking so much about these boys lately. Eugene's case received so little publicity compared to Johnny's and I could never understand why. Even though Des Moines is a large city (for the midwest), these kind of things just didn't typically happen in Iowa. I feel especially sad for his family. Recently, I read Eugene's step-mother had passed away and his father is in a nursing home with Alzheimer's Disease. All these years and still no idea what happened to him. Heartbreaking.
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Very heartbreaking.
 
I have to wonder if Jacob Wetterling is not tied into this somehow and poor Marc Allen, at least people know about Eugene. I think the same perp took all these newsboys.
 
I've always thought the two were related. Not sure about the third, though it seems likely. I wonder if there is anyway to find out who was living in the area at the time... and then cross check that with the other case. Both boys seem to have a pretty specific missing location (where their newspapers were found)... It would seem that the person lived within a few blocks of that.
 
milopedes said:
What, if anything, ever resulted from this?
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I found this: http://www.kcci.com/Probe-Over-Boys-Photos-Continues/-/9357770/7283558/-/rti1b2/-/index.html .

Wiki says that it turned out that a newspaper got a letter tipping them off to the fact that the photos were takenin the 70s by kids doing an escape contest and cleared by police in Florida. The sheriff of the county who investigated those pictures back then said that there was no evidence of wrongdoing. Johnny Gosch's mother continues to say that it's definitely her son in the photos. I can't tell if these statements are correct because the Wiki sources link to the article above plus several presumably more in-depth ones on the Des Moines Register website but since they're a few years old I can't access them. It seems like the site underwent some changes so they were taken down or archived somewhere. Maybe someone can find them? Using archive.org won't do anything.
 
Veidt said:
I found this: http://www.kcci.com/Probe-Over-Boys-Photos-Continues/-/9357770/7283558/-/rti1b2/-/index.html .

Wiki says that it turned out that a newspaper got a letter tipping them off to the fact that the photos were takenin the 70s by kids doing an escape contest and cleared by police in Florida. The sheriff of the county who investigated those pictures back then said that there was no evidence of wrongdoing. Johnny Gosch's mother continues to say that it's definitely her son in the photos. I can't tell if these statements are correct because the Wiki sources link to the article above plus several presumably more in-depth ones on the Des Moines Register website but since they're a few years old I can't access them. It seems like the site underwent some changes so they were taken down or archived somewhere. Maybe someone can find them? Using archive.org won't do anything.
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What are you trying to find, the photographs? They are all posted on Noreen Gosch's own website.

Personally, I don't think any of them look anything like Johnny Gosch.
 
Cappuccino said:
What are you trying to find, the photographs? They are all posted on Noreen Gosch's own website.

Personally, I don't think any of them look anything like Johnny Gosch.
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No, I was trying to find the articles that Wiki cites as a source for the more in-depth statements from the police in Florida who say they investigated the pictures in the 70s. There is the link I posted but additional details in the wikipedia page are linked to a site that was clearly updated and the articles must have changed URL.
 
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