IA IA - Johnny Gosch, 12, West Des Moines, 5 Sept 1982 #4

[thefragile7393]

What is interesting about this case is the connections. For example look into this.

*Johnny Gosch 13 years old was taken Sep-5-1982.
-3 min from a main highway.
-Taken within 4min walking distance from his home on paper route.
-West Dsm
-Worked for the Dsm register.
- Seen talking to an older male.
-Supposedly another male in foot was also involved while other was in vehicle.

*Eugene Martin 13 years old. Was taken August-12-1984 (707) days between JG abduction.
-5 min from main highway.
-Southside Dsm
-worked for the Dsm register and was delivering newspapers in neighborhood within walking distance from house.
- was seen talking to male on foot.
-connected to Mexico just like JG

*Mark Allen 13 years old. Taken march-29-1986 595 days between Eugene.
- In the same neighborhood as Eugene Martin's abduction. Only 3 min and two block streets to be exact.
-6 min away from main highway
-Southside Dsm
-walked to friends house down the street within distance from his house, same neighborhood as Eugene Martin, almost same street.


*Wilbert Julius Millhouse. 43 years old when arrested.
-Address 2553 Maury Street Des moines.
Southside DSM. Some articles will say his address is 2550,
-14 min drive to Marc Allen.
-14min drive to Eugene Martin
-17min drive to Johnny Gosch
-Newspaper article 11/19/86-
Police have filed six charges against a Des moines man accused of sexually abusing young boys. Sparked interest in the mother of a missing paperboy.
-police wrote letters to parents to warn them their own children may have come into contact with millhouse.
-during the investigation of a suspected pedophile ring officers found the names and telephone numbers of more than 2,000 people-mainly younge boys-in millhouse possession.
-Millhouse a former Des moines register circulation manager maintains he used the numbers to recruit carriers.
-Noreen in this article stated that for some time her son was abductor was an employee of the newspaper who had access to carrier routes.
-boys age 15 and 14 reported to police of abuse
-Millhouse quit his job at the newspaper in 1983-a year after JG. But still contained the boys names and pictures and phone numbers during the time of arrest.
-Was caught using different names during his phone calls with the boys and he was solicitating for sex acts.
-used names like Scott and Phil
-Police found evidence of high phone bills even years prior like 1985 of around $383.00
-used the GAB Line that was discontinued due to it being used to solicit sex and drugs.

After the podcast I feel this is the best suspect. You’ve summed up this person very well and suspect this is the perpetrator. Wouldn’t be surprised if he was part of the other missing paperboy cases as well

 

[Phxlana]

After the podcast I feel this is the best suspect. You’ve summed up this person very well and suspect this is the perpetrator. Wouldn’t be surprised if he was part of the other missing paperboy cases as well

I fully believe he played a major role. It follows patterns close to two years in between abductions which fits how modern day cases of crimes are placed, they repeat in comfortable locations. Marc very well being the last one, and millhouse was arrested and the ring found in 1986. What happened to them, the bodies. I think we need to look into the Mexico location especially since that line goes cold after the newspaper article about the boy named John Gosch body being found in a ravine in Mexico, where police got tips as well as searching for Eugene M. The teeth were sent to be identified but there is no news afterwards about if it was ever identified.

 

[cnmccarthy]

What is interesting about this case is the connections. For example look into this.

*Johnny Gosch 13 years old was taken Sep-5-1982.
-3 min from a main highway.
-Taken within 4min walking distance from his home on paper route.
-West Dsm
-Worked for the Dsm register.
- Seen talking to an older male.
-Supposedly another male in foot was also involved while other was in vehicle.

*Eugene Martin 13 years old. Was taken August-12-1984 (707) days between JG abduction.
-5 min from main highway.
-Southside Dsm
-worked for the Dsm register and was delivering newspapers in neighborhood within walking distance from house.
- was seen talking to male on foot.
-connected to Mexico just like JG

*Mark Allen 13 years old. Taken march-29-1986 595 days between Eugene.
- In the same neighborhood as Eugene Martin's abduction. Only 3 min and two block streets to be exact.
-6 min away from main highway
-Southside Dsm
-walked to friends house down the street within distance from his house, same neighborhood as Eugene Martin, almost same street.


*Wilbert Julius Millhouse. 43 years old when arrested.
-Address 2553 Maury Street Des moines.
Southside DSM. Some articles will say his address is 2550,
-14 min drive to Marc Allen.
-14min drive to Eugene Martin
-17min drive to Johnny Gosch
-Newspaper article 11/19/86-
Police have filed six charges against a Des moines man accused of sexually abusing young boys. Sparked interest in the mother of a missing paperboy.
-police wrote letters to parents to warn them their own children may have come into contact with millhouse.
-during the investigation of a suspected pedophile ring officers found the names and telephone numbers of more than 2,000 people-mainly younge boys-in millhouse possession.
-Millhouse a former Des moines register circulation manager maintains he used the numbers to recruit carriers.
-Noreen in this article stated that for some time her son was abductor was an employee of the newspaper who had access to carrier routes.
-boys age 15 and 14 reported to police of abuse
-Millhouse quit his job at the newspaper in 1983-a year after JG. But still contained the boys names and pictures and phone numbers during the time of arrest.
-Was caught using different names during his phone calls with the boys and he was solicitating for sex acts.
-used names like Scott and Phil
-Police found evidence of high phone bills even years prior like 1985 of around $383.00
-used the GAB Line that was discontinued due to it being used to solicit sex and drugs.

Yep, this has been discussed multiple times here. It’s very frustrating that it hasn’t been further investigated.

 

[Markybug]

What is interesting about this case is the connections. For example look into this.

*Johnny Gosch 13 years old was taken Sep-5-1982.
-3 min from a main highway.
-Taken within 4min walking distance from his home on paper route.
-West Dsm
-Worked for the Dsm register.
- Seen talking to an older male.
-Supposedly another male in foot was also involved while other was in vehicle.

*Eugene Martin 13 years old. Was taken August-12-1984 (707) days between JG abduction.
-5 min from main highway.
-Southside Dsm
-worked for the Dsm register and was delivering newspapers in neighborhood within walking distance from house.
- was seen talking to male on foot.
-connected to Mexico just like JG

*Mark Allen 13 years old. Taken march-29-1986 595 days between Eugene.
- In the same neighborhood as Eugene Martin's abduction. Only 3 min and two block streets to be exact.
-6 min away from main highway
-Southside Dsm
-walked to friends house down the street within distance from his house, same neighborhood as Eugene Martin, almost same street.


*Wilbert Julius Millhouse. 43 years old when arrested.
-Address 2553 Maury Street Des moines.
Southside DSM. Some articles will say his address is 2550,
-14 min drive to Marc Allen.
-14min drive to Eugene Martin
-17min drive to Johnny Gosch
-Newspaper article 11/19/86-
Police have filed six charges against a Des moines man accused of sexually abusing young boys. Sparked interest in the mother of a missing paperboy.
-police wrote letters to parents to warn them their own children may have come into contact with millhouse.
-during the investigation of a suspected pedophile ring officers found the names and telephone numbers of more than 2,000 people-mainly younge boys-in millhouse possession.
-Millhouse a former Des moines register circulation manager maintains he used the numbers to recruit carriers.
-Noreen in this article stated that for some time her son was abductor was an employee of the newspaper who had access to carrier routes.
-boys age 15 and 14 reported to police of abuse
-Millhouse quit his job at the newspaper in 1983-a year after JG. But still contained the boys names and pictures and phone numbers during the time of arrest.
-Was caught using different names during his phone calls with the boys and he was solicitating for sex acts.
-used names like Scott and Phil
-Police found evidence of high phone bills even years prior like 1985 of around $383.00
-used the GAB Line that was discontinued due to it being used to solicit sex and drugs.

What’s the Mexico connection?

Is this Mulhouse guy still alive ?

 

[MangoCove]

*Wilbert Julius Millhouse. 43 years old when arrested.
-Address 2553 Maury Street Des moines.
Southside DSM. Some articles will say his address is 2550,
-14 min drive to Marc Allen.
-14min drive to Eugene Martin
-17min drive to Johnny Gosch

2553 Maury Street is Eastside and not Southside Des Moines.
These drives are short because Des Moines is small.
At 17 minutes away Johnny's house was on the far west side of town compared to Millhouse's home.

I was able to find the November 1986 article in the Des Moines Register. "Sexual Abuse Charges Filed Against Man." by Tom Suk

It lists his name as Wilbur, not Wilbert.

This article states two fifteen year old boys accused Wilbur Millhouse of the sexual abuse. One sexually explicit phone call to a 14 year old was traced to his home.

There is no mention of Noreen or Johnny. Is there a different article?

It says he recruited newspaper carriers for the Register and had lots of names in his home, so they sent out lots of letters hoping to encourage the report of abuse. Also, the GAB line sounds like old school omegle.

In 1987 I found another article stated that he plead guilty to six counts of third degree sexual abuse of 6 teens and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

 

[Phxlana]

2553 Maury Street is Eastside and not Southside Des Moines.
These drives are short because Des Moines is small.
At 17 minutes away Johnny's house was on the far west side of town compared to Millhouse's home.

I was able to find the November 1986 article in the Des Moines Register. "Sexual Abuse Charges Filed Against Man." by Tom Suk

It lists his name as Wilbur, not Wilbert.

This article states two fifteen year old boys accused Wilbur Millhouse of the sexual abuse. One sexually explicit phone call to a 14 year old was traced to his home.

There is no mention of Noreen or Johnny. Is there a different article?

It says he recruited newspaper carriers for the Register and had lots of names in his home, so they sent out lots of letters hoping to encourage the report of abuse. Also, the GAB line sounds like old school omegle.

In 1987 I found another article stated that he plead guilty to six counts of third degree sexual abuse of 6 teens and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

For us who live in Dsm, Maury street is very well apart of the greater Southside, more closer to the fairgrounds is considered east side. If you look up the home on zillow or trulia it will even state the home is nestles on the Southside of Des Moines.

The article said he used the excuse for having over 2000 boys information as using it to recruit the boys. It doesn't mean the police believed that to be correct and in fact in the article they said that was probably not even possible. They also found proof he was doing inappropriate things and using inappropriate phone lines that have connections to exploitation. The article also states the investigation was brought in because of missing newspaper boy.

 

[Phxlana]

What’s the Mexico connection?

Is this Mulhouse guy still alive ?

Millhouse most likely is not alive from all information about him I can find. Last known location would've been possibly Kansas.

The Mexico connection was a boy that was found in mexico 7 years after Johnny gosch disappeared. Although it was never verified to be JG. The similarities are

*John E Gosch was the name of the boy found.
*Tacoma Wash family names Gosch maintains the body is that of their adopted son.
* was apparently killed near the city in a drug related shooting and the body ended up in mexico.
* dental records were sent to wdm for comparison to johnny gosch
*the man found in mexico was born Oct 22 1969. Two weeks before the missing paperboys birthday.
*the family in Washington told wdm police they adopted a boy in Oklahoma in 1980 and renamed him John.
*Noreen said her son was spotted in Oklahoma a few months after he disappeared
*another coincidence des moines police traveled to Southern Mexico to check out a reported sighting of Eugene Martin.

See
latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-05-mn-1010-story.html

 

[Phxlana]

What is interesting about this case is the connections. For example look into this.

*Johnny Gosch 13 years old was taken Sep-5-1982.
-3 min from a main highway.
-Taken within 4min walking distance from his home on paper route.
-West Dsm
-Worked for the Dsm register.
- Seen talking to an older male.
-Supposedly another male in foot was also involved while other was in vehicle.

*Eugene Martin 13 years old. Was taken August-12-1984 (707) days between JG abduction.
-5 min from main highway.
-Southside Dsm
-worked for the Dsm register and was delivering newspapers in neighborhood within walking distance from house.
- was seen talking to male on foot.
-connected to Mexico just like JG

*Mark Allen 13 years old. Taken march-29-1986 595 days between Eugene.
- In the same neighborhood as Eugene Martin's abduction. Only 3 min and two block streets to be exact.
-6 min away from main highway
-Southside Dsm
-walked to friends house down the street within distance from his house, same neighborhood as Eugene Martin, almost same street.


*Wilbert Julius Millhouse. 43 years old when arrested.
-Address 2553 Maury Street Des moines.
Southside DSM. Some articles will say his address is 2550,
-14 min drive to Marc Allen.
-14min drive to Eugene Martin
-17min drive to Johnny Gosch
-Newspaper article 11/19/86-
Police have filed six charges against a Des moines man accused of sexually abusing young boys. Sparked interest in the mother of a missing paperboy.
-police wrote letters to parents to warn them their own children may have come into contact with millhouse.
-during the investigation of a suspected pedophile ring officers found the names and telephone numbers of more than 2,000 people-mainly younge boys-in millhouse possession.
-Millhouse a former Des moines register circulation manager maintains he used the numbers to recruit carriers.
-Noreen in this article stated that for some time her son was abductor was an employee of the newspaper who had access to carrier routes.
-boys age 15 and 14 reported to police of abuse
-Millhouse quit his job at the newspaper in 1983-a year after JG. But still contained the boys names and pictures and phone numbers during the time of arrest.
-Was caught using different names during his phone calls with the boys and he was solicitating for sex acts.
-used names like Scott and Phil
-Police found evidence of high phone bills even years prior like 1985 of around $383.00
-used the GAB Line that was discontinued due to it being used to solicit sex and drugs.

Wilber not Wilbert. Typo error and do not know how to correct.

 

[MangoCove]

For us who live in Dsm, Maury street is very well apart of the greater Southside, more closer to the fairgrounds is considered east side. If you look up the home on zillow or trulia it will even state the home is nestles on the Southside of Des Moines.

The article said he used the excuse for having over 2000 boys information as using it to recruit the boys. It doesn't mean the police believed that to be correct and in fact in the article they said that was probably not even possible. They also found proof he was doing inappropriate things and using inappropriate phone lines that have connections to exploitation. The article also states the investigation was brought in because of missing newspaper boy.

The November 1986 Register article appears to be clipped by someone on newspapers.com and available publically, so I am linking it here: 11/18/86 Millhouse Charges - Newspapers.com

Again, his previous employeer spells his name with a 'U.'

The police reported that it was unlikely that Millhouse had contact with all 2000 boys, not that it was unlikely he ever used the information for recruiting. The Register confirmed that Millhouse worked for the paper for many years recruiting and managing adults/teens delivering newspapers.

The article also states: "The house was searched after two fifteen year old boys accused Millhouse of sexual abuse." It does not say that he was investigated because of the missing paperboys.

There is another article about the raid of Millhouse's home in 1986. The title of this article is "Police Raid finds No Link to Gosch, Martin Cases." - by Frank Santiago.

Unfortunately, it does not appear to be freely available to link. However, in the article Noreen is quoted as saying "All systems seem favorable that if there is something there, we will have an answer. My husband and I are very concerned over the new information, but we have no details to make any judgements."

I'm not trying to say that there's no way Wilbur Millhouse was involved with Johnny's disappearance, but the local police didn't come out and say they thought he was then and neither did Noreen. If you have another source please share it. Otherwise, it puts us all to a disadvantage here to not be working with the facts.

Additionally, while I won't be sharing my home address with a bunch of internet strangers, I will say that I understand why a real estate agent trying to sell a Des Moines home might call it Southside instead of Eastside. However, 2553 Maury Street is both North and East of the river. Any one can take a quick look at Google Maps and see that it is significantly closer to those Eastside State Fairgrounds than Eugene Martin's home or the area Google Maps has labeled as "Greater Southside."

 

[Ommmm]

Searching for Johnny: 40 years later on KCCI

This upcoming week, KCCI is running stories on the case on KCCI News at 6 p.m., followed by an hour-long special on Mon., Sept. 5 at 7 p.m.

Searching for Johnny: 40 Years Later

The disappearance of Johnny Gosch is one of Iowa's longest running, and most notorious mysteries.

www.kcci.com

 

[FergusMcDuck]

Searching for Johnny: 40 years later on KCCI

This upcoming week, KCCI is running stories on the case on KCCI News at 6 p.m., followed by an hour-long special on Mon., Sept. 5 at 7 p.m.

Searching for Johnny: 40 Years Later

The disappearance of Johnny Gosch is one of Iowa's longest running, and most notorious mysteries.

www.kcci.com

Interesting. I hope the special takes a grounded approach, free from the baggage that has cluttered the facts of the case.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

John and Noreen Gosch began to receive phone calls from customers about papers that hadn’t been delivered. John found Johnny’s wagon with newspapers two block from their home.

In March 1983, a woman in Tulsa, Oklahoma, said Johnny ran up to her. He was being chased by two men. “Please, lady, help me!” he said. “My name is John David Gosch.”

The two men dragged by boy away.

Vanished QC: An Iowa paperboy remains missing 40 years later

One of the most recognizable cases of a missing person, sadly, in modern times involves a paperboy who disappeared in the early morning hours of Sept. 5, 1982, in West Des Moines. He left home to b…

www.mystateline.com

 

[Betty P]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed>

Without the PI's, JMO, there would have been little to work with. LE didn't even bother to start investigating it as a kidnapping until 3 or 4 days later. False leads come up in cases like this regardless of whether its LE, a PI or the family getting the information. It's a shame the parents followed along with the Hells Angel guy who took them for a lot of money, but it was their decision. At least they caught the guy and got him off the street.


The differences in description of the cars is understandable. Those old K cars of that era all tended to look alike. It was also early in the morning, half dark and difficult for witnesses to get an accurate description. In those situations, the best thing LE can do is begin interviewing as many people as possible about what they saw or heard.

JMO, the physical description of the perp, the car and the license plate from a nearby county was the best information they had to work with. Getting that information our in the first hours after the kidnapping might have helped. The fact that another child was kidnapped under similar circumstances on the other side of town is enough to consider these kids were being watched and preyed upon by someone focusing on that type of target - paper boys out early in the morning.

Attacking the parents was and is an extremely bad move. Fortunately, this case and others spurred nationwide reform in how these crimes are handled.

All JMO

These cases are hard to resolve, even today with cell phone video and security cam footage.

 

[FergusMcDuck]

Without the PI's, JMO, there would have been little to work with. LE didn't even bother to start investigating it as a kidnapping until 3 or 4 days later. False leads come up in cases like this regardless of whether its LE, a PI or the family getting the information. It's a shame the parents followed along with the Hells Angel guy who took them for a lot of money, but it was their decision. At least they caught the guy and got him off the street.


The differences in description of the cars is understandable. Those old K cars of that era all tended to look alike. It was also early in the morning, half dark and difficult for witnesses to get an accurate description. In those situations, the best thing LE can do is begin interviewing as many people as possible about what they saw or heard.

JMO, the physical description of the perp, the car and the license plate from a nearby county was the best information they had to work with. Getting that information our in the first hours after the kidnapping might have helped. The fact that another child was kidnapped under similar circumstances on the other side of town is enough to consider these kids were being watched and preyed upon by someone focusing on that type of target - paper boys out early in the morning.

Attacking the parents was and is an extremely bad move. Fortunately, this case and others spurred nationwide reform in how these crimes are handled.

All JMO

These cases are hard to resolve, even today with cell phone video and security cam footage.

The problem is that the PIs added nothing to work with. Just red herrings and sensationalistic leads. It got them headlines but no progress. Ultimately the problem was the same the police ran into - the sole lead they had was a silver Ford Fairmont. No description of a perpetrator, no license plate, no further sighting of the car... if it was a stranger kidnapping, as seems likely, the case going cold is the least surprising thing ever.

I've read the early articles. While the Gosches frustration was understandable, I don't think the police would have gotten farther if they had agreed to investigate where they demanded - satanic cults and "homosexual" groups, as I recall. The paper trail (as mentioned in the video) is probably the only realistic shot at getting somewhere that doesn't involve a sudden confession or someone tripping over some bones in a forest. Someone at the paper would know where the paper drops were, and could sit in a car a block away, waiting for the first paper boy to separate from the group. Of course, for a completely unrelated character, it wouldn't exactly be difficult to find a drop on their own.

I do dislike all the parasites who have preyed on the Gosches over the years, including some of their PIs, said Hell's Angels guy, John DeCamp and Paul Bonacci, Ted Gunderson, Jim Rothstein, etc.

 

[Betty P]

The problem is that the PIs added nothing to work with. Just red herrings and sensationalistic leads. It got them headlines but no progress. Ultimately the problem was the same the police ran into - the sole lead they had was a silver Ford Fairmont. No description of a perpetrator, no license plate, no further sighting of the car... if it was a stranger kidnapping, as seems likely, the case going cold is the least surprising thing ever.

I've read the early articles. While the Gosches frustration was understandable, I don't think the police would have gotten farther if they had agreed to investigate where they demanded - satanic cults and "homosexual" groups, as I recall. The paper trail (as mentioned in the video) is probably the only realistic shot at getting somewhere that doesn't involve a sudden confession or someone tripping over some bones in a forest. Someone at the paper would know where the paper drops were, and could sit in a car a block away, waiting for the first paper boy to separate from the group. Of course, for a completely unrelated character, it wouldn't exactly be difficult to find a drop on their own.

I do dislike all the parasites who have preyed on the Gosches over the years, including some of their PIs, said Hell's Angels guy, John DeCamp and Paul Bonacci, Ted Gunderson, Jim Rothstein, etc.

I thought there was a description of the man driving the car. Treating the kidnapping as a crime from the moment LE arrived might have helped get pertinent information more quickly and out to other law enforcement agencies quickly too. It might have increased the chances of an officer seeing and stopping the car.

Anyway, whats done is done and fortunately things are better now.

 

[FergusMcDuck]

I thought there was a description of the man driving the car. Treating the kidnapping as a crime from the moment LE arrived might have helped get pertinent information more quickly and out to other law enforcement agencies quickly too. It might have increased the chances of an officer seeing and stopping the car.

Anyway, whats done is done and fortunately things are better now.

The blue car, yes, and the police sought him as a potential witness. But no one saw the driver of the silver Ford Fairmont, the car that actually abducted Johnny, and given where the blue car was driving, it's unlikely that the driver would have seen the silver car.

 

[armywife210]

I've been digging into this case for years, though I haven't posted on Websleuths for years, and probably never about this case. I'm sure that this has been discussed before, but I cannot understand how it is possible that Johnny visited Noreen after his abduction. It doesn't make sense why that would be allowed by whomever abducted and maintained control over him. How could she not say anything, especially to police who are trying to find him. They know how to deal with this kind of information without releasing it to the public. The names that Noreen was supposedly given could help police substantially. I don't believe for a second that she had anything to do with his disappearance but more so that perhaps she had just completely lost grasp on reality at the time. Who could blame her? I'm interested to hear what the thoughts of others are on this.

 

[armywife210]

I've been digging into this case for years, though I haven't posted on Websleuths for years, and probably never about this case. I'm sure that this has been discussed before, but I cannot understand how it is possible that Johnny visited Noreen after his abduction. It doesn't make sense why that would be allowed by whomever abducted and maintained control over him. How could she not say anything, especially to police who are trying to find him. They know how to deal with this kind of information without releasing it to the public. The names that Noreen was supposedly given could help police substantially. I don't believe for a second that she had anything to do with his disappearance but more so that perhaps she had just completely lost grasp on reality at the time. Who could blame her? I'm interested to hear what the thoughts of others are on this.

Forgive me, I've forgotten some of the details as it's been awhile since I've looked into this case and I'm still learning this website format...don't yet know how to edit my post. I told ya I haven't been on in a long time. Lol

 

[Officer Dibble]

I've been digging into this case for years, though I haven't posted on Websleuths for years, and probably never about this case. I'm sure that this has been discussed before, but I cannot understand how it is possible that Johnny visited Noreen after his abduction. It doesn't make sense why that would be allowed by whomever abducted and maintained control over him. How could she not say anything, especially to police who are trying to find him. They know how to deal with this kind of information without releasing it to the public. The names that Noreen was supposedly given could help police substantially. I don't believe for a second that she had anything to do with his disappearance but more so that perhaps she had just completely lost grasp on reality at the time. Who could blame her? I'm interested to hear what the thoughts of others are on this.

I don't understand the visitation because the parents had split up and the mom was now living in an apartment. How did the visitors find the mom?

 

[dotr]

Sept 5 2022