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Missing Paperboys /// Chapter 4 /// Milk Carton Kids
01:05:31
In the early eighties middle America experienced tragedies that no parent could imagine. Newspaper boys were disappearing. They would step out into the dark of the early morning hours to deliver the daily news to their neighborhoods and some of them did not return. It started in Iowa and then moved to Nebraska. Kids were plucked off the street just a few steps into their routes and some have vanished forever. In less than two years time - Johnny Gosch went missing in Iowa, Danny Joe Eberle was abducted in Nebraska, Christopher Walden was abducted in Nebraska, and then tragedy befell Iowa once again in August of 1984. 13 year old Eugene Martin disappeared during his early morning paper route. After Eugene vanished the Anderson Erickson Dairy company began printing black and white photos and bios on the sides of Milk Cartons distributed across the state of Iowa.
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- [00:00]
Host
Picture this. It's the end of a long week. You're unwinding in the tub, listening to your favorite true crime podcast and then chronic hives come back again in the middle of the episode. What a wet blanket looks like another spell of itchy, swollen, red or skin colored hives. If you have chronic spontaneous urticaria or csu, there may be a different treatment option. Worried about your chronic hives interrupting our next episode? Learn more@treatmyhives.com Garage substance use disorder and
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Recovery Advocate
addiction is so isolating. And so as a black woman in recovery, hope must be loud. It grows louder when you ask for help and you're vulnerable. It is the thread that lets you know that no matter what happens, you will be okay.
- [00:58]
Host
When we learn the power of hope, hope recovery is possible. Find out how@startwithope.com brought to you by the National Council for Mental well Being,
- [01:07]
Recovery Advocate
Shatterproof and the AD Council.
- [02:34]
Host
Some of the following is from an article written by Jody Ewing, founder of Iowa Cold Cases website the Missing Kids milk carton campaign started in the great state of Iowa. The grainy images of boys and girls sat beside Americans during breakfast time for much of the 1980s. Before Facebook, Amber Alerts and text messages, pictures on milk cartons were a way to distribute information about missing kids. It made sense at the time. Most Americans drank milk and the cartons had a frequent turnaround from grocery store to fridge. It was also a grassroots campaign with deep Iowa ties. Among the first cartons to be distributed in the grocery stores were from Anderson Erickson. They featured the black and white images of Johnny Gosch and Eugene Martin, two Des Moines Register newspaper carriers. From there, the Missing Kids milk carton campaign grew. Dairies across the nation participated and missing kids across the nation became part of Americans routines. Johnny Gosh, age 12, went missing September 5, 1982 while delivering newspapers. Less than two years later, Eugene Martin, aged 13, will go missing on August 12, 1984 while delivering Des Moines Register newspapers on a Sunday morning. By September 1984, Anderson Erickson Derry in Des Moines began running photos and short bios of Johnny Gosh and Eugene Martin on the sides of half gallon milk cartons. The trend continued with Wisconsin, Chicago and then out to California and across the nation. By 1985, more than 700 dairies were now involved and 1.5 billion milk cartons with images of missing kids are distributed nationwide. This is True Crime Garage and this is the missing persons case of 13 year old Eugene Martin from August 1984. One of the first kids featured on the Side of a milk carton.
- [05:16]
Co-host
Foreign.
- [05:27]
Host
Eugene Wade Martin was born on August 17, 1970. And almost from the start, people closest to him shortened his name into something that felt like it belonged to everyday life. They called him Gene, the kind of name you could shout from a porch when the street lights were coming on. Those who knew him described a boy who moved through the world gently. He's described as polite. He's a quiet kid. He's quite shy, as folks would say. Not withdrawn so much, but careful. He was also the kind of kid that was both cautious but also fearless. They say in the same breath, almost. His mother, Janice, worried about him playing football because he was on the smaller side. But Gene loved it and he played anyway. And he. And he played the game with reckless abandon. He loved skateboarding too, and it showed. He was always equipped with skinned knees and scraped elbows. Gene, growing up in the 1980s, it was typical 80s video games and television and the usual tug of war between being outside with friends and being inside with whatever was glowing on the screen. But he wasn't only a kid passing time right, just enjoying the ride. He had taken a job and he took that job very seriously. In May of 1984, Gene became a paper carrier for the Des Moines Registered. The work required routine early alarms, quiet mornings, picking up bundles of papers, folding those papers, rubber banding them and loading them into a carrier bag, and then moving house to house while most of the neighborhood was still asleep. When August of 1984 arrived, Gene had reasons to be quite excited. The Iowa State Fair was in town. His 14th birthday was approaching. He had plans for a celebration for his birthday. Big plans. On the night of August 11, 1984, Gene went to a movie with friends. And he came home early, not under pressure, but because he wanted sleep that night. That night, Gene's older brother Don wasn't home. Don was staying at a friend's house. Don, typically the older brother, would help Gene with his paper route. But that was not going to be possible the following morning. It meant that when Gene got up before sunrise, he would be going out on this paper route and going it alone. Before sunrise on the 12th, Gene woke up on time and moved quietly through the house. His father, Donald, would later say that he heard Gene's alarm and nothing else. No real commotion, no hint that anything was wrong. Gene's first stop was the pickup point where carriers receive their newspapers. So this is the corner of Southwest 14th street and Highview Drive. At about 5:10am we have an older man. This is a somebody who knows Gene, So somebody from the neighborhood, he drove past that corner on his way to play golf. He was going out for an early tee time and he said at about 5, 10am when he drove past that corner, he says he saw Gene sitting there and Gene's paper bag was empty, sitting beside him. So he just assumed, right. The kids waiting there, waiting for the paper drop off. And he said nothing about Gene's posture or the moment seemed alarming at all. Gene looked exactly like what he was supposed to be, a kid waiting for the start of his paper route.
- [09:23]
Co-host
Well, it's also exciting time as a kid because you're making money. It's not something that you have to do for hours. You normally can complete your paper route within a, let's say an hour or so. It is every day. So that takes a toll on you. But it's a time where you get paid and you don't have to spend money on bills. So that money accumulates different and, and just like little simple things, whether it's a bicycle or going to the movies or whatever it is, you're in a situation where you can afford something that your peers mostly can't.
- [09:59]
Host
Well, and those summer months delivering papers are fun too because you rarely do. You have weather, undesirable weather. And you have those mornings, those summer mornings where the air is still kind of cool and crisp and you're out there alone and. But you get to watch the sun come up oftentimes on that paper route.
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Co-host
Yeah.
- [10:24]
Host
Sometime later this would have been after the papers arrived at the drop off point. Gene appears to have done the usual carrier type of work, loading up the papers, rolling them up and loading them up into his bag. And that's really what the next observation here in our timeline Captain would suggest. So we have route manager Paul Porter. He came by and he saw Gene's carrier bag positioned at the corner. It's loaded with newspapers, looking ready to rock and roll. Porter says he did not see the boy, he did not see Gene, but the bag looked prepared, as if Gene had already folded and rubber band the newspapers. And he actually assumed that Gene had probably just taken a couple of papers, went to deliver them and would circle back to grab the rest or grab another handful. Reports place this sighting in the window of 6am to 6:15am so let's put this under the microscope real quick, zoom in on these moments because we have one witness that says at 5, 10 approximately here he saw Gene just sitting there. Looks like he's waiting for the papers. No papers in Gene's Carrier bag. Right. And then between 6am and 6:15am we have the route manager who spots the bag full, but no Gene. So in between those two times, we can gather that Gene likely received these papers and put them together and got them ready to go. But then, just like we saw in the Johnny Gosh case, then in the Danny Joe Eberly case, some point that morning, Captain, customers start calling, making phone calls, they had not received their papers.
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Co-host
Right. The route is interrupted.
- [12:21]
Host
Correct. And in those first two cases, we have reports of the calls going directly, or at least the majority of those calls going directly to the residents, the home of the paper carrier. This case though, seems different in the sense that the reports I'm seeing here are that most of the calls, if not all of them, went to the paper itself or the, the persons in charge of the route rather than the carrier's home, rather than Gene's home. So they're getting calls, they've not received their papers. One customer says, you know, she's at her window on the phone complaining that she hasn't received the papers. And she's like, I can see the bag of newspapers sitting right there at the corner and is it okay if I just walk over and, you know, take my, my paper? And in fact, Porter, I believe it was the route manager, Paul Porter, who received this particular call because he says, look, I was telling the people calling in, don't worry, your papers are going to show up. And I, I will go back to, I was already at the pickup point or the drop off point prior with the papers and I'll circle back and see if you know what's going on, what's the holdup with, with Gene. So at approximately 7:15am Porter then called Donald Martin and told him, look, Gene's not out there delivering the papers. And I've, I've been by twice and I've not seen him. So Donald searches the house, he's hoping for a simple explanation, right? Maybe, maybe his son returned home for any reason, maybe he's not feeling well. But he says, you know, I, I didn't really become alarmed until I searched the home and Gene's not there.
- [14:03]
Co-host
Because think about if you're on your route and you have to use the restroom and you don't want to pee on a bush or some tree, or maybe it's not a number one, maybe it's number two, you're so close. Number three or the, sometimes it's a six, but you're close to your house. So there's a possibility that you just go home. And I know that sounds funny, but I think these are the things that would go through your mind when you're getting calls that, hey, my. My paper hasn't been delivered. And so you start going, well, why?
- [14:37]
Host
Well, also zoom in on the time frame, right? Because this is, what, roughly one month shy of two years after Johnny Gosh, another paper boy. Another boy delivering the Des Moines Register. The same paper that Eugene Martin's delivering is there. There's always a chance the kid gets spooked and goes home. In all reality, what we have here, Captain, is we have the dad saying, look, I heard his alarm go off, and I heard, you know, him move through the house. And we have the people calling in paper. Papers aren't delivered. We have the route manager who says he saw the bag, the carrier bag sitting there. But in all reality, all we have for this time frame of roughly 2 hours, ish, is only one person that can be confirmed as having actually seen Gene that morning. That's the golfer. His name is Connie. He says at roughly 5:10am that he drove by and saw Gene, who he knew from the neighborhood, sitting there, who appeared to be waiting on his papers. So Donald, Gene's father, contacts his brother, Donald's brother, and the two of them go out and they start looking. They got motorcycles. It's a summer morning. They both hop on the bikes. They rode to places that they said, look, these are where we thought teenagers go. Typical teenager places. We went to the mall, we went to the school. We went to anywhere we thought the Gene might be. And of course, they found nothing. No Gene, no clear witnesses, nobody saying that they had seen him, no sign that the morning had gone wrong. So Father Donald returned home. He calls police to report Gene missing. This week, the week that should have held a fair and a birthday party turned into a week that contained a disappearance.
- [16:34]
Co-host
Yeah. And as you have the disappearance of this paperboy, and knowing that they're looking forward to these events, these events as they're popping up, is. Is a reminder that he's missing.
- [16:47]
Host
Absolutely. And this is again, this is a city haunted by another paper boy case in Des Moines. It's a dark, dark shadow that we're dealing with here. Only two years earlier, paperboy Johnny Gosh disappeared. And the similarity was immediate and sickening. An early morning paper route and another boy gone. Police escalated quickly. Des Moines officers responded with urgency, bringing in six tactical unit officers and assigning five detectives. At the outset, investigators created a fact sheet with Gene's photo and identifying details. So searchers and officers would know exactly who they were looking for and knowing being able to identify him on site.
- [17:36]
Co-host
Brian.
- [17:36]
Host
So the initial search began at approximately 8:40am and again, this would be more than three hours. About three and a half hours after the last confirmed sighting at 5:10am in that gap, Gene had vanished, leaving behind only the carrier bag filled with undelivered newspapers. Search efforts focused on the southwest area, near that Southwest 14th street and High View Drive. Investigators still had to consider early possibilities. Right, maybe there's just, this is just confusion. Maybe he took a weird detour. Maybe there's a runaway situation scenario here. But the circumstances were unnerving. And what they immediately found here, their, their findings were very quickly that we have a responsible boy on a work route, papers prepared, and then he's absent. So authorities quickly ruled out the idea that Gene had run away due to a domestic dispute. And as hours passed, police said that they were treating the case as an abduction or kidnapping. So you're seeing the immediate response, Captain, is different here than in the Johnny Gosh case.
- [18:54]
Co-host
Yeah, but it's because of the Johnny
- [18:56]
Host
Gosh case, they've learned. The Des Moines Register moved in with institutional urgency. The newspaper offered up quickly a $5,000 reward for information about Gene's location. And by the next day, that reward money rose up to $25,000. Notices were printed, carriers were warned. Supervisors were sent out to watch carriers at pick up points during the early hours when routes were most vulnerable. So not only the police stepping in right away on the hour that he's reported, but within 24 hours, we have the Des Moines Register stepping in, doing some of the things that they did in the Johnny Gosh disappearance, but they're doing them faster here with Eugene Martin now missing. All right, can I get a witness? We, we. Can I get a witness? Can I get a witness, Captain? We get a, a green car and an older man here. So these are two different scenarios, but let's play through. So as officers walked Gene's route, they're questioning the neighbors, knocking on the doors. Did you see anything? We got a missing newspaper boy. They searched for anything that could anchor a timeline they want, right? A vehicle, maybe somebody overheard or witnessed an argument, heard a scream, maybe a direction of travel. Anything we want, anything.
- [20:23]
Co-host
At this point, we have a vague timeline. We have eyewitness that sees him waiting for the papers. Then we have the dad going out and looking for him because people are calling about not receiving their paper. So we do have a vague timeline.
- [20:38]
Host
We need some anchors and some more Markers on that timeline. So there are two troubling pieces of information that emerged from canvassing the area and talking to neighbors. The first is the green car report. Okay. A green car described as being in poor shape was reported in the area around 14th and 18th streets. According to the Des Moines Register. The driver was described as a white male, believed to be in his late 20s or early 30s, with short dark hair parted in the middle and two to three days of beard growth. He was reportedly seen possibly following two young women. The car was last seen around 5am so this would be before the abduction or whatever happened to Eugene, because we know Gene was seen alive and well, according to the golfer, at 5:10am and police did say, look, we have no direct evidence tying this driver or even this sighting to Gene's disappearance. But they did say, we want to talk to the driver of this green car. Then we have an unidentified man speaking with Gene. Or so the report goes. So we get another witness that says that they reported seeing an unidentified man speaking with Gene the morning Gene vanished, likely between 5:15am and 5:45am the man was described as wearing light colored clothing and appearing to have a friendly conversation with Gene. Police circulated a broad description of this individual, and it was as such. A white male, roughly 30 to 40 years old, 5 foot 9 inches to 6 foot tall, medium build, medium length hair, described as clean shaven and neat in appearance. But no vehicle was seen with him, and no vehicle was included in that report. Within days, captain, five more witnesses would report seeing what they believed was the same man talking with Gene. But the description remained too broad, too general. Determined not to lose time the way many believed is what happened in the Gosh investigation. The Des Moines police requested federal assistance. And we talked about this man. In the first episode of the missing Paper boys, Special agent Herbert Hawkins of the FBI's Omaha office. He came to Des Moines with 16 FBI agents. Gene's disappearance quickly saturated newspapers. Radio and television. Tips poured in. Volunteer searches proliferated across Des Moines. Wooded patches were searched. We're looking in tall grass, culverts, in parks, Anywhere a child might be hidden or harmed. Search teams expanded outward to parks, warehouses, riverfronts and other areas where evidence or a missing child might be concealed. The effort included 25 Des Moines police officers, 16 FBI agents and volunteers, many of which were friends and family, but also members of the community. But the central problem remained police searchers. We got nothing. We got nothing solid. No confirmed sightings beyond the early morning. No reliable vehicle description, no physical evidence. What's what's interesting here when we cross reference and compare the two, what I see when we look at the Eugene Martin case versus The Johnny Gosh case. Johnny's case has continued for four decades to receive a mountain of press and coverage, be it podcasts, documentaries, what have you. The Eugene Martin case is often covered alongside of Johnny's but almost mentioned as an aside.
- [25:13]
Co-host
Yeah, if anybody's ever seen a picture of Johnny Gosh, you might have seen a picture of you, Gene, right beside him.
- [25:20]
Host
Exactly. Now the difference here is right away you heard the search efforts that I just described. The search efforts immediately were different and much more abundant and strength in numbers with Eugene Martin's case than it was with Johnny Gosh. Again, back to something you said earlier. It's because of the Johnny Gosh case that they are they have adapted and are reacting different and reacting more appropriately in this unfortunate second disappearance of another kid out delivering the Des Moines Register newspaper.
- [26:10]
Co-host
Foreign.
- [26:15]
Host
This show is sponsored by Better Help. You know, some nights I lie awake in bed worrying. Worrying about the show, about the podcast. Did I get the details right? Did I mispronounce something? This keeps me awake at night. But I have to remind myself that I was not made to be perfect. So why do I hold myself to such a high standard and scrutinize everything that I say or do? None of us were made to be perfect. If you've been feeling overwhelmed, stuck, anxious or unsure, that's okay. Those feelings are more common than we think. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. A good reminder you don't have to go through those feelings alone. Having someone with you to listen, to understand and to support you can make all the difference. Whatever is keeping you up at night, Therapy with Better Help can help you check in with yourself and gain support from experienced professionals. BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform. Just take a short questionnaire to identify your needs and Preferences and BetterHelp will handle the initial therapist matching work for you. Feel confident knowing betterhelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the us you don't have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off@betterhelp.com garage that's better. H E L P.com garage as routines
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- [29:45]
Host
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- [33:27]
Co-host
All right, Tall cans in the air.
- [33:30]
Host
Power to the people.
- [33:31]
Co-host
Power to the people in the back, in the front and the sides, and
- [33:35]
Host
the ones blowing it out in the middle.
- [33:40]
Co-host
And somebody is out there listening to the podcast with like giant headphones on. Shout out to whoever that is. We don't all need to be wearing earbuds. Some of us need to wear some giant headphones.
- [33:55]
Host
That's right.
- [33:57]
Co-host
But even though we have all hands on deck in this Eugene Martin case, and again, it's because, you know, two years prior we have another newspaper boy going missing that delivered the same paper. But I think all this would have also changed if Johnny Gosh was found. But Johnny wasn't found. He just vanished into thin air.
- [34:26]
Host
Well, and about this same time, having gone back and really digging through the papers and the Des Moines Register in particular, they didn't shy away from the fact that one of their own had gone missing. Johnny Gosh. But you Know when there's not new information coming in, the stories do start to fade from the headlines and from the 11 o' clock news. And Johnny's case was starting to fade a little bit around this time. You start to see that it's not so abundant in the news at this time. And then, oh my God, here's not just the sad reminder that Johnny's missing, but now the scary fact that Johnny's still missing. And here is another kid similar in age, similar circumstances. Houston, we have a problem here. And that problem is in Des Moines, Iowa and it's, it's paper boys going missing. So how about an anonymous tip here? Captain, we get an anonymous tip regarding
- [35:30]
Co-host
a just the tip.
- [35:32]
Host
Green Chevy malibu. So on August 12, 1984, whoever's driving that piece of crap police received an anonymous call. The caller claimed to have witnessed Gene speaking with an unidentified man near a 1972 or 1973 green Chevrolet Malibu with gray primer marks on the vehicle. The caller alleged that during the conversation the man placed his hands on Gene at least once. The caller did not give his name. He offered the information and disappeared back into anonymity, leaving the police with a specific vehicle description, but no way to assess the witnesses reliability, credibility in any way that could be corroborated. But yeah, we did have the early statements of those of others with the, the girls that might have been being followed or the two young women that were possibly being followed by the green car described as being in poor shape. To me that's not an unlike description. No, I think the Chevy Malibu that has primer marks on it, 1972, 1973, it would have been, it would have been a vehicle that was over 10 years old. But again, it gets difficult when you're tipster is anonymous and you have no way of contacting the individual, no way of seeking out more information or unfortunately it could just be somebody calling in a crank tip for whatever reason for their own amusement or to send the investigators in a different direction.
- [37:23]
Co-host
Please tell me that they called in wrestler.
- [37:27]
Host
We have FBI on the scene here. But this would have been from the Omaha division office. Yeah, from. And so they are working this case. Unfortunately the, the folks at the Omaha branch field office, they have experience with this type of work with the John Jupiter case and, and Eberly and Walden who went missing but were found both approximately three days later. So they have some expertise in this. But a big fail in the Gosh case. And that was one we, we had talked about that in when we were talking about Johnny's disappearance was something Robert Ressler said. He said, look, I agreed with the Goshes that it was a mistake that the FBI wasn't involved sooner. He did say part of that was we weren't called in. The jurisdiction was a little different. Remember, it was Noreen Gosh and others that had pressed Ronald Reagan and impressed our government to. To stack the deck differently so that FBI and federal agents would become more involved in abduction cases and in murders. So it's a bit of. Even though it's just two years later, it's a bit of a different landscape here. And we're seeing how that's playing out in the Eugene or Gene Martin disappearance. Let's get into some things here because as the investigation continues, we're going to see a few things play out. They're going to start re interviewing people that they've spoke to. Early on in the case. There's an attempt at a composite sketch and maybe, maybe some hope here. Maybe some. Some hope.
- [39:18]
Co-host
Well, I also think this is interesting too, because there's reason to possibly believe that these. That these cases are connected. So I think as much as you're going down these rabbit holes and Eugene's case, you have to then double check your work in the Gosh case to see if there's any suspect or any tip that's over lapping with each other.
- [39:43]
Host
Exactly.
- [39:44]
Co-host
And I know that was an obvious statement. Call me Captain Obvious.
- [39:48]
Host
Well, but you hope. You hope that the obvious is done in all of these investigations. And we've reviewed enough to know that sometimes that is not the situation. August 15, 1984. Investigators are trying to sharpen witness recollections. Remember, we have the several persons who had called in stating that they might have seen something that morning. They wanted to see if we can get those memories, make them stronger and maybe even actionable. So according to the Iowa City Press Citizen, they state that a specialist was brought in from Washington to review six witnesses in hopes of producing an artist composite sketch of the person described in the those witness accounts. Even then, though, law enforcement said the un Unidentified man was not considered a suspect at that time. Simply they wanted to locate him. Because in a case with almost no anchors in the timeline, even this unidentified man near the last known location, of course, is going to matter. It's going to matter. And we. We need more information. Maybe this person has it. This is very similar to the witnesses that. That we discussed in the Gosh case that, oh, I saw this person, this type of vehicle. Police said with both of those individuals, we don't consider them suspects. We consider them potential witnesses. We just want to talk to them. They don't come forward. They never come forward. In fact, I was trying to locate it before arriving at the garage this morning. I was trying to locate the exact quote and statement because we have a statement from police that says, look, we, we really want to talk to these people. And they keep pressing them, saying, well, are they suspects? Are they suspects? And they kept saying, no, no, no. And the reporters say, well, then why are you so concerned if they're not suspects? And the police has to spell it out for the reporters and says, look, we are concerned that they've not come forward. Yeah, we're hesitant to call them suspects, but we're, we, we are more suspicious
- [42:05]
Co-host
if they don't come forward. Yes, don't be suspicious. Don't be suspicious.
- [42:10]
Host
And, well, and that's going to be the case here. Now, again, this is a pretty vague description, but this individual appears to not have come forward in the Eugene Martin case.
- [42:23]
Co-host
Right.
- [42:24]
Host
So Eugene's parents were scheduled to meet with the governor. The police acknowledged the search was expanding beyond Des Moines, and the efforts quickly became regional. Searches included members of the Civil Air Patrol. And in mid August, police recovered. This is where they had some hope, potential evidence, they thought. But sadly, this was going to quickly be determined to be false physical hope. So mid August, police recovered a tennis shoe and a pair of shorts. And they said that this was near the location where Gene was last seen. And for a moment it felt like the investigation was finally turning physical. But quickly it was determined that these items did not belong to Gene and likely had no relevancy to the case at all. The reward was now up to $30,000. And this was with help from the Iowa Newspaper Association. After the meeting with the governor, Donald, Gene's father, expressed appreciation for the governor's concern and attention to his son's case. Donald also emphasized something investigators took very seriously. And this is something that our listeners should take very seriously too, because when reviewing this case and the, the few times that we have, you know, we, we covered Johnny's case a long time ago when we first started covering cases here in the garage. And we did talk a good deal about Gene Martin's case as well during that time. Yeah, but this is the thing that has always stood out the most. To me, it goes down to personality, personality of the victim. And we, we talk so often about victimology. You have to study your victim when you're looking at these cases. And the thing that stood out the Most to me is the repeated statement that Gene was very shy. He wasn't outgoing. He was personable, very likable, had a lot of friends. He would talk with the people he knew, with the people he trusted. But he wasn't the kind of kid that would go up to people and talk to him, wouldn't go up to a group of people and talk to him. May probably wouldn't even wave to somebody from afar unless it was somebody he absolutely knew. Now, compound that thought with this statement that his father is saying just weeks into the disappearance, Donald says regarding his son Jean is extremely shy. Donald says it is his belief that whoever took Gene likely had to be someone that Gene could trust or someone who could convincingly present themselves as safe. Meaning his father is suspicious that this is either someone who knew Gene or presented themselves in a way that Gene would be comfortable with this person approaching them.
- [45:33]
Co-host
Right. What was their ruse? My only concern about a shy individual, and I was not touched with that as a personality trait, but some of these individuals, especially younger individuals that are shy, sometimes if an individual approaches them, they. They almost freeze. And so maybe you'd need less of a ruse to. To get close to that individual.
- [46:05]
Host
Well, we had one person in the, you know, one kid in the Gosh case that said something like, Johnny was kind of spooked and said, hey, I'm out of here. And so what we need to underline here and really highlight is that shy and scared are two very different things. So he might only engage in conversation with somebody that he trusts or somebody that presents themselves as someone that he can trust. But he. He's not being described as scared, meaning, like, oh, as soon as the bad guy turned the corner, Gene hopped, you know, jumped up and took off on foot. He may have. He may have been approached by somebody. And another big difference that we have here is with the cases that we already covered in Omaha, in Nebraska with Eberly and Walden, with the Eugene Martin case and the Johnny Gosh case, if they are connected, you can't really profile without any kind of evidence. So early in this investigation, there were people asking the police, well, is there going to be an offender profile here? Can the. Can the FBI build a psychological profile of the likely offender? And the special agent in charge, Herb Hawkins, said, look, we don't have enough to do a full profile. We don't even have enough to do much of a profile at all. Right? And he says without a clear crime scene or any physical evidence, profiling would just be speculative, completely speculative. And he did Say, look, we're probably. Look, if you're going to force my hand, we're probably looking for an introvert, a loner, somebody that's not going to confide in others.
- [48:00]
Co-host
Maybe he lives alone.
- [48:01]
Host
But.
- [48:01]
Co-host
But the trouble here for law enforcement is you get so much more information, like you said, to possibly build a profile if there is a murder scene or if there is a body, what items are around that body. But obviously that's not something you're going to wish for. You can't even imagine what these. The family members are going through, the parents are going through, what society is going through. This community is going, well, Johnny Gosh, we know what that feeling feels like. For over two years, this kid vanished into thin air, and we don't have a clue. And then we also see the aftermath. We see what's happened to the community is this is not a community miles and miles away. This is a community that's in your. On your. The front steps. Right. So you see how this has affected the Gosh family and then the friends and family and then the. The kids of that age. And so you're in this very weird situation where you go, did Eugene just. Is it going to be a story of he just poof, disappears into thin air? Or are we going to find him? And this. But the sad reality is if you do find him, then you're going to have more evidence to. To go off to. To try to get answers in this case and possibly the Johnny Gosh case.
- [49:24]
Host
Well, and keep in mind, in the case of the Omaha cases, we have FBI getting involved rather quickly, but we don't have a big gun. A mindhunter like Robert Ressler called to the scene until after the first body was found. And it was Robert Ressler's own words that say it's going to be where you find the body that's going to yield the most evidence. And that's why somebody like wrestler wasn't brought in, because what's he going to review? He put together an incredibly accurate profile of the likely offender in the Omaha cases.
- [50:05]
Co-host
Yeah, I mean, he told you what the playbook. Right. But he also told you the playbook and the timeline of what was going to happen if we don't catch the individual. So not only is he giving you this detailed description of the person you eventually catch, but he's telling you he's a fortune teller. Well, this is what's going to happen if we don't catch him.
- [50:30]
Host
And. But in. He was able to create that profile based off of, unfortunately, so Much evidence that was yielded at the one, the murder scene and the other a dump scene where bodies were discovered. So here, I'm sorry, you can't have a profile, but what do you want? Do you want bodies in a profile or no bodies? No profile. And then as far as the police go, you know, they jump in and they back up what the FBI is saying here. They said, look, this is the, this is, we're gonna have to be blunt about the sad reality of our investigation. We essentially have nothing. We have no evidence, no witnesses. And the police here are telling the public, unfortunately, this could become a long grind. Grinding it out of lead chasing. And this will show you, I think I, I look, you could, this is, this effort has been labeled a few different ways. Desperate.
- [51:34]
Co-host
Yeah.
- [51:35]
Host
Showing that it was urgent or that they were running out of ideas. I actually think that this idea is rather smart. I think this is an intelligent move, especially when you're wondering what you have to work with here. But they decided in this would be the 16th, I believe, of August. So we're still in the same month here, but they decided, look, let's get police and get a bunch of volunteers, round up a bunch of people. Let's start searching dumpsters. We're going to search garbage cans of, of civilians. We're going to cut open bags and dump them out. Trash bags and dump them out. We'll rebag them. And so what they did was they put police and volunteers, police in every group, and they're riding along, riding behind garbage trucks and they were examining trash hoping to find something. And it's reported that they examined trash from more than 4,000 homes. Nothing was found. Well, nothing but a bunch of garbage, of course. But I think that's actually a rather smart, a rather smart move. So kudos to them for having that idea.
- [52:55]
Co-host
Well, like you said, there is some desperation because we have seen how this plays out and they've gone down all
- [53:03]
Host
these rabbit holes two different ways. Both equally scary, right. Dead kids or forever missing.
- [53:10]
Co-host
Yeah. And I, I, I wouldn't want to pick either one. But the other problem though too is you go, because of the, the time separation. If these cases are connected, does the time separation lead to any thoughts? Because I could see on one level you go, well, maybe it is a local person. Because if it is a local person, then because of the tension that the Gosh case, maybe they went into hiding and they were able to control those urges and control those fantasies. Or is it possible that it is somebody that is traveling through and the reason why There is a time gap between the two cases. If they're connected is because they weren't traveling through at that time.
- [53:55]
Host
Yeah, if they are connected and you're looking at these. Yeah, it gets really difficult because then you start to go, would this be an offender that could go two years without committing the same acts? What other kinds of crimes were they committing in that window? If they were committing any at all, if they're not somebody that could abstain from this sort of behavior, then were they only in this area at these two times for some other reason? You know, you look at a case like this and you got to start going, okay, what was in the area at the time? What. What moved into the area before, what left the area after? I mean, there's a. There's a lot. There's a lot, a lot of stuff here that in many different ways that you could attempt to try to work this. Speaking of work, the national center for Missing and Exploited Children became involved, came in to work with police and to print and distribute missing person flyers locally. And area newspapers also pushed prevention efforts. Remember that when Johnny Gosh went missing, they put out safety programs specifically for paper carriers, and they were reinforcing those safety programs. Now, unfortunately, the day after they started sifting through trash and garbage was to be Gene's 14th birthday, and there would be no celebration on August 17th. And he had been missing for five days now. And things were looking very bleak. Donald and Janice kept moving in the ways families often do when there's nothing else to do. They're meeting with investigators, they're trying to keep attention on the case, trying to force the world to keep looking. Gene's birthday cake was placed in the freezer. Saved for the moment that he might come home, the tip line began filling with calls from alleged psychics. So this is such typical 80s missing child case, right? Psychics, wannabes and pranksters bogging down the phone lines in a very important investigation. Police wanted to be clear. They announced to the media, we've not sought any help from psychics. And they pointed out that trying to track down psychic tips would only strain their limited resources.
- [56:33]
Co-host
One of the things I'm going to be looking at because trying to determine if this perpetrator is local, if these. If these cases are connected. So pervert roundup. But also, is there any allegations against anybody that's involved with kids, school bus driver, a librarian, a boy scout leader in the last five years? Is there any complaints against any individual? Then I'm bringing that person let out recently.
- [57:03]
Host
Right. We've seen that in a bunch of cases recently with not recent cases, but cases that have been solved or the killer identified years, decades later, that it's traced back to somebody that, oh, he got let out of prison two months before this happened and he was in there for similar crimes.
- [57:25]
Co-host
Right. And was there arrest made in between these cases where somebody went away for a little bit and then got released? Because again, that could show some sign of a connection here between the two cases.
- [57:40]
Host
As the days turned into weeks now, the volunteer turnout began to decline. This is of course, an emotional shift as much as it is a logistical one. At the end of August, the Quad City Times reported that police said they were no longer asking for volunteers. Police explained that many locations had been searched more than once and that larger areas that had been searched with volunteer help would from now on be searched by police. They were going to leave the future searches to the members of law enforcement. In early September 1984, the reward money for information reached over $100,000, a sum meant to shake loose someone sitting on information. If somebody knew something and could point the finger, you would think $100,000, especially in 1984, would get that person to come forward.
- [58:39]
Co-host
You give me a cheeseburger and a handjob and I'm, I'm, I'm telling on my neighbor the.
- [58:44]
Host
But keep in mind September 1984. So this.
- [58:47]
Co-host
Yeah.
- [58:48]
Host
Same period carried the grim anniversary in Des Moines, with 5 September marking two years since Johnny Gosh disappeared. Between October 1984 and late December 84, we get a tip and a probe, and not the good kind. So late 1984, authorities announced an investigation involving the Des Moines Register staff with allegations that surfaced about possible sexual assaults connected to younger paper carriers. The allegations were brought to police by a private investigator who claimed to have obtained information for them to look into. And then in a separate port. So this is another strange report. It's separate. This is In December of 84, a witness claimed to have seen an adult male carrying a young boy who appeared limp under a highway bridge near Centerville, Iowa. This information's a little vague. I don't know if they're. If the report is stating that it was something they had seen recently or if it was something that they thought they had seen around the time of the disappearance of Gene Martin. What we do know, Captain, though, is investigators did search along the river searched in this area. Now do note though, this area is over 80 miles southeast of Des Moines and they reported finding nothing connected to Gene Martin or Gene's case. Throughout 1985, the Martin family struggled financially. They were spending a large sum of money and large amounts of their money on private investigators. They were reaching out to psychics and newspaper ads intended to keep Gene's face and story visible. They're paying for newspaper ads when they felt that it was needed.
- [60:50]
Co-host
Like we've said, in many cases, like the Brian Schaefer case, you hear these rumors, oh, well, they found him, right. And they found him alive or they found him dead. And so when you have these two cases that are very similar in the same location, I'm sure they're, you know, some people are going, they're looking for who? Oh, I thought they found that guy. What? I thought they found that kid. I thought somebody was arrested for that. Right. So I think this doesn't help clear the waters in this investigation.
- [61:21]
Host
Well, one thing that was really difficult for me to pin down is the genesis of pictures of missing kids on milk cartons. What I mean by that is I was trying to figure out who the first was. And depending on what website you review, they're going to tell you a different case. Eaton Pats is one that is sometimes referenced as being the first kid. There's also some female victims that are referenced. A lot of times Johnny Gosh is mentioned to be the first one. But. But the best I could sort out was in September of 1984. So this would have been roughly a month after Gene Martin had disappeared and roughly two years after Johnny Gosh disappeared. The Anderson Erickson Dairy Company in Iowa came up with the idea. And one of the stories I found was that the, there was an employee there that was either related to somebody that knew the Martin family very well or was actually related to the Martin. And it was this employee, along with upper management and the owners that decide, decided, you know what, this is a good idea to spread awareness and to keep these pictures out there, descriptions out there of these missing kids. And let's start putting kids on milk carton. So it was this Anderson Erickson Dairy Company in Iowa that printed photos of two local paper boys, Johnny Gosh and Eugene Martin, who had disappeared while on their routes. And we know any kid that grew up in the 80s remembers seeing this at the grocery store or maybe even sitting on your table at breakfast while you're eating your cereal with the black and white pictures of the missing kids with the description of one or both kids that are, that are presented there on the side of the milk carton, along with a number to call, telephone number to call to report if you have any information or if you've seen anything, or if you see these kids.
- [63:39]
Co-host
And then two years later, it's the same story basically all over again. In 1986, another boy goes missing.
- [63:48]
Host
Yeah, this one, Captain, is, it's a little different than the first two cases in Des Moines, but it is, there's no way to look at these and not question if they're connected immediately right out the gate right from Jump street. Right. This is March 29th. We're now in the year 1986. Another boy disappears in Des Moines, Iowa. This is 13 year old Mark James Warren Allen. So Mark Allen, he left his home on Emma Avenue to visit a friend and never arrived. Now when we look at these cases, there's no shortage of information, even though there's, I should say there's no shortage of retelling of the Johnny Gosh case.
- [64:34]
Co-host
Right.
- [64:35]
Host
That Johnny Gosh case really doesn't hold a whole lot of information when you look at the nuts and bolts of it. The Eugene Martin case, very similar. There's, I mean they're missing for a reason. There's, there's not a whole lot of witness statements, not a whole lot of details, not a whole lot of great ideas as to why they went missing beyond speculation. Now in Mark Allen's case, there's less information about his story that's out there. In fact, he was for the most part regarded as a runaway early on. He went missing in the evening hours. And that's one of the big differences between his case and the previous two there in Des Moines he was on his way to a friend's house but never arrived. The last time he was seen, Mark was wearing a light blue T shirt, blue jean shorts, white socks, gray tennis shoes with Velcro fastenings. He had brown hair, blue eyes and a small scar on the top of his head. And of course, this is the same area that John gosh disappeared in 1982 and then later Eugene Martin in 1984. So listed as 5 foot tall, 85 inches. Sorry, listed as 5 foot tall, weighing 85 pounds. And this is a sad story. He was supposed to have movie night pizza with his mom that night and he was going to go out to a friend's house and said to his mom, you know, save me a slice, save me a couple slices. I'm going to be hungry when I get back. And he has never, never returned, sadly, just like the Gosh case. And now we just mentioned Mark Allen. The investigation continues as to where is Gene Martin. The decades long, four decades long. Investigation into where is Gene Martin. There's been thousands of tips or leads over the years. Des Moines investigator Jim Raleigh worked Gene's case until his retirement. So he worked this case for approximately 15 years before he retired. And he was very close. He got very close to the Martin family, got very close with Gene's father, Donald. And he said, look, if Donald came up with a lead or a thought, I chased it down. Didn't. Didn't worry about what it would take, what we were giving up. We chased it down. And he says, unfortunately, he estimates that he followed over 2,000 leads in the Eugene Martin case, taking him beyond our borders, both north and south to Canada and Mexico. And he says, out of all this, I never found any concrete answers, any concrete evidence, any concrete breadcrumb trail that I thought could further the investigation. And anything that looked really good on the surface or. Or would lead him to another state or even, as mentioned, another country. He said a lot of times it was reports of mistaken identity, and then others, of course, were just dead ends. His theory, though, his ongoing theory, Captain, is that Jean Martin's disappearance and Johnny Gosh's abduction are connected. He says he believes either by the same individual or a group, though he said he could not uncover solid evidence to prove it. And he also believed both boys were likely killed shortly after they disappeared.
- [68:34]
Co-host
Yeah, like we said, in the Johnny Gosh case, there was eyewitnesses that saw multiple people or identified multiple people. And so you just wonder if it's a similar situation with the. With Eugene's case, and then how. How dark and deep does this go? And how many cases possibly could be connected to these two young boys?
- [68:58]
Host
Well, and sadly, both cases remain open and unsolved, and Gene's parents have both passed away, so they never got any answers as to what happened to their boy. Now, what is known from that morning, a quick review, and what investigators can return to and have returned to time and time again, is the same narrow slice of time and Place. On Aug. 12, 1984, at about 5:10am Gene is seen sitting at Southwest 14th street and Highview Drive by somebody that knows him, apparently waiting for his newspapers to arrive. After that, his papers are prepared, folded, rubber banded, loaded, and he's gone. Yet his bag remains at the corner full of papers and abandoned. Witnesses describe Gene speaking with an older, unidentified man Sometime between 5:15am and 5:45am Descriptions vary. Even though it's a vague, broad description, these descriptions vary. There are no confirmed sightings of Eugene Martin after that morning. Gene is described as a white male with brown hair and brown eyes, about 5ft tall and around 110 pounds. He was reported to be wearing blue jeans, blue tracks brand shoes. There is DNA that is available for analysis or comparisons in his case. And the story that began with a boy waking up on a quiet morning just to go out and earn a few bucks money for the fair, potentially money for video games, ended with a carrier bag left behind at a curb and a city searching for answers outward in a widening circle and widening circles that never found the one thing that that would make the rest of the timeline real, where Jean went after he finished folding the papers. As we have mentioned, the national center for Missing and Exploited Children have been involved in Johnny Gosh's case as well as Eugene Martin's case and continue to have involvement as well as the missing person's case of Mark Allen. And you can go to their website ncmec.org and you there you will find age progressed images of these missing kids, what they may look like today or more recently. Four decades have passed in both of these cases and if you have any information at all please reach out to the national center for Missing and Exploited Children. You can call their 24 hour hotline 1-800-843-5678 or you can go to their website ncmec.org or missingkids.org.
- [72:27]
Co-host
I want to thank everybody for joining us here in the garage each and every weekend. If you need more true crime for your earballs, your hairy, hairy earballs, then make sure you subscribe to off the Record, our other show on Patreon or Apple podcast subscription. You'll have tons more true crime for your earballs. And until next week, be good, be
- [72:51]
Host
kind and don't litter.
- [73:30]
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- [74:00]
Recovery Advocate
Substance use disorder and addiction is so isolating. And so as a black woman in recovery, hope must be loud. It grows louder when you ask for help and you're vulnerable. It is the thread that lets you know that no matter what happens, you will be okay.
- [74:20]
Host
When we learn the power of hope,
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Recovery Advocate
recovery is possible, find out how@startwithhope.com brought
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Host
to you by the National Council for
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Recovery Advocate
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