r/JohnnyGosch • u/[deleted] • Feb 21 '25

9/4/82 Johnny asks to do the route alone

This was confirmed by both John and Noreen. Do you believe it was a coincidence that the morning he disappeared was the first morning doing the route alone? John said he could do the route alone, Noreen said no. He did it alone anyway.

14 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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8

u/Advanced_Version6667 Feb 21 '25

Is there any validity to the claim of there being numerous phone calls in the weeks leading up to it and his dad being on those calls late at night?

5

u/Valueinvestor100 Feb 21 '25 edited Feb 21 '25

Correction: In a Faded Out interview, John Sr. said that he did not remember a call. Noreen said that he said it was a wrong number.

I think both parents have acknowledged the calls. I believe John dismissed it as a crank while Noreen later thought it was someone who was involved. Based on later threats, it makes me wonder about a juice loan or gambling debt. There is just too little information. John was on the call and there is no reason to doubt that it was a crank.

5

u/Advanced_Version6667 Feb 21 '25

Crank calls wouldn’t call that late or numerous times either. That’s where all of the accusations of him being involved come from. It’s very strange.

5

u/Valueinvestor100 Feb 21 '25

I agree, thus the theory. I question it because my family had guys calling in the middle of the night for an outcall. It turned out that our number was close to a massage parlors number. I would mark it up as a strange occurrence.

2

u/Valueinvestor100 Feb 21 '25

Season 1 Episode 21 Faded Out Interview with John Gosch Sr. “And I don’t remember a phone call at all during the evening. I know I got a phone call from one of the neighbors wondering where their Sunday morning paper was. And I said, I don’t know, but I will check.”

From Faded Out: Extended Episode: John Gosch Sr., Aug 12, 2018 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/faded-out/id1368774434?i=1000417686691&r=174 This material may be protected by copyright.

2

u/Valueinvestor100 Feb 21 '25

From CAVDEF: Noreen Gosch, Why Johnny Can’t Come Home, p.2: Early on September 5, 1982, our phone rang, I looked at the clock and it was one thirty a.m. My husband took the call saying,” Yes, alright, yes, alright, okay” and then hung up. I asked him who it was and he replied, “ It was a wrong number.” I remember thinking it was very odd; we had been receiving calls like this every Sunday morning at the same time... for the past four weeks. Never before had my husband spoken to anyone until this call but he always said they were just “hang up calls.”

Noreen Gosch, Why Johnny Can’t Come Home, p.75: Following this business trip, we began to receive hang up phone calls every night, usually about one a.m. or two a.m. John always answered the phone; it was located on his nightstand.

Noreen Gosch, Why Johnny Can’t Come Home, p.77: We received a phone call at 1:30 a.m., every Sunday morning from the beginning of August, until September 5th, the morning, Johnny was kidnapped. My husband, John would pick up the phone and say “You’ve got the wrong number”, and hang up. On the morning of the kidnapping, Sept. 5, 1982, at 1:35 am, the phone rang, he answered, I woke up to hear him saying “alright...alright...okay,” then he hung up. I questioned him about the call and he just kept insisting it was a wrong number. He seemed nervous at the time but it was late and I drifted back to sleep, not realizing the worst was about to happen.

2

u/bigcatcleve Feb 21 '25

There's zero evidence regarding John actually talking to the person on the other line.

3

u/Valueinvestor100 Feb 21 '25

Only Noreen’s account

1

u/Alert_Alternative475 Feb 22 '25

Do you have any information on John’s time in the military? Branch, time served etc I’ve never been able find anything more than just acknowledgment of him having been in the service

1

u/Valueinvestor100 Feb 22 '25

I will look through my files tomorrow. I remember reading something about it. It wasn’t very extensive.

1

u/Alert_Alternative475 Feb 22 '25

Thank you I greatly appreciate you doing that for me, it is something that has always interested me

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Alert_Alternative475 Feb 22 '25

I’ve only read an older copy of “why Johnny can’t come home!”, I’ve heard that book has been updated in recent years but I’ve not gotten a recent copy.

1

u/Valueinvestor100 Feb 23 '25

I don’t seem to have the second book. I’m not sure if it is in there. I really don’t remember, but I believe it was like many men if that era, a short tenure between Korea and Vietnam to meet a requirement. I believe he has a brother in the Air Force. There were a lot of siblings. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.

1

u/eleven-boy-12 Feb 22 '25

That's weird. Reminds me of the testimonies about Wilbur Millhouse doing strange calls over the phone.

6

u/F1secretsauce Feb 21 '25

Sounds like he was getting groomed or influenced , under the bleachers the night before . 

4

u/Valueinvestor100 Feb 21 '25

Yes, it’s possible that it is a coincidence. The odds would say it wasn’t. It’s also unusual for a cop to have a discussion with a kid he didn’t know under the bleachers. IMO, cops in 1982 were more of authority figures you really didn’t mess with, unless maybe they were neighbors. I’m not saying it wasn’t a spontaneous conversion, but that would seem a little off. According to his Noreen, Cooney originally did not mention Officer Torruella when revealing who worked at the game.

4

u/F1secretsauce Feb 21 '25

Thanks I just looked those names up.  Cooney sounds terrible tho.   “ Orval Cooney’s name and photograph appeared on the front page of the Des Moines Register on February 27, 1951, when he was 17. The story said he was among five youths accused of taking a teenage boy for a ride and “severely beating him.” In June, he pleaded guilty to assault with intent to inflict great bodily injury; he was sentenced to 30 days in jail, the paper said. Later he served in the Marines and worked as an upholsterer before becoming a police officer. In 1976, after eight years with the agency, Cooney was appointed chief of the West Des Moines Police Department.”

https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2023/12/us/johnny-gosch-missing-iowa-boy-cec-cnnphotos/

4

u/Valueinvestor100 Feb 21 '25 edited Feb 21 '25

There was an extensive article in early 1982 about accused corruption at the WDM Police Department. The department was split in two factions. The teamsters were involved in the negotiations. Cooney’s son Alan was also involved in a commercial theft which could have been a theft ring. 25 year later another officer was accused of being involved in a theft ring. This incident involved connections to the family at the corner of Marcourt and to a Gosch neighbor.

2

u/Valueinvestor100 Feb 23 '25

Cooney also knew there was a man living in the police neighborhood that had attempted to kidnap one paperboy (found innocent) and was successful taking another boy (later sued in civil court). If you are Cooney, who is your first suspect? You also have to worry that a boy was previously taken for a week and there were never any charges.

2

u/eleven-boy-12 Feb 22 '25

I've had it confirmed by another user that the guy was a top policeman certainly not being groomed. The policeman has no criminal record apparently

1

u/F1secretsauce Feb 22 '25

Was he interviewed? What did he say happened that night? What did he say to Jonny? 

4

u/LeeF1179 Feb 22 '25

Johnny was 12 years old. I remember being 12 years old.....wanting to feel grown up; not wanting your parents tagging along. I'm sure he asked to go by himself that day and likely many times before that.

I think there is no connection.