On September 5, 1982, Noreen’s son Johnny was delivering his Des Moines Register Sunday edition paper, when two men approached him. He was thrown into a vehicle and was kidnapped.
To find her son, Noreen has fought a long hard battle, and with the help of many others, has helped make the world a safer place for children…. unfortunately, the battle is far from over! Noreen founded “THE JOHNNY GOSCH FOUNDATION”, a month after the kidnapping and developed a program called “IN DEFENSE OF CHILDREN”. She has presented more than seven hundred speeches all over the United States, reaching thousands of people. She wrote the “JOHNNY GOSCH BILL”, which was passed into law in Iowa on July 1, 1984. A year later, Missouri as well as seven other states adopted the bill and passed it into law. This law, which is still called “THE JOHNNY GOSCH LAW”, provides the immediate involvement of police when a child is missing, instead of the previous 72-hour policy of waiting.
The past twenty three years have been dedicated to trying to locate Johnny, but also to make the world safer for other children. During her programs, she shares the “PROFILE OF A PEDOPHILE”, which enables many parents to be more aware of who may be in contact with their child and how to detect abnormal behavior. In many communities, following her program, arrests have been made due to the “new awareness of the informed public”.
Her work has led her to Washington D.C. in August 1984, to testify at the “ORGANIZED CRIME SENATE HEARINGS”, with Senator Specter. During hearings she shared the information gathered by her and private investigators as to the type of kidnappers that took her son and the relationship to organized crime. By going public with this information, she began to receive many death threats. These threats have continued throughout this investigation.
Noreen testified before the Justice Department, the result of which was the agreement of the Justice Department to make available the first $10,000,000 to establish the “NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN” in Arlington, Virginia. Noreen was invited by President Regan to the White House for the opening and dedication of the National Center.
The State Department arranged for her to do a documentary on “AMERICA’S MISSING CHLDREN” for the country of Japan. This was shown throughout Japan and other countries over and over. Many Americans living in those countries took the time to either write or call Noreen and her family, as they were so moved by the tragic loss of her son.
HBO also produced documentary called “MISSING”, which included the story about Johnny and three other children who were missing, some were found dead and the others are still missing. That documentary was released in 1983 and has shown on HBO many times throughout the years.
Noreen has made 50 Network TV appearances and has written articles for USA Today a number of times. A number of other publications also feature Johnny’s story. Please watch for upcoming appearances or schedule a seminar in your area.
Noreen continues to work with her State Legislature and the Governor of Iowa, and remains involved on the Federal level. Great progress has been made in the United States, since the kidnapping of her son. It is due to the efforts of not only Noreen, but countless other parents, who are still working so very hard to locate their children and bring to justice the people responsible.
One of the greatest accomplishments is to see the second “NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN” being founded in Lee Wood, Kansas by Sgt. Craig Hill, who will be the director; the opening is scheduled for the Spring of this year. This is an example of the progress, which has been made over the past fifteen years.
In 1989, Paul Bonacci confessed to his attorney, his part in the kidnapping of her son. In later meetings with this young man, Noreen learned that her son was taken into a “ritual abuse/mind control program called the Monarch Program”. The children taken were used for pornography, prostitution and various other forms of abuse and control.
Johnny himself came to see his mother in March 1997. At this time he confirmed all that Paul Bonacci had told her of the case and asked for her helping bringing justice. He shared the names of people who were responsible. Finally after all these many years, Noreen knows the “WHO, HOW AND WHY” of her son’s kidnapping. She vowed to her son she would do something about this and set about in a plan to bring the entire story out. It took a few months to organize this and develop a plan, which would be successful. She realized that she must keep her promise to her son and not reveal that he had been to her home. He had begged her not to share that unless it was absolutely necessary.
She was able to keep it confidential until March of 1999, when she appeared in court to testify for Paul Bonacci, who had been vindicated by a Federal Court order and allowed to file a Civil Rights Suit against the man who abused him. Noreen, while on the witness stand was asked by John DeCamp, Paul Bonacci’s attorney, “if she had ever seen or talked to her son in all the years he had been missing”, being under oath at the time, she had to answer with the truth. This of course led to a huge onslaught of press coverage. Some people believed her and others made vicious attacks upon her character, calling her everything from a liar to being crazy. The faithful who know her and followed this story knew differently. This led to another appearance on Inside Edition and other network TV shows.
At the present time, there are TWO ONE HOUR TV SPECIALS which have been filmed and aired in 1999. They both depict the 18-year journey of Noreen’s search for her son. To date, Noreen has done many radio interviews as well as the network TV shows listed above. The national media has followed this case through the years and have continued to bring updates to the public as they occur.
