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This file concerns the 1982 disappearance of John David Gosch, a West Des Moines newspaper carrier who vanished while beginning his Sunday paper route. The FBI's records consist largely of bureau-mounted newspaper clippings from September and October 1982 describing the local search, reported vehicle and suspect leads, reward offers, and the Gosch family's concerns about the investigation. The file also includes a missing-person poster with Gosch's physical description and last-known clothing, and a 1992 San Francisco Chronicle clipping seeking public help to identify a man who made a collect call to Gosch's mother from the San Francisco Greyhound terminal. The clippings show the FBI later publicized a composite drawing and asked for information about that caller.

FBI file number: 44-OM-1053 | Documents span: 1982-1992 | Released in 1 part
Names in this file: John David Gosch, Noreen Gosch, Gerald Shanahan, Rick Smith
Subjects: missing child, kidnapping, West Des Moines, newspaper route, suspect composite, FBI public appeal