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An examination into the cold case of the Iowa boy, Johnny Gosch, who disappeared on his paper route 30 years earlier.An examination into the cold case of the Iowa boy, Johnny Gosch, who disappeared on his paper route 30 years earlier.An examination into the cold case of the Iowa boy, Johnny Gosch, who disappeared on his paper route 30 years earlier.
- Directors
- Writers
- Stars
Photos
Noreen Gosch
- Self - Johnny's Mother
- (archive footage)
Troy Boner
- Self - Child Victim
- (archive footage)
Orval Cooney
- Self - Police Chief
- (archive footage)
John Gosch Sr.
- Self - Johnny's Father
- (archive footage)
Lawrence King
- Self
- (archive footage)
- Directors
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Who Took Johnny? is a spooky time. This documentary reaches back to 1982, when Johnny Gosch, a West Des Moines, Iowa paper boy, was abducted. Noreen, his mother, has powered on with the search since then up until now. The film initially follows the inaction on part of the local law enforcement to effectively identify Johnny as a missing person (the law used to require 72 hours for the kid to be gone), and initially wrote his disappearance off as him running away. After a couple years of the community turning up nothing, the imprisoned Paul Bonacci turned up to say that he had helped kidnap Johnny into the horrendous world of child sex trafficking. Because he was diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder, however, law enforcement eschewed this lead and never questioned him, despite the facts he knew about Johnny's body that convinced his parents that this was indeed what happened to their son. The Devil's in the details with this one, as the world of child sex trafficking becomes exposed and entangled in the different facets of the investigation, centered in Omaha, Neb., 10 hours away. Who Took Johnny? has an Unsolved Mysteries vibe to it (creepy, I know), scary as much as it is informative about the issue of missing children. It's definitely worth a watch if you can see it.
I've watched this movie and I do not believe that the boy tied up in the photos is Johnny. Also I feel that there almost certainly has to be a connection with the two missing paperboys from the same area. The pattern of similarities in the cases is too compelling. Any FBI profiler would tell you that. Clearly (in my opinion) as with many small towns and small cities the local law enforcement was incompetent and not very interested in solving Johnny's case. One last thing: I am highly suspicious of Johnny's Mother. I do not believe her when she says she met her son at her front door in the 1990s when he was 27. Her story does not ring true. In any case I don't believe this case will ever be solved. Of course the same was said of the Etan Patz case but eventually, decades later, it was solved.
As a documentary Who Took Johnny is probably not the best made documentary but the story itself is just very interesting to watch. But not only interesting, also disturbing and mostly disgusting. Disturbing to know there are still pedophiles (I can't call them people) thinking what they're doing is normal behavior. And disgusting to know there are men of the law (if you can call them like that) that refuse to investigate the obvious. I've never had a high opinion of police (don't forget, to serve and protect is what you signed for, so at least do an attempt to do that) and this documentary won't help their case. I have respect for the mother, Noreen Gosch, who shows what it is to never give up. If it was my case I would probably already be dead or in jail. Just because you can't prove aything with this documentary, it's still obvious there is an "elite" that thinks they are above the law and can get away with the most disgusting behavior possible, think about Epstein (yeah, really nobody believes he hanged himself in prison) and his "best" friends (some made it even to president of the USA). America is sick, and there's nobody willing to cure it, because there's a cure and that's a guillotine in the town square. Who took Johnny is a sad story, with some truths, probably some lies too, but you can't just comprehend in what kind of sick society we're living.
10g_cupec
I have been reading about this case heavily since I retired several years back along with two others closer to my home. The reason they seem hard to believe is they seem to incredible to be true.
They say knowledge is power. This documentary brings together years of information from Noreen Gosch and others and presents it in a digestible, yet, scary format. Human trafficking has been going on we have been doing see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil. That does not work anymore. Whether or not you have children this is a documentary that will give a baptism into the world of Noreen Gosch and the outright defiance she faced in getting even the slightest bit of help for her son. Yet, she persevered so other did not have to suffer her boy's fate. I highly recommend watching this documentary, it is eye opening and inspirational.
They say knowledge is power. This documentary brings together years of information from Noreen Gosch and others and presents it in a digestible, yet, scary format. Human trafficking has been going on we have been doing see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil. That does not work anymore. Whether or not you have children this is a documentary that will give a baptism into the world of Noreen Gosch and the outright defiance she faced in getting even the slightest bit of help for her son. Yet, she persevered so other did not have to suffer her boy's fate. I highly recommend watching this documentary, it is eye opening and inspirational.
'Who Took Johnny?' Reveals how cases of missing children were handle 30 years ago. This film shades all its light on the disappearance of Johnny Gosch from Des Monies, Iowa. A 12 year-old paperboy, who disappears without a trace, yet was written off as a runaway. The case of Johnny Gosch is shrouded by the darkest side of humanity as it leads to a hidden world where children are targeted A world dragged into the light by the strength, love, and sacrifice of a mother who never stopped fighting for answers. It should be required for the world to watch. I watch it. My heart is still trembling over how this case was handled.
Did you know
- TriviaJohnny was the second person to have his picture on a milk carton. The first was Etan Patz.
- ConnectionsFeatures Conspiracy of Silence (1993)
- How long is Who Took Johnny?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Ποιος άρπαξε τον Τζόνι;
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $16,595
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $7,666
- Apr 26, 2015
- Gross worldwide
- $16,595
- Runtime
- 1h 21m(81 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD
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