Hate to loop this back, to current situations, but cops are really never held accountable to the degree they should be....
New Special Edition Fawcast just released
- Thread starter IowaRealEstate
- Start date
So sad, but true.
To the topic of the podcast, that was an absolutely fascinating listen. Being born in '88 I was ignorant of the existence of the case at all (and how it invariably affected my childhood). Now I'm enthralled by it, I will absolutely have to watch the documentary on netflix very soon here.
I really enjoyed the podcast. I'm 39 so growing up in Iowa in the 80's so this story was burned into my brain. Thanks for putting this together Mark.
Couple things:
-I had a hard time with the story of Johnny visiting her. Why didn't she freak out? Why didn't she beg and beg and throw herself in front of the door when he wanted to leave? Maybe she did but her almost matter of fact way of telling of the encounter left me dazed...she spent 20 years trying to find her son, he shows up on her door but she's just cool with letting him live his life without doing everything in her power to bring him back from that "life"? Just doesn't make sense. I also find it odd that she thought his life may be in danger if he/ring was exposed but she felt more obligation to not lying under oath than to protecting her son? Sorry not trying bash the woman I'm just honestly puzzled by it all.
-Like what was posted earlier did anything happen to the WDM police chief? Is he still around?
-Maybe the most crazy thing I learned from this was the 3rd kid that vanished that I had never even heard about. That's crazy...
Again, great podcast guys.
Couple things:
-I had a hard time with the story of Johnny visiting her. Why didn't she freak out? Why didn't she beg and beg and throw herself in front of the door when he wanted to leave? Maybe she did but her almost matter of fact way of telling of the encounter left me dazed...she spent 20 years trying to find her son, he shows up on her door but she's just cool with letting him live his life without doing everything in her power to bring him back from that "life"? Just doesn't make sense. I also find it odd that she thought his life may be in danger if he/ring was exposed but she felt more obligation to not lying under oath than to protecting her son? Sorry not trying bash the woman I'm just honestly puzzled by it all.
-Like what was posted earlier did anything happen to the WDM police chief? Is he still around?
-Maybe the most crazy thing I learned from this was the 3rd kid that vanished that I had never even heard about. That's crazy...
Again, great podcast guys.
Great work guys, the details are really eye opening. Looking forward to watching the Netflix, although the underlying story and situation makes me super uncomfortable(and sick to my stomach)....
She makes it hard to be a totally sympathetic supporter. There was a point in the Netflix show where she was sent pictures of bound and gagged teen-agers. She claimed 3 of the pictures were of Johnny but her ex-husband said no way. A photo aging expert said the same thing as well.
Some hard parts of this story to swallow and some hard parts to come to terms with but sure seems like enough loose ends that the case could have been more aggressively pursued.
They have no obligation to provide protection to anyone. There are many supreme court cases that prove this fact. They are only there to protect the interests of the state.
@IowaRealEstate Can you give us the backstory about how and/or why you got this interview? Very interesting and well done. Thanks for sharing.
If you lived in Iowa in the 1980s, you knew about this story. There is a documentary that was made about it in 2012 and just recently became available on Netflix I believe, so its kind of stirring up the story again.
I'd heard Noreen tell her story a few times over the years. Heartbreaking that so little support from law enforcement was given to help this family and instead they were dismissed as parents of a 'runaway' when the facts contradict that viewpoint strongly.
She's done so much for so many families facing similar circumstances. Human trafficking is ugly and I'm sure there are details Noreen knows that she has never shared. She seems sound and rational and has told the same story time after time, if she says Johnny visited, the I tend to give her the benefit of doubt.
Great podcast, and so much more time could have been given to this story.
She's done so much for so many families facing similar circumstances. Human trafficking is ugly and I'm sure there are details Noreen knows that she has never shared. She seems sound and rational and has told the same story time after time, if she says Johnny visited, the I tend to give her the benefit of doubt.
Great podcast, and so much more time could have been given to this story.
A couple things after some reading on this.
What's the final word on Jeff Gannon? Is he Johnny? The similarities there are creepy.
Agree with above, what happened to his father?
Also, how can Police Chief Orval Cooney get out of this deal unscathed?
What's the final word on Jeff Gannon? Is he Johnny? The similarities there are creepy.
Agree with above, what happened to his father?
Also, how can Police Chief Orval Cooney get out of this deal unscathed?
My question was more specifically why and/or how did Mark get Noreen to interview on the FAWcast.
Thanks everyone for the positive feedback on this interview.
It came about because I am just inquisitive and wanted some more answers on this case.
We figured the Fanatic audience would get something out of this as well.
There have been several good questions raised here and unfortunately I can't answer all of them because of the info being "off the record" or because I simply don't know.
What I can say is that I believe Johnny's father currently lives in Florida.
I'm sure this incident wasn't a great thing for a marriage and they parted ways and moved on with their lives.
In regards to Orval Cooney, the WDM chief of police, what is clear is that he was fired (or resigned....) the year after in 1983. I believe as many as 18 officers filed complaints against him, including doing police work after drinking.
It is clear he had a ton of personal issues.
I'm not sure of the year, but Orval Cooney is now dead.
As to why he didn't do more on the case..... Well this part is ALL SPECULATION. I Capitalize it to stress I am not stating this as fact, but there are stories and rumors that he was somehow involved in the lifestyle pertaining to why Johnny was kidnapped in the first place.
Attending parties and such......
If true (not saying it is) that would easily explain his lack of interest in persuing a case.
Again, this is a theory, feel free to do your own research into this if you choose.
If you want to dig in more and understand the Omaha connection to this case and the powerful people over in that city who were allegedly involved in a child sex ring, look up the documentary "conspiracy of silence".
I believe it is on the main Johnny Gosch website.
It came about because I am just inquisitive and wanted some more answers on this case.
We figured the Fanatic audience would get something out of this as well.
There have been several good questions raised here and unfortunately I can't answer all of them because of the info being "off the record" or because I simply don't know.
What I can say is that I believe Johnny's father currently lives in Florida.
I'm sure this incident wasn't a great thing for a marriage and they parted ways and moved on with their lives.
In regards to Orval Cooney, the WDM chief of police, what is clear is that he was fired (or resigned....) the year after in 1983. I believe as many as 18 officers filed complaints against him, including doing police work after drinking.
It is clear he had a ton of personal issues.
I'm not sure of the year, but Orval Cooney is now dead.
As to why he didn't do more on the case..... Well this part is ALL SPECULATION. I Capitalize it to stress I am not stating this as fact, but there are stories and rumors that he was somehow involved in the lifestyle pertaining to why Johnny was kidnapped in the first place.
Attending parties and such......
If true (not saying it is) that would easily explain his lack of interest in persuing a case.
Again, this is a theory, feel free to do your own research into this if you choose.
If you want to dig in more and understand the Omaha connection to this case and the powerful people over in that city who were allegedly involved in a child sex ring, look up the documentary "conspiracy of silence".
I believe it is on the main Johnny Gosch website.
The one detail that is mentioned in the doc is that the dog was left behind. Just thinking rationally if the kid ran away he would not leave his beloved animal just sitting there. He would have left him home or taken the dog with him. I, for the life of me, cannot understand why the WDMPD would try to convince the public he was a runaway.
I called her directly and told her who i was and what type of audience we had and told her I wanted to get her story out to our listeners.
The Jeff Gannon connection is a fascinating one. More google homework for those who care.
The obvious question is if Johnny Gosch became Jeff Gannon, why would somebody in hiding and afraid to come home, be attending White House Press briefings. That part doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
Noreen did ask Jeff Gannon to take a DNA test and I believe he refused to do so.
Who the hell is Jeff Gannon? I might've missed that in the podcast and on the internet I can't make the connection on how the found him.
I believe every word out of her mouth, but the visit to her just seems odd and implies that this they people who did this have some super sophistication with regard to monitoring and retribution after the fact (part of the bigger conspiracy theory I guess). You would have to think that when they were finished with him, he would've been killed and they would've moved on. Sad.
