Eugene "Gene" Wade Martin-Missing 26 Years!

On August 12, 1984, 13 year old Eugene Martin left his home at 5 AM to do his early paper route in Des Moines, Iowa. His stepbrother did not go with him to deliver papers, so this morning he was by himself. Around 5:45-6:00 AM, he was seen folding papers and talking to a clean cut man that looked like he was in his thirties. Witnesses reported they looked to be engaged in a friendly conversation. Authorities do not know if the unknown man is involved in Eugene's disappearance.

At 7:15 AM, the manager called Eugene's parents reporting the rest of the newspapers were not being delivered. The official search for the 13 year-old boy did not begin until 8:40 that morning. Eugene's disappearance is looked at as having a definite connection with Johnny Gosch's disappearance, as they both were paper boys in Des Moines and vanished 2 years apart. At one time there was a $94,000 dollar reward for any tips that would lead officials to Johnny or Eugene. Neither of the boys have been heard from since. Eugene loved football, fishing, skating, and video games. His mother has since passed away, but the rest of his loved ones still search on for him.

Eugene was 5'0" and 110 lbs. at the time of his disappearance. He had brown hair and brown eyes, and also has a scar on his right knee. One of Eugene's wrists has a healed fracture. His nickname is Gene. He was last seen in a gray and white striped midriff t-shirt with red sleeves, blue jeans and blue "Trax sneakers" with white diagonal stripes. He would now be 38 years old.

I am 100% sure he was abducted by someone he knew barely or not at all. Perhaps he was engaging in a conversation with the unknown man because he didn't want to be rude, not because he could have known him. I am also positive his disappearance is connected to Johnny Goschs', as well as another missing Des Moines, Iowa teen named Marc Allen.

In 1982, Johnny Gosch was abducted while doing his paper route in Des Moines, Iowa. His face, along with Etan Patz, was one of the first to be featured on a milk carton. He remains missing to this day.

On September 5, 1982, 12 year old Johnny Gosch got up early in the morning to do his local paper route in Des Moines, Iowa. He took his Daschund, Gretchen, with but did not wake up his father like he usually did. When 7:00 AM rolled around and people did not receive their morning papers, the called it in. A search turned up the dog, Gretchen, and a wagon full of papers two blocks away from his home, but no Johnny. Witnesses reported seeing Johnny talking to an unknown male by 42nd and Marcourt Lane. The man was driving a blue two-toned Ford Fairmont, and Johnny was giving him directions. He was never seen again.

Marc Allen was 13 years old when he vanished off the streets of Des Moines, Iowa in 1986.

On March 29, 1986, 13 year old Marc Allen was last seen in Des Moines, Iowa walking down the street to go to a friend's house, and possibly to go see a movie. He had planned on coming home in a few hours, and asked his mother to save some pizza for him to eat when he got home. The next morning, Marc still was not home, so his mother called police. They refused to open up an investigation for 48 hours because they believed he runaway. Marc has never been seen since.

All the boys cases are too eerily similar to ignore. We got three boys here, who all vanished in a similar time frame; 1982, 1984 and 1986. That's every two years. All boys were Caucasian, longer brown hair with blue eyes. They all were taken off of the Des Moines, Iowa streets, and two of the boys were seen talking to an unknown white male, giving directions, before they vanished. Is it possible Marc had done the same with no one around to witness it? Looking at all three boys' photographs right now is very haunting because they all look like they could be brothers.
  I believe it is possible these boys were watched for months before they were taken. I think all three cases are related, and that these boys were chosen because for some reason, they fit the "type" of prey their abductor was seeking. If these boys were taken for a sex slavery ring, I do believe they could all be out there. Yes, we have been searching nation wide, but the boys might not even be in the United States anymore-that's the problem. They could easily be in Central or South America or even Europe.

The guy Eugene was talking to some how piqued his interest and gained his trust, took him somewhere and harmed him. Although when I first read Eugene's story, I also believed the guy he was talking to could have been someone looking for boys to sell into slavery. I will post resources for Johnny Goschs' disappearance down below, but I do warn readers, it is quite the trip down the rabbit hole, for many reasons:

1. One is Johnny's mother, Noreen, claims former children and participants of a child pedophile ring ("The Rocking X") confessed to Johnny's abduction, and showed authorities different areas the boys were kept in captivity. He claimed Johnny escaped the last hiding area in Colorado, but could not disclose further information about his whereabouts.

2. This case is thought to be associated with government conspiracy theories, as Noreen claims the government covered up these abductions.

3. Noreen claimed that Johnny visited her in March 1997, claiming he could not come home because of what he has seen. This inspired Noreen to write her book called Why Johnny Can't Come Home. She has stated she hopes one day she can solve all the cases related to the Midwestern Pedophile Ring Network, so Johnny and other boys like him could be safe again and be out of hiding.

4. In August 2006, photographs depicting three boys bound and gagged were placed on Noreen's front steps. It is unknown if they are fake or real, although a Florida police officer claimed he investigated this same image in the 1970s, only to find out it was fake. Similar to the Tara Calico polaroid debate, no one knows if Johnny Gosch is one of the boys in the photograph. It is not believed the other two boys are Marc Allen or Eugene Martin.

I could write pages and pages about the Johnny Gosch disappearance, but it really is quite the amazing case with so many details. Is it a possible a child pedophile was operating across the Midwest? Absolutely. Is it possible a serial killer was as well? Yes, but we will never know until one of these three boys turn up. I do believe all three cases are related, I don't believe in coincidences. Not ones like this anyways. My only question is why did the disappearances stop in 1986? What made the(se) predator(s) stop in this area? And if they continued their actions, where did they go? What other children vanished because of them?

There are so many rumors flying around in this case, but I can only hope someone recognizes Eugene, Johnny or Marc and has the courage to pick up the phone and report where they are. All three boys have family who are scouring this country for their boys.
Please report anything you know or think you know-you can remain anonymous! No matter what, please look into Eugene's eyes, remember him and keep watch-maybe you can bring him home!

Eugene Wade Martin age progressed photograph.

If you know anything about the disappearances of Eugene Wade Martin, Johnny David Gosch or Marc James-Warren Allen, please call:

 

Age progressions of what Johnny Gosch (L) and Marc Allen (R) may look like today. 

 

Des Moines Police Department

515-283-4864

or

online at http://www.missingkids.com/

Source:

Eugene Martin

 http://www.charleyproject.org/ 

 http://www.iowacoldcases.com/eugene_martin.html

Johnny Gosch Resources:
www.justiceforjohnnygosch.com
www.johnnygosch.com/
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/g/gosch_john.html‎

Marc Allen

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/a/allen_marc.html