Johnny Gosch This is terrible. Truly terrible.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- The mother of a boy abducted 24 years ago said she's bewildered by two photographs left at her front door, apparently showing her son and two other children bound and gagged. The old photos appear to show 12-year-old Johnny Gosch with his mouth gagged and his hands and feet tied. The boy is wearing the same sweatpants Johnny was wearing when he disappeared while delivering newspapers on the morning of Sept. 5, 1982, his mother said. snip Johnny's disappearance triggered nationwide fears of child abductions. He was one of the first faces of missing or abducted children to appear on milk cartons across the country. Several theories have developed since he vanished before dawn while delivering Sunday newspapers. His newspaper wagon was discovered near his West Des Moines home, but few substantial clues have surfaced since then. Gosch believes her son was taken by child pornographers. She told authorities he briefly contacted her in 1997 but feared for his life and declined to give details about where he was. She believes his abductors got him involved in crimes, which is why he is hiding his identity. The National Center for Missing Children is examining the other boys in the photograph and trying to match it with its database of missing children. "These kids have parents someplace," Gosch said. "I'm sure they feel the same way I did. ... Hopefully we can do some good and give these parents some peace." Johnny was Gosch's youngest of three children, and she has devoted her life to finding him, from raising money for private detectives to following her own leads and prodded police to try harder. She also wrote a book called "Why Johnny Can't Come Home."

It's been 24 years since she last saw her son. There is something very wrong about this situation. She said he called her nine years ago? I'm confused by this case. But the pictures of the boy tied up and bound are truly disturbing. His mother left her light on for him to return home for 11 years. More on this case here.  ¶ 9/02/2006 10:15:00 AM