Key facts
- Name: Eugene Wade Martin
- Born: August 17, 1970, Des Moines, Iowa
- Age at disappearance: 13
- Last seen: August 12, 1984, between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m.
- Location: Southwest 12th Street & Highview Drive, Des Moines, Iowa
- Height / build: 13-year-old boy, paperboy for the Des Moines Sunday Register
- Status: Still missing — never officially linked to the Gosch case
- Investigating agency: Des Moines Police Department
The second paperboy
It was the second weekend in August 1984 — almost two years to the month after Johnny Gosch vanished from West Des Moines.
Thirteen-year-old Eugene Martin got up before dawn to deliver the Sunday Des Moines Register on the city’s south side. He usually walked the route with his older stepbrother. That morning, his stepbrother wasn’t with him. Eugene went alone.
Between 5:00 and 5:15 a.m., witnesses saw Eugene talking to a man at Southwest 12th Street and Highview Drive. The man was described as clean-cut, appearing to be in his thirties. The conversation reportedly looked friendly. The man has never been identified.
At 7:15 a.m., Eugene’s route manager called the family: his newspaper sack hadn’t been picked up from the corner of Southwest 14th and Highview. Fifteen minutes later the manager called back — the papers were still sitting there, bundles of the Sunday Register untouched. Eugene’s father called the authorities.
Eugene Martin was never seen again. His newspaper bag was left behind, the papers still bundled inside — the same signature as Johnny Gosch’s wagon, full and abandoned, two years earlier.
Who Eugene was
Eugene Wade Martin was born August 17, 1970, in Des Moines, to Janice and Donald Martin. He had a stepsister, Kim Dellaca, and a stepbrother, Mike Dellaca. He liked football, fishing, skating, watching television, and playing video games — an ordinary thirteen-year-old with an early-morning job.
This time, the system moved faster. Federal and local law enforcement turned out in force — the Gosch case had taught Des Moines what hesitation cost. It didn’t matter. The trail was already cold by sunrise.
In 1984, Eugene’s photograph appeared on Anderson Erickson Dairy milk cartons next to Johnny Gosch’s — two paperboys, two abandoned routes, two empty spaces at two kitchen tables.
Both of Eugene’s parents are now deceased. His father Donald died in 2010, never knowing what happened to his son.
The connection that was never proven
The similarities were impossible to ignore: same newspaper, same kind of route, same early-morning darkness, same abandoned bundle of papers, same metro area, two years apart. Noreen Gosch would later claim that a private investigator searching for Johnny had warned her months in advance — that a kidnapping “would take place the second weekend in August 1984 and it would be a paperboy from the southside of Des Moines.”
Law enforcement has never officially linked the Gosch and Martin cases. Then, on March 29, 1986 — the day before Easter — a third Des Moines boy, 13-year-old Marc Allen, disappeared while walking to a friend’s house. Media reports initially called him the third missing paperboy of the 1980s, though the Register later reported he hadn’t been working a route that day; his brother would subsequently confirm he was indeed a paperboy, just not on his route when he vanished.
Three boys. Four years. One metro area. No proven connection, no suspect, no answers.
Theories: what might have happened
Abduction by the unidentified man. Witnesses place Eugene in friendly conversation with a clean-cut man in his thirties minutes before he vanished. The simplest reading: the man took him. Supporting it: the witness account, the abandoned bag, the speed of the vanishing. Undercutting certainty: the man was never identified, and no forensic evidence has ever tied anyone to the scene.
A serial offender took all three boys. Johnny Gosch, Eugene Martin, Marc Allen — the pattern argument. America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh said he always believed “there was a serial pedophile kidnapper in that area.” It’s a belief shared by many who’ve studied the cases. But belief isn’t evidence, and investigators have never been able to prove one offender behind all three.
Runaway. Raised occasionally, sustained by nothing. Thirteen-year-olds with paper routes don’t abandon bundled newspapers, skip the money, and vanish for forty-two years without a single confirmed contact.
Have information?
Contact the Des Moines Police Department or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST). In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- August 17, 1970 — Eugene Wade Martin is born in Des Moines, Iowa.
- August 12, 1984, 5:00–5:15 a.m. — Witnesses see Eugene talking to an unidentified man at SW 12th & Highview.
- August 12, 1984, 7:15–7:30 a.m. — Route manager reports the unclaimed newspaper sack; Eugene’s father calls police.
- 1984 — Eugene’s photo appears on milk cartons alongside Johnny Gosch’s.
- March 29, 1986 — Marc Allen, 13, disappears in Des Moines.
- 2010 — Eugene’s father Donald dies, never knowing what happened to his son.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Eugene Martin still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Eugene Martin has been missing for 42 years. His case remains unsolved.
Was Eugene Martin ever found?
No. No remains have been identified as Eugene’s, and no one has ever been charged in his disappearance.
How old would Eugene Martin be today?
Eugene was born August 17, 1970 — he turned 56 in August 2026.
Are the Eugene Martin and Johnny Gosch cases connected?
Law enforcement has never officially linked them, despite the striking similarities — both were Des Moines-area paperboys who vanished on early-morning routes, leaving their papers behind. A third boy, Marc Allen, disappeared in the same area in 1986.
Who was the man seen talking to Eugene Martin?
A clean-cut man in his thirties, seen with Eugene between 5:00 and 5:15 a.m. on August 12, 1984. He was reportedly engaged in friendly conversation with Eugene and has never been identified.
How can I help?
Share this case file. Contact the Des Moines Police Department or NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678 with any information.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Des Moines Police Department (open case); National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
- News: The New York Times (“Des Moines Man Sought in Boy’s Disappearance,” Aug 15, 1984); The Des Moines Register (“25 years later, Eugene Martin case still haunts,” Aug 2009); WHO-TV Des Moines (“Cold Case: Des Moines paperboy Eugene Martin,” July 2010); KCCI (“Missing Newspaper Boy’s Father Dies,” Dec 2010); Radio Iowa.
- Reference: Wikipedia, “Disappearance of Johnny Gosch” — “Potentially linked cases” (retrieved Oct 2026); The Charley Project — Eugene Wade Martin; Iowa Cold Cases.
- Media: Who Killed…? podcast, “The Missing Paper Boys” (iHeart, April 2024); LaDonna Humphrey, “Who Took Johnny Gosch?” (Medium, July 2026).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.