Image and Information Courtesy of The Charley Project.

Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and it is not meant to cause harm to anyone connected with the case. Please do not contact, threaten, harm, malign, or otherwise intimidate those mentioned in the post. Please do not release any personal information of the people mentioned in this post, and do not join in attacks conducted by others. Per U.S. law, every person directly or indirectly connected with this case is innocent until proven guilty.

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About Eugene

Eugene Wade “Gene” Martin was born on August 17, 1970. His parents divorced shortly after his birth, and at the time of his disappearance, he was living with his father, stepmother, and several half-siblings. Described as polite, quiet, and somewhat shy, Gene showed interest in sports, Saturday morning cartoons, and video games. In particular, he enjoyed fishing, football, and skating. Like many children at the time, he had a paper route as a way to make extra money. He had picked up this route with the Des Moines Register a few months before his disappearance.

Disappearance

Thirteen-year-old Eugene Martin left his home in the early morning hours of August 12 to deliver newspapers. He normally went with his older stepbrother, but due to a sleepover at a friend’s house, he was unable to accompany him. Undeterred by his absence, Gene got ready for work anyway and left alone. Reportedly, he wanted to earn money for the state fair, and he didn’t want to miss a shift.

It’s hard to know when Gene left that day, as his family was asleep when he left. However, some sources list the time as approximately 5 AM. Because of how early he left, his absence seemed normal, and no one thought that anything was wrong at first. However, customers called the newspaper, complaining they had never received that day’s edition. Gene’s family didn’t know anything was wrong until approximately 7:15 AM, when his manager called. He stated that Gene hadn’t picked up his newspaper sack from the corner of Southwest 14th and Highview Streets, where he was to report to at the beginning of his shifts.

When Gene still hadn’t picked up his newspapers at 7:30 AM, his manager called his family again. At that point, his father called the authorities, and the search began at approximately 8:40 AM.

Investigation

Because of the disappearance of Johnny Gosch two years earlier, the police immediately jumped into action after hearing about Gene’s disappearance. They initiated a search of the immediate area, interviewed potential witnesses, and spread the word about his disappearance. Unlike in Johnny’s case, the authorities quickly brought in the FBI to assist in the search. It was briefly considered that Gene ran away due to a “domestic dispute,” but the authorities quickly ruled this out. Eventually, they theorized that foul play was involved.

Meanwhile, the Des Moines Register offered a $5,000 reward for information regarding his location. It would later increase to $25,000. They also placed notices about his disappearance in every paper, as well as a warning for carriers to be on the lookout for Gene and anyone acting suspiciously. The paper also added supervisors to monitor the routes.

Although the authorities talked to every person who lived on Gene’s route, they received very little information to work with. However, they received two pieces of interesting information:

1. There was a report of a green car lurking near 14th and 18th streets around 5 AM. The driver was a white male in his late 20s or early 30s, and he had short, dark hair. He supposedly had been reported for following a couple of young women, but I was unable to independently verify this.
2. A separate witness reported seeing Gene speaking to an unidentified man between 5:00-5:45 AM at Southwest 12th Street and Highview Drive. This conversation appeared friendly, but the witness was not close enough to hear the conversation. The man was further described as clean-cut and in his 30s. Later on, several other witnesses confirmed that this conversation took place. To this day, this man remains unidentified.

Eventually, the police found the man driving the green van and interviewed him. However, they were unable to find a connection between him and Gene’s disappearance. The man was in the area that morning, but he was dropping off his wife at work. His alibi was verified, and he was ruled out.

Once it became clear that Gene was no longer in the immediate area, the authorities expanded their search to include isolated areas such as parks, riverfronts, and warehouses. The official search continued to pick up steam as 25 police officers, 16 FBI agents, and dozens of volunteers continued to look for him. Many more searched for him independently, handed out fliers, and spread the word about his disappearance. Even with dozens of people searching for him, they still couldn’t find Gene or any evidence connected to him.

As it became evident that Gene was no longer in the city, the official search was expanded yet again to outlying areas, especially those that were more rural or isolated. Additional resources were brought in, which enabled the authorities to search via air and land.

After that, the authorities began to investigate the possibility that Gene’s case was connected to that of Johnny Gosch, a 12-year-old boy who disappeared two years earlier from the same area while on his paper route. While a connection is suspected, there has never been any evidence to prove it.

As time wore on, authorities had little to go on, leads began to dry up, and the case became cold. In the years since, his family has continued to search for him, giving interviews as recently as 2023. Even though both of his parents have died, the family has held out hope that they will receive answers and justice.

My Thoughts

The disappearance of Eugene Martin is incredibly mysterious and heartbreaking. A 13-year-old boy disappeared while doing something common for kids his age at the time: delivering newspapers. But unlike thousands of other children, he never came home.

Oftentimes, cold case disappearances are frustrating to investigate. Sometimes, you have so much evidence, and everyone knows exactly what happened, but there’s not enough evidence to secure a conviction. Other times, there’s so little evidence that you can make pretty much any theory seem plausible. With Gene’s disappearance, we’re dealing with the latter. Even after all these years, police have never discovered a crime scene, and they’ve never named any persons of interest or suspects.

It’s as though he vanished into thin air.

But obviously, he has to be somewhere.

When it comes to this case, people generally believe one of three theories:

• Gene ran away.
• Gene was abducted.
• Gene’s disappearance is connected to that of Johnny Gosch.

Let’s address these one by one.

First, we have the theory that Gene ran away. During the 1970s and 1980s in the United States, police often dismissed missing teenagers as runaways, and they assumed this was the case here as well. Very quickly, though, they realized that there was no evidence to support this theory. Yes, there was a “domestic dispute,” but I was unable to find any additional information about it. Other than that, Gene didn’t show any of the typical warning signs. He had a good home life, he was doing well in school, and he held down a job. Overall, he was a happy kid. Why would he run away from that?

In many cases, the runaway theory is plausible. But I don’t see it as a possibility here. If he ran away, he would’ve had to find a way to support himself, stay off the radar, and cut off contact with his loved ones for decades. What 13-year-old can do all of this?

With all of this in mind, I believe we can safely rule out the runaway theory.

The next theory is that Gene was abducted. Supporters point out the sightings of a green van, as well as the unknown man speaking with him. At first glance, this seems plausible. However, we don’t have enough evidence to confirm that an abduction took place. To my knowledge, no one reported shouts, screams, tires squealing, or anything unusual that morning. I know this occurred early in the morning, but you would think someone would’ve heard something.

That being said, it’s possible that Gene knew his abductor. This person could’ve exploited their relationship with him to get him into a vehicle. By the time he realized what was going on, he would’ve been far away from the neighborhood. If that was the case, though, you would think that police would’ve found something by now. Either that or rumors would’ve produced the name of a suspect. Neither of these things have happened, though.

Although I find this theory more plausible than the runaway theory, we still need more evidence. However, because of the circumstantial evidence, I can’t rule it in or out.

The last theory is that Gene was abducted by the same person or persons responsible for the disappearance of Johnny Gosch. If you’re unfamiliar with Johnny’s case, the Charley Project has an excellent summary, which can be viewed here.

That being said, the disappearances are eerily similar. For example:

• Both boys were paperboys who disappeared before they could deliver a single paper.
• Both boys conducted their paper routes alone.
• Witnesses noted that both boys were talking to an unknown man shortly before they were thought to have disappeared.
• The authorities found each boy’s newspapers abandoned.
• Both boys disappeared on Sundays.
• The boys disappeared from the same city, almost two years apart.

Clearly, there are a lot of similarities here, and the circumstantial evidence would say that these two cases are connected. Personally, I would be amazed if they weren’t connected.

However, we run into the same problem here. We just don’t have any solid evidence to prove that these boys were abducted, never mind connected to each other. The authorities never found a crime scene, a murder weapon, or a suspect in either case. Until we get more information, we can confirm a connection, never mind determine what happened.

If we could find the identity of the unknown man/men, that could crack these cases wide open and establish connections. At a minimum, this would help paint a clearer picture for the authorities. At a maximum, they could finally name a suspect and have more leads to follow.

It’s frustrating because there’s so much we don’t know, so much we can’t confirm, even after all this time. Unfortunately, this case (as well as Johnny’s) will likely stall until the police get new evidence. Identifying the unknown man will likely get this case moving again, but someone’s going to have to come forward and tell the police what they know.

Until that happens, the disappearance of Eugene Martin will remain cold.

***

If you’re looking for more information about the disappearance of Eugene Martin, there are several news articles and podcasts. The following sources helped me as I wrote this post:

• The Charley Project
• Iowa Cold Cases
• Trace Evidence Podcast
• The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• KCCI Des Moines

If you have any information about the disappearance of Eugene Martin, please contact the Des Moines Police Department at 515-283-4864.

What do you think happened? Let me know in the comments.