Eugene Martin is missing. He disappeared on August 12th, 1984. That date is permanently etched in Jim Rowley’s memory.
Rowley wants to be reminded of the missing boy everyday, that’s why a 30-year-old poster is hanging in his garage. Jim used to be senior police officer Rowley, the main investigator in Eugene Martin’s disappearance.
Gene was 13-years-old when he vanished from the corner of Southwest 14th and Highview Drive in Des Moines. It was about 5:30 in the morning. He had some of his papers rolled up and ready to be delivered.
About two years before that call came in about Eugene Martin, 13-year-old Johnny Gosch went missing while he was delivering papers in West des Moines. The DCI, FBI, and West Des Moines P.D. came to help with Eugene’s case.
Eugene’s father, Donnie Martin, tried to coordinate search efforts with neighbors and volunteers.
The only solid clues left behind that day were Eugene’s bag full of papers, left on the corner, and a few people who saw Eugene that morning talking to somebody.
Rowley said, “We found three people going to the Balloon Fest that had drove by and seen Eugene talking to a man, it looked like a father son conversation between them.”
The search team combed through corn fields, officers even flew to Cancun to follow a lead. As time went on it became clear, Eugene Martin’s case was sadly similar to Johnny Gosch.
Years slipped by with no sign of the missing kid.
Don Martin passed away in 2010, never knowing what happened to Eugene. Although in his obituary it says he was preceded in death by his son.
Don Martin was good friends with the Officer Jim Rowley, the two met every week for years on Friday evenings to talk about new leads.
Rowley says, “No matter what lead he had I would go out and work it. And we never had a concrete lead.”
The Eugene Martin file, remains opens open today full of paperwork from more than 30 years of following leads and collecting any fraction of evidence.
The case haunts Jim Rowley who says, “You can leave a homicide at work, I know that sounds bizarre, you can leave a shooting or stabbing or robbery at work, but there’s a boy missing and all he was doing was delivering papers.”
Rowly has a theory that both Eugene Martin and Johnny Gosch were the victims of a pedophile. He believes they’re both dead. But he hasn’t given up on finding out what happened.
