The milk carton kids programme was one of the first programmes launched to locate missing children. Photo / Supplied
The milk carton kids programme was one of the first programmes launched to locate missing children. Photo / Supplied
In 1984, supermarket shoppers in Des Moines, Iowa, found something truly shocking in the dairy aisle — milk cartons printed with the faces of two missing boys.
Before long, the faces of missing children were appearing on milk cartons across the US as part of a programme developed by the US National Child Safety Council to generate public awareness and track down missing children.
Before its establishment, there had been no way of tracking missing children across state lines.
The milk carton kids programme became practically obsolete in the 1990s with the introduction of the Amber Alert System, a child abduction alert system distributed by media channels and via SMS still used in the US today.
But whatever happened to the missing children? Those smiling faces on the side of the milk cartons? We found out.
Etan Patz went missing on May 25, 1979. He was just 6. Photo / Supplied
Patz was the first child to appear on the side of a milk carton, and his image and story would become one of the most well-known of the "milk carton kids".
Patz disappeared in Manhattan in 1979 as he walked to the school bus stop alone for the first time.
Although the bus stop was only two blocks from his home, the 6-year-old never boarded the bus.
At that time, there was no nationwide system to help locate or track missing children in the US, and his story helped launch the Missing Children's Movement and the development of new legislation and methods of tracking missing kids.
Patz had already been missing for five years when his face appeared on the first carton. Photo / Supplied
One of these early methods was the milk carton programme, although Patz had already been missing for five years when his face appeared on the first carton.
It didn't work.
Etan was declared legally dead in 2001.
Sixteen years later in 2017, Pedro Hernandez was convicted of Patz's kidnap and murder.
It is alleged Hernandez kidnapped Patz en route to the bus stop and murdered him that day. His body has never been found.
Pedro Hernandez, a former bodega stock clerk, confessed to luring the 6-year-old into a basement and choking him to death. Photo / Supplied
The date of Patz's disappearance was declared National Missing Children's Day in the US by President Ronald Regan in 1983.
JOHNNY GOSCH
Johnny Gosch's face became well known, as his disappearance turned into a 30-year cold case. Photo / Supplied
The subject of countless media portrayals, including a 2014 Netflix documentary Who Took Johnny, Johnny Gosch's case has had many twists and turns over the years.
Gosch went missing on his usual paper run on the morning of September 5, 1982.
His parents realised something was wrong quite early on, after receiving calls from neighbours that their newspapers were late.
However, because there was no ransom note, police would not declare it a kidnapping and waited 72 hours before declaring him missing and beginning an official search.
Despite his delivery wagon being found less than two blocks away from his house, Gosch was never found.
Johnny's mother Noreen Gosch never gave up hope her son was alive. Photo / Supplied
In 1997, 15 years after Johnny's disappearance, his mother Noreen Gosch claimed Johnny turned up on her doorstep in the presence of an unknown man in the middle of the night.
The young man, who she vehemently claimed was her missing son, opened up his shirt to show a birthmark on his chest Noreen described as "similar" to Johnny's.
Although speaking with Noreen for an hour, "Johnny" refused to disclose where he was living, telling her he was "still in danger", and then he simply vanished again.
In 1984, the Johnny Gosch Bill was passed in his home state of Iowa.
The bill required police to investigate missing children's cases immediately rather than waiting 72 hours, which was the protocol when Gosch disappeared in 1982.
BONNIE LOHMAN
Three-year-old Bonnie Lohman. Photo / Supplied
Bonnie Lohman was only 3 when she was abducted by her mother and stepfather from the care of her father.
Despite not being the typical case for the milk carton programme, her father managed to have her photo included.
At the age of 7, Bonnie was with her stepfather at the grocery store when she discovered her own face on the side of one milk carton.
She recognised the picture of herself but didn't understand what it meant.
She asked to keep the image from the milk carton and was allowed on the provision she kept it a secret.
Bonnie's neighbours discovered her identity when the carton was accidentally left with a bag of toys at their house. They notified the authorities and Bonnie was reunited with her father.
Bonnie is one of the few success stories of the milk carton programme.
MOLLIE BISH
On June 27, 2000, teen Molly Bish showed up at the local pond at 10am to start her shift as a lifeguard. Photo / Supplied
At the time of Molly Bish's disappearance in 2000, the milk carton programme was falling out of favour and had barely been used in the past decade.
Out of sheer desperation, Molly Bish's parents used every avenue available to find their 16-year-old daughter, who disappeared while working as a lifeguard in her hometown, Warren.
This included the offer to put her face on the side of a milk carton.
Her remains were discovered three years later only 8km from where she was last seen. Despite some potential leads and suspects, no arrests have been made over her murder.
THE LEGACY OF THE MILK CARTON PROGRAMME
Although the milk carton programme had limited success in locating the missing children, the legacy of the missing children it featured is significant.
With no widespread system to help locate missing children, the milk carton programme arguably pioneered the way in creating public awareness about the cases and child abduction in general, particularly the notion of "stranger danger". It led to changes in legislation and tracking, as well as the development of the Amber Alert System still used today.
