CNN Interviews Paul Bonacci

An excerpt from Thomas Lake's 12-15-23 CNN article entitled "An Iowa Paperboy Disappeared 41 Years Ago. His Mother Is Still on the Case":

Then, of course, there is Paul Bonacci, who was never interviewed by the West Des Moines Police Department despite his professed knowledge of key details about Johnny [Gosch] and his claim of involvement in the kidnapping. Detectives did speak with some of Bonacci’s relatives and decided Bonacci couldn’t have been in the Des Moines area on the day of Johnny’s kidnapping because the relatives said he was with them in Omaha. But those interviews took place almost a decade after Johnny disappeared, and police did not explain how those relatives could have remembered Bonacci’s whereabouts so precisely, so many years later.

When I ask [Detective Tom] Boyd about this, he acknowledges that the West Des Moines Police ruled out Bonacci too quickly.

“Is Paul Bonacci still alive?” he asks. “Is he around?”

He is told that Bonacci is apparently still alive.

“I’d talk to him today if I could,” the detective says, and then he’s quiet for a long time.

Later that day, I drive to Nebraska to look for Paul Bonacci. His last known address was on a gravel road near a river west of Omaha. It’s late in the afternoon when I pull up and walk toward the Bonacci home. A dog barks loudly, and several cats and kittens mill around. After a knock at the front door, a woman answers. She says Paul isn’t home.

As I prepare to drive away, a red pickup truck comes down the gravel road. The driver parks near the Bonacci home and gets out. I wave. Yes, this is Paul Bonacci. Everyone involved in Johnny’s case is either dead or much older than they were when it started. Bonacci has just turned 56. He’s got the same dark eyes he had in the videos from three decades earlier. Now he also has a few lines on his face.

Bonacci is reluctant to give a formal interview. He’s skeptical of reporters, and he needs to go pick up his daughter soon. But he’s friendly enough, and the conversation continues for about 10 minutes....

To read Lake's entire article, click HERE.