John Joubert, Nebraska Boy Snatcher

As Colin Evans notes, Danny Joe had gone out without his shoes, which was his preferred way to travel, and had picked up his papers at a convenience store and rolled them there in a parking lot to place into his delivery bag.  He had then set off to start his route but made just three stops that morning.  When Danny Joe's absence was investigated, his bicycle was located at his fourth stop, inside the gate of the cyclone fence around a dentist's home.  Folded newspapers, undelivered, were there as well, in his bag.  But not Danny Joe.  It appeared that he'd arrived, been distracted, and then abducted.  But there was no sign of a struggle.

Bellevue NE Police patch

The Eberles notified police and instigated a manhunt around the immediate area, going to each person on Danny Joe's route, and to other areas that may have attracted him, but nothing turned up that day.  They continued with the search, going from building to building, house to house, but no one had seen Danny Joe with anyone.  He had simply vanished.  In all, Pettit says, some 130 officials made up the search team.  Despite this impressive response, no clues were found, and day became evening, so when darkness fell, the search was called off.

Searchers in the brush