The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 2

2 Tilt DES MOINES REGISTER Tuesday. Nmember 13, 1990 rM Ml II if ill 1 1 "4 RANDY EVANS, Iowa news editor, 515-284-8065 DATELKIE I0YA Experimental surgery may be cure for Iowa boy By TOM CARNEY Rttftter Stiff Writer The future of an estimated 15,000 American kids with a particularly savage type of muscular dystrophy may hinge on an experimental procedure on an Iowa boy beginning today in San Francisco. In the first part of an experimental muscle-cell transfer, doctors at Children's Hospital of San Francisco will remove muscle tissue about the size of a pencil eraser from the biceps of Lonnie Knapp of Gear Lake. Within several weeks, cells grown from the tissue will be Injected into Knapp's 10-year-old son, Eric, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease that affects one in every 3,500 boys. Over the course of the illness, muscles deteriorate until breathing and the heart are affected and death occurs, usually before the age of 20.

Eric must use a wheelchair and is attended by a dren treated. Charash said Eric will.be the first person to undergo the procedure west of the Mississippi River and the first of several patients at Children's Hospital. Eric's case is especially significant because it Involves a large, important muscle in the front of the lower leg that is largely responsible for foot movement Nancy Knapp said the family, after months of waiting while Eric and his father were tested and Eric took anti-rejection medication, is eager to get the procedure behind them so they can return home. They expect to return to Iowa shortly after Eric, who will have to return to California at one month and six months after the procedure for checkups, is Injected with the newly grown cells. "We want to get home as soon as possible," she said.

"There's no place like Iowa." lated to produce embryonic muscle cells. When grown, the cells, Including the nuclei containing healthy genes capable of producing dystrophin, will be Injected into Eric's lower leg muscle. After the injection, Eric's muscle strength will be checked monthly for at least six months to determine whether the procedure has been successful. Doctors have said muscle-cell transfer has the potential to cure the disease. Children's Hospital is one of four sites for the experiment in the United States and Canada.

Judging by preliminary results at other sites, the Knapps have reason to be optimistic. Charash, a Woodbury, N.Y. children's neurologist, said Monday results from the procedure at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center In Memphis, show it to be feasible and safe. The director of those studies has reported improved muscle strength in the first three chil "support dog," a golden retriever named Rex. Lonnie Knapp, a teacher in the Clear Lake schools, his wife, Nancy, and their three children, including Eric, have been in northern California preparing for the procedure since mid-February.

The discoveries that make the procedure possible occurred in 1987, said Dr. Leon Charash, chairman of the national advisory board of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, which is paying for the procedure. A team of scientists at Harvard University discovered that a gene, missing in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients, is the blueprint for the body's production of dystrophin, a protein thought to be necessary for normal muscle development. After removal today, the father's tissue will be taken to a laboratorywhere it will be stimu mwv.rMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmwimm'2m "'mimfmmmmmum m.ii iiiii mm 'A Skeleton found; link eyed to missing boys i fit- a' It vAt 1 5K A- i 4 By TOM ALEX RtHiter Staff Writer Law officers are Investigating the possibility that skeletal remains found Monday in southeast Polk County are those of missing paperboys Johnny Gosch or Eugene Martin. Martin, of Des Moines, was 13 when he disappeared while delivering The Des Moines Sunday Register in August 1984.

Gosch, of West Des Moines, whose 21st birthday was Monday, disappeared as he was about to deliver newspapers in September 1982. Dennis Anderson, assistant chief deputy with the Polk County Sheriffs Department, said deer hunters stumbled across the bones at about 7:30 a.m. in woods southeast of Runnells. One of the hunters "looked down, saw the body and it scared him," Anderson said. Chief Deputy Floyd Jones said the remains were covered with some kind of material; he would not be specific.

He said when the remains were lifted from the ground it became apparent that a portion of them were in an advanced state of decomposition. The skull was found a short distance from the rest of the body. Authorities also are investigating the possibility the remains could be those of Marc Allen II of Des Moines, who was 13 years old when he went to visit a friend on March 29, 1986. He has not been seen or heard from since. Altoona police also have been looking recently for Roy Graham of Altoona, who was 22 years old when he disappeared in August 1984.

Jones would not speculate on how long the remains had been there, but he guessed it was less than the time that has elapsed since Martin, Gosch Getting ready Merle Butti of Des Moines buzzes away at pieces of an that will help to keep him warm on those cold, snowy elm tree, working np a sweat creating the firewood sights that will soon be commonplace across the state. TODD ENDORFTh Rtglitir get too discouraged to apply. Beginning next fall, the amount of federal money available to states for child care will jump dramatically. This year, for example, Iowa is using $614,000 in federal social-services grants for subsidized care for low-income families. By next October, about $17 million earmarked specifically for child care will be available In Iowa, according to the Children's Defense Fund.

The new program also broadens eligibility to include moderate-income families. For example, currently, an Iowa family of four can earn no more than $19,050 to be eligible for state child-care assistance. Under the new program, the maximum is $26,103, according to defense fund estimates. But the federal money does not have to be used for subsidies. It can be used for other measures to improve the quality and increase the supply of child care.

During the next three years, Iowa will receive about $23 million in federal child-care money, according to Children's Defense Fund estimates. The impending flood of federal dollars raises questions for state government, which has shouldered the cost of subsidized care. Iowa currently is spending $4.2 million to provide subsidized care for an average of 2,367 children per month. Federal child-care money may be too little, too late Rock Valley car crash leaves five people dead ROCK VALLEY, IA. (AP) Five people died after a two-car collision near here Sunday night.

The Iowa State Patrol said a car driven by Joel Van Veldhuizen, IB, of Rock Valley went out of control on U.S. Highway 18 about a mile east of Rock Valley. The car smashed into one driven by Pamela Diedrich, 22, of Conrad, Mont Both drivers died Sunday night, as did a passenger in each car. The passengers killed Sunday were Michael Van Otterloo, 15, of Rock Valley and Norman Diedrich, 56, of Conrad. Another passenger, Gloria Diedrich, 46, of Conrad, died in a hospital Monday.

Elsewhere, officials said: A Muscatine man was killed Monday after he lost control of his car while swerving to miss an animal. The Muscatine County Sheriff's Department said Pedro Rojas 24, was thrown from the car when it overturned several times in a ditch east of Fairport on Iowa Highway 22. Passenger Jorge Murillo, 20, of Muscatine was flown to University Hospitals in Iowa City, where he was listed in fair condition. Loras students arrested for 'practical joke' bombs Tr RMUtefl tewa Ntwi Strvtc DUBUQUE, IA. Four Loras College students were arrested after two small homemade bombs exploded Sunday at a house occupied by other students, police said.

One of the men arrested said the explosions were a practical joke. Police said residents of the house were awakened by an explosion between a storm door and a main door about 11 p.m. As police arrived, another bomb went off in the garbage. Loras students Alexander MacFar-lane, 22, Steven Moorehead, 21, Timo thy Shannon, 22, and Chris Rodi, 21, were arrested and charged with felony possession of explosive devices and misdemeanor charges of reckless use of explosives after a third explosion occurred elsewhere. They were released on bond.

Police said they found the men with material used in the bombs. Moorehead said later: "The whole thing was just a practical joke. We are all good friends with the girls who live there." Body found near Crescent may be missing Nebraskan CRESCENT, IA. (AP) A body found near here appears to be that of a LaVista, man who has been missing for two months, police said Monday. LaVista Police Chief John Packett said authorities believe the body, which two hunters found Sunday, is that of George Gass, 50.

Gass was seen leaving his house Sept. 7 to drive to a grocery store a few blocks away. His car was found a week later on a Council Bluffs street. Officials said foul play was suspected. An autopsy was set for today.

Slain Davenport man tentatively Identified Pram Th Rmiter'l Dtvanwrt BurMU DAVENPORT, IA. The body of a Davenport man shot last Friday has been tentatively identified as Glen Joseph Barangan, according to police and court records. Barangan, whose age was not known, was one of two Davenport men shot last Friday and then transported to Harrison County, where they were left in a farmhouse that was set afire, police said. The other man, Edward Lee Bumgardner, survived. He was being treated for a gunshot wound and burns at a Kansas City, hospital Monday, but his condition was not reported.

Two Des Moines men have been charged in the case. Incinerator's emission monitor to be tested Pram Tm Mis tewt City turaaw IOWA CITY, IA. The University of Iowa plans to test a proposed emission control system for a controversial incinerator at the University of Iowa's Oakdale Campus north of here, officials announced Monday. The announcement is a response to questions raised by environmental groups about the safety of plans to burn hundreds of dog carcasses at the pathological incinerator. Some of the carcasses, which are radioactive from medical research, have been stored in barrels since 1984.

University officials postponed in cineration last month in response to the environmentalists' concerns. A proposed monitoring system for the 25-year-old refurbished incinerator would be checked for its ability to monitor and filter radioactive Parents wonder: Another false lead, or an answer? Th Rpmr or Graham have been missing. Roy Graham's father, Ralph, said Altoona police indicated the remains probably were not those of his son. Ralph Graham said he did not think his son had any teeth fillings; the body found Monday apparently had fillings. State Medical Examiner Thomas Bennett was to examine the remains late Monday night.

Dental records of Gosch and Martin were sent to Bennett's laboratory in Sioux City along with the remains. Polk County Medical Examiner R.C. Wooters said Monday afternoon that the age or sex of the body had not been determined and the body had been in the heavily wooded area "sev-, eral months, possibly years." The circumstances under which the body was found had "all the earmarks of a homicide," Wooters said. Des Moines and West Des Moines police, who have spent years trying to solve the Gosch and Martin disappearances, sent detectives to the scene. way," said Gosch.

"One side of me hopes this is it and that it's wrapped up so we can get on with life. The other side of me says there is still hope, that he's alive, maybe somewhere in another country." Johnny Gosch had walked up the quiet, dark street with his wagon loaded with bundles of the Des Moines Sunday Registers. Earlier on that morning, witnesses said he talked to a man in a car parked nearby. The man asked directions. Neither the man nor the car he was driving have been located.

Johnny's wagon was found on a street corner. The bundles were untouched. Eugene was folding the Des Moines Sunday Register on a sidewalk near his home in south Des Moines almost two years later and about seven miles from where Johnny Gosch disappeared. He seemed to have vanished into thin air. There were no witnesses.

Only his folded papers, his carrier bag and bicycle were found at the site. The kidnappings triggered a search that extended to Canada and Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of posters with the boys' pictures were distributed and hung in post offices as far away as Guam. Although developments have been few and far between in recent years, the two cases remain in the active files of the FBI, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Des Moines police and the West Des Moines police. I Skeleton i 1 un If rJ- Runrtells ft Sk I 'w mmipHt mmm '4 mummm: -JOHNNY IUOINI OSCH MARTIN Ballot error lowers fax levy By CHRIS KNIGHT RMftter Staff Writer A misplaced decimal point meant that Mason City residents, instead of voting last week on a proposed tax levy that would raise 183,000 a year to improve their public library, considered a levy that would raise $830.

The Nov. 6 ballot asked residents to consider a tax levy of .14 cents per $1,000 of property valuation to buy materials and books for the library. The proposal should have asked voters to decide on a levy of 14 cents. Barring any protest, however, Cerro Gordo County Auditor Linda Collins will allow the library to get the $83,000 anyway, Mason City City Attorney Herman Folkers said. "I agree completely with the county auditor, that I seriously doubt the error on the ballot affected it," Folkers said.

Library Director Andrew Alexander said Collins knew about the error before the election. She apparently decided it would be too costly to reprint the ballots, and people probably would not be confused by the difference in the levy amounts. Collins could not be reached for comment. "Everything was successful except the dot on the ballot," Alexander said. "I have to believe that virtually everyone that voted knew it was 14 cents." A special election to correct the error was estimated to cost $9,000.

Guards cited By BETSY RUBINER Rtditer Staff Writer A new federal child-care program may pump millions of dollars into Iowa, giving the state the potential to help twice as many struggling families. But because the federal money won't be available until next fall, hundreds of low-income parents will continue to wait for help that would enable them to pay for child care and go to work. Currently, 2,232 Iowa children receive state-subsidized child care, while 1,823 children are on a waiting list. Many other families are too discouraged to sign up on a waiting list, child-care providers said. "The overall effect should be to move everybody off the waiting list," said Mike Knapp of the Iowa Child Care Alliance, who also runs a child-care agency in Waterloo.

Although jubilant about passage of the first major federal child-care legislation since World War II, the Iowa Child Care Alliance is lobbying state lawmakers for $1 million more. Without it, they argue, the already overburdened state child-care assistance program will be so worn down Iowa will not be ready to use the federal money when it finally arrives. Child-care advocates worry that if money shortages continue through next year, more child-care centers will close, and demand for child-care assistance will dwindle as families By FRANK SANTIAGO RfftjKttr Stiff Wrltaf Every morning for eight years, Noreen Gosch has gotten out of bed thinking this could be the day. Somebody, somewhere is going to find something that unravels the mystery of what happened to her son, Johnny, who was 12 when he was kidnapped Sept. 5, 1982, while delivering newspapers near home.

Each morning, Don Martin experiences the same pain: Something must turn up to explain what happened to his son, Eugene, who was 13 when he was kidnapped on Aug. 12, 1984. He also was delivering newspapers. Monday, the jolts hit the parents again, this time under unusual circumstances. West Des Moines police called Gosch.

They said bones were found near Runnells in the southeast corner of the county. It could be Johnny. Or it could be Eugene. Or it could be neither, they said. The discovery bad come, of all days, on Johnny's 21st birthday.

"The fact that it's his birthday blows my mind, but we've had to live our lives like that every day," said Gosch, who keeps a plan to leave town at a moment's notice if there is a lead in the case. "Each day I have to think we're going to get news one way or another. It has been going on for eight years." Martin, alerted by Des Moines police, dashed to Runnells for a first hand look and to comfort his sister, who lives there. "If this was Eugene I wanted to get him home for a proper burial. At least we would know where he is and that he isn't being abused by somebody out there," be said.

"My nerves are at the bitter end." Whether the discovery at Runnells was a lead in the two baffling cases never linked by police, although there are several similarities seemed almost anti-climatic to the parents who have been subjected to countless false leads and unfounded rumors. "Usually I have a gut feeling, but on this one I don't have one either in some concert injuries By VERONICA FOWLER Of TM Rwliter'l Amn Bvraav AMES, IA. Security guards inflicted at least some of the injuries at the New Kids on the Block concert melee that sent 17 to the hospital, the mother of an injured girl says. The Injuries occurred when one of the New Kids, Donnie Wahlberg, jumped off stage and into the crowd at the Iowa State University Center concert Friday. Wahlberg later pushed fellow band member Danny Wood into a group of fans.

One of those injured, Carrie Savage, 14, of Fort Dodge, had her sprained arm in a sling Monday. She said it was hurt when a security guard pulled and twisted it as she tried to make her way over to Donnie after he jumped. "I was yelling that it hurt, but I don't think he could hear me." Carrie's mother, Cindy Savage, said that while she waited at Mary Greeley Medical Center with other adults, they were complaining about the way security guards be director, said about a dozen New Kids security guards and about 63 ISU Center security guards were on duty at the Friday concert Although it's difficult for fans and their parents to distinguish between New Kids and ISU guards, Hartig said she's confident "the ISU security acted very professionally and promptly." She said she was very pleased with the way they handled the crowd. Savage said as soon as the injuries occurred, Hilton Coliseum was vacated "in about five minutes, it seemed like." Only the injured and adults accompanying them remained, said Carrie Savage. She and others were crying and one girl couldn't move her leg.

Band members came out and were kissing and hugging the injured girls and apologizing, says Savage. Donnie himself came out and asked her how she was and gave her a kiss on the lips, said Savage. She said she wanted to talk to Jordan "and he said 'I'll get you Jordan if you stop She stopped. Despite her injured arm, Savage says she's not at all angry about the incident. "They made up for it and they said how sorry they were," said Savage.

"I think it was definitely worth it." haved. "They were really getting on them about how they were pushing and shoving (the fans) around," said Cindy Savage. Jeanne Hartig, Iowa State University Center marketing -1.