John Arbogast
Real Name: John Charles Arbogast
Aliases: John Vierra, Rocky, Rebel
Wanted For: Interstate Transportation of Child Pornography
Missing Since: September 1995
Case[]
Details: Fifty-five-year-old John Arbogast taught social studies at a middle school in Cobb County, Georgia, for thirteen years. He then opened a baseball card shop, turning his hobby into an occupation. But no one ever guessed that he apparently had another more sinister pastime, one that has turned him into a fugitive.
According to the FBI, Arbogast is a trafficker in child pornography. He has used the Internet to transmit and receive illicit material. He was allegedly involved with a wide-ranging pornography ring, targeted in a two-year undercover operation codenamed “Innocent Images.”
The investigation, which resulted in a dozen arrests nationwide, began in 1993 in response to the disappearance of ten-year-old George Burdynski. That case has never been solved. But authorities believe he was abducted by someone he met via the Internet.
The FBI served a search warrant and seized a computer that Arbogast allegedly used to distribute child pornography. However, in September 1995, he closed the card shop and disappeared before he could be arrested. Today, he is the only suspect implicated in the child pornography ring still at large. He was last seen in Las Vegas, Nevada, in February 1996. Authorities say he is an avid sports card collector and trader who likes to gamble at casinos. He may be in California, where he has family.
Extra Notes:
- This case first aired as a Special Bulletin on the February 23, 1996 episode.
- It was excluded from the FilmRise release of the Robert Stack episodes.
Results: Captured - On July 11, 1997, Arbogast was arrested at a residential hotel in Los Angeles, California. He had been working as a food server in the Santa Monica area. Police received a tip that he had child pornography but did not know at the time that he had been profiled on Unsolved Mysteries.
After his arrest, Arbogast admitted to the police that he had an outstanding warrant in Georgia. He told them that he fled to Las Vegas, Nevada after the arrest warrant was issued. He then went to Los Angeles after seeing his story on Unsolved Mysteries.
Arbogast was released from federal prison on October 29, 1998.
Links:
- John Arbogast on Unsolved Archive
- Most Wanted - October 15, 1995
- Wanted - October 22, 1995
- Most Wanted - November 24, 1996
- Teacher arrested on porn charges - July 11, 1997