The first missing child that grabbed Iowa's attention was Johnny Gosch, back in 1982. That was a big deal here in Iowa at the time, but there have been so many people - kids and adults - go missing since then that sometimes it all blurs unless you have some sort of connection to the missing person.
Iowa does suffer from being a "transcontinental" state that gets crossed by a hell of a lot of traffic, and by people both good and bad. This recent disappearance took place close enough to I-80 that my first instinct was to think it was a crime of opportunity and the perp(s) made it to the "conveyor belt" and the anonymity it offers.
We have watched our children leave the state because the jobs here disappeared, and many of us personally know or remember those who willingly became "fresh meat" for the markets of the coasts- usually not with the best of results. How many left unwillingly is something which is not pleasant to contemplate.
Mr. niteowl77