UK UK - Andrew Gosden, 14, Doncaster, South Yorks, 14 Sep 2007 #2

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My thoughts on Andrew Gosden’s Disappearance

Never skipped school before. So for him to skip school, it would have been for something he had to do on that day which couldn’t be done at the weekend. So it had to be Friday, 14th September, 2007. And it had to be London.
I think he went to see a concert but he didn’t make it. He wore clothing suitable for a concert.
He worked out that he needed more than £100? Or did he want to take extra cash with him? So left the £100 birthday cash and instead withdrew £200 from his bank account. Also, he may have wanted to use his own money on this and use the birthday money on something his parents would approve of.
He took his PSP for the train journey. He took his keys because he was coming back. He put his uniform in the wash because he was going to be back for school on Monday.
Off he goes to get a train into London. Doncaster to London means you get off at King’s Cross Station. He didn’t get a return because it was the weekend and he probably didn’t think he could or would want to catch the last train at night. He wanted to stay in London all weekend. After all, he travelled all that way. After the gig, he could have planned to go to Grandma’s. Stay there the weekend. And get the train back to Doncaster on Sunday.
King’s Cross Station is notorious for Pimps, Prostitution, Paedophiles, Rent Boys. He could have been followed. Another boy called Martin Allen disappeared from King’s Cross Station in 1979. So, the same could have happened to Andrew.
The sighting at Pizza Hut sounds plausible as you would want to grab something to eat and relax at lunch time.
Something happened around that area from King’s Cross by foot because he was not spotted at the London Underground.
Boys have gone missing in the 60s, 80s with no CCTV. In 2007 businesses had CCTV. Roads had speeding cameras and ANPR systems. People had mobile phones. Some bought their first IPhone that year. Railway Stations had CCTV. This was the capital in 2007, a lot more CCTV should have captured Andrew. But it has been reported that the lapse of time meant CCTV footage from the time was no longer available. Who’s to blame for that? Because someone’s to blame for not seeking CCTV footage. I know McDonalds have told me in the past that they keep their footage for 2 weeks. So time was of the essence to gather crucial evidence.
I also think Police should have questioned all school staff and pupils. Traced all people at the young and gifted programme he was in the year before and questioned them. Knocked on doors and questioned all residents and businesses on his route by foot from school to home. The businesses may even have had CCTV of him walking home prior to this fateful day.
Somebody on Reddit found the actual gig webpage where people have written about the gig starting at 7pm. There’s also a guy on there asking if he’ll have enough time to get to King’s Cross for the last train at 11:30pm. So other concert goers were getting on and off from King’s Cross that day.

www.last.fm

Shoutbox for SikTh at Carling Academy Islington (London) on 14 Sep 2007 | Last.fm

Last.fm concert page for SikTh at Carling Academy Islington (London) on Sept. 14, 2007. Discuss the gig, get concert tickets, see who's attending, find similar events.
www.last.fm www.last.fm

Police could now even try setting up a decoy and see what happens. After all this time, they need to get clever. Stamp out this notorious paedophile behaviour associated with this train station for good. Even if we don’t know if it was a paedophile in Andrew’s case.
Somebody knows where Andrew is. It’s just a matter of time before they’re caught. Is that someone, you?
 
Last edited:
ChocolateChip said:
My thoughts on Andrew Gosden’s Disappearance

Never skipped school before. So for him to skip school, it would have been for something he had to do on that day which couldn’t be done at the weekend. So it had to be Friday, 14th September, 2007. And it had to be London.
I think he went to see a concert but he didn’t make it. He wore clothing suitable for a concert.
He worked out that he needed more than £100? Or did he want to take extra cash with him? So left the £100 birthday cash and instead withdrew £200 from his bank account. Also, he may have wanted to use his own money on this and use the birthday money on something his parents would approve of.
He took his PSP for the train journey. He took his keys because he was coming back. He put his uniform in the wash because he was going to be back for school on Monday.
Off he goes to get a train into London. Doncaster to London means you get off at King’s Cross Station. He didn’t get a return because it was the weekend and he probably didn’t think he could or would want to catch the last train at night. He wanted to stay in London all weekend. After all, he travelled all that way. After the gig, he could have planned to go to Grandma’s. Stay there the weekend. And get the train back to Doncaster on Sunday.
King’s Cross Station is notorious for Pimps, Prostitution, Paedophiles, Rent Boys. He could have been followed. Another boy called Martin Allen disappeared from King’s Cross Station in 1979. So, the same could have happened to Andrew.
The sighting at Pizza Hut sounds plausible as you would want to grab something to eat and relax at lunch time.
Something happened around that area from King’s Cross by foot because he was not spotted at the London Underground.
Boys have gone missing in the 60s, 80s with no CCTV. In 2007 businesses had CCTV. Roads had speeding cameras and ANPR systems. People had mobile phones. Some bought their first IPhone that year. Railway Stations had CCTV. This was the capital in 2007, a lot more CCTV should have captured Andrew. But it has been reported that the lapse of time meant CCTV footage from the time was no longer available. Who’s to blame for that? Because someone’s to blame for not seeking CCTV footage. I know McDonalds have told me in the past that they keep their footage for 2 weeks. So time was of the essence to gather crucial evidence.
I also think Police should have questioned all school staff and pupils. Traced all people at the young and gifted programme he was in the year before and questioned them. Knocked on doors and questioned all residents and businesses on his route by foot from school to home. The businesses may even have had CCTV of him walking home prior to this fateful day.
Somebody on Reddit found the actual gig webpage where people have written about the gig starting at 7pm. There’s also a guy on there asking if he’ll have enough time to get to King’s Cross for the last train at 11:30pm. So other concert goers were getting on and off from King’s Cross that day.

www.last.fm

Shoutbox for SikTh at Carling Academy Islington (London) on 14 Sep 2007 | Last.fm

Last.fm concert page for SikTh at Carling Academy Islington (London) on Sept. 14, 2007. Discuss the gig, get concert tickets, see who's attending, find similar events.
www.last.fm www.last.fm

Police could now even try setting up a decoy and see what happens. After all this time, they need to get clever. Stamp out this notorious paedophile behaviour associated with this train station for good. Even if we don’t know if it was a paedophile in Andrew’s case.
Somebody knows where Andrew is. It’s just a matter of time before they’re caught. Is that someone, you?
Click to expand...
That sounds plausible....good theory.
 
One issue I've always had with the Sikth theory is that I don't think Andrew would know who they were. His music tastes are very mainstream in regards to the alternative stuff and the sort of bands you listen to when you first get into that type of music. There's also the question of how would he have bought the ticket? This was the last ever Sikth gig with that lineup and as far as I'm aware it was sold out which rules out buying on the door. He wouldn't have had a card to buy one online or over the phone and his parents would have noticed one being bought on their card. We can also rule out him buying it direct from the box office as it's in London.

I also note that according to Last FM Sikth played Sheffield Corporation less than 2 months before this gig which is 20-25 mins down the road from Andrews house by car or a simple train journey which also ran late enough to come back the same day (Last train back to Doncaster at the time was 11:28PM I believe). I could buy the rest of the theory, I just don't believe he was in London for that Sikth gig.

South Yorkshire police were working on the case and I imagine the local police force in London were also working on it. Not asking for the CCTV was probably just a case of left hand doesn't know what the right one is doing.
 
ChocolateChip said:
My thoughts on Andrew Gosden’s Disappearance

Never skipped school before. So for him to skip school, it would have been for something he had to do on that day which couldn’t be done at the weekend. So it had to be Friday, 14th September, 2007. And it had to be London.
I think he went to see a concert but he didn’t make it. He wore clothing suitable for a concert.
He worked out that he needed more than £100? Or did he want to take extra cash with him? So left the £100 birthday cash and instead withdrew £200 from his bank account. Also, he may have wanted to use his own money on this and use the birthday money on something his parents would approve of.
He took his PSP for the train journey. He took his keys because he was coming back. He put his uniform in the wash because he was going to be back for school on Monday.
Off he goes to get a train into London. Doncaster to London means you get off at King’s Cross Station. He didn’t get a return because it was the weekend and he probably didn’t think he could or would want to catch the last train at night. He wanted to stay in London all weekend. After all, he travelled all that way. After the gig, he could have planned to go to Grandma’s. Stay there the weekend. And get the train back to Doncaster on Sunday.
King’s Cross Station is notorious for Pimps, Prostitution, Paedophiles, Rent Boys. He could have been followed. Another boy called Martin Allen disappeared from King’s Cross Station in 1979. So, the same could have happened to Andrew.
The sighting at Pizza Hut sounds plausible as you would want to grab something to eat and relax at lunch time.
Something happened around that area from King’s Cross by foot because he was not spotted at the London Underground.
Boys have gone missing in the 60s, 80s with no CCTV. In 2007 businesses had CCTV. Roads had speeding cameras and ANPR systems. People had mobile phones. Some bought their first IPhone that year. Railway Stations had CCTV. This was the capital in 2007, a lot more CCTV should have captured Andrew. But it has been reported that the lapse of time meant CCTV footage from the time was no longer available. Who’s to blame for that? Because someone’s to blame for not seeking CCTV footage. I know McDonalds have told me in the past that they keep their footage for 2 weeks. So time was of the essence to gather crucial evidence.
I also think Police should have questioned all school staff and pupils. Traced all people at the young and gifted programme he was in the year before and questioned them. Knocked on doors and questioned all residents and businesses on his route by foot from school to home. The businesses may even have had CCTV of him walking home prior to this fateful day.
Somebody on Reddit found the actual gig webpage where people have written about the gig starting at 7pm. There’s also a guy on there asking if he’ll have enough time to get to King’s Cross for the last train at 11:30pm. So other concert goers were getting on and off from King’s Cross that day.

www.last.fm

Shoutbox for SikTh at Carling Academy Islington (London) on 14 Sep 2007 | Last.fm

Last.fm concert page for SikTh at Carling Academy Islington (London) on Sept. 14, 2007. Discuss the gig, get concert tickets, see who's attending, find similar events.
www.last.fm www.last.fm

Police could now even try setting up a decoy and see what happens. After all this time, they need to get clever. Stamp out this notorious paedophile behaviour associated with this train station for good. Even if we don’t know if it was a paedophile in Andrew’s case.
Somebody knows where Andrew is. It’s just a matter of time before they’re caught. Is that someone, you?
Click to expand...
Long-time lurker and first post - so I'm probably going to mess up...anyway...
I've also thought perhaps he was heading to a gig. Maybe a one-off gig...so skipped school. My fourteen year-old daughter 'skipped school' on Sept 14th 2007 - because we took her into London to see 30 Seconds to Mars at Brixton Academy (support was Circa Survive). We decided to drive in as we weren't sure about getting trains back etc. I don't know if it's a band Andrew would have wanted to see - tho at that time we listened to Slipknot/HIM etc (and watched Scuzz and Kerrang on TV - where 30STM seemed to be on every five minutes!)

Thirty Seconds to Mars Brixton Academy Sept 14 2007

Could he he have been heading there? We had tickets in advance but it was possible to get tickets outside the venue (I know as my husband who wasn't going to come inside changed his mind later in the evening) We were queuing around the block from mid-afternoon along with many others.
Although probably of no help whatsoever it's something that has stayed at the back of my mind and I still share any publicity where I can when the anniversary comes around.
 
The 30 Seconds to Mars gig is far more likely than the Sikth one if he did plan to go to a gig. We know Andrew had little to no internet usage which means his tastes musically were likely shaped by the likes of Kerrang and Scuzz TV. This is why so many of his favourites are the what I'd call "entry level" bands. The type everyone knows and starts off with then they find out about smaller bands etc.

3 Thirty Seconds to Mars songs had a heavy rotation on those channels in 2007 "Attack", "From Yesterday" and "The Kill" so you would assume Andrew was well aware of them from the music channels. However from what I understand his family don't think too much of the gig theory. Andrews dad had taken him to previous gigs and presumably would have taken him to others if he'd asked. From how he's been described it also seems out of character for him to just drop absolutely everything to go and see a bands gig when by all accounts he wasn't really all that in to it bar enjoying the odd gig here and there. It's not like he was down the local venue every weekend and this music/scene was his life. If that had been the case it would maybe explain dropping everything for a gig.

There's also the fact that the train ticket was about £50. That's a lot of money for a teenager to risk when there's no guarantee they'll be able to get a ticket. Ultimately it's a rash and risky decision and doesn't seem like the Andrew that's been described by those who knew him.
 
LaStrega said:
Long-time lurker and first post - so I'm probably going to mess up...anyway...
I've also thought perhaps he was heading to a gig. Maybe a one-off gig...so skipped school. My fourteen year-old daughter 'skipped school' on Sept 14th 2007 - because we took her into London to see 30 Seconds to Mars at Brixton Academy (support was Circa Survive). We decided to drive in as we weren't sure about getting trains back etc. I don't know if it's a band Andrew would have wanted to see - tho at that time we listened to Slipknot/HIM etc (and watched Scuzz and Kerrang on TV - where 30STM seemed to be on every five minutes!)

Thirty Seconds to Mars Brixton Academy Sept 14 2007

Could he he have been heading there? We had tickets in advance but it was possible to get tickets outside the venue (I know as my husband who wasn't going to come inside changed his mind later in the evening) We were queuing around the block from mid-afternoon along with many others.
Although probably of no help whatsoever it's something that has stayed at the back of my mind and I still share any publicity where I can when the anniversary comes around.
Click to expand...
Interesting post, welcome to Ws @LaStrega!
 
Almost wondering if AG was used for something like this as opposed to sex trafficking? speculation, imo.rbbm
www.bbc.com

County lines: How a child’s phones helped smash a trafficking gang

Six members of a county lines gang are jailed for trafficking a teenage drug runner.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
By Steve Swann and Michael Buchanan
BBC News

''Six gang members have been jailed for trafficking a teenage drug runner. Rather than prosecute the boy, detectives pursued the adults controlling him.
This is the story of the mobile phones that unlocked the case.
Short presentational grey line

It is February 2021, and a teenage boy sends text messages to a contact he called "Main Man" asking about a job. He receives a reply almost instantly, telling him there is work - and it comes with a new phone''

''It may appear to be a fairly harmless exchange - except that the job is drug dealing, and the employer Wesley Hankin, a man in his late 20s, is hundreds of miles away from the 14-year-old, in a prison cell in Dorset.
For the next two weeks, the boy would travel around the country at the beck and call of a drug-dealing gang, who used a phone number known as the "TJ Line" to contact customers.''
 
I know county lines is a thing now, but was that known to be happening in the UK in 2007? Honestly asking.
And if there was a "job" in London, surely they would have found a teenager already living in London to exploit?

I do think Andrew was probably scammed in some way, though. And it's just so incredibly dreadful to think they have gotten away with it...so far.
 
AndyR70 said:
Yes thats correct. A woman sat next to him on the train & he was playing it then
Click to expand...
I really want to know more about what this woman saw.
Did she notice how he was playing? Was he using the joysticks and really engrossed, or more clicking arrows and buttons and less laser focused maybe looking around every now and then etc? Was he wearing earphones? Playing with sound on or just in silence? If it was an engrossing game usually the sound makes the experience a lot immersive. Infact is it known what games he played on the PSP?
Little details but could help I think somehow

Also I know he seemed to have no regard for mobile phones but it was possible to text (
) although I think maybe a twisted chatroom user or a ""friend"" he communicated with in-game is a more likely sceneario here.

I just can't buy that he had no internet access or desire to be online, I'm just a little younger than him and knowing what my friends with PSPs and their first taste of unfiltered internet access got up to back when we were that age I find it really hard to believe. They would show off the p__n they had downloaded in the schoolyard, which to me was revolting back then as I was a quiet sheltered kid, but even as a kid like that who was disgusted by p__n when most boys were bragging about it.. I got an iPod touch at that age and my parents who did not allow me to create a bebo page for fear of my privacy and internet safety would have been horrified to know I was on so many weird chatrooms and had secret email addresses with fake names and no mobile verification or other type was needed back then. I don't even remember them being particularly seedy or anything just you never know who you could be talking to or what kind of thing you are opening yourself up to. Kids can be a dangerous combination of very sneaky and very naive.

I only learned about Andrew yesterday but have been sucked in thouroughly, such a horrible sinking feeling in my stomach when i think about it all really. Just awfully sad.
 
@kbloop

He might have been lured, but even if he decided on his own to run away to London, he would have been easy pickings for a predator.

I think Andrew may have run away with no intention of returning home. It's tough to say why he would do that. Perhaps he was being bullied; perhaps he realized he was gay and didn't want his family to know.

He may have sought out someone who would hide him. He may have found someone prior to leaving, or he may have found someone after reaching London.
 
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SaintGertrude said:
He is definitely not a fake but the police have already checked all the andyroo people and he is not Andrew Gosden despite having a remarkable ear.
Click to expand...
This case is crazy how so many outcomes all have a hint of possibility to them and it seems like the more you dig the less clear everything becomes.
Like I was convinced it was a case of grooming & abduction at first. Then maybe suicide has some plausibility with the dissapearing angle so his mother doesn't have to grieve his suicide like in one of his favourite bands music videos (where the main actor kind of even reminds me on Andrew). And his favourite tv show The Fall and Rise of Reginald perrin being about a man who grows tired of his life and suffers a midlife crisis "After Reggie commits a few reckless acts, including getting out of his car in the lion enclosure at a safari park, he fakes suicide by leaving clothes and personal effects on a beach." Reggie also lives in the poets estate in London.

Then this guy appears. Andyroo. I'll try just talk about the similarites without specifics so as not to Dox him as the police have ruled him out. Linkedin profile shows no primary, secondary, or college education so his pre 20's are generally not traceable but even without college he was smart enough to teach himself many programming languages and get a very good job which he excelled in even winning awards. Something only someone who is quite bright could have achieved. Is from an area in the UK pretty close to Doncaster (and Lincoln where he was possibly spotted). IS VERY visually similar to the age progessions of andy, same eye colour, has a unique ear (on the same side!). He wears glasses too and, oh, esports. He is a HUGE esports fan and as we know Andrew was a huge gamer too.


but it's not him somehow. I just am at a loss.

I know sadly that the simplest of explanations is likey the correct one says Occams Razor. I think it's a combitaion of some very likely things, that he just bunked off for a day on a wild adventrure, maybe to see a gig, or a friend or just the thrill of breaking all the rules for the first time ever as a straight laced teenager and go to the big city for a day and was in the wrong place at the wrong time crossing paths with a predator.
 
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I think about this case a lot, and like everyone, still can't settle on a theory. There's just too much information we don't have. I'm also not convinced about the total lack of internet access. Urgh, I hope 2023 is the year.
 
Do we know what type of shoes Andrew was wearing the day he went missing? I found a UID that was found wearing UK size 9.5 Vans brand. I believe that is a size 10 in the US. I doubt his feet were that big based upon his small stature, but I don’t know. The shoes the IUD was wearing were manufactured in 2006. He was found in 2009 about 2.5 hours from London and also 2.5 hours from Doncaster.


 
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Have we explored the possibility that he didn’t disappear from London? Perhaps he really did intend to make it back home before his parents returned from work. He may have made a quick trip to London, taken the train back home again, and then something happened to him between his local train station and his house.
 
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