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

[WiseOwl]

Or he was just a teenager and scouts and church weren't cool anymore. Maybe he'd decided he didn't believe in God or he didn't want to do something just because his parents did. He was an adolescent. They do stuff like that

I would tend to agree with that, he probably had outgrown the cub scouts and was at the age where he didn't want to go to church anymore. It's like when you're 13/14 and you suddenly stop visiting your Grandparents or your Uncle and Aunt.

As for walking home rather than catch the school bus, well in September 2007 Andrew would have been in Year 10 - maybe the bus was full of younger students who would no doubt have been extremely noisy so maybe he just wanted some peace and quiet and decided to walk home instead.

 

[Inspector Evans]

The person in the YouTube Gathering video ruled himself out. He said he was 19 at the time and 6ft tall. Andrew was quite petite. I don't think it looks like him anyway - a lot of teenage boys back then had long hair and wore band t shirts.

My point on that though is that's exactly the sort of event that would've tempted him down to London for possibly over 24 hours if it was on the Saturday and Sunday of the weekend that he went missing.

People who look like him, share his interests with Music and Gaming and in a city he knew from regular visits.

Perhaps he wanted to go down on the Saturday but family disagreed so he went on the Friday when the assumption was he'd be at school so withdrew the 200 quid to stay the weekend. What else would he be withdrawing the money for if he was just travelling down to wander around for a few hours, there must've been some sort of event to tempt him and we've already had discussion on the gigs that were happening that weekend.

Another question I have that was probably covered years back on here but would appreciate a refresh: have any of his classmates ever given interviews to local or national press? All of them hitting 30 + now and many will have families so while with the reported profile it didn't seem like he had many friends but I'm sure some would've noticed a possible change of behaviour in that week and the passage of time would make them all want to help find a resolution to this case somehow. Or even if they ever saw him using the internet at School.

Perhaps in a corridor or classroom Andrew heard someone mention a gig or the YT event happening in London and that just gave him an idea to go.

 

[Inspector Evans]

Back in 2007 you could talk to people 'live' while playing on a PSP. I know because my 10 year-old nephew had one. I remember visiting him one day, i can't remember what game he was playing (maybe Halo?), but he had his headphones on and was talking to someone. I asked who he was talking to and he said some kids from America - i was shocked! I never knew that was possible, and neither did his parents when i told them.

I believe it's extremely likely Andrew was talking to someone while playing on his PSP, and that's why he ended up travelling to London. We know he bought a one-way ticket, maybe this person had offered to pay for his ticket back home? Or even offered to drive him back to Doncaster?

I always have the belief that the truth about Andrew will surface one day.

Call of Duty came out in 2003, that was the big thing loads of my school friends were interested in towards the end of secondary school and yes you could play against people in tournaments across the World.

I was more just playing games on Xbox and not bothering to connect to play against others (apart from just going round a mate's house) but in 2007 that was certainly a big thing and nowadays you have loads of gamer tournaments around the World so it's an emerging and big market.

It's a real paradox of this case. Took his PSP down on the day it went missing (and that device ultimately would've had to go somewhere after he went missing) and also had games console in his bedroom yet hardly any internet use according to his family and the police? That's a strange aspect of the case as when I was 13/14 I was constantly on MSM Messenger! Then Myspace/Facebook came into being for the next generation and now it's Insta/Tiktok.

 

[Inspector Evans]

Thanks for the info about the PSP.

While it's difficult to ascertain whether Andrew had planned the trip to London or if it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, i do believe that he intended to stay in London for a few days, hence taking £200 out of his account and also not buying a return ticket. There are of course plenty of places to visit and also to get food and drink in London, but what were his plans for the evening and for sleeping? I think in mid-September it would start to get dark around 7 - 7.30pm, so where would he go around this time?

Of course, we don't know if anything happened to him on that day, but if he did get through it ok i can't help but wonder what he had planned to do that night.

Another good observation. From the last CCTV he does have a big over his shoulder so that would indicate a change of clothes I reckon.

If you're going to London for a weekend break you take a bag, if it's just a day of walking around then probably not.

He wasn't wearing a coat so again it's either in the bag or he's decided to do without.

From reading the thread there are comments about a person sitting next to or near to him on the train down. I'd be interested if there was ever an interview published with them or just comments recycled by the police/family.

If I was running away/starting a new life they'd be plenty of staring out of the window at the passing landscape and being in deep thought contemplating things.

From the comments of his demeanour on the train it seems he was just engrossed in the PSP so that to me states his plans in London were generally fixed e.g. walk around for a bit, get something to eat, maybe met someone in the afternoon, event in the evening etc. Certainly didn't seem to be showing much agitation or the future days/weeks were going to be very uncertain.

 

[Inspector Evans]

Dad reveals theory about missing son Andrew Gosden on painful anniversary

Andrew Gosden was 14 when he disappeared in September 2007

www.examinerlive.co.uk

This is a very interesting article from 12 months ago.

We'll forgive the very sloppy journalism of not getting the date right of his disappearance as according to the article it was 17th September which was the Monday.

His Dad says he was mentioning that summer a Tutankhamun exhibition at the British Museum which is about half an hours walk from Kings Cross. Would fit in with sightings of him in a Pizza Hut that afternoon.

Also interesting is the mention of HIM signing event at HMV store. Scroll down the article and there's a picture of him wearing a HIM band shirt with Ville Valo the frontman so something else that could've tempted him down otherwise it seems a huge coincidence.

My hunch is something music related that tempted him down to London but what happened in the hours after he left XC is a complete mystery.

 

[WiseOwl]

Dad reveals theory about missing son Andrew Gosden on painful anniversary

Andrew Gosden was 14 when he disappeared in September 2007

www.examinerlive.co.uk

This is a very interesting article from 12 months ago.

We'll forgive the very sloppy journalism of not getting the date right of his disappearance as according to the article it was 17th September which was the Monday.

His Dad says he was mentioning that summer a Tutankhamun exhibition at the British Museum which is about half an hours walk from Kings Cross. Would fit in with sightings of him in a Pizza Hut that afternoon.

Also interesting is the mention of HIM signing event at HMV store. Scroll down the article and there's a picture of him wearing a HIM band shirt with Ville Valo the frontman so something else that could've tempted him down otherwise it seems a huge coincidence.

My hunch is something music related that tempted him down to London but what happened in the hours after he left XC is a complete mystery.

The article probably confused the dates with the HIM signing event, which was on Monday 17th September.

Andrew's father believes his disappearance was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and that he possibly wanted to re-invent himself. I'm not so sure about that, it's not often you hear of 14 year-old's taking off to create a new life for themselves.

I think Andrew went off to London for some big adventure, although it does seem odd that he didn't purchase a return ticket. Although Andrew was an intelligent lad, he was still only 14 and often teenagers at that young age do not see the bigger picture or consider the consequences of their actions.

 

[Inspector Evans]

Just been looking at Digitalspy forum as there's 4-5 threads from a year or so after he went missing.

Old poster on there was in contact with the Gosden family in 2008 and wanted some information about the Shrewsbury area. Around that time there was a story someone had gone to a police station in Shropshire and claimed to have information but could only use the intercom as no one was present in the station.

Anyway:

Anyone Living In Shrewsbury,shropshire,need Help Reguarding Missing Andrew Gosden

Hi everyone, Ive been on here quite a few times spreading awareness to a young lad who went missing last Septemeber 2007.

forums.digitalspy.com

"
Is there a meeting ground where they may all get together in the evenings?

Andrew was heavily into the goth/emo scene when he was at home in Doncaster and each time he has been sighted its usually around these type of lads and girls."

I do think the Youtube meet up thing would've tempted him down to London as a last minute "why not?" type decision. Maybe he was there and because there were so many kids who looked similar he just wasn't remembered. And of course 14/15 year olds won't be religiously following the news so they'd have been unaware of the mass appeals in the months after especially if they came from areas that weren't Yorkshire.

No idea what happened to him afterwards though if it did all play out like that.

 

[WiseOwl]

Just been looking at Digitalspy forum as there's 4-5 threads from a year or so after he went missing.

Old poster on there was in contact with the Gosden family in 2008 and wanted some information about the Shrewsbury area. Around that time there was a story someone had gone to a police station in Shropshire and claimed to have information but could only use the intercom as no one was present in the station.

Anyway:

Anyone Living In Shrewsbury,shropshire,need Help Reguarding Missing Andrew Gosden

Hi everyone, Ive been on here quite a few times spreading awareness to a young lad who went missing last Septemeber 2007.

forums.digitalspy.com

"
Is there a meeting ground where they may all get together in the evenings?

Andrew was heavily into the goth/emo scene when he was at home in Doncaster and each time he has been sighted its usually around these type of lads and girls."

I do think the Youtube meet up thing would've tempted him down to London as a last minute "why not?" type decision. Maybe he was there and because there were so many kids who looked similar he just wasn't remembered. And of course 14/15 year olds won't be religiously following the news so they'd have been unaware of the mass appeals in the months after especially if they came from areas that weren't Yorkshire.

No idea what happened to him afterwards though if it did all play out like that.

Has it ever been confirmed he was 'heavily into' the goth/emo scene? I don't recall reading about that. He might have been into his metal music but it doesn't necessarily mean he hung around with like-minded people. His family stated that, although he had a circle of friends at school, he spent most of his time at home, and his sister said that he wasn't into social media at all. He seemed to be the sort of lad who enjoyed his own company, and there is nothing unusual or wrong about that.

The police checked all devices that Andrew may of used at home, school and the local library but there was no trace of Andrew having set up any accounts. From what we know of Andrew, it seems unlikely to me he went to London for the YouTube meet up. His father said he was more likely to visIt the British Museum for the Tutankhamun exhibitian, and i think he was more likely into that sort of thing than any social media connections.

As for any sightings of Andrew, the only 100% confirmed sighting is of him leaving King's Cross station, no other sighting from that time has ever been confirmed as being him.

 

[dogperson]

Or he was just a teenager and scouts and church weren't cool anymore. Maybe he'd decided he didn't believe in God or he didn't want to do something just because his parents did. He was an adolescent. They do stuff like that

I suppose. I just don't personally know any teens in my family who would willingly walk for nearly 1 1/2 hours instead of riding the bus. That seemed odd to me, like he was avoiding someone on the bus or wanted to be able to stop off someplace on the way home.

 

[VelvetDiamante]

I used to walk home from school (about an hours' walk) when I was about 14-16, just to have some alone time. I wasn't bullied on the bus but some of the kids would get on my nerves by being loud, and the bus would be packed too.. Maybe Andrew just wanted some time to think and be alone.

 

[Markybug]

Could someone from church/scouts have been abusing him and he “simply” ran away ?

 

[JusticeDT]

Could someone from church/scouts have been abusing him and he “simply” ran away ?

Personally, I think if he had run away for any reason then he would have taken the cash in his bedroom and more clothes. I think he intended to come back and probably by that evening.

 

[davidt]

I suppose. I just don't personally know any teens in my family who would willingly walk for nearly 1 1/2 hours instead of riding the bus. That seemed odd to me, like he was avoiding someone on the bus or wanted to be able to stop off someplace on the way home.

I've always found the information about Andrew walking home front school very frustrating, mainly because it's so vague. As for as I can make out in the weeks leading up to his disappearance he sometimes walked home from school rather than take the bus. But there seems little specific information on this. Exactly when did he start doing this? How many times did he do it, and was there any pattern to it? Clearly if if was the same day(s) each time its much more likely there was a specific reason for doing so rather than just randomly walking home from time to time when he felt like it.

 

[Markybug]

Maybe he was meeting someone for that time period , who then ran him home ?

 

[davidt]

Having yet another think about his case. Got me wondering just exactly when Andrew decided not to go to school. There's never been anything to date to give any idea what he was planning to do that day. Is it possible its actually much more about what he did NOT want to do that day, i.e. go to school. Perhaps he didn't have any specific plans other than he just didn't want to go to school. Is it even possible when he left the house that morning in his school clothes he was genuinely leaving for school and changed his mind on the way?

He don't give anyone a clue about anything. He didn't make a much as a hint to his sister, friends, anyone else he knew about bunking off. There's no evidence of any forward planning or arranging to meet someone. Could he really have done it on the spur of the moment? He was said to be grumpy that morning, is that a small clue? Admittedly there's still the thorny issue of why he emptied his bank account that day.

 

[Aluev]

Having yet another think about his case. Got me wondering just exactly when Andrew decided not to go to school. There's never been anything to date to give any idea what he was planning to do that day. Is it possible its actually much more about what he did NOT want to do that day, i.e. go to school. Perhaps he didn't have any specific plans other than he just didn't want to go to school. Is it even possible when he left the house that morning in his school clothes he was genuinely leaving for school and changed his mind on the way?

That is a possibility but to this day, we don't have any indication that there was something or someone at school that he wanted to avoid so much as willing to skip school.

There could also be other reasons though, like wanting to rebel like a proper teenager for a change! It could have been a spur of the moment thing and him emptying his bank account could be because he couldn't guess how much money he would be needing for his London adventure.

And that reminds me, has it been discussed what kind of cash-card he had, linked to his bank account? Was it a debit card or a cash only card?

 

[davidt]

That is a possibility but to this day, we don't have any indication that there was something or someone at school that he wanted to avoid so much as willing to skip school.

There could also be other reasons though, like wanting to rebel like a proper teenager for a change! It could have been a spur of the moment thing and him emptying his bank account could be because he couldn't guess how much money he would be needing for his London adventure.

And that reminds me, has it been discussed what kind of cash-card he had, linked to his bank account? Was it a debit card or a cash only card?

I've always found it quite hard to form a good picture of Andrew as a person. I don't have much idea if he was a happy child or not. It seems that he preferred his own company and playing computer games at home. Not really sure what his school life was like. I have read second hand accounts supposedly claiming former schoolmates have said he may have been bullied at times. There doesn't seem to be much evidence of him mixing socially outside of school. When he started walking home from school I haven't seen anything to suggest his family asked him why either.

So whether he had any issues with school is really hard to gauge. As you say there's no indication of anything amiss. It was just similarly there's no indication of him wanting to do someone else specific either. So I was just wondering what his primary motivation may have been that day. Not to go to school, or there was something rise he wanted to do that day.

 

[Konstantin]

I've always found it quite hard to form a good picture of Andrew as a person. I don't have much idea if he was a happy child or not. It seems that he preferred his own company and playing computer games at home.

This.
What we know about Andrew seems to have come primarily from his father. Andrew's dad seems like a really good person who loves his son deeply, but Andrew was a teenager and no parent really knows everything that is going on in their child's life. The kid they knew has changed. Andrew had secrets, it seems, like most teenagers do.

So for example all of the narratives that say Andrew did not have a mobile phone because his father says he did not have one are worthless in my opinion because how on earth could his dad have known if Andrew had a secret phone. Andrew was a smart kid and teenagers regularly hide stuff (successfully) from their parents. All sorts of stuff might have been going on in Andrew's life and his parents and sister just didn't know because he hid things and didn't tell them, this is normal -- even if Andrew's disappearance is obviously not.

Unless Andrew is found -- and I hope he is alive and can eventually make himself known, whatever has happened to him -- and tells his story, it is unlikely we will ever know these details. There are probably some details that the police know and are holding back.

 

[wtiger]

IMO the point here is that according to his parents account of Andrew, he was NOT the type of kid to leave home without telling anyone.....BUT we know from cctv that he did!

puts doubt upon anything else asserted as fact by them

 

[Kittypoo]

I've always found it quite hard to form a good picture of Andrew as a person. I don't have much idea if he was a happy child or not. It seems that he preferred his own company and playing computer games at home. Not really sure what his school life was like. I have read second hand accounts supposedly claiming former schoolmates have said he may have been bullied at times. There doesn't seem to be much evidence of him mixing socially outside of school. When he started walking home from school I haven't seen anything to suggest his family asked him why either.

So whether he had any issues with school is really hard to gauge. As you say there's no indication of anything amiss. It was just similarly there's no indication of him wanting to do someone else specific either. So I was just wondering what his primary motivation may have been that day. Not to go to school, or there was something rise he wanted to do that day.

Of course there is the possibility Andrew connected with someone unknown through the computer games as teenagers do. So even if he didn’t have a mobile he could have been targeted in this way. JMO