Found Deceased UK - Richard Okorogheye, 19, Oxford Student, Ladbroke Grove, West London, 24 Mar 2021

[misst]

I was praying for a breakthrough today following the sighting in Essex.

I'm not familiar with the area but would love to know, what, if anything was said between him and the cab driver. I've often had cab drivers engage in small talk (sometimes to my annoyance lol) about where I've been or where I'm going to and the like.

 

[Sundried]

Yes, a more likely scenario IMO. We know the phone was turned off between 10pm and 11pm, as his mum rang unanswered at 10 and it was off when she tried again at 11. To me, that suggests he turned it off as a reaction to the 10pm call, i.e. so he no longer had to think about whether to take or ignore her calls or so as not to be disturbed.

At that point if he needs to download maps or whatever for later, airplane mode would work. It seems he was still in London at that point, as he doesn't arrive at Epping Forest until gone midnight, unless there was a stop on the way, of course. But either way, he would turn it off or to airplane long before his arrival on this piece of CCTV so would not have had it turned on to navigate there. Alternate sims etc would reflect a level of forward planning that IMO would have seen him turn his phone off/swap over when or before he left home, which he did not do.

That said, I would have thought his provider would be able to tell the difference between off and airplane mode (and they said it was off). Also I'm sure someone on the Sarah Everard threads said that location data is still available for phones in airplane (@infinit maybe?). But probably that data would only be available to the police and the phone's status may have changed before they stirred their stumps.

jmo

I would imagine that if he went into the woods, the deeper he went in he would loose phone reception so he may not have turned it off by that point that his mum called

 

[Sundried]

Sorry double post

 

[Pinkizzy]

Does uber keep your card details when you download the app? The company may have taken the payment at the end of the journey without Richard's approval.

 

[pokerowan]

I would imagine that if he went into the woods, the deeper he went in he would loose phone reception so he may not have turned it off by that point that his mum called

I thought his mum tried to call him on the Tuesday night? CCTV was in the early hours, he could have turned it off between 0039 and 2200.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

The mother of a student who went missing over a week ago has said she believes he may have gone to meet someone he was talking to online.

Missing teenager Richard Okorogheye may have met someone he knew online, says mother | News | The Times

 

[shadwell]

Episodes of pain known as sickle cell crises are one of the most common and distressing symptoms of sickle cell disease.
The pain can be severe and lasts for up to 7 days on average.

Sickle cell disease - Symptoms

I’m assuming his mh wasn’t okay as per his mother’s comments but how was his body? Could he continue travelling or was he in pain and tired?

Oh. So he is likely to have been prescribed high strength painkillers.

 

[Ironside]

Unfortunately this case makes me think of the Liam Smith case from Scotland a few years ago.
I hope there's a better ending here though.

I was thinking about that case too. I suspect the circumstances will be the same sadly.

 

[annpats]

I would imagine that if he went into the woods, the deeper he went in he would loose phone reception so he may not have turned it off by that point that his mum called

But he had a 2nd 'burner' phone, we know this as CCTV saw him looking down at one after the 22.00hrs time, so he could quite easily turn the one off that his mother knew about, while still using his 2nd secret one.

 

[Rosegold68]

But he had a 2nd 'burner' phone, we know this as CCTV saw him looking down at one after the 22.00hrs time, so he could quite easily turn the one off that his mother knew about, while still using his 2nd secret one.

no we dont know this at all....unless you can link to it as fact? its just a guess otherwise

 

[shadwell]

Yes, a more likely scenario IMO. We know the phone was turned off between 10pm and 11pm, as his mum rang unanswered at 10 and it was off when she tried again at 11. To me, that suggests he turned it off as a reaction to the 10pm call, i.e. so he no longer had to think about whether to take or ignore her calls or so as not to be disturbed.

At that point if he needs to download maps or whatever for later, airplane mode would work. It seems he was still in London at that point, as he doesn't arrive at Epping Forest until gone midnight, unless there was a stop on the way, of course. But either way, he would turn it off or to airplane long before his arrival on this piece of CCTV so would not have had it turned on to navigate there. Alternate sims etc would reflect a level of forward planning that IMO would have seen him turn his phone off/swap over when or before he left home, which he did not do.

That said, I would have thought his provider would be able to tell the difference between off and airplane mode (and they said it was off). Also I'm sure someone on the Sarah Everard threads said that location data is still available for phones in airplane (@infinit maybe?). But probably that data would only be available to the police and the phone's status may have changed before they stirred their stumps.

jmo

Android phones continue to log location data while the phone is in airplane mode, but the data is only sent back to Google when airplane mode is turned off and the phone reconnects to the network.

ETA link: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/7811918/google-is-tracking-you-even-with-airplane-mode-turned-on/

 

[annpats]

no we dont know this at all....unless you can link to it as fact? its just a guess otherwise

Read further up the thread. It's discussed then, no? When he gets out of the taxi, he's looking down at a phone...

 

[annpats]

Agree he's holding a phone, so that suggests a second one his mum doesn't know about, or an alternate sim.

Other sleuthers mentioning a potential 2nd phone from CCTV from the pub.....

 

[Rosegold68]

a phone is potentially in the photo/still but how do we know its a 'burner' phone?

how? has this been released as information? i've only seen it mulled over by other people here, but i come back and now its a fact?

 

[Puzzles]

For those who believed Richard was checking his phone when he left the taxi, this article verifies those astute observations.

Richard Okorogheye: Missing student seen walking from taxi checking his phone after cab ride from London to Essex

Edited to prevent copyright infringement and spelling error.

 

[JuicyLucy]

a phone is potentially in the photo/still but how do we know its a 'burner' phone?

how? has this been released as information? i've only seen it mulled over by other people hereabout i come back and now its a fact?

No, you're right, definitely not a fact. Maybe a second phone, maybe a second sim, maybe his normal phone and sim but using it in airplane mode, maybe not a phone in his hand after all, or something else no one's thought of yet. We've literally just been discussing the possibilities, as you say.

 

[Sundried]

a phone is potentially in the photo/still but how do we know its a 'burner' phone?

how? has this been released as information? i've only seen it mulled over by other people here, but i come back and now its a fact?

Yeh I’m confused, who confirmed? He could have been looking down at his one and only phone that was switched on it doesn’t mean he was able to receive calls. From what I remember phone signal is not good in and around the woods there in some parts. Equally he could have turned off receiving calls or put his mums number on block.

 

[dotr]

April 1 2021

Richard Okorogheye: no recent activity on phone of missing Londoner, say police
''Police said he then took a taxi from the W2 area of London to a residential street in Loughton, in Essex. CCTV footage showed him walking alone on Smarts Lane towards Epping Forest at 12.39am on Tuesday 23 March.

His mother has told reporters she believes he may have been going to meet someone he had been talking to online. Gosling said: “At this stage, we don’t know why Richard has come to Loughton, there is no clear reason.”

 

[Alyce]

At 12.39am on Tuesday, Mar 23, Mr Okorogheye is seen on CCTV getting out of the taxi and walking towards the area of Nursery Road and Epping Forest. He can be seen checking his phone as he walks.

Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Danny Gosling said on Thursday: "We've been making extensive inquiries into the disappearance of Richard and over the last few days we've conducted a number of inquiries in relation to his mobile phone activity and also his financial activity.

"As a direct consequence of that we are able to identify that Richard paid for a taxi from west London which brought him here (Loughton).

"And having spoke to the taxi driver and made some CCTV inquiries we're confident that this was Richard's last sighting at about half past midnight into the early hours on Tuesday (March) 23."

Asked if there had been any recent activity on Mr Okorogheye's mobile phones, Mr Gosling added: "As far as we can tell at the moment, there's been no activity on those that we're aware of.



Richard Okorogheye: Missing student seen walking from taxi checking his phone after cab ride from London to Essex

 

[Puzzles]

Link to The Guardian, suggesting LE is investigating possible sightings of Richard after the last confirmed sighting:

Richard Okorogheye: no recent activity on phone of missing Londoner, say police