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

[heartandsoul]

If his mum needed to call a locksmith to get in, that would suggest to me that either:

1. He locked it from the inside and left the property by other means. This seems unlikely, but I suppose not impossible, in a block of flats.
2. The lock is part of the door itself.

I don't think it's that unusual for an older teenager living with their parents to lock their door at times. My main question is, therefore, is it unusual behaviour for Richard to keep his door locked when he isn't at home? Does he routinely lock his bedroom door when leaving the house? If not, the decision to do so that day could be important.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I hope a formal complaint will be filed if a police officer was insensitive toward his mother, as reported.

It's just a feeling on my part that he was a quiet, private person.
His mother clearly loves him dearly. His parents probably knew he was struggling; many people are especially now, but they were doing their best for him. They deserve support, reassurance, and as much help as possible from LE.

I'm afraid someone who did not have good intentions lured him to meet.
But I hope he's safe and staying with a decent friend his parents just don't know about.
Please be safe and contact home.

 

[Bogyo13]

Just heard about him on BBC, Victoria Derbyshire. Really feel for his parents, I hope he's found soon, very worrying.

 

[nozomu]

If he was leaving his home, and knew no one would be in, locking his door isn't exactly unusual especially if he had any valuables in his room like a laptop? People do that sometimes as a precaution just in case they're broken in to. (MOO)

I really hope he comes home soon - it's been so long now.

 

[Bogyo13]

How long did they wait for the locksmith to come out? Why not break the door if they were worried something happened to him inside the locked room?
Does he normally lock his door when he leaves home?
Where did the phone ping last time before switching off? I hope LE is looking into it properly. So many cameras in London, I hope they look as thoroughly as they did for Sarah Everard, glad BBC and Sky picked it up JMO

 

[JuicyLucy]

Also, I know @Amonet and I are on the same page on this one - all missing persons are not treated equally and they should be.
<sbm for focus>

I couldn't agree more. Race, class, sex, mental and physical health, age, attractiveness, financial means - they all combine with each other to create a pecking order dictating how many resources are put into a missing persons enquiry.

So much of life now is calculated by algorithm - the advertising you see, the length of traffic light phasings, school place allocations, the amount of pasta being delivered to your local Tescos. I get that police resources are finite but it really ought to be possible in this day and age to apply an algorithm to misper cases to calculate how genuinely urgent they are independent of all the habits and prejudices that seem to underpin SOP.

 

[Mind your biscuits]

Mum of missing boy, 19, 'wants to hear his voice' as police check his computer

So, is there an actual Canal nearby? I read Canal St and Quayside in the above link supplied by @dotr. Maybe it's filled in or something, not uncommon in the UK.

 

[Tortoise]

Nothing to add, just my hopes for this young man's safety and prayers for him and his lovely mum.

 

[JuicyLucy]

Mum of missing boy, 19, 'wants to hear his voice' as police check his computer

So, is there an actual Canal nearby? I read Canal St and Quayside in the above link supplied by @dotr. Maybe it's filled in or something, not uncommon in the UK.

No, an actual canal. It's part of the Grand Union Canal. Ladbroke Grove is on the south side and Kensal Green Cemetery is on the north side. I've just realised I know that area a bit actually.

Some canal impressions:

Hidden London – the Grand Union Canal by Ladbroke Grove

Canalside Treks: Grand Union Canal through London’s Kensal Green to Paddington

 

[Coconutty]

I hope they’ve not left it too late to check CCTV.

It’s not right that disappearances aren’t treated the same.

His poor mum.

 

[Mind your biscuits]

No, an actual canal. It's part of the Grand Union Canal. Ladbroke Grove is on the south side and Kensal Green Cemetery is on the north side. I've just realised I know that area a bit actually.

Some canal impressions:

Hidden London – the Grand Union Canal by Ladbroke Grove

Canalside Treks: Grand Union Canal through London’s Kensal Green to Paddington

Fantastic links, I felt as if I was right there reading that. I wouldn't want to fall into that green stuff though.
During lock down I binge watched three seasons of a British show about one man on his canal boat.
It's quite sad how many cases we have on here where a young man goes for a walk and is never seen or heard from again. Moo.

 

[Sarahlou]

I don't find it strange that he had a lock on his door at all.
I really hope he is found very soon.

 

[SuziQ]

If his mum needed to call a locksmith to get in, that would suggest to me that either:

1. He locked it from the inside and left the property by other means. This seems unlikely, but I suppose not impossible, in a block of flats.
2. The lock is part of the door itself.

I don't think it's that unusual for an older teenager living with their parents to lock their door at times. My main question is, therefore, is it unusual behaviour for Richard to keep his door locked when he isn't at home? Does he routinely lock his bedroom door when leaving the house? If not, the decision to do so that day could be important.

You can put a keyed door knob on an interior door. I have them on my bedroom and closet doors to keep the grandkids away from my guns. Roommates have keyed locks on their bedroom doors as well.

 

[SuziQ]

I don't find it strange that he had a lock on his door at all.
I really hope he is found very soon.

I don't either. He is a grown man who needs his privacy.

 

[IainD]

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the force “is committed to providing the best possible service to families of missing people”.
These families “should always be treated with respect and dignity by officers, and have confidence that officers will make every effort to investigate the circumstances of the disappearance with a matter of urgency”, they said.

Mother ‘heartbroken’ after ‘police say they won’t be able to find missing son if she can’t’

 

[IainD]

Ms Joel, a nurse, returned home from work at about 21:00 GMT and assumed her son - who had only been leaving the house for regular blood transfusions - was in his bedroom.

She claims when his disappearance was first reported, police "did nothing".

Ms Joel said officers initially told her Richard was an adult, who could go out and come back whenever he wanted.

"I said he's a young adult with a medical condition and he has left home without his medication. No jacket, no money, so I'm worried, I'm concerned about his wellbeing. I need help, I need them to look for him for me. The response was 'sorry'."

"Every time I called them they said there was no update. If you're doing something there should be a result, no? They kept telling us there's no update - that was not very encouraging."

She added: "It was only Sunday and yesterday [Monday] that I felt like they were doing something."

Richard Okorogheye: Mother calls for more help to find missing son

 

[Pinkizzy]

You can check London Traffic Cameras - Live TfL JamCam Feeds for any CCTV near Ladbroke Grove. There's an archive section for images on March 22nd.

 

[shadwell]

You can check London Traffic Cameras - Live TfL JamCam Feeds for any CCTV near Ladbroke Grove. There's an archive section for images on March 22nd.

Yes, I had a brief look earlier - there’s a tall figure in black (bottom left) walking East on Harrow Road at 21.01 on the Harrow Road/Kilburn Lane junction camera. But then that’s not an unusual look for London.


ETA link: https://livetrains.co.uk/jamCams/osm/#00001.07376

 

[JuicyLucy]

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the force “is committed to providing the best possible service to families of missing people”.
These families “should always be treated with respect and dignity by officers, and have confidence that officers will make every effort to investigate the circumstances of the disappearance with a matter of urgency”, they said.

Mother ‘heartbroken’ after ‘police say they won’t be able to find missing son if she can’t’

“I told a police officer that my son was missing, please help me find him, and she said ‘if you can’t find your son, how do you expect police officers to find your son for you?’”

This is so awful that I'm lost for words.

 

[IainD]

You can check London Traffic Cameras - Live TfL JamCam Feeds for any CCTV near Ladbroke Grove. There's an archive section for images on March 22nd.

Thank You for posting the link much appreciated, I'm on my phone just now, but will have a proper look on my laptop when I get home from work.....