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

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SBM.

annpats said:
Had it not been for this CCTV, then we'd only have the driver's witness account. Although I haven't heard anything about that yet....have they identified the driver? I presume they have from other CCTV in the area and traced the number plate.
I guess the police are keeping some things close to their chest, but a few more details like what the converstation between Richard and the driver was, if any. It may provide further clues to the public.
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Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Danny Gosling said on Thursday:
And having spoken to the taxi driver and made some CCTV inquiries


Richard Okorogheye: Missing student seen walking from taxi checking his phone after cab ride from London to Essex
 
I’m a new member and apologise if this post is naive but I’m puzzled that police have released so little information compared to many previous cases of a missing teenager. Of course it could simply mean they have little info themselves, but they’ve tracked down and spoken with the cab driver, analysed Richard's devices, spoken to his friends, etc, which would surely have yielded at least some further clues to his activities and, potentially, his state of mind. Can more experienced members offer reasons why the police are apparently being so tight-lipped?
 
I’m a new member and apologise if this post is naive but I’m puzzled that police have released so little information compared to many previous cases of a missing teenager. Of course it could simply mean they have little info themselves, but they’ve tracked down and spoken in detail with the cab driver, analysed Richard's devices, presumably spoken to his friends, etc, which would have yielded at least some further clues to his activities and, potentially, his state of mind. Can more experienced members offer reasons why the police are apparently being so tight-lipped?
 
Ms Joel said she was particularly worried about the cold weather as it could cause Mr Okorogheye excruciating pain due to his condition...

With the sleety snow in London this morning and massive dip in temperature, if he is still alive and outside, this will not be good.
 
Cuko said:
I’m a new member and apologise if this post is naive but I’m puzzled that police have released so little information compared to many previous cases of a missing teenager. Of course it could simply mean they have little info themselves, but they’ve tracked down and spoken in detail with the cab driver, analysed Richard's devices, presumably spoken to his friends, etc, which would have yielded at least some further clues to his activities and, potentially, his state of mind. Can more experienced members offer reasons why the police are apparently being so tight-lipped?
Click to expand...

I imagine it’s to avoid tipping off anyone under suspicion or to avoiding prejudicing ongoing enquiries.
 
Good Morning guys, as with everybody else this whole thing is really bugging me and I'm praying for his safe return. I don't know why but this case has stuck with me a lot. I see that everyone has their detective hats on and I wanted to add a few things/ ask some questions?

  • Do we know exactly where in the W2 area of London RO took the taxi from? I'm sure that at least the police must know this because if he did take an uber (or similar taxi service) there is an exact pick up location logged.

  • If you check a journey plan (via google maps) from Quayside House to Smarts Lane the approx journey time is 1hr 14mins and involves a 2 minute walk> Taking the number 23 bus to Marble Arch Station (Which falls under W2 area)> Then the Central Line to Loughton station> Then an 11 minute walk to Smarts Lane.

  • What was he doing in the W2 area all of this time? Why did he break up his journey and in the end opt to take a taxi? I wonder why he took the taxi in the end instead of the train? Both have the exact same eta from Marble Arch Station (Speculating that is where he was in the W2 area). Were there possible train delays this night?
Theory 1: Maybe whoever he was meeting was stalling him? waiting for it to get darker?
Theory 2: Maybe he met this person/ persons in W2 but they agreed to go to Loughton and couldn't travel together because the person travelled by motorbike? (Wild guess but have to cover all possibilities)
Theory 3: Did RO perhaps not feel confident doing that 11 minute walk in this strange place from Loughton station and was he already a bit suspicious by now?

  • If RO was planning on running away imo he'd have been more resourceful. All character references thus far suggest that he is highly intelligent, why not even take a jacket when outside wasn't particularly warm at all? Why leave your wallet etc? I have 1 theory that he potentially felt a slight risk in wherever he was going or whoever he was going to meet and didn't want to risk being robbed hence a reason for leaving his wallet behind.
  • Locked Bedroom Door- Suggesting that he is perhaps quite a private person to some degree. I also have a lock on my bedroom door and have done since I was a teen.
  • He left his jacket behind? Even if he thought that he was going indoors to see someone, why would you not take a jacket? It was quite cold. He was dressed in all black, pretty stealthy, perhaps he didn't want to be seen wherever he was going (If he was going to meet somebody outdoors), does he have a jacket that is all black? If not, perhaps this is a reason? Perhaps his jacket would be easily recogniseable?
  • Why did he need his little bag? If he'd left his wallet and medication at home what else would he be carrying?
  • Drugs- I doubt it- I saw some people mention this as a possible theory but where would he have concealed them? Character references do not match up. If he was going to be shipped off to another town for CL activity i'm sure that they'd have made him make contact as soon as he hit the media to avoid drawing any attention to their operations and would have sent him home no?
Also there have been quite a high number of boys all of a similar age to Richard who had disappeared over a 4-5 week period from the London area.

Praying for him and his family. Let's find RO. If there are any other ways we can all help/ pull in resources please do share guys
 
call_me_a said:
Good Morning guys, as with everybody else this whole thing is really bugging me and I'm praying for his safe return. I don't know why but this case has stuck with me a lot. I see that everyone has their detective hats on and I wanted to add a few things/ ask some questions?

  • Do we know exactly where in the W2 area of London RO took the taxi from? I'm sure that at least the police must know this because if he did take an uber (or similar taxi service) there is an exact pick up location logged.

  • If you check a journey plan (via google maps) from Quayside House to Smarts Lane the approx journey time is 1hr 14mins and involves a 2 minute walk> Taking the number 23 bus to Marble Arch Station (Which falls under W2 area)> Then the Central Line to Loughton station> Then an 11 minute walk to Smarts Lane.

  • What was he doing in the W2 area all of this time? Why did he break up his journey and in the end opt to take a taxi? I wonder why he took the taxi in the end instead of the train? Both have the exact same eta from Marble Arch Station (Speculating that is where he was in the W2 area). Were there possible train delays this night?
Theory 1: Maybe whoever he was meeting was stalling him? waiting for it to get darker?
Theory 2: Maybe he met this person/ persons in W2 but they agreed to go to Loughton and couldn't travel together because the person travelled by motorbike? (Wild guess but have to cover all possibilities)
Theory 3: Did RO perhaps not feel confident doing that 11 minute walk in this strange place from Loughton station and was he already a bit suspicious by now?

  • If RO was planning on running away imo he'd have been more resourceful. All character references thus far suggest that he is highly intelligent, why not even take a jacket when outside wasn't particularly warm at all? Why leave your wallet etc? I have 1 theory that he potentially felt a slight risk in wherever he was going or whoever he was going to meet and didn't want to risk being robbed hence a reason for leaving his wallet behind.
  • Locked Bedroom Door- Suggesting that he is perhaps quite a private person to some degree. I also have a lock on my bedroom door and have done since I was a teen.
  • He left his jacket behind? Even if he thought that he was going indoors to see someone, why would you not take a jacket? It was quite cold. He was dressed in all black, pretty stealthy, perhaps he didn't want to be seen wherever he was going (If he was going to meet somebody outdoors), does he have a jacket that is all black? If not, perhaps this is a reason? Perhaps his jacket would be easily recogniseable?
  • Why did he need his little bag? If he'd left his wallet and medication at home what else would he be carrying?
  • Drugs- I doubt it- I saw some people mention this as a possible theory but where would he have concealed them? Character references do not match up. If he was going to be shipped off to another town for CL activity i'm sure that they'd have made him make contact as soon as he hit the media to avoid drawing any attention to their operations and would have sent him home no?
Also there have been quite a high number of boys all of a similar age to Richard who had disappeared over a 4-5 week period from the London area.

Praying for him and his family. Let's find RO. If there are any other ways we can all help/ pull in resources please do share guys
Click to expand...

Correction, the eta from his home "Quayside house" to Smarts Lane in Loughton is 1hr 27mins (taking the number 23 bus route)
 
I honestly think if he'd have planned on running away he would have taken more belongings with him. Not necessarily his card (he could have a few cards or cash) - but a jacket at least? Unless someone has been assisting him and they had some clothes/a jacket waiting? I've also seen lots of speculation on social media that maybe his home life and his relationship with his mother isn't as good as the picture that has been painted. I think this is inappropriate - there has been nothing to suggest this is the case and it must be incredibly hard for the family regardless, without speculation that they are in some way indirectly at fault in his disappearance (no one on WS has been doing this, just something I noticed on SM particularly in the last few days). I guess it's also important to remember that a teenager (or anyone for that matter) can have all sorts of things going on in terms of mental health etc that isn't necessarily obvious even to those closest to them, whilst still living in what would be considered a 'happy home'. I know as a teenager I struggled with serious mental health issues - my mum is a wonderful mother and in general we got on very well but in that headspace and at that age you often feel very isolated/like no one understands etc. Despite the fact mental health has become much less stigmatised in the past few years it doesn't mean it necessarily makes it easier to talk about with parents etc. - especially since there is sometimes a generational difference in how much it is considered taboo etc. I think its also often particularly hard for young men/men to talk about their mental health, due to societal expectations etc.

JMO
 
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Cuko said:
I’m a new member and apologise if this post is naive but I’m puzzled that police have released so little information compared to many previous cases of a missing teenager. Of course it could simply mean they have little info themselves, but they’ve tracked down and spoken with the cab driver, analysed Richard's devices, spoken to his friends, etc, which would surely have yielded at least some further clues to his activities and, potentially, his state of mind. Can more experienced members offer reasons why the police are apparently being so tight-lipped?
Click to expand...

I think they've released a comparable amount to any missing adult case I've ever seen. E.g. the missing girl Leah Croucher, who is the same age, they released CCTV, some info on her known whereabouts just before disappearance, etc. With RO they've released two sets of CCTV, quite a lot of medical info, info on his background a bit (that he's going to uni, and which uni), his known whereabouts in the day before disappearing, etc.

For sure the police have more intelligence but they won't ever release the vast majority of it for operational reasons (someone could use it), privacy reasons, or because it's not firmed-up enough to be reliable.
 
ApparentlyInDenial said:
I think they've released a comparable amount to any missing adult case I've ever seen. E.g. the missing girl Leah Croucher, who is the same age, they released CCTV, some info on her known whereabouts just before disappearance, etc. With RO they've released two sets of CCTV, quite a lot of medical info, info on his background a bit (that he's going to uni, and which uni), his known whereabouts in the day before disappearing, etc.

For sure the police have more intelligence but they won't ever release the vast majority of it for operational reasons (someone could use it), privacy reasons, or because it's not firmed-up enough to be reliable.
Click to expand...

Yep - even with the SE case that had an absolutely huge amount of media and public attention - they didn't actually release too much info at the beginning, i.e. all the cctv etc. I think that case just moved very quickly (all within the space of a week) - so the public actually got a lot of info in a relatively short period of time. JMO
 
Also just a question - if the police had intelligence that he was hiding somewhere/had gone missing deliberately, would they notify the public and stop the search?
 
sleuthheywood7 said:
Also just a question - if the police had intelligence that he was hiding somewhere/had gone missing deliberately, would they notify the public and stop the search?
Click to expand...

If that hypothetical intelligence was at the top of the reliability scale, they'd likely stop the search. By the sounds of it all with this case, they'd still want to go and do a Safe+Well check on him, then they'd inform his family and that would be it. They may announce something publicly that he's safe but no details.
 
This is a more recent picture.

I think some of those that have been put out, like the one with his mother and sitting at a computer - are years old. His hair is fuller too now, and I would imagine after 2 weeks, he has some amount of facial hair.
 

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sundaaaay said:
I'm interested in the significance of Epping forest as a potential location to commit suicide. When you search "suicide forest london", this forest does come up the first result, due to the "suicide pool" mythology but there seems to be some confusion into which pond this actually is as there is many bodies of water in the forest. Some are saying the "suicide pool" is supposedly Blackweir pond but if this was his intention, he could have asked to be dropped off at the Foresters Arms pub instead of Victoria Tavern on Smarts lane. I also question the time he has arrived as making it difficult to navigate to such a place at night with little preparation and likely only the torch on his phone. There is also Loughton Brook Storage Pond, which would not require RO to enter the forest but it has little significance as a geographical location if you were not familiar with the area, especially when you could jump into the Thames in London if you wanted to die by drowning and not be found easily. Either way, RO may not have been thinking logically and a quick search for the "suicide pool" mythology may have been enough to decide this as a suitable location. There is also the possibility of death by overdose/exposure which means he could be anywhere within the forest but it would not have been possible to continue walking all night without warm attire.

I agree that the missing time spent in London is likely key to understanding his intentions.
Click to expand...

Suicides in the UK - Office for National Statistics

Hanging accounts for about 60% of male suicides in the UK, poisioning 18%, jumping infront of a moving object 4%, fall 3.5%, drowning 3.8%, sharp object 3.5%, other 8%. I guess he could be the exception to the rule, but I generally agree with you that the idea of him stumbling around a forest he doesn't know looking for a body of water in the dark seems a bit.. odd. If he can swim, killing himself by drowning in a non flowing body of water I'd expect would be challenging if the water temperature doesn't have a huge effect. The drowning reflex is quite strong (try holding your breathe for as long as you can underwater..) and he's apparently a strong guy so unless he's dosed himself up with something beforehand I don't see how he'd do it.
 
This is such a worrying case. I feel that he may have taken his life and that he may still be found in Epping Forest. I feel that the police would possibly have stopped their search if they had no information. Perhaps they know something more- more evidence that he wanted to end his life? I hope this is not the case obviously.

Can the person talking about the catfish account explain more to me? How would this be connected and why?

The missing couple of hours in W2 surely have to be relevant and there must be a reason that we are not being told more about that. The police are not telling us everything- absolutely their prerogative - but there is more that is known and it makes it less likely that people will go all out to help (in my opinion). In Sarah Everard’s case, the public were given everything possible that was known and people checked cameras etc. This provided all the evidence. In this case we are given scanty details of Richard’s last sighting and it makes it more mysterious and shrouded.

<modsnip> I also think it is possible he was doing regular outings and mum wasn’t aware because of her shift pattern. Of course I may be wrong and this may be the one and only night he left home.

The lack of coat and bag is very odd. That makes me think possible mental health episode and he has just walked out.
 
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MsMiniSleuth said:
This is a more recent picture.

I think some of those that have been put out, like the one with his mother and sitting at a computer - are years old. His hair is fuller too now, and I would imagine after 2 weeks, he has some amount of facial hair.
Click to expand...
The top he's wearing in this pic looks like it could fold up inside his side bag. Adidas gear, right?
On another note, having watched the cctv again in better quality on Twitter, I agree with those who think he's got two phones, one of which he puts in his side bag as he's walking.
 
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