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

[Catdetective]

Just wondering if there was any chance he was going to an underground music event or similar. There was a lockdown rave situated fairly close to the location he was dropped off by the cab last summer - Police shut down illegal rave in Walthamstow Forest as 500 lockdown revellers keep residents awake | Daily Mail Online

There must be some reason he was heading for Epping Forest. If he wanted to go somewhere to harm himself there are plenty of closer London parks/open spaces etc. MOO

 

[sleuthheywood7]

Yep, he definitely doesn't seem to hang around - he does appear to be looking at a phone or screen (which looks turned on and illuminated) as well. If the car is an Uber - which it does look like due to the car model, then he would have had to have a phone to be able to order one, presuming he didn't order it prior to 10pm, which seems unlikely due to the time that he arrived in Loughton. I agree that he looks like he is heading in the direction of the forest with intent...I wonder if he was going to meet someone and expected his mum not to notice due to the timings of her shift? Maybe he had been there before - I went there on a school trip when I was in primary school and I doubt that my parents would remember now. JMO

 

[shadwell]

Just wondering if there was any chance he was going to an undercover music event or similar. There was a lockdown rave situated fairly close to the location he was dropped off by the cab last summer - Police shut down illegal rave in Walthamstow Forest as 500 lockdown revellers keep residents awake | Daily Mail Online

There must be some reason he was heading for Epping Forest. If he wanted to go somewhere to harm himself there are plenty of closer London parks/open spaces etc. MOO

True. Though going back to his mother’s statement re possible ‘grooming,’ I do wonder slightly if the journey to Loughton was his own initiative or whether there may have been an element of third party involvement.

 

[sleuthheywood7]

Just wondering if there was any chance he was going to an undercover music event or similar. There was a lockdown rave situated fairly close to the location he was dropped off by the cab last summer - Police shut down illegal rave in Walthamstow Forest as 500 lockdown revellers keep residents awake | Daily Mail Online

There must be some reason he was heading for Epping Forest. If he wanted to go somewhere to harm himself there are plenty of closer London parks/open spaces etc. MOO

That came to my mind too - I am involved in music and am aware they often happen in areas around Walthamstow/Leyton/Essex and often in wooded areas. It is unusual for a music event like that to happen on a weeknight - I think probably because the organisers realise they are more likely to stand out with less people around - although obviously I'm sure they do sometimes. MOO

 

[Dénouement]

If it’s Uber it is possible to schedule a pick up in advance (don’t use them not sure of the specifics) the police haven’t said what time the journey was booked

Also there is an app called HereWeGo which allows you to download maps and use them offline. I only ever used it without Wifi in SEA unsure whether a network connection is needed to function.

 

[IainD]

Wow, yes, that answers a couple of questions. Agree he's holding a phone, so that suggests a second one his mum doesn't know about, or an alternate sim. I think the bag is his Adidas one, just held by the strap rather than worn on him. He seems surprisingly relaxed. If the last sighting at oo39h was him actually arriving in a minicab, there's some lost time to account for in London, isn't there - it's not a 3 hour journey. I wonder if the taxi driver has come forward. More questions than answers, as usual!

BBM:

I was thinking that if Richard has a dual sim phone, then he could have another sim that his mum doesn't know about.
I have one and I use one number for work and the other for family and friends, when I'm not at work I disabled that sim and any calls go straight to voicemail,this could explain why his mum couldn't contact him but he was still able to use his phone.
MOO...

 

[sleuthheywood7]

I just watched this sky news interview with a member of the police - when questioned about RO's phone activity he appears to reply in the plural - "the phones are" and "no activity on those".

Richard Okorogheye: Student took taxi from London to Essex

This could very well be just the way the question/answer has been phrased, but thought it was worth pointing out. JMO

 

[shadwell]

If it’s Uber it is possible to schedule a pick up in advance (don’t use them not sure of the specifics) the police haven’t said what time the journey was booked

Also there is an app called HereWeGo which allows you to download maps and use them offline. I only ever used it without Wifi in SEA unsure whether a network connection is needed to function.

Yes, there are several hiking apps that offer large scale map download and navigation (including off-road paths and trails) via GPS without a network connection.

 

[BrokenBoy]

I have a slightly darker view on this - as a personal opinion from personal experience - he was deeply depressed and locked in his room, knowing full well he needs regular medical treatment to survive.
Personally if that was me, and I was totally done with life, I’d spend a night walking around my home town as a kind of goodbye, and go somewhere peaceful. I’ve been locked inside, so the forest would make sense - you wouldn’t need to harm yourself, simply doing nothing would work and you’d die eventually

 

[infinit]

BBM:

I was thinking that if Richard has a dual sim phone, then he could have another sim that his mum doesn't know about.
I have one and I use one number for work and the other for family and friends, when I'm not at work I disabled that sim and any calls go straight to voicemail,this could explain why his mum couldn't contact him but he was still able to use his phone.
MOO...

If so he'd be easy to track via the IEMI of the phone which is sent to the tower. On the same phone it'd be the same IEMI even with a different SIM.

 

[IainD]

If so he'd be easy to track via the IEMI of the phone which is sent to the tower. On the same phone it'd be the same IEMI even with a different SIM.

Yes your correct he could still be tracked, but he would still be able you use his phone for directions and then turn it off completely once he had got close enough to his destination.
MOO

 

[Rosegold68]

I have a slightly darker view on this - as a personal opinion from personal experience - he was deeply depressed and locked in his room, knowing full well he needs regular medical treatment to survive.
Personally if that was me, and I was totally done with life, I’d spend a night walking around my home town as a kind of goodbye, and go somewhere peaceful. I’ve been locked inside, so the forest would make sense - you wouldn’t need to harm yourself, simply doing nothing would work and you’d die eventually

i agree with much of this. But i think waiting to die would not be an easy thing, speeding it along may be key to whats in that bag. Sorry affair all round.

 

[Coconutty]

It’s easy enough to pick up a burner phone for £20 with a sim in it, it definitely looks as if he’s got an illuminated phone on him.

He’s looking behind to make sure the taxi has driven off too IMO. Maybe he didn’t want the driver to see where he was going. It’s a long journey so you’d assume there was at least a bit of small talk.

I think his computer history will hold the key, recent searches etc.

 

[shadwell]

Yes your correct he could still be tracked, but he would still be able you use his phone for directions and then turn it off completely once he had got close enough to his destination.
MOO

Though (as noted above) he could also use a downloaded map and GPS to navigate ‘invisibly’ with the phone in airplane mode.

 

[Tortoise]

What's the likeliest scenario - he was tracked by his phone location, by a payment on his phone, or by the taxi driver coming forward?

 

[shadwell]

What's the likeliest scenario - he was tracked by his phone location, by a payment on his phone, or by the taxi driver coming forward?

The impression I got was that the journey was identified via the payment - if the driver hadn’t already come forward he will almost certainly have been spoken to by now.

 

[infinit]

It's one thing to kill yourself, quite another to not have a desire to be found to the extent you start using burner phones to mask the location. The CCTV video I think makes it more promising his intention was not to simply kill himself. It would be useful to know if he has any links to this area and if he's been in the forest before.

 

[IainD]

Though (as noted above) he could also use a downloaded map and GPS to navigate ‘invisibly’ with the phone in airplane mode.

Yes there are quite a few options that he could have used, I was only giving one example of how his mum couldn't contact him, but he would still be able to have a fully functioning phone, without having to go to the expense of having two phones.

MOO...

 

[JuicyLucy]

Though (as noted above) he could also use a downloaded map and GPS to navigate ‘invisibly’ with the phone in airplane mode.

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

 

[Dénouement]

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?