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

[ChatteringBirds]

There is a very high probability they had in their possession digital material which identified Andrew

Welcome to Websleuths, @Phoenix101

If so, why was neither charged with a crime?
I imagine anyone with images of one child/teen usually has many images (ETA: of different child victims) in their possession...(ETA: Which should be enough for a long prison sentence.)

 

[vagab0nd]

There exists two possibilities as I see it.

1) Andrew was groomed and met someone which resulted in his kidnapping and trafficking.

2) Andrew was not groomed, didn't meet anyone but was kidnapped and trafficked.

The police have already given us the biggest clue possible. They stated that two men were arrested on suspicion of kidnap and trafficking in connection with Andrew Gosden and their devices were being analyzed.

There is a very high probability they had in their possession digital material which identified Andrew but they were not involved in kidnapping him. As such the CPS did not charge them and they were released.

I don't understand how any of these other theories hold any weight. The police do not randomly connect kidnapping and trafficking with an old cold case.

I doubt he was trafficked by those two men.

Both men were arrested in London, which is where Andrew was last seen. Because the police were investigating charges of human trafficking, the theory was that Andrew may have been groomed or intercepted by a predatory network operating in the capital. The older suspect was also found to be in possession of indecent images of children, which immediately heightened the police's suspicion that he could have been involved in the exploitation or abduction of a minor like Andrew. Key word being maybe. It's just another theory police had.

The police took nearly two years to analyze the men's devices, looking for any digital footprints such as photos, emails, or chat logs that could date back to 2007 or mention Andrew specifically. They found none.

There was no forensic evidence and the accounts the men gave for their whereabouts in September 2007 were eventually corroborated and confirmed by detectives.

This is all just a baseless theory.

 

[wtiger]

i believe the 2 arrests were based upon a tip-off from a member of the public - presumably this was a dead-end