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

[nippernipper]

It is one of the most frustrating aspects of this case - knowing what exactly was so important about London.

JMO - I don't think it was the Youtube event that was important to him. I think it was either one of the concerts on the Friday or another completely unknown reason. If it was the Youtube event then I would say he went with someone else - otherwise I can't see any reason why he wouldn't have gone at the weekend with his parents permission (certainly it seems they were happy for him to visit London on his own in the weeks of the school holidays). Also the Youtube event seems a bit too social for a boy who was described as an introvert (I know concerts are social - but actually you can stand at a concert and be on your own, enjoy the music and not socialise with anyone else if you choose not to)

IMO there was someone/something specific to that Friday. The question of course is what?

I really think this was a spur of the moment decision for Andrew. Fridays are usually an early finish in British schools, meaning he would likely be off school by 12. Schools often need to remind parents (and teens) that "Friday is a normal school day", because that's when parents sometimes keep their kids home or teenagers choose to bunk off school, as they only have 3 hours of class. So I think even in that, Andrew was quite responsible. He probably thought he could safely skip school that day and just head to London or somewhere else for the day and make it back in time to see his parents in the evening (this is very doable if you're only planning on spending a few hours there).

I think this is likely the case, given that he took no other clothes with him, didn't take the PSP charger, took his house keys, left his uniform in the back of the chair aat home like always, didn't leave any sort of note for parents. People on the train also described him as just playing on his PSP, which is very typical behaviour for him. You'd think if he was planning to be gone for longer he would've taken some sort of cd player or similar, given he loved music so much.

London is a fantastic city for someone like Andrew, he really didn't need to have a specific reason to go there. His dad said he could've spent weeks in the Kensington museums if given the chance, and all the big London museums had and have free admission. So he would've had plenty to entertain himself with, even without going to a specific event.

 

[Lucy6226]

I really think this was a spur of the moment decision for Andrew. Fridays are usually an early finish in British schools, meaning he would likely be off school by 12. Schools often need to remind parents (and teens) that "Friday is a normal school day", because that's when parents sometimes keep their kids home or teenagers choose to bunk off school, as they only have 3 hours of class. So I think even in that, Andrew was quite responsible. He probably thought he could safely skip school that day and just head to London or somewhere else for the day and make it back in time to see his parents in the evening (this is very doable if you're only planning on spending a few hours there).

I think this is likely the case, given that he took no other clothes with him, didn't take the PSP charger, took his house keys, left his uniform in the back of the chair aat home like always, didn't leave any sort of note for parents. People on the train also described him as just playing on his PSP, which is very typical behaviour for him. You'd think if he was planning to be gone for longer he would've taken some sort of cd player or similar, given he loved music so much.

London is a fantastic city for someone like Andrew, he really didn't need to have a specific reason to go there. His dad said he could've spent weeks in the Kensington museums if given the chance, and all the big London museums had and have free admission. So he would've had plenty to entertain himself with, even without going to a specific event.

In my experience, it is not usual for schools to finish early on Friday's... certainly not hours early. I'm not sure if this was the case with Andrew's school though, I've certainly not read that anywhere, so presumed it was a full day.

 

[davidt]

In my experience, it is not usual for schools to finish early on Friday's... certainly not hours early. I'm not sure if this was the case with Andrew's school though, I've certainly not read that anywhere, so presumed it was a full day.

Not usually in my experience either, might be different in private schools perhaps? Don't know if Andrew's was private or not? Not ruling out it being spontaneous though.

 

[Inspector Evans]

I really think this was a spur of the moment decision for Andrew. Fridays are usually an early finish in British schools, meaning he would likely be off school by 12. Schools often need to remind parents (and teens) that "Friday is a normal school day", because that's when parents sometimes keep their kids home or teenagers choose to bunk off school, as they only have 3 hours of class. So I think even in that, Andrew was quite responsible. He probably thought he could safely skip school that day and just head to London or somewhere else for the day and make it back in time to see his parents in the evening (this is very doable if you're only planning on spending a few hours there).

I think this is likely the case, given that he took no other clothes with him, didn't take the PSP charger, took his house keys, left his uniform in the back of the chair aat home like always, didn't leave any sort of note for parents. People on the train also described him as just playing on his PSP, which is very typical behaviour for him. You'd think if he was planning to be gone for longer he would've taken some sort of cd player or similar, given he loved music so much.

London is a fantastic city for someone like Andrew, he really didn't need to have a specific reason to go there. His dad said he could've spent weeks in the Kensington museums if given the chance, and all the big London museums had and have free admission. So he would've had plenty to entertain himself with, even without going to a specific event.

Few minor quibbles in this post to query.

From what I remember of my secondary school days (2000-07) finishing at half 12 only occurred on the Friday before half terms and this one was at the start of the school year. I did go to School in the West Midlands compared to Yorkshire though. He was also a few years off sixth form where you do get gaps in the school day and it isn't 9-half 3 anymore schedule.

London to Donny is also at least three hours by road and considerably more if returning more on rush hour Friday afternoon. Also got the single ticket.

I don't really think he just went down to London to walk around for 2-3 hours. Even if he did I also don't think he just got snatched off a street walking around tourist areas, maybe if he was wondering around one of the estates like Clerkenwell but even then in afternoon is very very unlikely, trust me.

Any potential abduction or eventual disappearance would've come from spending much longer than a Friday afternoon in London as he'd have eventually had to reach out to someone and that is one potential malicious intentions can occur when an individual or group realise this is a vulnerable young person a fair way from home and without means of contacting family.

It was just the PSP he took down, didn't own a mobile at that stage as I first had one around 13/14.

 

[CocktailQueen]

Schools don’t tend to finish early on Friday in England. Many of them finish early on the last day of term (before the Christmas holidays, Easter holidays and summer holiday), though this doesn’t always occur on a Friday.

 

[Fake Protagonist]

FWIW, I went to secondary school in Yorkshire in the mid/late-2010s and we always finished early on Fridays. I guess it just depends on the school.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Was something discussing this case recently released? Just wondering why it had been a quiet thread for awhile and suddenly active again.

 

[Zapoleon]

Was something discussing this case recently released? Just wondering why it had been a quiet thread for awhile and suddenly active again.

It just got randomly bumped and people started talking about it again. Is one of the most popular and famous cases in general, so people just got pulled back into talking about it i guess.

 

[Zapoleon]

. If the Vicar was such a good friend of the family, why didn't he approach Andrew and ask him what he was doing in the park?

The Vicar From a newspaper interview a few years after he went missing;

‘On the morning Andrew left, I saw him go into the park, instead of to the bus stop as usual. I didn’t think anything of it, but now it appears he was waiting for his parents to go to work. Now, when I walk past the park each day, it all comes back.’

Kinda sad I guess I think in a lot of such situations in hindsight you have got to beat yourself up over it like why didnt I help or do something.

The Vicar was also the one who saved Andrews dad from killing himself. He was literally hanging himself and the Vicar just happened to be popping by to check on him heard a big bang and was able to rush in and save him.

 

[Inspector Evans]

The Vicar From a newspaper interview a few years after he went missing;

‘On the morning Andrew left, I saw him go into the park, instead of to the bus stop as usual. I didn’t think anything of it, but now it appears he was waiting for his parents to go to work. Now, when I walk past the park each day, it all comes back.’

Kinda sad I guess I think in a lot of such situations in hindsight you have got to beat yourself up over it like why didnt I help or do something.

The Vicar was also the one who saved Andrews dad from killing himself. He was literally hanging himself and the Vicar just happened to be popping by to check on him heard a big bang and was able to rush in and save him.

Not up to date with this aspect, Andrew's Dad attempted to take his own life? Was this after Andrew was born or before his birth?

A few mention going to London and suicide after so more possible if he knew of his Dad's mental health struggles but a body would've surely been discovered if that was the case and he alone decided to end things.

 

[Fake Protagonist]

Not up to date with this aspect, Andrew's Dad attempted to take his own life? Was this after Andrew was born or before his birth?

A few mention going to London and suicide after so more possible if he knew of his Dad's mental health struggles but a body would've surely been discovered if that was the case and he alone decided to end things.

It was after Andrew disappeared.

 

[Inspector Evans]

It was after Andrew disappeared.

O.k thanks. So probably unfair to link as possible reason for the disappearance.

Next question does the vicar have a parish by the park or does he just like hanging around them on mornings?

 

[Lucy6226]

The Vicar From a newspaper interview a few years after he went missing;

‘On the morning Andrew left, I saw him go into the park, instead of to the bus stop as usual. I didn’t think anything of it, but now it appears he was waiting for his parents to go to work. Now, when I walk past the park each day, it all comes back.’

Kinda sad I guess I think in a lot of such situations in hindsight you have got to beat yourself up over it like why didnt I help or do something.

The Vicar was also the one who saved Andrews dad from killing himself. He was literally hanging himself and the Vicar just happened to be popping by to check on him heard a big bang and was able to rush in and save him.

It was after Andrew disappeared.

Do you have a link for this? I've not seen this reported

 

[Inspector Evans]

Probably my main theory on this now is at some point on that Friday he wanted to cover some distance so decided to get a taxi. I presume there was no CCTV of him purchasing a travelcard for the tube/bus at XC and he just walked straight out of the station.

However it wasn't a taxi or private hire vehicle and was just some randoms driving around looking to take advantage of a vulnerable teen.

That is more likely than just taking the wrong side street and a person or gang just abducting him off the face of the earth seemingly.

The horrific Sarah Everard case shows what can happen when awful combination of sinister intentions can just end a life like that and of course in 2007 there was no dashcam footage or even indication of what area Andrew eventually ended up in compared to Sarah with all the data so very limited clues to focus on.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Not up to date with this aspect, Andrew's Dad attempted to take his own life? Was this after Andrew was born or before his birth?

A few mention going to London and suicide after so more possible if he knew of his Dad's mental health struggles but a body would've surely been discovered if that was the case and he alone decided to end things.

It was after Andrew disappeared and the police who were investigating at the time kept focusing on the family and why Andrew would leave instead of treating the case like a vulnerable kid in danger who needed to be found -- his father eventually had a complete break-down (understandable, IMO).

A lot of people who take their own lives aren't found, though. I think it definitely can't be ruled-out but is not the most likely thing that happened.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Do you have a link for this? I've not seen this reported

I could try to find one but give me a day...

 

[Sarahlou]

Do you have a link for this? I've not seen this reported

This mentions the suicide attempt and him being found by a friend. I remember reading years ago that it was the vicar who found him, because he apparently had a key to their house.

Father's search goes on for missing son

Kevin Gosden has endured every parent's worst nightmare following the disappearance of his teenage son. He tells Madeline Goodwin why he hasn't given up hope.

www.yorkshirepost.co.uk

 

[nippernipper]

Not up to date with this aspect, Andrew's Dad attempted to take his own life? Was this after Andrew was born or before his birth?

A few mention going to London and suicide after so more possible if he knew of his Dad's mental health struggles but a body would've surely been discovered if that was the case and he alone decided to end things.

It was after Amdrew disappeared. His dad said that the Police focusing on him (Kevin) as responsible for Andrew's disappearance was too much, in addition to the grief, and in his distress, he thought that if he took his own life, that the police could focus on finding Andrew and not on him. He said that the vicar was going past and heard a noise coming from his house and used his own key, that he'd been previously given, to enter and save him.

Tragic that Andrew's father felt he needed to do that, of course, his grief always seemed very genuine to me.

 

[Markybug]

The vicar having his own key , last person to see Andrew before London , happened to be passing as the dad attempts to hang himself? Strange ?

 

[Inspector Evans]

It was after Amdrew disappeared. His dad said that the Police focusing on him (Kevin) as responsible for Andrew's disappearance was too much, in addition to the grief, and in his distress, he thought that if he took his own life, that the police could focus on finding Andrew and not on him. He said that the vicar was going past and heard a noise coming from his house and used his own key, that he'd been previously given, to enter and save him.

Tragic that Andrew's father felt he needed to do that, of course, his grief always seemed very genuine to me.

Did the vicar a disservice as from previous post I interpreted as Andrew's Dad also went to that park and attempted to end his life.

That's some hearing and hunch from the Vicar to just go into someone else's home like that, must be fantastic trust there.