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

[VelvetDiamante]

There's a chance that the police still suspect that Andrew was kidnapped and trafficked.

The two arrested men being found innocent could just mean that they got the wrong guys.

The police must have had a good reason to arrest them though, and not just based on anonymous's word for it.

Maybe I'm just being too optimistic that they have a lead.

But maybe those two men kidnapped and trafficked another kid (who got away from them).
But it doesn't explain why Andrew's family would apologise to them....
Just thinking out loud.!

 

[Daisychain3]

A couple of things to note…

It’s interesting to me that people are quick to discount Brighton, even in 2007 it was well known for its inclusive and alternative vibe, large and friendly LGBT scene as well as home to lots of up and coming bands. BIMM Brighton had also grown notoriety so was attracting a lot of musician and creative types.

An enticing and inviting place for the drifters and searchers and those that felt like they didn't belong.

I am also very torn when I listen to Andrew’s family talk about him and the kind of person he was, especially when those trying help work out where Andrew is use as context.

Of course they must miss him terribly and are good decent people but I believe the boy and his life that they talk about is quite far removed from the complex chap he had become when he left for London that day. It’s also likely that Andrew felt the pressure of this perception of him, rule abiding, top school performer, definitely “not” interested in technology, the advancements of social platforms and messaging programs like every other teenager, even is route from school was micro managed and needed an explanation if different from normal.

Something else I have always wondered if Andrew was undiagnosed Neurodivergent, extremely academic/gifted children often are it would explain some of his routines, washing in the washing machine before he left, using the same cash line he always did, opting for the more expensive single ticket rather than being able to be adaptable to the cheaper open return, maybe why his peers sometimes thought he was off. If he did choose to leave due to a feeling of being different and misunderstood this may well have played a part.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

even is route from school was micro managed and needed an explanation if different from normal.

Something else I have always wondered if Andrew was undiagnosed Neurodivergent, extremely academic/gifted children often are it would explain some of his routines, washing in the washing machine before he left, using the same cash line he always did, opting for the more expensive single ticket rather than being able to be adaptable to the cheaper open return, maybe why his peers sometimes thought he was off. If he did choose to leave due to a feeling of being different and misunderstood this may well have played a part.

I don't think his route from school was micromanaged. His family seems the opposite of strict. I imagine it was a casual conversation regarding why he walked home that day.

Neurodivergent - I tend to agree. It's actually so common and often undiagnosed. I also imagine school wasn't that great socially for him. But that's true for many people I know; none of us left home over it. (Ditched school on occasion -- maybe.) That just seems so extreme to me. JMO.

If you think it's a possibility, where could he have gone, if he meant to be gone overnight or longer?

 

[KathPlumber]

They don’t. If you run this (and many other posts by this user) through an AI detector it’ll come back as being mostly AI generated. Maybe I’m just getting old but it’s very peculiar imo, and I’ve found the past few pages of this thread incredibly hard to read as a result.

I agree. Something odd about it and it seems to have pushed a lot of interesting discussion right off the recent pages of this thread…

 

[matchaoatmilk]

I agree. Something odd about it and it seems to have pushed a lot of interesting discussion right off the recent pages of this thread…

AI detectors are notorious for being wrong or getting it wrong. I wouldn't necessarily rely on them.

 

[matchaoatmilk]

My husband's classmate called someone a f--kwit on the bus and he was immediately expelled. The English don't take bullying lightly. This happened in 2007.

You could literally say this about anywhere. It's not UK specific. Lots of schools take bullying seriously and some don't do fk all.

 

[matchaoatmilk]

Thank you Ellymoo. I also disagree with Vagabond that Andrew wouldn’t have believed that his family might be harmed. Not all children’s personalities are the same. I was a child who definitely would have believed that my family would be harmed if someone had threatened me that they would. I would have done whatever that person had told me to do in order to protect my family. So I think it’s very narrow-minded to dismiss the possibility based on one’s own belief that they wouldn’t have believed it. None of us know what Andrew thought or would have believed. At this point, all ideas and theories are possibilities.

Too many people lie for attention or say dumb things. Like in year eight a girl went around my school telling her bullies she had a kill list but nobody investigated it and everyone shrugged it off. There was literal email evidence from her saying she had one and she wrote about it on her Livejournal. We were 13 at the time. The girl hadn't even heard of Columbine even though it was 2003. Maybe I'm just overly wary but there's no way I'm falling for anything without proof.

 

[matchaoatmilk]

Andy's dad on Facebook today

 

[warp3dwing]

AI detectors are notorious for being wrong or getting it wrong. I wouldn't necessarily rely on them.

Oh, there were definitely a lot of AI-based posts. No detector needed.

Here's one giveaway: the user pasted a markdown table, which is a common AI output. But websleuths doesn't accept markdown. And no one would write that in by hand.

E.g.:

| ------- | ------- |

 

[matchaoatmilk]

Oh, there were definitely a lot of AI-based posts. No detector needed.

Here's one giveaway: the user pasted a markdown table, which is a common AI output. But websleuths doesn't accept markdown. And no one would write that in by hand.

E.g.:

| ------- | ------- |

I hate AI. I've been writing with - forever and now people think it's AI. Some people are just good writers. I don't really care. It's all just discussion. If people have a problem then just ban them.

 

[avob00]

Thank you. What are the theories as to why LE were unable to make any progress on the case after so many years? Even back in 2007, the UK and London especially had CCTV everywhere and there was even hysteria back then about the extent of CCTV. I say that as a fifty year old man based here.

CCTV aside from the train station, was either written over or not working in the first place on the day Andrew went missing by the time the police went to view it. The train station held the footage longer as I believe they have to given it was a central station.

I believe it was 3 weeks into his disappearance at the stage and unfortunately too late to retrieve anything. The Pizza Hut sighting CCTV wasn’t working sadly.

Had the police of checked the CCTV instead of interrogating Kevin in this first few weeks, for sure Andrew would’ve been picked up on some cameras (unless he go into a taxi/on a bus outside).

London is a very big place and I struggle to understand how something (foul play) could’ve happened in the likes of Zone 1 or 2 without anyone witnessing anything unless he got into a car. Personally, I think Andrew ventured into the further zones and sadly met with foul play.

We need a new thread for Andrew!

 

[matchaoatmilk]

CCTV aside from the train station, was either written over or not working in the first place on the day Andrew went missing by the time the police went to view it. The train station held the footage longer as I believe they have to given it was a central station.

I believe it was 3 weeks into his disappearance at the stage and unfortunately too late to retrieve anything. The Pizza Hut sighting CCTV wasn’t working sadly.

Had the police of checked the CCTV instead of interrogating Kevin in this first few weeks, for sure Andrew would’ve been picked up on some cameras (unless he go into a taxi/on a bus outside).

London is a very big place and I struggle to understand how something (foul play) could’ve happened in the likes of Zone 1 or 2 without anyone witnessing anything unless he got into a car. Personally, I think Andrew ventured into the further zones and sadly met with foul play.

We need a new thread for Andrew!

I don't think a new thread is a good idea after what Andy'a dad said yesterday. There's nothing new for us to talk about. We have no new ideas or theories that could possibly help. We are just going around in circles rehashing the same stuff.