UK UK - Kevin Hicks, 16, Croydon, 2 March 1986

[BrutishGoose32]

It's very possible that the person who saw him was a bit worse for wear, but it seems the police were taking the sighting seriously. I'm guessing that the woman in question was able to describe what Kevin was wearing. Perhaps she even said hello to him.

If indeed it was Kevin, then it implies that he had actually been somewhere different to where he said he was going, and that's probably backed up by the fact that the people in the shop he was meant to be going to had no memory of seeing him that night. If he was walking North up Shirley Road past the Cricketers, then that implies that he had been somewhere to the south. There was really nothing to the direct south other than Shirley Hills and, further down, Kevin's school.

You'll get a better idea on Google maps, but It's possible that he had turned into Shirley road from one of the Streets west of Shirley Road, before the Cricketers:

*Addiscombe Road, which adjoined Shirley Hills and was in the general direction of Addiscombe Park, where he had spent that morning

*Green Court Avenue which connected Addiscombe Road and Shirley Road

*Ashburton Avenue, which again leads back to towards Addiscombe Park

*Bingham Road, which again leads in the direction of Addiscombe Park and also connects onto Lower Addiscombe Road where a lot of shops are

None of them would have taken him 1.5 hours to get to and from unless he had stopped for a fair while. Where he was seen also led directly to Ashburton Park at the top of the road.

Off to the east was Wickham Road, which seems to have some shops on it. There are also streets such as Primrose Lane, leading off into several more green spaces. Again, highly unlikely it would have taken him 1.5 hours to get to and from there unless he stopped off for a while.

You can sort of see why the police searched Shirley hills. He was known to go there, and it was one of the logical places to look at if he was seen near the cricketers, albeit he was walking away from Shirley hills and in the immediate direction of Ashburton park. I do wonder if they also searched Ashburton park.

In any event, he would have been a very brave (or possibly naive) lad to have entered any of the parks at night, given how dangerous all of them were known to be. Although it seems that many people did go into them regularly.

Again, the police think he was being groomed. But they didn't say whether they think the person who was grooming him also killed him. It's not clear why Kevin was seen walking by himself up the road. Had he been to see the person who was grooming him, and then left to head home? What then happened? Did he run into someone else or did the person who was grooming him come after him?

It perhaps lends to credence to the possibility that Kevin had been in Shirley hills or one of the parks.

I've read that the person who saw him was someone who worked with Kevin at the Co-Op, which of course makes it a more credible sighting. I'd love to know if they spoke at all or if it was just a spotting from the other side of the rode. I'd also love to know if he had anything with him (a box of eggs!). I haven't been able to find when the sighting was first reported and mentioned in papers etc, it just always seems comes up as part of Kevin's story.

For the benefit of anyone reading, here is a map of the area you mentioned circa 2003, showing the streets nearby. It does show many places Kevin could've been coming from, I suppose any house in that area too is a potential place he could've gone.

I'm assuming all green spaces around Kevin would've naturally been targets for thorough searches, especially ones he was known to frequent. I'm assuming Kevin was a bright lad, and surely would've known better to wander into parks alone at night, maybe he was a bit too naive of how dangerous places could be at night time?

I think I've said before, but it would be interesting to know if there were any SO's living in the area at the time. I still go back on forth on a connection to Reece Collins and Lee Boxell, due to the similar circumstances.