UK UK - Lee Boxell, 15, Sutton, 10 Sept 1988

[Legally Bland]

Does anyone know anywhere online where I can watch this episode of Missing Or Murdered?
Strangely it isn’t on MY5 even though the other 2 episodes in the series are?

This looks like it:

 

[Deadbeat]

This looks like it:

Thank you so much for posting this
It’s so frustrating when such documentaries disappear so quickly after being made! I managed to watch the other 2 episodes of Missing or Murdered on MY5 but I couldn’t find this one anywhere.

I’ve followed this case on and off over the years. My thoughts:

I’m convinced, as are many, that Lee met his demise at ‘The Shed’ on that Saturday afternoon. We know from others that he went there from time to time (As did most teens in the area by the sounds of it) and despite his poor mother not wanting to believe he’d go ‘somewhere like that’, I was once a 15 year old lad, and I can say if there was somewhere me and my mates could go and smoke/drink and chat to girls we would have hung out there. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s was different, this was the age before smart phones and the internet and many evenings were spent just wandering the streets bored with your mates looking for something to do!

My guess is that a girl he was either seeing or had a crush on attended the shed and that’s what may have drew him to the place that day.

I do hold weight in the theory that he either saw someone being abused that day or was told of it by one of the girls (perhaps the one he was seeing/liked) and he’s intervened. He may have threatened to tell of what was going on there and I think it is then that he was silenced.

The only thing that puzzles me somewhat is that he wouldn’t have been there alone that day. An unofficial youth club surely would’ve been quite busy on a Saturday afternoon. So that means there would have been at least a few other youths there that day who saw or heard something. I could understand them being initially scared to come forward but surely all these years later they would tell the police of what they saw that day??

Sorry for the long post, I have more to discuss regarding this case but thought I’d leave it at that for now!

 

[Officer Dibble]

This is a link to a BBC Sounds Radio interview with Mark Williams Thomas and Lee's father too.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1445819368936513

 

[Officer Dibble]

This looks like it:

I've been watching this, so thanks for sharing. The disguised interview with a woman who when a teenager went to the Shed said that they would smoke and drink there. I wonder if (to impress a girl) he had something to drink or was slipped something in a non alcoholic drink? Though the reports of 'there was a fight' and 'he was buried in the cemetary' sounds plausible too.

All it takes is one person to step forward and not be scared to give his parents some answers to their terrible lifelong pain.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I just read this case for the first time today. He looks like he was really a rather innocent nice kid. The lack of answers and justice for him and his family is very sad.

 

[StillDiggin]

Lee Boxell: 'We don't want to go to our graves without knowing what happened'

 

[SaintGertrude]

This article mentions someone of interest. Maybe Lee was a whistleblower and silenced to death.
Channel 5 show looks at devastating disappearance of Sutton boy 30 years ago

 

[Mrs Marple]

I just read this case for the first time today. He looks like he was really a rather innocent nice kid. The lack of answers and justice for him and his family is very sad.

His dad said he wasn't very street wise and was quite naive in one of the many documentaries that have aired over the years. It's so sad.

 

[pickle26]

Disappearance of Lee Boxell - Wikipedia

 

[StillDiggin]

£20,000 reward offered to solve 33-year Lee Boxell mystery

 

[dotr]

Feb 16 2022 rbbm.
Reward to solve decades-old mystery of what happened to Lee Boxell, the teen who vanished in Cheam | ITV News London

Lee Boxall was last seen on Saturday 10th September 1988 near his home in CheamCredit: Crimestoppers

''It was feared Lee may have been killed after witnessing child abuse at a teenage hang-out near his home.

"We're desperate for someone to come forward and tell us what happened to Lee which may ultimately help find his remains if he was murdered as we fear," said Lee's father Peter Boxell.''

"Crimestoppers can't identify who you are and will never ever ask or take any personal details from you.

"So, this really does give someone a chance to do the right thing and help ease our years of pain. We can then see Lee finally laid to rest," Mr Boxall added.

Lee has been described as caring, good mannered, trustworthy and sensitive and was an avid football fan and, at the time, went to Cheam High School.

His parents, Peter and Christine, have kept his bedroom exactly how it was on the day he went missing.

Despite significant coverage speculating that Lee was making his way to watch Crystal Palace play, there is no evidence to prove this.

Police found out he used to visit an outbuilding at St Dunstan’s Church dubbed 'the Shed', a gathering place for teenagers that was targeted by sexual predators.''
''Anyone with information can contact Crimestoppers on freephone 0800 555 111 or use a secure anonymous online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org. Nobody will know you contacted the charity.Information passed directly to police will not qualify for the reward - only information passed to Crimestoppers will qualify.''

 

[ctaylor]

This is a case I would really like to see solved. I remember reading an article with his dad and he talked about someone who thought they saw Lee a few years after his disappearance working at a market. He went to the market to see if it was Lee but it was a young guy who looked similar. His dad said he knew it wasn't Lee but almost wanted to ask the man if he wanted to come home and be their son anyway. I thought that was just so heartbreaking. I really hope his parents get answers at last.

 

[ctaylor]

You can read the article here that someone has clipped from Newspapers.com. Just such a sad story

Lee Boxell 1 - Newspapers.com

Lee Boxell 2 - Newspapers.com

 

[Mrs Marple]

So sad.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Lee was just 15 when he went missing in the 80s (Image: Channel 5/Missing or Murdered)
The parents of a 15-year-old boy who went missing in South London 35 years ago have never given up the search to find their son, as they appeal to the public to help them find him. Lee Boxell left his home in Sutton to go shopping on Saturday, September 10, 1988.

He met a friend and later went their separate ways at around 1pm. The last confirmed sighting of Lee was on Sutton High Street at around 2.40pm. There have been no other confirmed sightings in 35 years.

Lee's parents have endured the agony of not knowing where their son is ever since. All they want is to ensure that Lee, if he is no longer alive, is given a proper burial

Parents of missing London boy from 80s offering £20,000 reward for information

Lee Boxell, 15, went missing in Sutton in 1988 and has not been seen since

www.mylondon.news

 

[tarabull]

Desperate family's appeal after son went missing from south London 35 years ago

Lee Boxell disappeared at the age of 15 after shopping in Sutton, south London, 35 years ago today. A £20,000 reward has been offered for any information on his disappearance.

news.sky.com

 

[Notascreenname]

Dbm

 

[StillDiggin]

Last movements of teen who vanished 35 years ago examined in TV appeal

Dan Walker will be re-examining the case of Lee Boxell who went missing 35 years ago and his family are still desperate for answers

www.getsurrey.co.uk

 

[Officer Dibble]

Last movements of teen who vanished 35 years ago examined in TV appeal

Dan Walker will be re-examining the case of Lee Boxell who went missing 35 years ago and his family are still desperate for answers

www.getsurrey.co.uk

It aired last night?

 

[benowens]

I have a theory. Perhaps he witnessed child abuse on a previous date, and did not have the courage to intervene. Instead of being killed because he tried to intervene, is it possible that Lee committed suicide because he feel guilty about the fact that he did not help the boy/girl?