Found Deceased UK - Richard Okorogheye, 19, Oxford Student, Ladbroke Grove, West London, 24 Mar 2021

[Distant Observer]

Living next to the forest, I have never heard of people taking their own lives in Epping Forest before, However googling it did throw up the urban legend of the Suicide Pool but nobody knows exactly where it is in the forest. I can see now how someone might want to travel across London if they had read about this urban legend.

 

[Distant Observer]

Duplicate post

 

[JnxT]

Living next to the forest, I have never heard of people taking their own lives in Epping Forest before, However googling it did throw up the urban legend of the Suicide Pool but nobody knows exactly where it is in the forest. I can see now how someone might want to travel across London if they had read about this urban legend.

I think the so-called Suicide Pool is alleged to be Blackweir Pond - which is about a 30 min walk from where the CCTV footage on Smarts Lane was taken, or the Robin Hood roundabout (if we are continuing to include possible sightings). I had thought this was just a little local folklore, not sure it has wide enough traction for someone who lives many miles way to know about but maybe I'm wrong!

 

[Distant Observer]

Here is the only article I could find on the Suicide Pool.
The creepy story of the 'killer' pond at the end of London Underground's Central line - MyLondon

 

[Distant Observer]

There's currently a police helicopter circling the area of Epping Forest in between Woodford Green and Chingford. The more I think about it the legend of the Suicide Pool makes the most sense for why he should travel to Loughton and in particular walk up Smarts Lane. Looking at Google Maps the road marked Epping Forest which is actually a forest track would take you to Blackweir Pond from the end of Smarts Lane via a short stretch of Earls Path. No other road appears to come as close to the pond. A Google Review actually links Blackweir Pond with the Suicide Pool. Hopefully the Police will be focussing their efforts in this area.

 

[10ofRods]

Living next to the forest, I have never heard of people taking their own lives in Epping Forest before, However googling it did throw up the urban legend of the Suicide Pool but nobody knows exactly where it is in the forest. I can see now how someone might want to travel across London if they had read about this urban legend.

So is it Blackweir Pond or not? If it is, it seems to be known locally as a place to suicide.

Is it actually an urban legend? If there's even one suicide there in the last 10 years, I'd say not.

 

[Lilbitcurious]

With it being such a vast woodland would there be webcams?, lots of birds nesting wildlife by lakes and ponds.......

 

[Dénouement]

Do any groups gather there like they do on the Heath?

 

[Dénouement]

She continued: "Definitely, he was talking to someone. Someone that he trusted and was fond of. Maybe the person gave him confidence.

...
Ms Joel said he would often play on his PlayStation 5 and that she had heard him laughing and being "very happy" while talking to someone.

Richard Okorogheye: Mother of missing student says 'someone was waiting for him'

This unsettles me and all I think of is Shakilus Townsend

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

[Video]

Good Morning Britain (@GMB) tweeted at 6:15 am on Fri, Apr 02, 2021:
'Concern is growing for Richard's welfare.'

The mother of the missing West London student Richard Okorogheye believes he may have met someone online and had gone to meet them.

@lornashaddick has the latest on the developing story.

https://t.co/pWK0YschXb
(https://twitter.com/GMB/status/1377852211032686595?s=03)

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

Ms Joel said he would often play on his PlayStation 5 and that she had heard him laughing and being "very happy" while talking to someone.

She continued: "Definitely, he was talking to someone. Someone that he trusted and was fond of. Maybe the person gave him confidence.

"Somehow knew his aspirations, his interests, so he confided in that person, built confidence and trust."

Ms Joel said she knew nothing specific about the person.


Richard Okorogheye: Mother of missing student says 'someone was waiting for him'

 

[Tommy Turtle]

This case has some uncanny echos of Andrew Gosden’s disappearance.

All that we can say from the available evidence at this stage, is he either intended to return, has ended his own life, or has come to harm.

i think the hypothesis that he wants to start a fresh and runaway is unlikely.

So do we know if he was into guys or girls?

If he went to meet somebody, and it was a man, it would seem much more likely that he has come to harm.

 

[Froggypizza]

Morning all. Hoping for good news today. I think the wording in some of the reports a about the amount of technology he has is interesting, the police seem to have been using plurals when talking about his pc’s, laptops and phones. I do wonder if this means he is really technically savvy and could have had the knowledge on how to cover his searches, VPNs, burner phones etc. I also wonder if having that level of technical ability plus his lockdown circumstances would make him attractive to groomers, could he have been tempted to meet someone because they have befriended him online, Richard has gone innocently but they have the intention to harm him or convince him to harm himself.

MOO

 

[Spyder84]

TBH I have been to Epping Forest a few times, and if you do not know the area well, I think you would struggle to find a specific location there especially at night.

 

[NorthernSoul]

I can't help thinking of this case which I remember being so upsetting: Murder of Breck Bednar - Wikipedia
I'm hoping and praying that nothing anything like this has happened to Richard.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

TBH I have been to Epping Forest a few times, and if you do not know the area well, I think you would struggle to find a specific location there especially at night.

Thats a really good point isnt it. He'd need his phone for the torch presumably and unless you had v specific gps info you're not going to be able to follow maps I would guess once you get into the forest. If he had wandered looking for a quiet spot, in the dark, you would think search teams would spot broken branches and other signs of a stumble or two.

 

[JuicyLucy]

I can't help thinking of this case which I remember being so upsetting: Murder of Breck Bednar - Wikipedia
I'm hoping and praying that nothing anything like this has happened to Richard.

Good spot. Lots of similarities there. This stuff is every parent's nightmare. This generation are all so much more tech savvy than us. Even if you were an early adopter and try to stay on top of tech developments, you can never stay ahead of them unless you make it a full-time job, and who's got time for that.

Do we know if Richard is neurotypical? I'm wondering how alert he would be to the motivations of an online predator.

 

[f_keo97]

I know it says his phone was switched off before he exited the taxi, but could he perhaps of just put it onto airplane mode? So he couldn't receive calls or messages but still be able to use the flashlight?

 

[NorthernSoul]

One of the things I have been thinking about is whether it could be possible Richard went to do some sort of trade of games or similar. It appears he was really into his games and had a PS5 which are hard to get hold of. A lot of people buy, sell and trade hot games; for some it is a business. I'm wondering whether Richard was really into his gaming and in lockdown there wasn't much to do other than play online, particularly if he got tired easily and may not have been able to do a lot of exercise. Maybe he had some really rare games - a possible further reason to keep his room locked? Perhaps he met someone or a group of people who he played games with online and became friendly with them and arranged to meet them for a trade but they in reality had no plans to pay for or exchange and were just going to take? Not sure if a taxi fare would be justified but maybe Richard was after friendship as well so wasn't too concerned? I'm just saying this as it is a thing at the moment where I live for people to advertise cars for sale for cash and arrange to meet but there is actually no car and they just hijack the person and take the money. I'm not sure why they would arrange to meet somewhere so secluded but maybe if this involved a gang/group of people they made up an excuse for this so they could hijack him and then things went too far? I think if Richard had harmed himself he would probably already have been found.

Just putting this forward as a possibility.

 

[Spyder84]

Good spot. Lots of similarities there. This stuff is every parent's nightmare. This generation are all so much more tech savvy than us. Even if you were an early adopter and try to stay on top of tech developments, you can never stay ahead of them unless you make it a full-time job, and who's got time for that.

Do we know if Richard is neurotypical? I'm wondering how alert he would be to the motivations of an online predator.

I agree, this goes back to what I have been thinking for a few days and tallies up with he's mothers feelings that he may have been groomed. It's a sad fact, but when we hear the word "Grooming" we often think of children, when in actual fact anyone of any age can be groomed. And I think it's fair to say that Lockdown has intensified feelings of loneliness thus making some possibly more susceptible to being groomed.