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

[Ozoner]

Do we know what type of shoes Andrew was wearing the day he went missing? I found a UID that was found wearing UK size 9.5 Vans brand. I believe that is a size 10 in the US. I doubt his feet were that big based upon his small stature, but I don’t know. The shoes the IUD was wearing were manufactured in 2006. He was found in 2009 about 2.5 hours from London and also 2.5 hours from Doncaster.

UK Missing Persons Unit

There isn't much to go on, but it's definitely worth checking out. Chances are that Andrew died soon after he disappeared, and it sounds like that bone and shoe could be from someone who had been dead for a couple of years. My guess is that someone drowned in the river and the foot became detached as the body decayed. The shoe might have been somewhat buoyant and floated to the bank. The shoe is one that would most likely be worn by a younger person.

Have we explored the possibility that he didn’t disappear from London? Perhaps he really did intend to make it back home before his parents returned from work. He may have made a quick trip to London, taken the train back home again, and then something happened to him between his local train station and his house.

It's possible that he intended to go back, but I don't think so. There are many possible scenarios, but I see two probable scenarios:
1) He wanted to commit suicide far from home and in a manner that would prevent him from being discovered.
2) He realized that he was gay and wanted to start a new life because he was too embarrassed to come out of the closet amongst his friends and family members, in which case:
a). he encountered a predator and was eventually killed, or
b). he is still alive under a new identity.

A drowning in that river would fit very well with a suicide scenario. Drowning oneself is a rough way to go, but people do it. He may have chosen a random town far from home so that he wouldn't be identified.

I used to think that a "day of playing hookie" was a possibility, but I have gravitated away from that theory. He would have had mega consequences when he returned, and he would have known that. Many kids run away but then change their minds and return home, but I don't think that he planned to return.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I found a UID that was found wearing UK size 9.5 Vans

From what I've found the average shoe size (UK size) for a 14-year-old male is 8 - 9 and for an adult is 9, so I hope/think the UID is probably not him. I do hope one of the companies that tries to extract DNA can someday soon identify that poor person, though. How absolutely sad.

I don't think it's ever been discussed what kind/color/size of shoes Andrew was wearing but don't know for sure...

 

[Leannaf2721]

I think about this case a lot, and like everyone, still can't settle on a theory. There's just too much information we don't have. I'm also not convinced about the total lack of internet access. Urgh, I hope 2023 is the year.

Do we know if police checked friends computers etc? Being a teen in this eta I remember we often used others snd not our own. I remember vaguely going to my friends and on myspace

 

[BethAnn777]

Do we know if police checked friends computers etc? Being a teen in this eta I remember we often used others snd not our own. I remember vaguely going to my friends and on myspace

I also wonder if there were any Internet cafes in the area?

 

[rolyatnraeh]

I also wonder if there were any Internet cafes in the area?

To add to this, was it a possibility he accessed the internet at school? Computers certainly weren't monitered as well as they are now in schools.

 

[AliceInPain]

To add to this, was it a possibility he accessed the internet at school? Computers certainly weren't monitered as well as they are now in schools.

I think I've mentioned this before here but kids (including teenagers) usually went to the local library for internet.
Internet cafes were for older people as you had to pay.
Not sure about Andrew's school but typically for UK it would have been strictly monitored, many websites blocked and no access out of school hours.
He could have also had a friend with internet at home.
I think unless they checked back then it's way too late now to investigate.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

To add to this, was it a possibility he accessed the internet at school? Computers certainly weren't monitered as well as they are now in schools.

It's possible-- his school had a computer lab. His father has said in interviews that LE checked out the school's computers, though. (But would they have been able to find anything if he was chatting on them?)

My personal experience was that we used chatrooms like crazy in the school computer lab. I remember talking to sketchy people(!)
(Eventually the IT team started blocking the chatrooms; this was before 2007 and not in the UK...)

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Not sure about Andrew's school but typically for UK it would have been strictly monitored, many websites blocked and no access out of school hours.

How sure are you about that being true in 2007?

 

[AliceInPain]

How sure are you about that being true in 2007?

Huh? My kids were in school in London, UK in 2007. I never said I knew what Andrew's school was like at that time.
?

 

[phocaridley]

There's also the question of how would he have bought the ticket? This was the last ever Sikth gig with that lineup and as far as I'm aware it was sold out which rules out buying on the door. He wouldn't have had a card to buy one online or over the phone and his parents would have noticed one being bought on their card. We can also rule out him buying it direct from the box office as it's in London.

(is "snipped by me" the right thing to say in regards to this? Sorry, I'm new to Websleuths and am still trying to keep track of the acronyms.) This isn't all too relevant and I personally don't put a lot of weight into the gig theory, but I do know that it's not an uncommon practice for people who don't have tickets to shows to just kind of... hang out around the venue. Close enough that they can hear but not close enough that they would get in trouble. It seems like the venue is inside a shopping centre so I can't imagine it would be too terribly hard to eavesdrop on the show.

Like I said though, I don't put a lot of weight into the SikTh gig theory and I agree with you - just MOO for the ticket thing.

 

[rolyatnraeh]

I think I've mentioned this before here but kids (including teenagers) usually went to the local library for internet.
Internet cafes were for older people as you had to pay.
Not sure about Andrew's school but typically for UK it would have been strictly monitored, many websites blocked and no access out of school hours.
He could have also had a friend with internet at home.
I think unless they checked back then it's way too late now to investigate.

I was at school in 2007 in the Uk, and from my personal experience, sites weren’t actively blocked if they were searched, they usually had to be brought to IT staff attention. <modsnip> so I reckon it could be possible for chat sites to be accessed without raising attention at this time.

But yeah, it is too late to check now unfortunately.

 

[Aluev]

I was at school in 2007 in the Uk, and from my personal experience, sites weren’t actively blocked if they were searched, they usually had to be brought to IT staff attention.

Do you remember if you had to login with your student credentials (activity tied to your student account) or were the computers open access?

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Huh? My kids were in school in London, UK in 2007. I never said I knew what Andrew's school was like at that time.
?

Sorry, I just meant if you were sure schools were strictly monitoring use and blocking websites in 2007, but it sounds like you're sure your kids' school, at least, was.

 

[AprilB]

I think I've mentioned this before here but kids (including teenagers) usually went to the local library for internet.
Internet cafes were for older people as you had to pay.
Not sure about Andrew's school but typically for UK it would have been strictly monitored, many websites blocked and no access out of school hours.
He could have also had a friend with internet at home.
I think unless they checked back then it's way too late now to investigate.

I agree with what you're saying. I used the computers at the library when I was a young teenager. You had to have a library card but they would let you use the computer for free for an hour per day. Internet cafes are pretty creepy.

 

[Ozoner]

Sorry, I just meant if you were sure schools were strictly monitoring use and blocking websites in 2007, but it sounds like you're sure your kids' school, at least, was.

I agree with what you're saying. I used the computers at the library when I was a young teenager. You had to have a library card but they would let you use the computer for free for an hour per day. Internet cafes are pretty creepy.

Online interaction can't be ruled out, but there isn't any evidence for it. The known facts of the case make me lean away from that theory.

No one knows for certain whether the sightings of Andrew in London were credible, but at least some of them probably were, and it doesn't seem that he was with anyone. It seems like he was doing his own thing.

An adult predator would have wanted to maintain more control over Andrew, in my opinion, by either picking Andrew up in a vehicle or by riding with him on the train.

If a sexual predator was involved, I think it's more likely that some kind of sexual encounter occurred prior to Andrew's running away and that Andrew wanted to see the person again. Maybe something that was a meaningless casual encounter to the other person meant something more to Andrew. If that was the situation, then that other person might not have been happy that Andrew showed up.

 

[avobo00]

Hi all! This is my first post and I am relatively new to WebSleuth forums.

I am a bit hesitant to post this as it is the type of thing that could very easily be a big misunderstanding on my part, blow up, or paint the Gosden’s in a negative light, which of course I really don’t want to do. But do feel the below is important to discuss and rule out if it so!

I think Kevin and family are incredible for their strength and how much of their energy they have put into all forms of media and charity over the years for their son and the children of other families who are missing.

I was on Facebook and I am sure everyone here is aware of Andrew’s missing page there. If you type Kevin Gosden into Facebook - one of the results is a post from 2015 of 75 images of Andrew from 1993-2007 are there.

One image, number 48 - captioned Andrew at 9, 2002, featured a desktop computer in the right hand of the photo. I always thought the family didn’t have internet or a laptop until the short while before he disappeared. This came as a surprise, but again it may be taken at a relatives house, but Andrew’s photo appears to be on the wall behind.

 

[BethAnn777]

Hi all! This is my first post and I am relatively new to WebSleuth forums.

I am a bit hesitant to post this as it is the type of thing that could very easily be a big misunderstanding on my part, blow up, or paint the Gosden’s in a negative light, which of course I really don’t want to do. But do feel the below is important to discuss and rule out if it so!

I think Kevin and family are incredible for their strength and how much of their energy they have put into all forms of media and charity over the years for their son and the children of other families who are missing.

I was on Facebook and I am sure everyone here is aware of Andrew’s missing page there. If you type Kevin Gosden into Facebook - one of the results is a post from 2015 of 75 images of Andrew from 1993-2007 are there.

One image, number 48 - captioned Andrew at 9, 2002, featured a desktop computer in the right hand of the photo. I always thought the family didn’t have internet or a laptop until the short while before he disappeared. This came as a surprise, but again it may be taken at a relatives house, but Andrew’s photo appears to be on the wall behind.

I had a desktop computer before I had the internet. I used it while in college to type all my papers. Back in the day, having a computer did not mean having the internet.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Hi @avobo00, Welcome. Good to see you here, and I hope you will continue to visit this thread. This is one of my top "I hope it will be solved" cases...

Perhaps the Gosdens had a computer they used to play games? (My family had floppy-disk games we played back in the day.) I don't think he would have been mistaken regarding when they first had Internet access at their home. He's said in interviews he doesn't rule out Andrew meeting someone online somehow. I do think he tries to keep an open mind about all possibilities. My opinions only.

 

[Aluev]

Good catch @avobo00! For one thing, it goes to show that Andrew was familiar with using the computer, not only playing with consoles. As for the internet, there is no telling if this computer had WiFi access or a LAN card. Most likely it was used without network access if the Gosden's say so.

I remember back in the day, around the '00 you could access the internet through your Landline with dial-up access by dailing up special numbers and using no subscription, free accounts. You would be charged like you dialed a local number and the line would appear busy. From what I've read, by 2008, half of internet users had switched to broadband. This means that dial-up was still in use in 2007. Of course, if the Police searched the landline phone records, these numbers would show up if they were ever used.

 

[Jubbababy]

I can’t believe this poor boy has been missing for so long. His family must be going through hell. I always thought he went missing in London. He could have ended up being given a lift back and something happened to him closer to home? Doubtful I know. Plus the arrests specific to his case seem to be taking a very long time.