UK UK - Andrew Gosden, 14, Doncaster, South Yorks, 14 Sept 2007

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I've always been very interested in cases that involve missing people. I learned about Andrews disappearance a couple years ago through a youtube video. I was very interested in his story because most people who run away, if that is what he did, are older and are escaping financial problems or family issues. The fact that if a 14 year old boy ran away and could be alive today is insane to me.

I didn't read up on the case that much after but I recently just read a Vice article two days ago and once again I'm obsessed with the case again. And this time I read about the chat with the username, Andyroo. And, learning that roo was a nickname used for him as a child and the fact that this person said he left home at 14 makes me believe that this user was most definitely him. I wish they had released the website that this person was talking on. I really want to know what website it was or the year they chatted with this person. Could it have been Myspace? or just a random chatting site? I'm very curious and it's insane to me that your friend had contacted the helpline and they didn't do much! That is so upsetting to me, and I wish more people in the Lincoln area were on lookout constantly. I hope and I actually believe that Andrew is still alive, I hope he returns home and tells his story on why he left.


I’m also intrigued to know the platform this person was messaging on. I’m in the area and his missing poster has been widely shared online and with hundreds of local organisations.
 
I've always been very interested in cases that involve missing people. I learned about Andrews disappearance a couple years ago through a youtube video. I was very interested in his story because most people who run away, if that is what he did, are older and are escaping financial problems or family issues. The fact that if a 14 year old boy ran away and could be alive today is insane to me.

I didn't read up on the case that much after but I recently just read a Vice article two days ago and once again I'm obsessed with the case again. And this time I read about the chat with the username, Andyroo. And, learning that roo was a nickname used for him as a child and the fact that this person said he left home at 14 makes me believe that this user was most definitely him. I wish they had released the website that this person was talking on. I really want to know what website it was or the year they chatted with this person. Could it have been Myspace? or just a random chatting site? I'm very curious and it's insane to me that your friend had contacted the helpline and they didn't do much! That is so upsetting to me, and I wish more people in the Lincoln area were on lookout constantly. I hope and I actually believe that Andrew is still alive, I hope he returns home and tells his story on why he left.
Welcome to Ws ascodders!
Always great to have more eyes and ears on Andrew's case, as for your interest in missing persons- there are tons of them, you have come to the right place!
 
Hello! I'd like to offer some personal insight and my own theory -
At 14, I was considered highly intelligent and a gifted child. I'd been put into academic competitions and talent searches, just like Andrew. I was also incredibly depressed and very stressed out - which I kept completely to myself. I was filled with guilt for being unhappy, so I didn't want to burden anyone with it. If I had had the means and opportunity to get on a train to a huge, major city and never look back, I absolutely would have.

I really believe that Andrew just...saw his way out and took it. I think he went to London, met up with some rough sleeper kids of the same age and interests, and probably ended up staying with them until he could get a job. I think he is still living, and working, and probably just grew up with loads of guilt for putting his family through this, and is choosing to stay away.

My own sister told me that our parents knew that one day I would leave and never come back - and that's true. I did. I can even remember my own dad telling me to just stick it out until I finished high school, to make sure it would be easier to get a job. I don't think it's unreasonable at all for a bored, highly intelligent teenager to think they've got a plan, and then be too stubborn to say they failed. Maybe he didn't fail - I really think he's in England, making it on his own.
 
Hello! I'd like to offer some personal insight and my own theory -
At 14, I was considered highly intelligent and a gifted child. I'd been put into academic competitions and talent searches, just like Andrew. I was also incredibly depressed and very stressed out - which I kept completely to myself. I was filled with guilt for being unhappy, so I didn't want to burden anyone with it. If I had had the means and opportunity to get on a train to a huge, major city and never look back, I absolutely would have.

I really believe that Andrew just...saw his way out and took it. I think he went to London, met up with some rough sleeper kids of the same age and interests, and probably ended up staying with them until he could get a job. I think he is still living, and working, and probably just grew up with loads of guilt for putting his family through this, and is choosing to stay away.


My own sister told me that our parents knew that one day I would leave and never come back - and that's true. I did. I can even remember my own dad telling me to just stick it out until I finished high school, to make sure it would be easier to get a job. I don't think it's unreasonable at all for a bored, highly intelligent teenager to think they've got a plan, and then be too stubborn to say they failed. Maybe he didn't fail - I really think he's in England, making it on his own.
Welcome exkette, thanks for the insight, also hoping/thinking that Andrew is alive and living as you described it!
 
If Andrew was running away, starting a new life, whatever, why did he leave behind £100?

No, I think he was lured to London that day by either an online stranger or family/friend and killed.
 
Lengthy article.
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CCTV footage of 14-year-old Andrew Gosden leaving King's Cross station in 2007.
The Strange Disappearance of Andrew Gosden
by James McMahon|
Aug 30 2018
The Strange Disappearance of Andrew Gosden
Eleven years ago, the 14-year-old rock fan left home, never to be seen again. Here, his father tells us about the family's efforts to track him down.
Andrew was smart. He was a member of the Young Gifted and Talented programme, a scheme designed to enhance the educational development of the top 5 percent of schoolchildren. Teachers at McAuley Catholic High School believed he was a shoe-in for Cambridge.

"Andrew was too clever by half," remembers Kevin. "He tended to say little about school, but we remember him coming back from summer school for gifted and talented kids, and he was absolutely enthused about what he had been doing. To be honest, I think Andrew saw school as something you sort of had to do just in order to have choices open to you for adult life."

Andrew had friends, but he didn't socialise with them all that much outside of school. Nothing suggests he was bullied. There was no evidence of depression. He liked his own company. He loved video games. He never left the house without leaving a note. Kevin says he was especially close to his sister, Charlotte, two years his senior. They both shared an interest in the sort of bands you'd see on the cover of Kerrang! magazine.

In fact, the day Andrew went missing, he was wearing a Slipknot T-shirt. Family photos that have emerged in the years since his disappearance have seen him sporting T-shirts bearing the logos of Funeral for a Friend, Cradle of Filth and HIM. Posters of these bands used to hang his bedroom walls, though they’ve long been taken away by police to swab for fingerprints."

En-route, he stopped at an ATM and drew out £200 of the £214 in his account. This is the last time his account has seen a withdrawal since that day, though in the years since his disappearance his parents continue to top it up. Strangely, he'd left £100 of birthday money in his bedroom back in Balby
 
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Been keeping up with this case for a while, shame there is no new sightings, i have wanted to say some things that came to mind while revisiting this case:

Its hard for a 14 year old to get around without being noticed in London imo and certainly difficult to survive so long on only £200, the question is why did he need 200 pounds if it was just a day out trip? My only thinking is that he intended to stay longer in London than just one day/night or he was going to buy something very expensive while there like a ticket to a concert, otherwise the money was enough to survive on the streets for a few weeks i think. As for leaving £100 perhaps he intended on returning at first but simply changed his mind the longer he was in London, perhaps he also ran into someone whom offered him a way out.

Perhaps Andrew ran away from home to get away from his past, I'm sure i read somewhere that Andrew did not like his home town. When he was in London he realized he would get punished severely by his parents for skipping school etc therefore he decided to "put off" contacting them until he felt ready to do so, only he never felt ready to face this because of pain in his life. I think he may have wanted more freedom, perhaps grew tired of being a child and wanted to grow up quickly. People can often put off contact to avoid the discomfort of confrontation, perhaps he kept putting it off until one day he decided he would never do it.

Seeing a 14 year old trying to survive on the streets, you just dont see it, i haven't anyway. So if hes still alive and free he must have been brilliant at hiding his presence all this time and he must be around people who kept his presence a secret, he would be a star candidate for that tv program "hunted".

I refuse to believe Andrew has lived on the streets for ten years though, someone would have seen him by now imo. If hes still alive hes living with someone else who is keeping his identity secret or hes living in a camper van somewhere on his own, if hes working a proper job and has a bank account he must have a false identity, either that or he gets cash in hand to get by. I think after some time staying in a tent or living on the street he would have got tired of it.

How likely is it you will meet some random person in London within 24 hours who would take you in and keep your presence a secret? Almost certainly not going to happen. All i can think is that Andrew talked to someone online about a job before going to London, working for them and getting free room and bed if he worked for them and keeping it "quiet". Only these types of deals can turn ugly because some of them are slavery scams or predators looking to trap people. I am not sure Andrew was so bright to think of such an idea, if he did perhaps he may have been taken advantage of by someone who used the "i have a place you can stay" line.

If a predator was involved it was most likely a planned abduction, not some random person, i can imagine a predator probably playing the whole "lets keep our conversations about meeting in London secret, then you wont get in trouble" type mentality. This is perhaps why no secret conversation was found between Andrew and a possible perpetrator because it was done away from home. The lack of evidence for communication between Andrew and this person still makes me open to the idea that hes still out there but must have got very very lucky, i can imagine some people would hide you or keep your position secret out there, rare however.

Do i think he intended to meet someone there and this "friend" turned out to be a predator who lived in the area, very possibly. Maybe this person told Andrew he can crash at his place, Andrew did and it turned ugly? I also wonder if Andrew left the country under illegal circumstances and is now living a very sheltered life abroad. If he committed suicide then surely he would have been found in 99% of cases, i struggle to find exception other than him throwing himself off a cliff into an ocean.

So either Andrew was taken in by someone or he met a a predator, thats my thinking. However we may just be surprised by the outcome.
Just my opinion.
 
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That vice article was little more than a rewrite of the Wikipedia page and added nothing new. A wasted opportunity, unfortunately. I am hoping Kevin’s FOI req. for the Kings X footage may be released some time in the near future.
 
There is something about this case that really nags at me and I don't know what. It is very unusual for everything to have happened the way it did. For him to vanish without a trace takes a number of very unlikely scenarios to coincide at the same time.

  • If he upped and left willingly its likely he would go to family or would have been found by now.
  • If he left for a concert its likely he would have returned or told friends or used his bank card and be seen on CCTV.
  • If he was groomed its likely they would have found evidence of communication or conversations or be seen on CCTV.
  • If he intended to return home its likely he would have told someone where he was going and/or returned safely or used his bank card and be seen on CCTV.
  • If he was acting on a whim to visit somewhere new its likely he would have returned safely and be seen CCTV or used his bank card.
  • If he was going forever he would take all his money and important belongings and still be seen on CCTV!
  • If he was randomly murdered its very unlikely that it would have happened on the only day he happened to choose to go to London without anyone knowing and he would have been found by now.
  • I don't think suicide or runaway is even a possible option to be honest.

For a combination of these unlikely scenarios to occur is just baffling. The bizarre lack of CCTV and other evidence has meant that they police couldn't even ascertain where he went after the train station and that is strange in itself.

Listening to the into thin air podcast, I can't imagine how awful this has been for the family and I really hope they find out what happened eventually.

I have a son who is 14 and very bright and I just can't imagine this happening without an adults involvement.
 
I just read through the thread, and many of the links.

Andrew's dad sounds like a lovely man- I cant begin to imagine what his family has been through over all of these years.

Many of my thoughts echo those already expressed.

1. I don't think he ran away. If for no other reason, he left the 100 pounds in his bedroom. He waited until his parents and sister left, returned home, got changed, grabbed a few things and left. He knew he had the house to himself- so why not use that time to pack a few essentials, like the cash, charger and a few changes of clothes? I feel as though this was a day trip he thought he could get away with. The school's policy of calling parents if their child didn't arrive for class worried me a bit, because if he knew about that he would have known he would be busted, but if he had previously had a 100% attendance rate, he may well have had no idea someone would attempt to call his family. He wasn't hiding- he withdrew money using an atm. He didn't wear a cap to disguise his appearance on cctv. Doesn't sound like someone who was about to deliberately disappear.
2. I don't believe he was going to visit family. Too big a chance of being caught. Also- his parents had encouraged him to travel to London to see family in the very recent holidays, and he declined.
3. Andrew walked home from school a few times in the weeks before he disappeared. School had only been back in for eight days, so it must have been just before he disappeared. To me, this must be related to his disappearance. It sounds as though he was meeting up with someone on the way home. Question: What was Andrew doing during the day, during the holidays? Were his parents both at work? Who was he hanging out with? Andrew loved London, by all accounts, but when his parents suggested he go there during the holidays he declined. Why?? My gut says because he was hanging out with someone locally. Someone he then met up with a few times on his way home from school.
4. My theories: a) Andrews friend, whoever they were, travelled to London before Andrew, possibly the day before. Andrew planned to meet this person in London, for a reason unknown but that required more than 100 pounds but not more than 180 pounds. He did not need a return ticket because this person would be driving him home (making me believe that whoever it was must have been at least a few years older, to have a car and a licence).
b) Andrew travelled to London on behalf of his friend, to meet someone/deliver something to someone.
I believe Andrew had every intention of eating dinner with his family that night.
 
There is something about this case that really nags at me and I don't know what. It is very unusual for everything to have happened the way it did. For him to vanish without a trace takes a number of very unlikely scenarios to coincide at the same time.

  • If he upped and left willingly its likely he would go to family or would have been found by now.
  • If he left for a concert its likely he would have returned or told friends or used his bank card and be seen on CCTV.
  • If he was groomed its likely they would have found evidence of communication or conversations or be seen on CCTV.
  • If he intended to return home its likely he would have told someone where he was going and/or returned safely or used his bank card and be seen on CCTV.
  • If he was acting on a whim to visit somewhere new its likely he would have returned safely and be seen CCTV or used his bank card.
  • If he was going forever he would take all his money and important belongings and still be seen on CCTV!
  • If he was randomly murdered its very unlikely that it would have happened on the only day he happened to choose to go to London without anyone knowing and he would have been found by now.
  • I don't think suicide or runaway is even a possible option to be honest.

For a combination of these unlikely scenarios to occur is just baffling. The bizarre lack of CCTV and other evidence has meant that they police couldn't even ascertain where he went after the train station and that is strange in itself.

Listening to the into thin air podcast, I can't imagine how awful this has been for the family and I really hope they find out what happened eventually.

I have a son who is 14 and very bright and I just can't imagine this happening without an adults involvement.

The lack of CCTV is down to one thing. Police ineptitude. They didn’t ask for the CCTV of the surrounding areas or anywhere at all besides kings cross.

Had they actually done their job I’m sure there would have been more CCTV.
 
The lack of CCTV is down to one thing. Police ineptitude. They didn’t ask for the CCTV of the surrounding areas or anywhere at all besides kings cross.

Had they actually done their job I’m sure there would have been more CCTV.

Yes I understand that but what are the chances of that happening AND him going missing for so long? What I mean is he must have been caught on loads of CCTV cameras around London and probably on CCTV of various premises such as shops, food places etc. What are the chances that not only does he go missing for so long AND that the police fail to gather ANY CCTV whatsoever? its just bizarre.

I am sure statistically its almost impossible to vanish in London due to more witnesses and more CCTV and no isolated areas, however that was not the case.
 
Just a thought, but what if London was not Andrew's intended destination?
He could have arrived then purchased another ticket to somewhere else- or even gone, did whatever he planned to do, then went missing on/after a return trip back home?
speculation, imo.
 
Just a thought, but what if London was not Andrew's intended destination?
Yes that's a possibility however the police didn't even seem to get CCTV to confirm what happened after the initial train journey.
His family canvassed the area significantly in the days following, including visiting businesses, attractions and venues. You would think someone would have recognised him or come forward with their CCTV. To vanish without a trace is so strange.
 
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