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

[AndrewGosresearch]

I'm convinced that he knew the person he was meeting in London. One of his school friends told me that he had heard from someone that Andrew wanted to live with his uncle in London. I believe he wanted a new life there, and was expecting to call his parents either that day or return back over the weekend with the person he was visiting. He wanted a new start/life in London, and he was wrestling with the idea of moving away from Doncaster. Another reason why he left cash in his bedroom, along with clothes, his PSP charger etc. He was coming back. That's why he told his dad the night before he left, that he loved him, and why on the morning he left, he was noticeably grumpy. He was contemplating a new life in London, and someone who had his confidence, told him of the possibility.

 

[Farley]

I'm convinced that he knew the person he was meeting in London. One of his school friends told me that he had heard from someone that Andrew wanted to live with his uncle in London. I believe he wanted a new life there, and was expecting to call his parents either that day or return back over the weekend with the person he was visiting. He wanted a new start/life in London, and he was wrestling with the idea of moving away from Doncaster. Another reason why he left cash in his bedroom, along with clothes, his PSP charger etc. He was coming back. That's why he told his dad the night before he left, that he loved him, and why on the morning he left, he was noticeably grumpy. He was contemplating a new life in London, and someone who had his confidence, told him of the possibility.

Are there any clues at all about who that person might be?

I've already said I believe it to be someone known to the Gosden family.

Did the police look into this at all? I agree with you, the police handled this care terribly. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Also the video I linked to in my first post. Do you know if that was made with the help and permission of Andrew's parents?

 

[Farley]

Sorry. I can't edit my post above.

Just wanted to ask if it was true that Andrew had walked home from school a few times instead of getting the bus in the weeks leading up to him vanishing?

 

[jslk]

Just read this entire thread. How utterly heartbreaking and baffling. So many things that don't seem to add up and a trail that goes immediately cold.

Kings X was not necessarily a destination - just the terminus of where trains come in from the North. What if he wanted to go to the British Museum so came out of KX and started making that way... intending to wend his way towards Charing X and SE London after a quick visit? That's a logical route I've done many many times. (I no longer live in London but born and grew up in SE London).

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk

 

[ekardh]

I believe it was a Times article that said Andrew walked home from school two weeks prior to this disappearance?

Also, are we supposed to believe that in today's Orwellian society, that none of the CCTV cameras kept an archive of their footage?

 

[Farley]

I believe it was a Times article that said Andrew walked home from school two weeks prior to this disappearance?

Also, are we supposed to believe that in today's Orwellian society, that none of the CCTV cameras kept an archive of their footage?

This is the link to the article (posted earlier by MrAdamJames).

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/families/article1757703.ece

You need a subscription to view the entire article though.

I believe that's what the police said that it had all been wiped by time they bothered to ask for it.

I also wonder why we've not so much as seen a sketch of the person who turned up at Leonminster. Or are we to believe that police stations don't have CCTV cameras?

I don't believe that for a second so why hasn't a picture of the person or at the very least a sketch or description of the person who went to the police station saying they had info not been released?

 

[Jackalyn]

That's the article I was looking for. I knew I had read about the pizza somewhere. I am confudes though. I have seen reports that say Andrew's Father was not so happy with the initial investigation. I suppose though it could be mixed feelings.

 

[Jackalyn]

It does seem strange the only person to claim to have actual information is so elusive. Yes, why no CCTV footage?

 

[jslk]

Re the 13min YouTube did kindly.posted by @farley

I see the video makers favour my Charing Cross idea for making towards S London.

I'm honestly disturbed by the school's inaction. He doesn't turn up for the first time EVER and they don't ring his parents? Every school I worked in from 2005 had electronic registers every lesson. Why wasn't his absence followed up?!

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk

 

[Jackalyn]

I am happy to talk, but have a feeling I already have talked to you in the past. I am on Andrew's Father and Andrew's Facebook. You can talk to me there.

 

[MrAdamJames]

I'm honestly disturbed by the school's inaction. He doesn't turn up for the first time EVER and they don't ring his parents? Every school I worked in from 2005 had electronic registers every lesson. Why wasn't his absence followed up?!

I was sure I'd remembered hearing/reading that the school contacted the wrong family when Andrew hadn't turned up for school, and I've just found that article that confirms it.

"Certainly, there have been blunders and delays that point to how the system could be improved.
For starters, when Andrew didn't turn up at school, the wrong family was contacted."

It's quite a long article, but the part about the school contacting the wrong family is about half way through it.

Here's the article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3636319/Missing-children-Andrew-just-tell-us-youre-alive.html

 

[Farley]

Re the 13min YouTube did kindly.posted by @farley

I see the video makers favour my Charing Cross idea for making towards S London.

I'm honestly disturbed by the school's inaction. He doesn't turn up for the first time EVER and they don't ring his parents? Every school I worked in from 2005 had electronic registers every lesson. Why wasn't his absence followed up?!

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk

I believe there was a mix up and the wrong parents were called.

It seems a lot of people (the police, the school) let the Gosdens down here.

 

[jslk]

I was sure I'd remembered hearing/reading that the school contacted the wrong family when Andrew hadn't turned up for school, and I've just found that article that confirms it.

"Certainly, there have been blunders and delays that point to how the system could be improved.
For starters, when Andrew didn't turn up at school, the wrong family was contacted."

It's quite a long article, but the part about the school contacting the wrong family is about half way through it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3636319/Missing-children-Andrew-just-tell-us-youre-alive.html

Thanks. That's a real shame. I'm not saying the outcome could have been different but if a person as young as Andrew could have been flagged up as not at school they could have been on the trail a lot sooner. It's another frustrating element.

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk

 

[Farley]

Thanks. That's a real shame. I'm not saying the outcome could have been different but if a person as young as Andrew could have been flagged up as not at school they could have been on the trail a lot sooner. It's another frustrating element.

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk

I imagine every second counts in cases like this and the police seem to have handled the case appallingly.

It took them three weeks to get the CCTV footage when they knew within 48 hours where he had gone, what time he got there and what platform he arrived on. It's just plain incompetence to not act sooner. There is literally zero excuse for this.

I also remember reading an article ( it could have been one of the blog posts by Andrew's father) saying he wasn't happy with the way the police had handled he case and I can't say I blame him in the slightest.

It seems they just decided he had ran away and that it was his parents fault and didn't even attampt to look at any other avenue until it was far too late. All it would have taken was a single call/email/fax/ telling people 'do not delete the CCTV footage'.

 

[jslk]

Okay having read the telegraph link... the police wouldn't have done anything on day 1 assuming he was truanting? That wouldn't happen today with the heightened importance of child exploitation. A vulnerable young person who didn't show up at school would be followed up on. I am certain of it.

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk

 

[Farley]

Okay having read the telegraph link... the police wouldn't have done anything on day 1 assuming he was truanting? That wouldn't happen today with the heightened importance of child exploitation. A vulnerable young person who didn't show up at school would be followed up on. I am certain of it.

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk

It also stated that Andrew's parents told the police they thought he would head to London. But the police ignored them.

This bit here

The first hours of a search are crucial. One of the police officers in the Gosden case made the kindly, but unwarranted, assumption that Andrew would "just turn up". It was unfortunate, too, that the police didn't trust Glenys and Kevin's conviction that Andrew would head for London because he'd always enjoyed family visits to relatives and museums.

Have the people Andrew knew in London been looked at?

 

[ekardh]

Have the people Andrew knew in London been looked at?

It's definitely an angle worth exploring. An older cousin or something, who arranged a dayout in London with Andrew?

I don't think there's a huge mystery in this case. He went to London to meet someone and that someone killed him. I guess there's an outside chance that he went to commit suicide or start a new life but I don't see any evidence of that, and I think chances are he would've been found by now.

 

[Farley]

It's definitely an angle worth exploring. An older cousin or something, who arranged a dayout in London with Andrew?

I don't think there's a huge mystery in this case. He went to London to meet someone and that someone killed him. I guess there's an outside chance that he went to commit suicide or start a new life but I don't see any evidence of that, and I think chances are he would've been found by now.

I think the mystery is the who, how, why and what.

Why did Andrew go to London. Who did he meet and how did he arrange it. And what happened once he got there.

I also agree with a few posts back, no matter what we think personally, until proven otherwise we have to hope against all hope that Andrew is still alive.

 

[Farley]

Just read this article. It mentions another lead being from Glasto.

It says two years ago someone took a picture of a young man at Glastonbury who they thought might be Andrew.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/lat...ham-maddie-mccann-child-abduction-amber-alert

Apparently they never found out who the person was.

Why has that picture not been on the new etc?

 

[jslk]

I would love to see that picture 😕

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk