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

[Bobsparks]

Really sad news.

It’s all a bit of mystery. If you google ‘epping forest suicide’ it has a history of it. Also mentions suicidal pool. Strange that he would travel there, being pretty far and all.

 

[crhedBngr]

Prayers going up for the Deceased's Family and Friends.

If this is Richard, we'll know soon enough.

JMVHO.

 

[crhedBngr]

I find it rather hard to understand how you could commit suicide in a relatively shallow pond, unless you are totally unable to swim. And its an odd place to do it (unless it has special significance / memories), far quicker and easier ways to end ones life ?

One might think suicide in a shallow body of water would be difficult. However, if someone has intentionally taken drugs, or is so depressed they are not thinking rationally, suicide is possible in these circumstances.

JMVHO.

 

[annpats]

It's unusual to do family-verifications anyway these days. To make her wait overnight seems a little cruel, if they could do anything.

Plus today (Monday) is a national holiday, so although the police may be working, the coroner (body examiner) may not be back in until Tuesday.

 

[Dre]

I find it rather hard to understand how you could commit suicide in a relatively shallow pond, unless you are totally unable to swim. And its an odd place to do it (unless it has special significance / memories), far quicker and easier ways to end ones life ?

100% this. Doesn’t your body try to kick in? It’s baffled me for years as I could never see this working.
The only reason I know it’s even possible is because it’s happened time and time again on some of these cases.
so incredibly heartbreaking, sending a prayer to his loved ones

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

100% this. Doesn’t your body try to kick in? It’s baffled me for years as I could never see this working.
The only reason I know it’s even possible is because it’s happened time and time again on some of these cases.
so incredibly heartbreaking, sending a prayer to his loved ones

But remember, he had not taken his meds, and that may have dulled his senses or fallen unconscious, the latter particularly if he had been alive for some days and that alleged sighting of someone like him seen near the Robin Hood Roundabout was indeed him, then of course lack of food and water would also play a part. Hopefully they will be able to establish cause of death.

 

[JuicyLucy]

Obviously the discovery of a body is really bad news and I supposed must indicate a self-inflicted motive.
MOO

<sbm for focus>

I tend to think the reverse actually. As I understand it, the area where the body has been found is well used and has probably had a lot of human (and canine) traffic during the time Richard's been missing. Amongst many other things that are difficult to understand about this case, I find it hard to believe it's only just come to light if it's been there all along. I think the jury is very much out without some more evidence pointing one way or the other, i.e. suicide vs foul play, once we know for sure who it is. JMO.

Very sad, as you say. Welcome to Websleuths.

 

[Jenesaisquoi]

With this, and with Sarah Everard, it shows how crucial the cctv has been to enable eventual recovery of the body. I think the missing people procedures need to be reviewed to ensure that appropriate days and times is gathered for missing people in a timely fashion, even if not reviewed at that stage. (Maybe it is, but it just seems to me that if Richard’s mother had not gone to the media herself, the body in the pond may never have been found).

 

[Jenesaisquoi]

I wonder if his phones, addidas bag and shoes and mask were with him when he was recovered?

Shoes can be knocked off if a car hits a pedestrian, iirc.

 

[Parker Knoll]

Oh dear .... what a terribly sad outcome.

 

[Beans]

Oh this is dreadful news. Poor kid.

I struggle to understand why a young man from Ladbroke Grove would have a connection with that area or the forest but then again, if he was depressed things don’t necessarily always end up being logical in any way at all.

Given the amount of cctv in London there’s a very good chance they’ll know what shop he was in (and therefore also what he purchased) and his whereabouts in that missing 2 hours or so before getting in the taxi.

 

[Beans]

And for what it’s worth some of the comments levelled at the police are understandable in the wake of recent behaviour of Met police and perhaps also in relation to how they handle relations with people of colour but in terms of the police & media response it isn’t actually that far off Everard.

Her disappearance wasn’t really taken so seriously by either for a good couple of days, then social media ramped it up, and then doorbell footage changed all that and it went big. Alleged involvement of a police officer blew it stratospheric in profile terms.

If comments made to the mother by police are correct they’ll have to answer to that though. Especially if it transpires that he could have been found alive if earlier action had been taken.

 

[chrisdoingmusic]

I feel so torn regarding the origin of this.

On the one hand, it feels so odd. He left his home whilst lying to his mother about where he was going. He ended up in Essex which wasn't necessarily "familiar" to him - or close to his area. He didn't seem to pack for a long journey, not including his jacket or medication. His mother stated that he was "struggling to cope" with university work and that his personal hygiene had deteriorated. We know that he suffers from sickle cell and is a young lad, studying at home during the pandemic. He was last sited wondering towards the forest at past midnight. He seems like a smart guy, I personally would hold reservation over him meeting an online friend for the first time near the middle of the woods in the dark. Everything would be screaming for him to not enter a situation like this - unless he truly trusted the individual, perhaps had met them before. The decision to get a taxi seems extremely deliberate. His mother called him, the first time his phone rang unanswered and then was switched off - or disconnected. A lot of this, to me, points towards a decision on behalf of RO to cut contact and enter the forest. He was potentially scared, though and held out for a few days, which may explain the sitings of him around the area.

With that said, if the body turns out to be him, the location does seem off. Why is he in a pond? Did his disease quickly catch up to him? Did he potentially meet somebody whilst there and things escalated drastically? Is there a chance that he was under some degree of threat or "dox" from an online "friend" - to which he tried to find some sort of resolution. This is where it seems to all become quite chaotic. His mother seems to believe in this approach, but then again, it must also be excruciating to believe that your son would do himself any sort of harm.

Either options are absolutely horrible. I feel terrible for both him and his poor family.

The lock on the door, the lying and lack of deliberate communication about where he was going. RO was definitely keeping a secret. I suppose we may have somewhat of an idea soon enough.

MOO

 

[dotr]

I feel so torn regarding the origin of this.

On the one hand, it feels so odd. He left his home whilst lying to his mother about where he was going. He ended up in Essex which wasn't necessarily "familiar" to him - or close to his area. He didn't seem to pack for a long journey, not including his jacket or medication. His mother stated that he was "struggling to cope" with university work and that his personal hygiene had deteriorated. We know that he suffers from sickle cell and is a young lad, studying at home during the pandemic. He was last sited wondering towards the forest at past midnight. He seems like a smart guy, I personally would hold reservation over him meeting an online friend for the first time near the middle of the woods in the dark. Everything would be screaming for him to not enter a situation like this - unless he truly trusted the individual, perhaps had met them before. The decision to get a taxi seems extremely deliberate. His mother called him, the first time his phone rang unanswered and then was switched off - or disconnected. A lot of this, to me, points towards a decision on behalf of RO to cut contact and enter the forest. He was potentially scared, though and held out for a few days, which may explain the sitings of him around the area.

With that said, if the body turns out to be him, the location does seem off. Why is he in a pond? Did his disease quickly catch up to him? Did he potentially meet somebody whilst there and things escalated drastically? Is there a chance that he was under some degree of threat or "dox" from an online "friend" - to which he tried to find some sort of resolution. This is where it seems to all become quite chaotic. His mother seems to believe in this approach, but then again, it must also be excruciating to believe that your son would do himself any sort of harm.

Either options are absolutely horrible. I feel terrible for both him and his poor family.

The lock on the door, the lying and lack of deliberate communication about where he was going. RO was definitely keeping a secret. I suppose we may have somewhat of an idea soon enough.

MOO

Very nice post, welcome to Ws chrisdoingmusic!

 

[Commoner]

I was wondering how long before a body in a pond floats. I'd heard 3-5 days depending on water temperature, is that right?

Though I suppose if deliberately suicidal you might weight yourself down.

Or if disposing of a corpse, someone else might do that. JMO

 

[Ironside]

I was wondering how long before a body in a pond floats. I'd heard 3-5 days depending on water temperature, is that right?

Though I suppose if deliberately suicidal you might weight yourself down.

Or if disposing of a corpse, someone else might do that. JMO

I live by a river that’s notorious for suicides. It’s usually at least a couple of weeks before a body surfaces.

 

[Commoner]

I live by a river that’s notorious for suicides. It’s usually at least a couple of weeks before a body surfaces.

Thanks!

 

[RenPoly]

Really sad news.

It’s all a bit of mystery. If you google ‘epping forest suicide’ it has a history of it. Also mentions suicidal pool. Strange that he would travel there, being pretty far and all.

Cialdini ('Influence') mentions data which supports the notion the suicides tend to rise sharply after a well publicized (think news story) death. The latter acts as a trigger or enabler in a susceptible person, commonly know as 'suicide contagion'. There's a decent wiki page on the subject.

It's not beyond the bounds of possibility that a place known as a 'suicide spot' can become a kind of a self perpetuating myth, as its very existence may provide a trigger for susceptible individuals. MOO.

I'm not saying this is what happened here, that we don't know at present.

 

[pumpkin28]

Hello, this is my first post, I’ve been lurking a while as I feel very sad about this poor boy.

Speaking to my own experience, I was very depressed and in fact suicidal as a teenager. I thought about running away and ending it all and my twisted logic at the time - as I obviously wasn’t thinking rationally in the depths of my illness - was that if I could do it somewhere my body would never be found it would be easier for my family, as they wouldn’t know I was definitely dead.

Obviously that’s not true but I feel it’s a motivating factor for Richard. This is something I also think about in relation to the disappearances of both Ruth Wilson and Andrew Gosden.

He would have known that Epping Forest is large and dense and probably thought it far away enough that he wouldn’t be looked for there. I assume he took a black cab rather than an Uber as his journey wouldn’t necessarily be traceable.

edited to add: obviously none of this is corroborated but was my first thought about this disappearance based on my own experiences

 

[Cuko]

I have no personal knowledge of Sickle Cell disease but am I right in thinking it can be exacerbated to crisis point by very cold temperatures? With the exception of the odd day it’s been very chilly out there and Richard had no coat. He would also have lacked access to his regular transfusions and, according to his mother and MSM reports, had not taken his medication with him. It seems highly possible that he could have become weak and disorientated, at which point falling into a pond in the pitch dark of a (probably unfamiliar) forest becomes a plausible scenario. JMO.

Edited to add one further point: Richard’s locked bedroom door still puzzles me. If you are intent on suicide or permanent disappearance in some other way, why would you bother to lock your bedroom door?