- Jul 9, 2010
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Came across this case through a recent VICE article, funnily enough I'd never heard of it. Which is strange considering its the story of a 14-year old Anglo British kid who's booked a one-way ticket to London, from south Yorkshire, and has just... gone.
Below is the main timeline (that's been established).
• Andrew grows up in Doncaster, Yorkshire, born in 1993 in a relatively religious nuclear family (two parents, one sister). He's considered intelligent and a 'shoe-in for Cambridge.' He sees school as a means to an end. Isn't especially social, but is not bullied at school and simply prefers his own company. He's into video games and heavy rock and metal bands like Slipknot.
• September 14, 2007. Andrew wakes up belligerent, which is unusual. He finally gets out of bed. He leaves at 8:05 to go to school, however loiters in a park, waiting until he knows everyone at home has left, and then returns. He puts his school uniform in the washing machine, hangs his blazer in his room, grabs his Playstation Portable (without a charger) and puts it into a canvas bag racked with band pins.
• Gets to a local railway station. Withdraws almost all of his savings (£200 of his £214). Andrew goes to a counter and asks for a one-way ticket to London. The attendant let's him know that it's less than a pound for a return but Andrew still says no. He boards the train (reportedly alone, according to a few witnesses).
• 11:25am, arrives at King's Cross Station in London and is seen on CCTV exiting by himself. This is his final confirmed sighting.
Here are some extra details that've come to light since then. These are less absolute.
• He had heavy prescription glasses, a unique 'deformity' on the top of his ears. He was considered deep by his father and quiet by his teachers. He had a small group of friends at school who were into the same things but generally didn't like hanging out with friends after school. He stopped going to Church and also stopped going to Scouts, saying he just didn't look forward to it.
• That weekend, three prominent music events were taking place in London. One was a band he liked that night, the next day an in-store performance by another band it was known he was into, and a day or two later the final gig of a small, culty band no one knew he was into.
• He probably didn't use social features of the PSP online. He didn't have social media. He'd gotten a mobile phone when he was 12 but lost or broke a couple and didn't want a new one.
• Reportedly, there's been sightings of him all over the UK. The most 'interesting' is the most suspicious, it sort of goes like this: random guy is speaking to someone on a forum, 'andyroo,' who tells the user his partner has left him and he needs £200 to pay the rest of the rent. The user asks how to deposit it. 'I don't have a bank account, left home when I was 14.' When asked why he left, if something was up, then 'just felt like it.' The police tried to track this down, but it came to nothing.
There are lots of reddit forums on this too. Most of them unfortunately centre around the usual shite that bogs down decent online discussion: repetition, obsession with tiny details, offensive pondering...
https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/vbjwb3/the-strange-disappearance-of-british-kid-andrew-gosden
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Andrew_Gosden
Below is the main timeline (that's been established).
• Andrew grows up in Doncaster, Yorkshire, born in 1993 in a relatively religious nuclear family (two parents, one sister). He's considered intelligent and a 'shoe-in for Cambridge.' He sees school as a means to an end. Isn't especially social, but is not bullied at school and simply prefers his own company. He's into video games and heavy rock and metal bands like Slipknot.
• September 14, 2007. Andrew wakes up belligerent, which is unusual. He finally gets out of bed. He leaves at 8:05 to go to school, however loiters in a park, waiting until he knows everyone at home has left, and then returns. He puts his school uniform in the washing machine, hangs his blazer in his room, grabs his Playstation Portable (without a charger) and puts it into a canvas bag racked with band pins.
• Gets to a local railway station. Withdraws almost all of his savings (£200 of his £214). Andrew goes to a counter and asks for a one-way ticket to London. The attendant let's him know that it's less than a pound for a return but Andrew still says no. He boards the train (reportedly alone, according to a few witnesses).
• 11:25am, arrives at King's Cross Station in London and is seen on CCTV exiting by himself. This is his final confirmed sighting.
Here are some extra details that've come to light since then. These are less absolute.
• He had heavy prescription glasses, a unique 'deformity' on the top of his ears. He was considered deep by his father and quiet by his teachers. He had a small group of friends at school who were into the same things but generally didn't like hanging out with friends after school. He stopped going to Church and also stopped going to Scouts, saying he just didn't look forward to it.
• That weekend, three prominent music events were taking place in London. One was a band he liked that night, the next day an in-store performance by another band it was known he was into, and a day or two later the final gig of a small, culty band no one knew he was into.
• He probably didn't use social features of the PSP online. He didn't have social media. He'd gotten a mobile phone when he was 12 but lost or broke a couple and didn't want a new one.
• Reportedly, there's been sightings of him all over the UK. The most 'interesting' is the most suspicious, it sort of goes like this: random guy is speaking to someone on a forum, 'andyroo,' who tells the user his partner has left him and he needs £200 to pay the rest of the rent. The user asks how to deposit it. 'I don't have a bank account, left home when I was 14.' When asked why he left, if something was up, then 'just felt like it.' The police tried to track this down, but it came to nothing.
There are lots of reddit forums on this too. Most of them unfortunately centre around the usual shite that bogs down decent online discussion: repetition, obsession with tiny details, offensive pondering...
https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/vbjwb3/the-strange-disappearance-of-british-kid-andrew-gosden
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Andrew_Gosden
