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support and for a more detailed

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list of content warnings, please

1:00

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1:02

your app or on our website.

1:06

♪ Music

1:10

playing ♪ In many

1:11

ancient civilizations, the

1:14

oak tree was considered to be sacred.

1:17

Some believed that the mighty oak held

1:19

great healing powers or could facilitate

1:22

communication with the gods. Oak

1:25

trees can live for hundreds of years.

1:28

It takes many years for them to bear

1:30

acorns, and thus acorns are

1:32

often used as a symbol of patience and

1:35

maturity.

1:36

With their tall, sturdy trunks, deep

1:39

roots and sprawling branches, today

1:42

the oak tree continues to be viewed as a

1:44

symbol of strength, power, stability

1:47

and protection.

1:49

From a young age, Andrew Gosden

1:52

was fascinated by science. A

1:54

gifted straight-A student, he effortlessly

1:57

soared through school, winning mathematics

1:59

competitions. competitions at a European level. His

2:03

above-average intellect eventually earned

2:05

him a place in the United Kingdom's National

2:07

Association for Gifted and Talented

2:09

Youth, a government scheme aimed

2:12

at the country's top 5% of students. When

2:16

Andrew read that an acorn planted

2:18

in a tub could grow into a miniature

2:21

oak tree, he had to try it for himself.

2:24

He enlisted the help of his father, Kevin,

2:26

who was always willing to support Andrew's curiosity

2:29

and encourage his love of learning. Kevin

2:33

gathered up a few discarded acorns

2:35

and together the father and son planted

2:37

them into tubs at their Victorian terrace

2:39

home in Bulby, a suburb in

2:41

England's South Yorkshire region. Now

2:45

all they had to do was wait. On

3:12

the evening of Friday, September 14,

3:16

2007, Kevin Gosden and his wife, Glynis,

3:18

both returned home from work to find

3:20

a typical scene. School

3:23

had only just returned after summer holidays

3:25

and the couple's children, 14-year-old Andrew

3:28

and his 17-year-old sister Charlotte,

3:30

had settled back into their familiar routines.

3:34

For Andrew, this meant using his spare time

3:37

to do the things he enjoyed most, playing

3:39

video games in his family's converted

3:41

cellar or playing snooker on the

3:44

half-sized table in his bedroom. Although

3:47

he had a small group of friends he spent time

3:50

with at school, Andrew was a shy,

3:52

quiet teen who was content with his

3:54

own company. He preferred spending

3:57

time at home alone over going out and

3:59

socialising. and could often be found

4:01

with his face buried in one of his well-read

4:03

books. When

4:07

Andrew didn't surface to say hello,

4:09

his parents thought nothing of it. They

4:12

assumed Andrew was busy with one of his hobbies

4:14

and would come out when dinner was ready. Dinner

4:17

was always a special time for the Gosden

4:19

family to come together and connect. Kevin

4:23

and Glenice began unpacking groceries

4:26

and preparing for the meal. They

4:28

were being joined that evening by the family's

4:31

vicar and close friend, Alan

4:33

Murray, who lived nearby. The

4:36

Gosdens were Anglican, but Kevin

4:38

and Glenice wanted their children to make up

4:40

their own mind about religion rather

4:42

than having it forced upon them. Because

4:46

of this, they never baptized their children

4:48

and took no issue when Charlotte and

4:50

Andrew both made the decision to stop attending

4:53

church. By

4:56

6pm, dinner was ready. The

4:59

parents called out to their children to come and join

5:01

them. Charlotte quickly emerged

5:04

from her room, but there wasn't a peep

5:06

from Andrew. Kevin

5:09

went to check Andrew's room. As

5:12

part of the teen's post-school routine, he

5:14

always hung his school blazer and a tie on

5:16

the back of his bedroom chair before

5:18

putting his trousers and shirt in the washing

5:21

machine. This evening

5:23

was no different. The blazer

5:25

and tie were on the chair and the rest

5:28

of Andrew's uniform was in the wash. But

5:31

there was no sign of him anywhere throughout

5:33

the house. Andrew

5:37

was the type of person who left a note

5:39

even if he was just ducking to the corner store,

5:42

but there was no note to be found. Although

5:45

this was strange, Andrew's parents

5:48

weren't overly concerned. Andrew

5:51

had friends who lived nearby. They

5:54

assumed he'd gone to visit one of them and

5:56

had lost track of time. didn't

6:00

have a mobile phone so they couldn't call

6:02

or text him. He'd

6:04

had a couple of phones in the past but

6:06

had barely used them before managing

6:09

to misplace them altogether. He

6:12

could be quite absent-minded at times

6:14

and simply wasn't interested in the devices.

6:18

He'd even rejected his parents' offer of a new

6:20

one for his recent birthday, requesting

6:22

an Xbox gaming console instead.

6:27

The Gosdens called the homes of Andrew's friends,

6:29

only to discover that he wasn't with any of them.

6:33

They were also told that Andrew hadn't been

6:35

at school that day at all. That

6:42

Friday morning had started out like any

6:44

other. Andrew had woken

6:46

a little later than usual but had still

6:48

managed to get ready in time to catch

6:50

the bus to school. Andrew

6:53

attended Macaulay-Catholique High, which

6:56

was roughly four miles, or a 15-minute

6:58

bus ride from the Gosdens' home. At

7:02

around 8.05am he

7:04

said goodbye to his parents and left the

7:06

house, dressed in his school uniform.

7:10

Shortly after this, Vika-Ralen Murray

7:12

recalled driving by Westfield Park,

7:14

which was across the street from the Gosdens'

7:16

home. He'd seen

7:18

Andrew in his uniform as he passed by

7:21

but hadn't thought anything of it given that the

7:23

park provided a shortcut to the school

7:25

bus stop. With

7:28

Andrew's uniform at home but no

7:30

sign of Andrew himself, the Gosdens

7:33

didn't know what to think. They

7:36

contacted Macaulay-High. An

7:39

administrator confirmed that Andrew had

7:41

been absent that day. This

7:44

was entirely out of character. Andrew

7:47

had a 100% attendance record. The

7:51

school had even issued him certificates

7:53

attesting to his flawless turnout. One

7:56

staff member had tried calling the Gosdens that

7:59

morning to notify them of Andrew's unusual

8:01

absence, but there hadn't been an answer.

8:05

On reflection, the staff member realised

8:07

they must have accidentally dialed the number

8:09

listed either above or below Andrew's

8:12

on the register, leaving his family

8:14

out of the loop. Although

8:17

it didn't explain why Andrew's uniform

8:19

was at home, the Gosdens considered

8:21

the possibility that he could have been involved

8:24

in some kind of incident on his way to school.

8:27

They searched the area surrounding their home

8:30

before driving the route Andrew typically

8:32

took to school. There

8:34

was no sign of him anywhere. They

8:37

called the local hospitals, but no one

8:39

fitting the teenager's description had been admitted.

8:43

When there was still no sign of Andrew by 9pm,

8:46

his family contacted the police. The

8:51

Gosdens were absolutely certain that

8:54

Andrew hadn't run away. They

8:56

described him as a reliable, gentle

8:58

and caring young man who would never

9:00

do anything to intentionally cause them

9:03

to worry. According

9:05

to the Gosdens, their home life was happy

9:08

and harmonious. Both Kevin

9:10

and Glenas worked as speech therapists.

9:13

Their incomes afforded them a modest yet

9:15

comfortable lifestyle which included

9:17

family holidays abroad to such places

9:20

as Egypt and Tunisia. As

9:24

far as the Gosdens knew, Andrew had

9:26

no mental health issues, didn't experience

9:29

bullying and had no other problems he

9:31

might want to escape from. Nothing

9:34

in his recent behaviour had been out of the

9:36

ordinary. If anything,

9:39

he had been slightly quieter and even

9:41

less social than usual, but this

9:43

wasn't exactly cause for concern. Andrew

9:47

was the type of person who didn't speak

9:49

unless he felt he had something worthwhile

9:51

to say. Kevin

9:53

had recently asked his son how the new

9:55

school year was going. Andrew

9:58

gave no indication that anything was

10:00

amiss. If he didn't

10:03

feel comfortable speaking to his parents for

10:05

whatever reason, they were sure he

10:07

would confide in his sister, Charlotte.

10:12

The Gosden siblings had a close bond.

10:15

Both were highly intelligent and were on track

10:17

to be accepted into England's most prestigious

10:21

universities. The pair also

10:23

shared a similar taste in music, favouring

10:26

heavy metal, rock and post-hardcore

10:28

bands including Slipknot, Funeral

10:30

for a Friend, Muse, Evanescence

10:33

and Dragonforce. The

10:36

evening before Andrew went missing

10:38

had been unremarkable. Andrew

10:41

and Kevin had done a puzzle together before

10:44

the whole family ate dinner together.

10:47

The father and son then washed the dishes.

10:51

Afterwards, Andrew watched some light-hearted

10:53

television with his mother. He'd

10:56

been his normal self upon going to bed,

10:58

although he had seemed slightly irritable

11:01

upon waking the next morning. While

11:04

this was out of character, it wasn't

11:07

cause for alarm. He was

11:09

a teenage boy after all. As

11:12

Kevin Gosden told the Daily Mail,

11:15

if Andrew was unhappy or suffering

11:18

a mental illness, he did an amazing

11:20

job of hiding it. Andrew's

11:27

bank account revealed that after leaving home

11:30

that morning, he walked to a nearby petrol

11:32

station and used the ATM to

11:34

withdraw 200 of the 214 pounds he had in savings. A

11:40

neighbour of the Gosden family had a CCTV

11:43

camera pointed towards the street. Its

11:46

footage from that day revealed something

11:49

highly unusual. At

11:51

around 8.30am, just

11:53

after Kevin and Glenis left for work,

11:56

Andrew returned home. Minutes

11:59

later, he had been in a He appeared back on the street

12:01

no longer wearing his school uniform, but

12:04

jeans and a black slipknot band

12:06

t-shirt. He carried

12:08

a black canvas satchel adorned with

12:11

band patches that his sister had helped him

12:13

sew on. Nothing

12:16

in Andrew's room was missing besides his

12:18

wallet, keys and PlayStation

12:20

Portable handheld gaming console.

12:23

He didn't take the console's charger, nor

12:26

did he take a jumper despite the temperature

12:28

dropping in the September evenings. To

12:32

Andrew's family, this indicated that he

12:34

didn't intend to be gone for long, but

12:37

the fact that he'd ditched school and cleared

12:40

his bank account without explanation left

12:42

them completely baffled. Even

12:46

if Andrew had run away, due

12:48

to his age police immediately categorised

12:51

him as a high risk vulnerable missing

12:53

person. They

12:55

focused their attention inwards.

12:59

Despite his family's insistence that Andrew was

13:01

a happy, well-adjusted teen, experience

13:04

had taught police that most young runaways

13:07

were typically trying to escape from some

13:09

kind of situation at home. They

13:12

sat each member of the Gosden family down

13:14

for an interview to see if they could uncover

13:16

any signs that Andrew was being abused

13:19

or neglected. The

13:21

Gosdens were adamant that Andrew had an open

13:24

and honest relationship with his parents,

13:26

who were neither strict nor controlling.

13:30

Kevin and Glenis trusted their children implicitly

13:33

and supported their need for individuality and

13:35

independence. Although

13:38

police took Andrew's disappearance seriously,

13:41

of the roughly 70,000 youths under 16 who

13:45

ran away in the UK each year, 80% returned

13:47

within 24 hours, 91% returned within two

13:53

days. Statistics

13:56

indicated that it would likely be a matter

13:58

of time before Andrew Gosden. and returned

14:00

home. Located 85

14:06

miles north of Doncaster, the

14:08

seaside town of Whippy was a much loved

14:10

vacation spot for the Gosden family.

14:14

Andrew adored Whippy and knew the area

14:16

well. If he was going to take

14:19

off for whatever reason, there was a good

14:21

chance this would be the place. Over

14:24

the weekend, friends of the Gosdens travelled

14:27

to Whippy to scour the area for any

14:29

sign of Andrew. They

14:31

checked his favourite horns, asking

14:33

if anyone had seen the team. Andrew

14:36

was roughly 5'3 and of slim

14:39

build with medium-length light brown

14:41

hair that swept across his brown eyes.

14:45

Most notably, he wore strong prescription

14:47

glasses, was deaf in his left ear

14:49

and had a double ridge on his upper

14:51

right ear, unique traits that

14:53

made him easily identifiable. The

14:58

weekend passed with no sightings of Andrew

15:00

in either Doncaster or Whippy, nor

15:03

did he make contact with his family. The

15:07

Gosdens wondered whether Andrew could have gone

15:09

to London. Although

15:11

the capital city was 170 miles

15:13

away, it could be reached by train in

15:16

just under two hours. While

15:19

the bustling city could be seen as an intimidating

15:21

place for a lone shy teen from

15:23

the suburbs, Andrew wasn't completely

15:26

new to the area. His

15:28

family had friends and relatives who lived

15:30

in London, including Andrew's grandparents.

15:34

Over the years, the Gosdens had travelled

15:36

to London numerous times. Andrew

15:40

knew the city well and his family thought

15:42

he would feel comfortable navigating his way around

15:45

alone. Although

15:48

it would be entirely out of character, they

15:50

wondered whether Andrew could have made the spontaneous

15:53

decision to spend the Friday in the

15:55

city. He'd recently

15:57

mentioned having an interest in seeing the Tzut'enkal.

16:00

Carmen exhibition at the British Museum.

16:03

Perhaps Ditching School was an act of teenage

16:05

rebellion and he then found himself

16:08

in some kind of trouble. Enquiries

16:12

were made with the local train station. When

16:15

the employee who had been working the sales

16:17

counter on Friday morning was questioned,

16:20

she distinctly remembered serving Andrew.

16:23

He had bought a one-way ticket to London's

16:25

King's Cross station departing at 9.35am.

16:30

She recalled the interaction because Andrew

16:32

looked young to be travelling alone. But

16:35

more notably, he had refused her offer

16:37

of a return trip, even though it only

16:40

cost around 50 pence more.

16:49

Local passengers saw Andrew on the train

16:52

to London that morning. There

16:54

had been nothing unusual about his behaviour.

16:57

He had kept his head down for the entire

16:59

journey absorbed in his PlayStation

17:01

Portable. One passenger

17:04

recalled seeing Andrew disembark at King's

17:06

Cross station, but no one could attest

17:09

to where he went from there. The

17:12

task of scanning through CCTV

17:14

taken from King's Cross station on September 14

17:17

was given to the British Transport

17:19

Police. The train

17:21

from Doncaster had arrived at

17:24

11.20am, but finding Andrew Gosden

17:26

in the crowd would be no easy feat. King's

17:30

Cross is one of the busiest railway stations

17:32

in the United Kingdom, with approximately

17:35

300,000 passengers passing through each day. Those

17:39

assigned to the job were unable to

17:41

locate Andrew among the throng. The

17:46

fact that Andrew had travelled to King's Cross

17:48

was a major revelation, but it raised

17:51

even more questions. Over

17:53

the summer holidays, Andrew's parents

17:56

had given him the option of going to London

17:58

to stay with his grandmother. But

18:00

he'd refused. So

18:03

why go there now without asking

18:05

for permission? The

18:08

Gosden family got their hands on a copy

18:10

of the latest edition of Time Out, a

18:12

free weekly guide detailing all

18:15

the latest events happening in the city. They

18:18

scoured each page on the lookout for anything

18:20

that might have motivated Andrew's travels.

18:24

Kevin had recently taken his children to

18:26

London to watch Muse play live.

18:29

It was the first major rock concert that Andrew

18:32

had been to and he thoroughly enjoyed the

18:34

experience. The

18:36

Gosdens looked into what other bands were playing

18:38

in London on Friday, September 14, They

18:43

considered whether Andrew could have taken off to

18:45

the city for a weekend of music and sightseeing.

18:49

Perhaps he was following the mentality of

18:51

asking for forgiveness rather than permission.

18:56

Even rock band 30 Seconds to Mars

18:58

were playing that night at Brixton Academy.

19:02

As far as the Gosdens were aware, Andrew

19:05

wasn't familiar with their music. A

19:08

prog metal band called Sixth were

19:10

playing at the O2 Academy, Islington,

19:13

which was about a 15-minute walk from

19:15

King's Cross. Although

19:17

the Gosdens didn't know if Andrew knew of

19:19

Sixth, the band did have links to

19:21

Slipknot. That

19:24

was a significant show too, being the

19:26

last time singer Mikey Goodman would feature

19:28

on the line-up. Furthermore,

19:31

Finnish rock band Him were doing an in-store

19:33

signing at a H&B Records store

19:36

on the 17th of September and

19:38

Andrew was a fan of their music. If

19:42

music wasn't the motivation, Andrew's

19:44

parents wondered whether he could have gone to London

19:46

seeking work experience. His

19:49

sister Charlotte had done so at Andrew's

19:52

age. It was possible

19:54

he wanted to follow in her footsteps. The

19:57

fact that he'd only bought a one-way ticket

19:59

did didn't seem too strange to the Gostens.

20:03

Perhaps he'd made a momentary error, wasn't

20:05

entirely sure of his plans, or

20:07

intended to spend the night with one of the family's

20:10

friends or relatives. The

20:13

problem with this theory was that none

20:15

of these people had seen or heard from Andrew.

20:19

Police made inquiries with each one and found

20:21

nothing to indicate that they'd crossed paths

20:23

with the fourteen-year-old. At

20:26

the time, bars and tram travel

20:28

was free for children under sixteen

20:30

in London, meaning Andrew would have had the

20:32

means to get around town. But

20:36

the two hundred pounds that he'd taken with

20:38

him wouldn't get him very far in terms of

20:40

food and shelter. This

20:43

led to the possibility that Andrew was

20:45

sleeping rough, making him vulnerable

20:47

to the dangers that lurked in the busy city

20:50

streets. If

20:52

Andrew had left home without intending

20:55

to return, it didn't make sense that

20:57

he hadn't brought a change of clothes or

20:59

at the very least a warm jumper. Andrew

21:03

was a creature of habit who enjoyed home

21:05

comforts. For

21:07

all his intelligence, he lacked street

21:10

smarts. He also looked

21:12

much younger than fourteen. His

21:15

family didn't think he would willingly put

21:17

himself in an uncomfortable, dangerous position.

21:22

That led to another possibility.

21:34

Case file will be back shortly. Thank

21:36

you for supporting us by listening to

21:38

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23:32

Did Andrew Gosden meet someone in London?

23:36

Given that he spent most of his spare time at home,

23:39

this left him with very little opportunities

23:41

to cross paths with someone outside of

23:43

school. Ever since

23:45

Andrew was a young boy, he'd attended Boy

23:47

Scouts and church. In

23:50

the months leading up to his disappearance, he'd

23:52

stopped going to both. For

23:55

his family, there was nothing suspicious about

23:57

this. Andrew had

23:59

cited boredom as the reason for leaving Scouts

24:02

and his parents thought he was likely just

24:04

following in Charlotte's footsteps by stopping

24:07

church. Enquiries

24:09

were made with members of both organisations.

24:13

No evidence emerged to indicate that

24:15

Andrew stopped going for any other reasons.

24:20

The previous summer of 2006, Andrew

24:23

had attended summer school as part of the gifted

24:26

and talented youth programme. It

24:28

was a residential programme that required

24:31

him to spend two weeks away from home.

24:34

He'd embraced the experience and returned

24:36

home in a great mood. Some

24:39

speculated whether he could have connected with

24:41

someone during this time, but

24:44

there was no evidence to support this. Andrew's

24:47

classmates and teachers were also

24:49

unable to shed any light on why he travelled

24:52

to London. The

24:54

Gosden household only had one computer,

24:57

a laptop that Charlotte had recently

24:59

received for her birthday. Andrew

25:03

had barely touched it in the eight weeks since.

25:06

He'd never shown much interest in computers.

25:09

As far as his family was aware, Andrew

25:11

didn't even have an email address. At

25:15

the time, social media was still

25:17

in its infancy and Andrew had shown

25:19

no desire to participate. Facebook

25:23

and MySpace were the major networking sites,

25:26

but Andrew didn't have an account with either

25:28

platform. Examination

25:32

of Charlotte's laptop failed to uncover anything

25:34

to indicate that Andrew had been talking to anyone

25:37

online. He hadn't

25:39

conducted any online searches that

25:41

hinted as to why he'd travelled to London

25:44

or what his intentions were once he got

25:46

there. Things

25:48

used by Andrew were also seized from

25:50

his school and at the local Doncaster

25:52

Library. Nothing

25:55

was found on any of them that helped with

25:57

the investigation. There

26:00

was no inexplicable activity on

26:02

the Gosden family's home phone line. Given

26:06

that Andrew didn't have a mobile, this

26:08

meant the only other way he could have accessed

26:11

the internet was via one of his gaming

26:13

consoles. Andrew's

26:16

Xbox didn't have online capabilities,

26:18

but his PlayStation Portable did.

26:22

He would have been able to communicate with others

26:24

using its text, voice or video

26:26

chat features. Doing

26:29

so would require him to have an online account,

26:32

which would in turn require him to have an

26:34

email address. Checks

26:37

with PlayStation's producer, Sony,

26:39

revealed no such account existed

26:41

for Andrew Gosden. The

26:45

Gosden's worst fear was that Andrew

26:47

was groomed by a pedophile or sex

26:49

trafficker and lured to London under

26:51

false pretense. Due

26:54

to Andrew's high intelligence, he was

26:56

mature for his age and had always

26:58

related particularly well to adults.

27:02

Although Andrew had never expressed it,

27:04

his family considered the possibility that

27:06

he could have been struggling with his sexual orientation

27:10

and had run away because he felt ashamed

27:12

or too awkward to come out. If

27:15

this was the case, it could also explain

27:18

why he might be more susceptible to grooming

27:20

by an older male. But

27:23

with no phone or online activity supporting

27:25

this theory, it remained to be seen

27:27

how Andrew could have come into contact with

27:29

a predator. In

27:33

the week leading up to his disappearance,

27:35

there had been a slight change in Andrew's routine.

27:39

While he typically caught the bus to school, in

27:41

the new academic year he'd twice

27:44

chosen to walk instead, a

27:46

four mile trip that took around an hour

27:48

and twenty minutes on foot. The

27:51

teenager could have been approached by someone

27:54

during this time. He

27:56

could have secretly been given a mobile phone

27:58

which he used exclusively for his family. exclusively to speak with

28:01

this person. The two

28:03

could have made plans to meet in London for

28:05

one reason or another with the groomer promising

28:07

Andrew a ride home, hence why

28:09

he had only bought a one-way ticket. But

28:13

Andrew's family told the Times that

28:15

these long walks could have just as easily

28:17

been practiced for a future plan of wandering

28:20

the streets. Kevin

28:25

and Glennis Gosden travelled to and from London

28:27

numerous times, scouring the streets

28:30

for their son. They visited

28:32

all the sites that he'd ever shown interest

28:34

in, distributing missing person posters

28:36

at every museum, train station, restaurant

28:39

and homeless shelter they could think of. They

28:43

drummed up as much media as possible, doing

28:45

whatever they could to keep Andrew's case in

28:48

the public consciousness. Several

28:51

witnesses believed they'd seen Andrew

28:54

on the day he went missing. An

28:56

alleged sighting took place at a Pizza

28:58

Hut restaurant on Oxford Street, just

29:01

a short walk from King's Cross station.

29:04

The way this witness described the boys' mannerisms

29:07

led the Gosdens to believe that this sighting

29:09

was credible, but the police

29:11

were unable to confirm it. Another

29:15

witness reported seeing someone matching Andrew's

29:17

description sleeping rough near London's

29:19

South Bank District. Another

29:22

believed they'd seen Andrew at a South Bank

29:24

park near the London Assembly building.

29:29

The Gosdens followed up every lead,

29:31

visiting these locations for themselves

29:33

to question locals and look for their son.

29:36

But not a single clue as to Andrew's whereabouts

29:39

emerged. As

29:42

days passed with no breakthroughs,

29:45

officers from South Yorkshire Police were

29:47

sent to London to review the CCTV

29:49

footage taken from King's Cross station.

29:53

They scanned through hundreds of hours of recordings

29:56

before something finally caught their attention.

30:00

At 11.24am, four

30:02

minutes after the train from Doncaster

30:04

arrived at King's Cross Station, the

30:07

unmistakable sight of Andrew Gosden

30:09

in his black Slipknot t-shirt emerged

30:11

from the crowd. The

30:14

teenager unremarkably exited through

30:16

the station's main entrance, alone,

30:19

before disappearing from view. By the

30:23

time police uncovered this sighting, Andrew

30:25

had been missing for 27 days.

30:28

It was a bittersweet discovery for the Gosden

30:31

family. They were frustrated

30:33

by what they perceived to be a quote,

30:36

slow, chaotic and disorganized

30:38

police response. King's

30:41

Cross essentially acts as an interchange

30:43

station. A plethora

30:46

of other tube stations and bus stops

30:48

are located there, including an international

30:50

station with links to other parts of Europe.

30:54

The existing CCTV footage only

30:57

confirmed that Andrew disembarked the

30:59

train in London. It gave

31:01

no indication as to his movements from there.

31:04

Andrew hadn't taken his passport with him,

31:07

making it unlikely that he travelled onwards

31:09

to another country. But it

31:11

was entirely possible that he could have gotten

31:13

off one train and straight onto another.

31:18

London is considered to be one of the most

31:20

heavily surveilled cities in the world. According to some sources,

31:25

the average person living in London can

31:27

be caught on CCTV up to 300 times per day. But

31:32

to the dismay of the Gosden family, police hadn't requested

31:34

to check the footage from any other

31:37

cameras. By the

31:39

time requests were made to view CCTV

31:41

footage owned by local authorities, no such footage existed. As was protocol, recordings

31:44

were only kept for a certain number

31:46

of days before

31:50

the tapes were wiped clean. By

32:00

Wednesday October 17, over

32:02

a month had passed with no word from

32:04

Andrew. As reported

32:06

on the BBC television programme Missing

32:09

Live, a woman named Philippa

32:11

was standing on a busy street in London's

32:13

Covent Garden district when she noticed

32:16

a passer-by who bore similarities

32:18

to Andrew Gosden. Philippa

32:21

approached the boy and tried to engage him

32:23

in conversation, remarking that

32:25

he looked like the missing teenager. The

32:29

boy denied being Andrew Gosden, but

32:31

Philippa's curiosity was piqued. She

32:34

followed the boy until losing sight of him

32:37

near a cafe called The Poetry Place.

32:41

Philippa reported this potential sighting to police.

32:45

According to the Gosdens, it wasn't followed

32:47

up until six weeks later. The

32:50

location where Philippa spoke to the boy

32:53

was outside of an office building. CCTV

32:56

cameras were fitted to the entrance of the building,

32:59

but weren't working at the time the alleged

33:01

interaction took place. When

33:05

shown a picture of Andrew Gosden, an

33:07

employee at The Poetry Place thought

33:09

she might have seen him in the cafe in the company

33:12

of two girls. Although

33:14

she acknowledged it could have just been someone

33:16

who looked similar, as many teenage

33:19

boys in the area had a similar, trendy

33:21

haircut. Whether

33:23

Philippa's sighting was legitimate or not

33:26

couldn't be ascertained. Reported

33:30

sightings of Andrew continued to come in,

33:32

some from as far as South Wales.

33:36

According to Kevin Gosden, the police were

33:38

either slack to respond to these leads

33:41

or didn't follow them up at all. Kevin

33:44

believed that their focus remained

33:46

on uncovering why Andrew had left

33:48

home, rather than what happened

33:50

from there. As

33:55

Christmas approached, the police asked

33:58

to question Kevin Gosden under the phone. the caution.

34:01

For Kevin, this was the last straw.

34:05

He was convinced that the reason police weren't

34:07

making a greater effort to find his son

34:10

was because they were wasting their time and

34:12

resources on investigating him

34:14

as the prime suspect in Andrew's disappearance.

34:18

A thought gnawed away at Kevin. What

34:21

if he removed himself from the picture, forcing

34:24

the police to focus on the search for his

34:26

son instead? One

34:31

day in the lead up to Christmas, vicar

34:33

Alan Murray went to the Gosden's house with

34:36

some food, eager to help in any way

34:38

he could. As

34:40

Alan approached the door, he heard a

34:42

crashing noise coming from inside. He

34:46

let himself in using a spare key.

34:49

There, Alan found Kevin Gosden

34:52

hanging from the upstairs balustrade.

34:55

He managed to cut Kevin down and rush

34:57

him to hospital, where it took seven hours

35:00

before he regained consciousness. Kevin

35:04

spent the next few months receiving treatment

35:07

in a mental health facility, telling The

35:09

Yorkshire Post, I

35:11

cannot begin to describe the depths

35:14

of misery that this involved. No

35:17

amount of therapy helped because the

35:19

situation was unresolvable. Late

35:24

but undeterred, the Gosdens continued

35:27

doing all they could to keep Andrew's case in

35:29

the spotlight, appearing on numerous

35:31

television and radio shows, and speaking

35:34

to any reporter willing to listen. Kevin

35:37

became the family's spokesperson, establishing

35:40

a website dedicated to the case titled

35:42

Help Us Find Andrew, where he shared

35:45

news along with photos of Andrew's happy

35:47

childhood and blog posts about

35:49

the impact of him being missing. He's

35:53

ultimately found no evidence to indicate

35:56

that the Gosdens were anything other than the

35:58

close-knit, loving and supportive family

36:00

that they described themselves to be. A

36:04

friend of Andrew's who had known the Gosden family

36:06

for 10 years told the Daily Mail,

36:10

"'People wonder if something was happening at home,

36:13

but I know for a fact that's not true.

36:16

They're one of the nicest families I know.'"

36:23

This made Andrew Gosden's disappearance

36:25

all the more baffling. According

36:28

to his teachers, Andrew had been a shoo-in

36:30

for Cambridge University. But

36:33

despite his intelligence, he'd never

36:35

been particularly enthusiastic about

36:38

his studies. The way

36:40

Kevin saw it, Andrew viewed school

36:42

as a necessity to ensure he had choices

36:44

in the future. Maybe

36:47

he'd gotten bored or frustrated with the

36:49

conventional path set out for him

36:51

and had run away to start a new

36:53

life. One

36:56

of Andrew's favourite television shows was

36:58

The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perron.

37:01

The British sitcom was about a man who faked

37:03

his own death to escape the daily

37:06

grind. Prior

37:08

to his disappearance, Andrew had also

37:10

been reading the work of famous philosopher

37:13

Friedrich Nietzsche. He

37:15

encouraged people to be free thinkers,

37:18

find their own values, and stand

37:20

out among the masses. As

37:23

his mother told The Telegraph, maybe

37:26

Andrew wanted to step off the treadmill.

37:31

But the theory that Andrew had run away to

37:33

start a new life didn't quite fit.

37:37

Those close to Andrew knew him to be nothing

37:39

but sweet and thoughtful. They

37:42

didn't think he was capable of putting his family

37:44

through such immense suffering. Four

37:48

months before Andrew vanished, three-year-old

37:50

Madeline McCann went missing from her family's

37:53

holiday villa in Portugal. The

37:55

story had dominated the news in the UK.

38:00

Andrew had spoken about how awful it was.

38:03

If Andrew wanted to disappear for good,

38:05

those close to him felt sure that he'd

38:07

have left a note or made some kind

38:10

of contact by now. On

38:13

top of the fact that he didn't bring more personal

38:15

belongings with him was the fact that

38:17

he hadn't brought more money. Although

38:20

Andrew had essentially cleared out his bank

38:22

account, he'd left almost £100 in

38:25

birthday money untouched in his bedroom.

38:29

The family also kept a box full of emergency

38:31

cash for bus fares and the like,

38:34

but Andrew hadn't taken any of it. Given

38:38

Andrew's age and the fact that he looked

38:40

even younger than his 14 years, it

38:43

was unlikely that he could have secured legitimate

38:45

work or started a new life

38:47

without adult help. His

38:50

disappearance was also highly publicised.

38:54

If Andrew was squatting somewhere, sleeping

38:56

rough or had gotten caught up with the wrong

38:58

crowd, it seemed mind boggling

39:00

that someone, somewhere, wouldn't have

39:03

recognised him. Before

39:07

Andrew went missing, he'd expressed his

39:09

desire to grow his hair long and

39:11

dye it black. If

39:13

he was trying to evade detection, he could

39:15

have just as easily shaved his head or

39:18

bleached his hair blonde. Even

39:20

if he did alter his looks, there was no

39:22

getting away from the unique double ridge

39:25

on his upper right ear. That

39:28

led to the next possibility. The

39:31

reason that Andrew hadn't made contact

39:33

or been found was because he

39:35

was no longer alive. If

39:43

Andrew was indeed being groomed,

39:45

he might have been kidnapped upon his arrival

39:48

to London. It could have been

39:50

part of a carefully orchestrated plan

39:52

involving one or multiple perpetrators,

39:55

which ultimately ended in Andrew being held

39:57

captive or killed. But,

40:01

if Andrew had fallen victim to foul

40:03

play, it wasn't necessarily a

40:05

premeditated attack. It

40:08

was just as possible that Andrew had travelled

40:10

to London of his own accord simply

40:12

to have an adventure. He could have had

40:15

every intention of returning home without his

40:17

family finding out, before crossing

40:19

paths with the wrong person. Andrew's

40:23

age and the fact that he was travelling alone

40:26

would have made him particularly vulnerable to

40:28

opportunistic criminals. He

40:30

could have been the victim of a robbery gone wrong

40:33

or placed his trust in a stranger who

40:35

ultimately caused him harm. Alternatively,

40:39

his death could have been the result of an

40:41

accident. If

40:44

Andrew hadn't voluntarily run away,

40:47

fallen victim to foul play or

40:49

been involved in an accident, it

40:51

left just one other possibility.

40:55

Andrew had never shown any signs of depression

40:57

or self-harm. Regardless,

41:00

the possibility that he could have taken his

41:02

own life was considered. Andrew

41:06

had always been a deep thinker. While

41:09

it seemed unthinkable to his family,

41:11

it was possible that Andrew had an inner

41:14

world that he'd never revealed to anyone

41:16

else. Perhaps

41:18

he'd gone to London to spend one final day

41:21

enjoying some of his favourite sights before

41:23

ending things for good, saving

41:25

his family the trauma of discovering

41:27

his body. This

41:30

could explain why he only bought a one-way

41:32

ticket and hadn't bothered to bring a jacket

41:35

or the charger for his PlayStation Portable.

41:38

Yet, it didn't explain why he'd

41:41

taken his keys or why he hadn't

41:43

left a note for his family whom

41:45

he knew would be worried sick. But

41:48

significantly, it didn't explain

41:51

the absence of a body. The

41:54

Gosden family remained insistent that

41:56

Andrew hadn't been bullied. His

41:58

sister Charlotte attended the meeting. the same school

42:01

and was an active member of an anti-bullying

42:03

program. It was

42:05

an issue often discussed at the family dinner

42:07

table and Andrew had never mentioned

42:09

any problems. This

42:12

was supported by one of Andrew's teachers

42:14

who told the Times, Andrew

42:17

was deep and mature beyond his years.

42:20

He's quite happy and self-contained in

42:22

his own company, but he's not a loner.

42:25

He always had a little posse of friends

42:27

with him. Likewise,

42:30

the school principal said, Andrew

42:33

is a very likable, self-effacing

42:35

boy. No one's got a bad

42:37

word to say about him. This

42:39

is not the sort of school where you can get lost

42:42

in the system. If there had

42:44

been any bullying going on, we'd

42:46

have known about it. In

42:50

the wake of Andrew's disappearance, a

42:52

post appeared on an online forum hosted

42:54

by British music magazine, Karang.

42:57

According to a user who identified themselves

43:00

only as Bex, she attended

43:02

the same school as Andrew and the two

43:04

were in all of the same classes. Bex

43:08

wrote, Andrew

43:10

did get singled out a lot and only

43:12

had a couple of friends. People

43:15

bullied him. They wonder why

43:17

he ran away. If

43:20

true, it offered a reason why Andrew

43:22

had recently avoided taking the school bus. It

43:26

also explained why he ditched school

43:28

completely, sought a new beginning,

43:30

or took his own life. But

43:34

as the weeks turned into months, none

43:36

of the belongings Andrew left home with on September 14

43:39

surfaced. If

43:42

Andrew had gone to London or beyond

43:44

to end his own life, chances were that at

43:46

least something would show

43:48

up to prove this theory. The

43:51

same went for the possibility that Andrew

43:53

had innocently travelled to London to play hooky

43:56

for the day and been involved in a fatal

43:58

accident. Most

44:00

accidents would attract attention, yet

44:03

no one had witnessed a thing. The

44:06

River Thames runs through central London.

44:10

Even if Andrew had intentionally jumped or

44:12

accidentally fallen in, someone

44:14

would have noticed or a body would

44:16

have surfaced. Every

44:19

potential outcome just raised

44:22

even more questions. Case

44:34

File will be back shortly. Thank

44:36

you for supporting us by listening to

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side.

48:01

A male voice said he wanted to report a

48:03

sighting of Andrew Gosden. An

48:06

officer was sent down to take the details.

48:10

By the time they arrived, the man

48:12

was gone. Shortly

48:15

after, an anonymous letter arrived at

48:17

the BBC offices. The

48:20

author claimed to have been the man who fled

48:22

from Lemster station. He

48:25

said that Andrew had been spotted in the town

48:27

of Shrewsbury, 150 miles

48:29

northwest of London. Police

48:32

were unable to verify this claim or

48:34

even confirmed that the two informants were

48:36

one and the same, adding to what

48:39

Kevin Gosden described as a

48:41

new form of subtle torture. He

48:45

told the Doncaster Press, Andrew

48:48

knows that part of the world, we've been on

48:50

holiday there, but we don't really

48:52

know enough. Perhaps there's

48:54

somebody that knows something that we don't.

48:57

But the longer it goes, the more we get

49:00

thinking he's probably either dead or

49:02

not free. If he's

49:04

still alive, I suspect that he'll wait

49:07

until his 16th birthday next July

49:09

to show his hand. Andrew's

49:13

birthday came and went with no breakthroughs.

49:17

Since Kevin's suicide attempt

49:20

in 2007, he'd been unable to work, plagued

49:23

by depression, anxiety and

49:25

post-traumatic stress disorder. He

49:28

did everything he could think of to find his

49:30

son. He relayed messages

49:33

to Andrew through the media, begging

49:35

him to let them know he was safe. He

49:38

emailed schools across the country and

49:40

appealed to the gay community, telling

49:42

Andrew that his family loved him unconditionally,

49:45

no matter what. He

49:48

attended concerts and music festivals

49:50

of bands he thought Andrew might like,

49:52

handing out flyers and scanning the

49:54

crowds for anyone who bore a resemblance

49:57

to his son. Kevin

49:59

said,

50:01

I've really just run out of ideas

50:03

now. I suppose this is

50:05

the last hope of finding out what has

50:07

happened." An

50:12

ongoing concern for the Gostens was

50:14

how much Andrew's appearance could have changed

50:17

in two years. With

50:19

the photos of him as a baby-faced 14-year-old

50:22

still circulating, they worried

50:24

that if Andrew was still alive, he

50:26

might be unrecognizable. On

50:30

the two-year anniversary of Andrew's disappearance,

50:33

his family worked with charity organization

50:36

Missing People to produce several

50:38

computer-generated images of what

50:40

Andrew might look like with the passing of time.

50:44

The images brought some comfort to his family,

50:46

with Kevin remarking, It's

50:49

reassuring to look at that and think, yes,

50:52

I'd know you anywhere. By

50:56

May 2011, three and a

50:58

half years had passed with no development.

51:02

The Gostens were growing increasingly certain

51:05

that Andrew hadn't run away. Kevin

51:08

told the BBC, We

51:11

just find it impossible to conceive that

51:13

he would allow us to go through all this for so

51:15

long without even some kind of

51:17

message to let us know he's okay.

51:21

Instead, the absence of confirmed

51:24

sightings led the family to believe that

51:26

Andrew must be dead. With

51:30

the help of a friend, the Gostens approached

51:32

a private firm that specialized in

51:34

advanced sonar technology typically

51:37

used to locate drowning victims at sea.

51:41

They arranged for a roughly seven-mile

51:43

portion of the River Thames to be searched

51:46

from Woolwich Barrier to Tower Bridge

51:48

in central London. The

51:51

sonar revealed a sunken boat, an

51:53

upturned car, and finally, a

51:56

body. It

51:58

wasn't Andrew. The

52:01

results sparked mixed feelings for the

52:03

Gosdens. Kevin remarked

52:06

that it was slightly positive because it

52:08

raised the statistical possibility that

52:10

Andrew was alive and well somewhere,

52:13

but, quote, "... it

52:15

still leaves us in this horrible, ongoing,

52:17

never-ending limbo of just thinking,

52:20

why did you go?" September 2017

52:27

marked 10 years since Andrew Gosdens'

52:29

disappearance. Police

52:32

launched a fresh appeal for information, circulating

52:35

Andrew's DNA, fingerprints and

52:37

dental and medical records to authorities

52:39

and healthcare professionals. Given

52:42

that Andrew relied on strong prescription

52:44

glasses, if he was still alive,

52:47

many believed he would have at the very least

52:49

sought optical care at some point,

52:52

perhaps making the switch to contact lenses

52:54

to further alter his appearance. A

52:58

police spokesperson urged doctors,

53:00

dentists or hospital staff who might

53:02

have treated a 24-year-old man with

53:04

no records from the previous 10 years

53:07

to come forward. The

53:09

call-out was extended to any members of

53:12

the general public who might currently know

53:14

Andrew Gosdens but be unaware

53:16

of his true identity. Appealing

53:19

to Andrew directly, the police spokesperson

53:22

added, "... please contact

53:24

us completely confidentially and

53:27

let us know you are safe and well and

53:29

we can reassure your family you have come

53:31

to no harm." Andrew

53:35

Gosdens became the face of missing people's

53:38

Find Every Child campaign. His

53:41

age progression images appeared everywhere

53:43

from doctors' offices and hospitals to

53:45

bus garbage trucks and

53:48

shopping centers. The

53:50

Gosdens even consulted with a behavioural

53:52

analyst to try and figure out why Andrew

53:55

might have gone to London on the day he went missing

53:58

and whether there were any places they might not

54:00

have thought to check. At

54:03

the time, statistics released

54:05

by the National Crime Agency revealed

54:08

that 98% of children who go

54:10

missing in England are found within

54:12

one week. This

54:14

put Andrew Gosden in the rare 2%. He

54:18

was one of 3,000 people in the

54:20

United Kingdom who had been missing for more

54:23

than 10 years.

54:26

To mark the decade-long mystery, Kevin

54:28

Gosden raised money for missing people

54:30

by holding a 10-hour vow of silence,

54:33

one hour for every year his son

54:36

had been missing. Around

54:40

this time, Michael Dixon, not

54:43

his real name, was chatting online

54:45

with a young man who went by the username

54:47

AndyRoo. AndyRoo

54:50

said he needed help. His

54:53

partner had just walked out and he needed 200

54:55

pounds to pay his rent. Michael

54:59

noticed that AndyRoo was listed

55:01

as living in Lincoln, a city in

55:03

the English Midlands. Michael

55:06

didn't live nearby, but he offered to

55:08

transfer AndyRoo some money. AndyRoo

55:12

declined the offer. He

55:15

claimed he didn't have a bank account because

55:17

he'd left home at the age of 14. Michael

55:21

asked him why, wondering if it was because

55:23

there had been problems at home. AndyRoo

55:27

responded, no, I

55:29

just felt like it. He

55:31

then cut the conversation short. Michael

55:35

Dixon had seen the ongoing publicity

55:38

about Andrew Gosden's disappearance and

55:40

began wondering if AndyRoo and Andrew

55:43

could be one and the same. He

55:46

reached out to the Gosden family, whose

55:48

interest was immediately sparked. When

55:52

Andrew was a kid, his small bouncy

55:54

demeanor earned him the family nickname,

55:56

Roo, as in Kangaroo. Although

56:00

it could have been a coincidence, the Gosdens

56:02

were taking no chances. They

56:05

notified police about this online interaction

56:08

and an investigation was launched. Andrew's

56:12

family met with Michael Dixon and travelled

56:14

to Lincoln. They made enquiries

56:17

with locals and thousands of missing

56:19

persons leaflets were distributed around

56:21

town. More

56:24

possible sightings were reported, but

56:26

none of them turned out to be Andrew Gosden.

56:30

Meanwhile, police made enquiries with

56:33

the chat provider, the name of which

56:35

has not been made public. The

56:37

website administrators had recently

56:39

made changes to their system, during

56:42

which a lot of the user data was lost.

56:45

No information about who owned the Andrew

56:48

profile was able to be ascertained.

56:54

The Gosdens continued to work with specialists

56:57

to release age progression images of

56:59

what Andrew might look like as the years went

57:01

by. If he

57:03

was still alive, investigators

57:05

believed that the best chance of finding

57:07

him was the distinctive double ridge on

57:09

his right ear. If

57:11

photos of Andrew were posted on social

57:14

media sites like Facebook and Instagram,

57:16

facial recognition software could pick

57:19

up this unique detail. The

57:23

possibility that Andrew could have left home

57:25

that Friday to attend a concert in London

57:27

before meeting foul play hadn't

57:30

been excluded. Since 2015,

57:33

Metropolitan Police had begun working

57:35

with a team of so-called super recognizers.

57:40

These are individuals with innate above

57:42

average skill for spotting faces in

57:44

a crowd. Police

57:47

appealed for anyone who had attended any concerts

57:49

around London on the weekend of September 14,

57:53

2007 to come forward with any photos or videos

57:56

they might have taken, so that the super

57:58

recognizers could scan the scene. them for anyone

58:00

who looked like Andrew. In

58:04

early 2020, the Gostens

58:07

received word that Andrew's favourite band

58:09

Slipknot was touring the UK. If

58:13

Andrew was still alive and living

58:15

of his own free will, his family

58:17

felt certain he'd attend one of the gigs.

58:21

Andrew's missing person posters were displayed

58:23

at the events, including at a meet

58:25

and greet with the band's guitarist Mick

58:27

Thompson. No

58:31

new leads were generated, but

58:33

the ongoing search efforts continued

58:36

to catch the attention of the public who

58:38

remained gripped by the case 13 years later. Andrew

58:42

Gostens' disappearance remained a hot topic

58:45

for online sleuths, each with their

58:47

own theory as to what had happened. Every

58:50

possibility had been considered, from

58:52

Andrew falling victim to a serial killer,

58:55

to him travelling to London to buy the latest

58:57

PlayStation Portable before an incident

59:00

occurred. Then,

59:03

in January 2022, a

59:05

story appeared in the news that no

59:07

one saw coming. South

59:12

Yorkshire police confirmed that on

59:14

Wednesday December 8, 2021, an arrest had been

59:18

made in relation to the Andrew Gosden

59:20

case. Two unnamed

59:23

men, aged 38 and 45,

59:26

had been taken into custody on suspicion

59:28

of kidnapping and human trafficking. The

59:31

older of the two was also arrested for

59:34

possessing indecent images of children.

59:38

Police seized a number of electronic devices

59:40

from the pair, but they said that a comprehensive

59:43

review of the devices could take up to

59:45

a year. Both

59:47

men were therefore released while the inquiries

59:50

continued. Police

59:52

refused to disclose any further details,

59:55

telling the media, Andrew's

1:00:00

family while we worked through this new line

1:00:02

of inquiry. We are

1:00:04

in close contact with them and they

1:00:06

ask that their privacy is respected as our

1:00:09

investigation continues. Almost

1:00:14

two years passed before any sort

1:00:16

of update. In

1:00:18

late September 2023, South

1:00:21

Yorkshire Police announced that the two

1:00:23

unnamed suspects in the Andrew Gosden

1:00:26

case had been eliminated from their

1:00:28

investigation. A

1:00:30

spokesperson said they were confident

1:00:32

the two men played no part, adding,

1:00:36

''The investigation remains open and active

1:00:39

and we would urge anyone with information

1:00:41

to come forward.'' Kevin

1:00:50

Gosden told the Thin Air Podcast

1:00:52

that if his son's disappearance has taught him

1:00:55

anything, it's that a child can have the

1:00:57

most secure and comfortable life and

1:00:59

still think the grass might be greener on

1:01:01

the other side. He

1:01:04

is now an ambassador for the charity Missing

1:01:06

People, educating young people

1:01:08

about how to stay safe if they are thinking

1:01:10

about running away from home or

1:01:12

what to do if they already have and

1:01:14

want to return. Kevin

1:01:18

told Woman's Own Magazine, ''I

1:01:21

hate the idea that Andrew might have had a

1:01:23

problem he felt he couldn't tell me. That's

1:01:26

why I implore all parents, talk

1:01:29

to your children. Let them know

1:01:31

they can tell you anything and

1:01:33

tell them if they ever consider running away

1:01:36

or make a foolish decision, there

1:01:38

are people who can give them the proper support

1:01:40

they need.'' Although

1:01:44

Andrew's bank account hasn't been touched since

1:01:46

his final withdrawal on September 14, 2007, his

1:01:50

family continues to top it up just

1:01:53

in case. His

1:01:55

room has since been repainted and decorated,

1:01:58

but his presence is still strong. His

1:02:01

favorite t-shirts are still sitting in a drawer,

1:02:04

and he's prized a gem collection displayed

1:02:06

on a shelf. The

1:02:08

Gosdens have never changed their locks,

1:02:11

just in case. July 10,

1:02:14

2023 marked what would have been Andrew's 30th birthday. He

1:02:20

had now been missing for longer than

1:02:22

he was around. Throughout

1:02:27

these years, Kevin Gosden continued

1:02:29

to nurture the acorns that he helped Andrew

1:02:31

plant when his son was just 10 years old. Just

1:02:36

as Andrew predicted, several of the

1:02:38

acorns sprouted and grew into miniature

1:02:40

oak trees. Kevin

1:02:42

gradually replanted them over the years,

1:02:45

keeping one in his own back garden.

1:02:48

By Andrew's 30th birthday, the

1:02:51

oak tree stood at 6 feet tall and

1:02:53

had sprouted acorns of its own. On

1:02:56

his blog, Kevin wrote, As

1:03:00

Andrew's oak tree bears the fruit of the acorn,

1:03:03

we hope that awareness of his case bears

1:03:05

the fruit that others are helped to find

1:03:07

positive solutions in their lives, and

1:03:10

that other families are spared the pain

1:03:13

that too many of us live with every

1:03:15

day. In

1:03:18

the 16 years since Andrew Gosden uncharacteristically

1:03:21

caught the train to London and mysteriously

1:03:23

went missing, no evidence has ever

1:03:26

emerged to indicate whether he is alive

1:03:28

or dead, and none of the belongings

1:03:30

he left home with have ever been found.

1:03:34

Kevin Gosden finds comfort in the fact

1:03:36

that one of his last memories with Andrew

1:03:38

was a happy one. The night

1:03:41

before Andrew went missing, the father

1:03:43

and son did the dishes together after dinner.

1:03:46

As they stood in the kitchen with tea towels in

1:03:48

hand, Kevin gave Andrew a quick

1:03:51

hug and told him, I love

1:03:53

you. As

1:03:55

Kevin wrote on his blog, I

1:03:58

am glad that he's one of the last things

1:04:00

I ever said to him." Andrew

1:04:04

is never far from his parents' minds.

1:04:08

Racked with ambiguous loss, Kevin ashamedly

1:04:11

admitted to the son that he sometimes

1:04:13

felt envious of parents whose children

1:04:15

had been murdered because at least they

1:04:17

had closure. He

1:04:20

described the experience of not knowing

1:04:22

as an endless cycle of horror, explaining,

1:04:27

The pain is like when you have a little kid

1:04:29

and you turn your back for two seconds and

1:04:32

they vanish but then you find them again.

1:04:35

That horrible, panic-stricken, gut-wrenching

1:04:38

feeling you have in that moment goes

1:04:40

on and on and on

1:04:42

forever for us. Glenis

1:04:45

once described it as someone coming up to

1:04:47

you and sticking a knife in your guts.

1:04:51

Normally it would hurt, but the knife would

1:04:53

be removed and the wound would be stitched up

1:04:55

and heal after a period of time.

1:04:59

With this, someone has stuck the

1:05:01

knife in, but you have to walk around

1:05:03

with it and it's always there, always

1:05:05

hurting and getting twisted frequently

1:05:09

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