14 year old Andrew Gosden stepped off the train at King’s Cross Station armed with only his £200 savings and the clothes on his back. As he exited London King’s Cross he vanished into one of the largest metropolitan cities in the Europe… never to be seen again…
So what happened to Andrew on that autumn day? How did he end up at King’s Cross and where did he go from there? Let’s try to solve this mystery together.
Andrew Paul Gosden was born on 10th July 1993. He was raised in the Balby a suburb of Doncaster in South Yorkshire by his devout Christian parents Kevin and Glenys, alongside his sister Charlotte, two years his senior. Despite their parents’ faith they never pushed religion onto either Andrew or Charlotte – allowing them to make up their own minds, which they duly did when Charlotte, then Andrew, both stopped attending church. Regardless, this wasn’t a problem for kevin and Glenys who promoted free-thinking with their children.
Andrew Gosden was described as being quiet and a deep thinker.
“He would listen a great deal but not say much. When he did say something, it was generally worth listening to.”
Andrew was also thought of as witty, polite, caring and intelligent.
Speaking of being intelligent, not many were more intelligent than Andrew. He was considered a Maths genius, able to work calculations in their billions in his head, like a human calculator. Andrew attended The McAuley Catholic High School in Balby and was accepted into The Young, Gifted and Talented Programme which was a scheme for the top five percent of schoolchildren. His teachers asserted that he was a certainty for Cambridge University when the time came.
Martin Taylor, Andrew’s maths teacher 
“Andrew had a good sense of humour, which I liked; but he was also capable of doing calculations in his head that no one else could contemplate — with answers into the billions. Sometimes, others would run it through a calculator and claim he was one or two out, but he’d never be drawn into a discussion — it was trivial to him.” (Courtesy Daily Mail)
Sandy Murray, Andrew’s friend
“We went to different schools but used to play tennis together, then I’d go to Andrew’s and play the Xbox or he’d come to my house and use the PlayStation.
When he first went missing, it was scary — all the time, you were wondering what would happen next. I’ve heard theories that maybe Andrew was being bullied — but you can’t think how it would lead to this.
People wonder if something was happening at home but I know for a fact that’s not true. They’re one of the nicest families I know. It has made me feel more responsible about telling my parents where I’m going, what I’m planning 
to do. I like them to know where I am now. I don’t want my mum to worry about me.”(Courtesy Daily Mail)
Laura Oxenham, Andrew’s friend
“If you didn’t know Andrew, you’d think he was quiet. Once you got to know him, he wasn’t. He was lively, fun, really intelligent. I think when we got to secondary school, he changed a bit. He had two close friends, but shut himself off from a lot of people.
When he first went missing, it was a shock, so strange. You’d be in class, looking at where he used to sit, or you’d ‘hear’ the space where the teacher would have called his name. You’d think, ‘Were people horrible to him at school? Was something happening?’ People have come up with their own explanations, but nothing adds up.”(Courtesy Daily Mail)
Andrew tended to find school boring, most likely as it was not challenging enough for him. This is further shown when he returned from The Young, Gifted and Talented Programme he was enthused by what he had seen and learnt.
Andrew spent most of his free time downstairs in the converted basement playing on his Xbox or his handheld Playstation or up in his bedroom where his snooker table took pride of place. Often times his man cave would be blaring out his favourite rock and heavy metal music such as Muse and Slipknot.
In fact, the band Slipknot would become synonymous with Andrew’s disappearance as we will discover as we delve further into this case.
In the week before his disappearance Andrew on one occasion had deviated from his normal routine of coming home from school on the bus. Instead he decided to walk the four miles home. Andrew was a boy of routine so this was unusual, although his parents thought nothing of it as it was explained away as being a pleasant day so he enjoyed the walk home.
On the night before his disappearance nothing out of the ordinary took place. Andrew sat down with his dad and did a jigsaw before watching comedy shows on BBC 2 – likely to be Mock The Week, Saxondale and Mitchell And Webb which were showing on TV that evening. He said ‘goodnight’ and went up to bed. No signs or clues that anything was wrong.
On the morning of Friday 14th September 2007 Andrew awoke later than usual and appeared irritable. Was this a sign that he was stressed or nervious about the events that were to follow or could it just be passed off that he was now rushing for school with waking up late?
Andrew prepared for school as was his usual routine and left the house at 8:05am.
Andrew was seen by family friend and local Vicar Alan Murray walking to Westfield Park toward the bus stop. However, instead of catching the bus to school, he took a detour to a local petrol station where he withdrew £200 from the ATM. He was unable to draw on the remaining £14 as the machine only dispensed £20 notes. He waited for a few minutes until he saw his parents’ car drive away. Andrew then quickly headed home. Once inside he ran upstairs to his bedroom and changed into a pair of black skinny jeans, black t-shirt with the ‘Slipknot’ logo emblazoned across the front, which was one of his favourite rock bands and a pair of black Vans trainers. Andrew placed his school blazer and tie neatly over the back of his chair before walking downstairs and somewhat interestingly put his shirt and trousers in the wash which is his normal weekend routine.
Andrew grabbed his house keys which had a large plastic hedgehog style keyring attached (similar as pictured), his black fold-up style wallet, his Sony PSP game console, but interesting left the charger behind and his black canvas bag adorned with badges of his favourite rock bands that his sister Charlotte had sewn on for him. Interestingly he left £100 birthday money in his room.
At 8:30am Andrew walked out the front door dressed only in his black jeans, black Slipknot shirt, black Vans trainers and black wristwatch on his left wrist. He did not take a jacket or even a jumper which again was interestingly odd
for mid September. However, the weather that day was pleasant for the time of year, reaching 22 degrees celsius mid-afternoon. However, if he had planned to stay out that night temperatures will have dipped through the night. He also took no change of clothes. Was he planning on returning that day? Or not planning on needing more clothes?
Andrew headed east along Littlemoor Lane for the 18 minute walk to Doncaster Train Station and purchased a one-way ticket to London King’s Cross for £35.40. According to the female ticket seller she remembered Andrew specifically as he had refused the offer of a return ticket for just 50p extra. It seemed odd not to want to pay the little extra for a round trip. Did this mean Andrew did not plan on coming home?
Andrew boarded the 9:16am Doncaster to London King’s Cross train which arrived late and eventually departed at 9:3eam. During the course of the near two hour journey Andrew busied himself playing on his Sony PSP as recounted by an eye witness who also stated that the boy did not talk to anyone else on the train.
In the meantime, Andrew’s school – The McAuley Catholic High School grew concerned by his absence. Andrew was never missing from school. He had a 100% attendance record. The school administrators called Andrew’s parents. However, in what was the first of many mistakes in the ill-fated investigation, they dialled the incorrect number accidentally calling the phone number above the Gosdens. As a result, Kevin and Glenys would not know their child did not attend school all day.
At 11:20am Andrew disembarks the train at King’s Cross and at 11:25am he is caught on CCTV leaving the main. entrance of King’s Cross Station. This is the last confirmed sighting of Andrew Gosden. He simply vanished into the mists of time….
Where Andrew went after leaving King’s Cross is a mystery. However there was at least one unconfirmed sighting of him. In a Pizza Hut restaurant on Oxford Street. Andrew’s parents saw this as a credible witness as the description of Andrew was too close to be a coincidence – from the little mannerisms down to the fact he ordered a ham & pineapple pizza, Andrew’s favourite. Unfortunately CCTV at that Pizza Hut was not working, so they were not able to confirm the sighting, nor could they see where Andrew went after leaving the restaurant. In addition to this there was another unconfirmed sighting in Covent Garden. A witness recounts chatting to a boy matching Andrew’s description. However, this sighting was not investigated by police for approximately six weeks.
Meanwhile, back home in Balby, Kevin and Glenys were home from work, both as speech therapists. They had assumed Andrew was home and either in his bedroom or the basement. It wasn’t until they sat down for dinner that they realised something was amiss. Andrew did not respond when called. After searching the house and finding no trace of him they thought he must have been at a friend’s house and lost track of time. Kevin, Glenys and sister Charlotte called round the obvious places but there was no sign of him. Then shivers ran down their spines as they were informed that Andrew had not been in school at all that day.
The family searched and searched around the neighbourhood but could not find him. Kevin searched Andrew’s room and found he had not taken his passport, nor the £100 cash, nor the Sony PSP charger.
The police were called to report Andrew as missing. A close-to-home search was conducted by both police and family. Kevin and Glenys called round friends and family that same night to see if Andrew had turned up anywhere. Ironically many of these were in London where unbeknown to them Andrew had travelled to.
The Gosdens had many friends and family in the London area. In fact, just months prior, Andrew had the opportunity to visit London to stay with his grandmother. He had refused though as he just couldn’t be bothered.
This begged the question though, did he intend heading towards a family member or friends house? Was that why he visited London that day?
On Monday 17th September, the ticket seller at the Train Station came forward to inform of her encounter with Andrew. The revelation that he had travelled to London came as no surprise to Kevin as his son loved the area and knew his way around the London transport system.. He had no qualms about sending Andrew down on his own. Andrew was not a novice traveller.
Armed with this new information, South Yorkshire Police requested CCTV footage for King’s Cross Station. After reviewing the footage, out of the darkness emerged a tiny slight-of body young-looking Slipknot-wearing bespectacled boy. Walking through the entrance to King’s Cross Station, sporting his favourite rock band t-shirt with black canvas bag draped over his right shoulder, a few more steps and he was gone forever….
They knew it. Had to be London. The minute this information was relayed back to the family, plans were put in place. Kevin stayed home in case Andrew got in contact, while Glenys and Charlotte headed off to London. In the meantime, police were given details of all family and friends who were visited and interviewed. Outbuildings and outhouses were searched.
In the early stages of the investigation, Glenys and Charlotte search the City handing out missing persons flyers. After a week or so they returned and Kevin took their place in London. Meanwhile, police were slow to investigate possible sightings and by the time they took the disappearance seriously, potential CCTV footage was unavailable meaning Andrew’s movements could not be tracked.
Kevin deposited £100 into Andrew’s bank account just in case he needed extra. Additionally an alert was placed on the card so if it was ever used again it would be flagged up. The card/account was never accessed again.
In the early stages the police investigation centred mainly around the immediate family and the reasons why Andrew ran away rather than focusing on finding him. In particular scrutiny fell upon Kevin’s shoulders. Despite his desperate pleas to find his son, they put all their energies into quizzing him, even going as far as illegal interviews in a bid to eke ‘the truth’ out of him.
One of the most heartbreaking and selfless things about this case was when Kevin had had enough and simply wanted his son found. He attempted to take his own life.
“If I was out of the way they could not waste their time with this. The only thing they would have left to do would be to go look which would be better for Andrew, for my wife and daughter.” – Kevin Gosden
In the years since Andrew Gosden’s disappearance leads and credible sightings have been few and far between. However, one such intriguing occurrence came the following year when a man attended a police station in Leominster in Herefordshire proclaiming to have information about Andrew.
However, the man left before a police officer could get further details. The station had an intercom system on the door and by the time someone came to meet him, the man had left.
Was this simply a prank? Perhaps. However, it was deemed less likely to be a prank as the police station was so far out of town it would have taken considerable more effort to visit. Appeals were made for the man to come forward but nobody ever did. However, some time later, a letter was received by the BBC claiming to be from the same man. Within the letter, the man claimed Andrew was in Shrewsbury, 40 miles north of Leominster. The writer of the letter was never confirmed to be the Leominster man though and there remains a question mark over the authenticity of this claim.
The only other occasion which left the Gosdens wondering ‘maybe, just maybe’ was when a random online conversation drew remarkable similarities to Andrew. A website owner was chatting to an anonymous user going by the username AndyRue. This user was saying he was desperate for £200 to pay his rent after his partner had left him. Very kindly he was offered the £200 he needed. He just needed to provide his bank details. However, he responded to say he did not have a bank account because he left home at 14. Coincidence? Perhaps. However, the username was one which drew closer attention as AndyRue was a nickname Andrew had when younger. Kevin tried, but again, stumbling blocks fell in the way of investigating. When they tried to retrieve the call/chat logs the website had recently updated the systems and nothing could be retrieved.
In 2011, the Gosdens paid a private company to use sonar technology to search the River Thames. They did find one poor body but it was not Andrew.
To this day there have been no solid sightings or leads in finding Andrew. Where is he? What happened that day? Why did he travel to London?
In more recent years dental record searches have taken place as well as searches for optician prescriptions which matched Andrew’s as he had a very strong prescription for his glasses.
Key Points/Evidence
- Andrew walked home from school in the days leading up to disappearance
- Took keys, wallet, PSP
- Left PSP charger
- Left £100
- Dressed in Slipknot t-shirt, black skinny jeans, black Vans shoes, black wristwatch on left wrist and black canvas bag, with band badges sewn on
- Refused a return ticket for 50p extra
- Distinctive double-ridge on right ear
- Deaf in left ear
- Very strong prescription glasses
Burning Questions
So, what DID happen to Andrew Gosden? There are a number of theories…
- Andrew travelled to London to commit suicide.
This is a popular theory but with no solid evidence to suggest this. If this was indeed the plan, it would explain why he took no change of clothes, no jacket and no PSP charger as there would be no need to charge it after that day. It would also explain why he only bought a one-way ticket as he was not planning on returning.Why would he need £200 though? Perhaps he wanted one final blow out in London? but why do it in London? It is a favourite place of his so maybe that’s where he wanted to end his life.How would he do this without his body being found in 17 years? It is very hard to hide your own body so the only logical way would be to do this in a large body of water such as the River Thames. How would he do this without being seen by at least one person? I feel like a young boy jumping off a bridge into the Thames wouldn’t go unnoticed. Additionally, jumping from 40+ metres into the water would be a very difficult way for a 14 year old to go. Hitting the surface water my break you, the cold September water may freeze you and add to that it’s not a fool-proof method as only approximately 30% of attempts are successful.That being said, is it possible to commit suicide this way? Unfortunately an average of about 31 bodies are found in the Thames each year and 90% are the result of suicide.If this was his method though, where are his belongings? Where are his house keys? His wallet? His charger-less PSP? Or his bag? He could have binned them but that would mean intentionally trying to make sure he is never found. From what I understand, Andrew loved his family, never had problems, was best friends with his sister. Would he never want his body to be found? It is hard to believe.Why would he have wanted to end his life? By all accounts he was not bullied at school and his family assert he didn’t seem depressed or down. Unfortunately this is never a certainty. Teenagers and people from all walks of life can very easily mask their true feelings. Many suicide victims don’t appear depressed beforehand.
Did he end his own life though? I believe there is a chance he did. Andrew was a particularly intelligent boy and may have the knowledge required to get away with it while leaving no trace. However, there is no evidence to say he was suicidal and even happily waved “see you later, dad” as he left that morning. My gut feeling is it is unlikely he ended his life.
- Andrew went to London to see a concert.
A very popular theory is that Andrew may have attended an event in London such as a rock concert. The band 30 Seconds To Mars were playing that night at The London Brixton Academy. There was no evidence to suggest he even liked this band but nevertheless an appeal was made to anyone attending the event. However nobody came forward. It is possible that Andrew either attended or attempted to attend and something bad happened to him along the way. This event was sold out in advance so his name wouldn’t have been registered on the ticket. So if he had attended he would have had to purchase from a ticket tout. This would have increased the possibility of coming into contact with an undesirable. Did Andrew travel with the intention of attending a concert or other event? I feel the chances are lower or less likely.
- Did Andrew leave to start a new life?
It is possible that Andrew wanted to start afresh in his life. This would of course explain why he took minimal belongings with him and no charger and bought a one-way ticket. He was not expecting to return. I feel for this option to be the outcome it would take an extremely cold-hearted individual knowing your loved ones are searching for you for the rest of their life. He will have seen the search campaign, TV interviews and appeals and newspaper articles. To put his parents through that would be incredibly cold. However, based on what we know about him I don’t get that feeling about Andrew. He appears to love his family. He sat with his dad doing a jigsaw the night before he left and overall he sounds like he had a very good relationship with his family. Not to mention the fact that he would have been traced through dentists and/or opticians. In my opinion it is very unlikely Andrew has simply run away never to be seen again.
- Was Andrew being groomed?
This theory is often dismissed because Andrew was known to not have internet access and no mobile phone. In fact, mobile phones did not interest Andrew. He had been offered one but always refused and asked for an Xbox instead. He hadn’t owned a mobile phone for about two years. Additionally there hadn’t been a computer in the house until a few weeks before his disappearance when his sister Charlotte got one for her birthday. Nevertheless, policed checked Charlotte’s laptop as well as school computers and found no activity from Andrew. They also contacted Sony who told them Andrew’s PSP was never connected to an online account.So, Andrew had no internet access so he could not have been groomed, right? Wrong. The fact that Andrew had no phone and refused the offer of a new one in my opinion makes it MORE likely that he was groomed. Why didn’t he want a phone? Unusual for a 14 year old at that time. 2007 was the beginning of some very exciting times online for teenagers. Of course, he may just not have been interested. However, add to the fact he spent most of his free time in his bedroom or basement I think it would be highly likely he had a secret phone, either bought himself or given to him.Additionally, even if grooming did not occur online, grooming has always been a thing long before the internet. Did he meet someone in real life? School? The Young, Gifted and Talented Programme? Perhaps he met somebody through those? And the four mile impromptu walk home from school in the week leading up to his disappearance? Perhaps he met that person on his way home? Or he called that person on his secret phone on the walk home? Either way, I believe he met someone that day in London. This would explain why he only purchased a one-way ticket. He maybe expected a lift home and the reason he never took his charger. He was expecting to return home. When he arrived in London that person did something bad to him.
So, what did happen to Andrew Gosden? Unfortunately we may never find out. Please share this video and let’s do everything we can to bring Andrew home. Somebody somewhere must have crossed paths with Andrew that day or since. Think. We just haven’t reached the right person yet.
Think back to that time in your life. Have you ever come across a keyring resembling the one described here? Did you ever find a black wallet on the streets in London around that time? Did you ever come into contact with a PSP without a charger or were you ever offered a PSP? Even if you think it’s nothing, offer your tips because little things can always add up to something.
Do you remember seeing a boy matching or similar to Andrew’s description that day or around that time either in London or elsewhere? Even if you saw him but nothing special happened. Any sightings are helpful.
Has an ex-friend or ex-acquaintance told you about a boy they met with in London around that time. It may have been 17 years but it’s not too late to set the family’s minds at rest.
If you have any information at all, please contact Kevin Gosden at kevin.gosden@hotmail.co.uk or Missing People at 116 000
