Onopgeloste Mysterie: Andrew Gosden

Yes, ready? I have another unsolved mystery for you that you will definitely get lost in. That was also the case for many last week with Brian Shaffer, that medical student who walked into a bar, never came out, and was never seen again. I could talk for hours about that case, but that's not unique in itself. I can do the same about this case, and this one is (if possible) even more ‘popular’ on the internet, as the wildest theories are circulating about it. I'm talking about the disappearance of 14-year-old Andrew Gosden, who lived in Doncaster (England) and was last seen in September 2007.

To give you an idea of Andrew himself: he was a quiet fourteen-year-old boy, wearing glasses, intelligent, and motivated at school. He was described by those around him as shy but at ease, and happy with his small circle of friends, and he could sometimes be lost in his own thoughts. On September 14, he did something that was completely out of character for him and that he had never done before: he skipped school, took the train to London, and was never seen again.

Uh, what? Let's start at the beginning, the morning of September 14. At half past eight in the morning, he was seen on the neighbor's camera, walking towards Westfield Park, a neighborhood park in his hometown of Doncaster. He walked further to Doncaster Station, where he bought a one-way ticket to King Cross Station in London. The woman who sold him the ticket even told him that a return ticket was only 50 cents more, but he declined the offer.

Just after half past nine, he boarded the train after waiting on the platform. A woman sitting next to him described him as quiet and completely absorbed in his game on the PSP he had with him. The train arrived at Kings Cross at 11:20, and five minutes later, he was spotted on the security cameras as he left the station. This is the last that has ever been heard of Andrew.

Because his parents thought he was at school, they only found out at seven o'clock in the evening that he was not home at all. Since he often locked himself in his room to game, his parents thought that was where he had been until then (after school). The school had tried to call to report his absence, but the phone number was incorrect. At seven o'clock, his parents immediately called the police.

And then there are the many questions that this disappearance raises. The most important one: why did Andrew go to London? The most obvious would be that he had an appointment with someone there. Could it be that he was chatting online with someone and was groomed? The police thought of that too, but no evidence was found that Andrew was even on the internet. No email address, no personal computer, no social media account: no indication that he had contact with people, let alone someone who would want to harm him online.

He was a good boy, skipping school was totally not like him. He liked to listen to rock music, so the police also checked if there might have been a concert in London that evening that he wanted to attend. But that yielded nothing either. The reason why Andrew traveled to London remains unknown.

But then the next question: why a one-way ticket? His parents stated that there was no indication that Andrew might be depressed and that he would want to end his life. Because that was also one of the options, that he went to London to commit suicide. That would explain why he only bought a one-way ticket and not a return ticket, despite the fact that it was only 50 cents more.

And that would also explain why he took his PSP with him but not the charger. Although that could also prove that he did plan to come back: if he was going to be away longer, wouldn't he have taken his charger? He was really attached to that thing, so he would have certainly thought about it.

And does it really mean that much that he declined the return ticket? It could also be that he was already quite tense because he was skipping school – something he had never done before – and the question threw him off balance and that's why he immediately declined it.

His father stated that Andrew did know people in London he could go to. He also thinks it doesn't mean anything that he bought a one-way ticket and not a return ticket. But which people did he know there? A few relatives, but they also haven't heard from him.

A year after his disappearance, 122 tips had come in from people who thought they had seen him, one of which turned out to be credible. On the day of his disappearance, he was said to have been seen in the Pizza Hut, but that lead also led to nothing.

Until November 2008, when a man rang the police station and told via the intercom that he had information about Andrew. When the police came down and wanted to open the door for the man, he had already left. So this lead also went cold.

Just like with Brian Shaffer, I could really talk for hours about this disappearance, but I will spare you that. There are dozens of theories to be found on the internet about what might have happened to Andrew. If you want to know more about it, check out this subreddit. But I warn you again: this is another huge rabbit hole you dive into.