On the 14th of September, 2007, Andrew Godsen (14) disappeared from Central London after secretly leaving his home in Doncaster, Yorkshire. That morning Andrew had difficulty waking up and seemed particularly irritable. His mother has stated that this was unusual as he was normally awake on time.
At 8:05 am Andrew left his house and was witnessed walking across the local park (Westfield) to his usual bus stop by family friend Rev.Alan Murray. Instead of taking the school bus, Andrew walked to a cash machine at a local garage, where he withdrew £200 from his bank account which was almost all of his money - he had £214 in the account, but the ATM would only allow withdrawals of £20 notes.
Andrew was then captured on a neighbour's CCTV system returning home. At home, he placed his uniform in the washing machine and his blazer on the back of his chair. He then changed into casual clothes, consisting of a black Slipknot T-shirt and black jeans, and took a bag embellished with various patches of rock and metal bands. He also took his wallet, keys, and a PlayStation Portable console. No other possessions were identified as missing.
Andrew's father stated that his son did not appear to have taken a sweatshirt or coat with him, and had also not taken the charger for his PSP. Andrew also left around £100 in cash that he had saved up from birthdays.
At 8:30, Gosden departed from the house and was seen heading down Littlemoor Lane, towards Westfield Park on a neighbour's CCTV. He then walked to Doncaster railway station and purchased a one-way ticket to London which cost £31.40. The ticket seller later recalled that she had told Gosden that a return ticket cost just 50p more but he insisted on purchasing a single ticket.
At 9:35 Gosden was witnessed boarding the train to King's Cross station alone. At 11:20 Gosden arrived at King’s Cross station and was captured on CCTV leaving the main entrance of the station at 11:25 am. This was the last confirmed sighting of him.
Theories
There are numerous theories on Andrew's Disappearance, however none had led to answers.
What we know
Andrew did have family in London and the following summer his parents had encouraged him to travel alone to London to meet his Grandmother. He had declined at the time. No family members reported meeting Andrew in London around his disappearance.
What's been speculated
It's been speculatedthat Andrew may have been gay, and had left to start a new life. In June 2018, the Gosden family revealed that someone had reported an online conversation with an individual with the user name 'Andy Roo' who claimed that their boyfriend had left them and they needed £200 to cover rent. When someone offered to send them money, the user claimed they did not have a bank account as they had "left home when they were 14". This link was investigated by police but the individual was not identified.
It's also been speculated that Andrew could have been groomed, and had left that day to secretly meet someone. However, Andrew did not use a computer at home and his father has stated that Gosden did not even have an e-mail address. The police took the computers from Andrew's school and Doncaster Library but their digital forensic investigations found no trace of any activity by Andrew.
Investigators sent the unique serial number of Gosden’s PSP to Sony HQ who checked and found that there was no record of an account being set up or communication established on the device. The only PC in the house was his sister's laptop, which had only been in her possession for eight weeks. Andrew's sister has stated that he did not seem interested in social media or connecting with other people through the Internet as he "just didn't seem social".
While this makes it unlikely he was groomed online, this does not rule out a perpetrater in his life. Perhaps Andrew had arranged to meet someone and was told he would be driven home? This could explain why he only bought a one way ticket. If Andrew had planned to leave for a long time, why would he not have brought extra items and the £100 in his room?
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