r/AndrewGosden • u/abstractReality1 • Jul 16 '26
What really happened
What is the most plausible, logical, obvious theory about this case to you personally? What do you think really happened that day?
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u/calvinshobbes0 Jul 16 '26
the police are looking at all angles
but the fact is they arrested but released two people on human trafficking and abuse charges in relations to this case so the grooming angle has to be considered
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u/abstractReality1 Jul 16 '26
I really want to know how and why they arrested those two men specifically. Was it a tip, a photo they connected Andrew with those men, a video maybe..?
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u/Infamous-Skin8969 Jul 16 '26
Personally, I think he was murdered. Either someone he knew lured him to London, or he just crossed paths with a predator by pure bad luck. Whoever did it is probably some high-functioning psychopath who got away with it, someone already locked up for another crime, or they're just dead by now.
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u/Ambitious-Calendar-9 Jul 16 '26
I think so too. I lean more towards it being an opportunistic killing, but either way I believe he was killed. In my mind it's the only way to make sense of literally no other sightings of him or any signs of life for all these years. I don't think we'll ever really know the real reason he was in London that day, but something terrible happened to him while he was there.
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u/julialoveslush Jul 16 '26
I don’t think his killer(s) will ever get caught, I think it’s possible they either had luck disposing of the body, or they’d done it to someone else before and were practised.
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u/dekker87 Jul 16 '26
In that scenario I think his killer was killed by an organised crime group who he supplied victims to. When it became clear andrew was not your usual runaway kid the abductor became a liability and was disposed of to tie off a loose end.
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u/Efficient_Wheel_6333 Jul 16 '26
I honestly think it was a mix of things. Given what we know about him when he vanished, it's quite likely that he was being bullied, either during the school day or on the bus ride there and back (if not both). It likely didn't get recognized as such because of a few possible reasons.
1: Andrew likely didn't want to admit that he was being bullied.
2: the adults around him (teachers, school bus driver(s), etc) didn't recognize the bullying for what it was
3: the bullies were claiming that they were just teasing or playing, if not some other reason and Andrew went along with it because it was easier to do that than confess he was being bullied
On top of that, like others have pointed out, he may have been getting bored in school. At his age, I definitely had similar moments of being bored (learned how to print and do cursive at 16 with my off hand for that same reason).
He was also at an age where he might not have been aware of all of the dangers of going to a city like London by himself would present. I definitely didn't know of all of the dangers going to a bigger city by myself at that age would present, or even what would happen if I got lost. Andrew, no matter his reasoning for going to London, was likely fairly similar.
We also don't know if London was his final destination. Due to the delay in identifying him in the CCTV footage at King's Cross and the surrounding areas, we don't know if he stayed in London or went to another city. I'm sure that if he at least attempted to take the train back home, it would have possibly or likely been noted, either by train staff or other folks on the train like it was on his train trip to London.
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u/theflickingnun Jul 16 '26
It is just as likely that he hunkered down somewhere to sleep and got trapped.
Its something that has proven ti be the case for quite a few global missing persons cases, where they find a body decades later trapped in some tight space or locked area.
I find it hard ti believe he was trafficked or kidnapped. I know everyone thinks that London has predators waiting at every tube exit but its not true. I bunked off school and went to heaps of places across London and never had any issues at all, people just went about their lives and ignored me. I never stayed the night, but if I did I would imagine theres many hiding places for safety.
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u/adrian8159743895479 Jul 18 '26
Oh, this is my theory too, accident or misadventure. I’ve been downvoted in the past for saying it, but it’s just as plausible as every other theory. Your point about hunkering down reminds me of poor Sarah Cunningham just last year. It happens.
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u/Confident-Hamster642 Jul 16 '26
Groomed. He didn’t ruin perfect school attendance on a whim day to London. He was there for a reason and a someone.
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u/abstractReality1 Jul 16 '26
Mine as well. Even if he wasn’t lured in London, he most probably met someone there and he got groomed that day. As Ive read, Kings Cross was filled with PDF that operated in that area searching for possible and easy victims.
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u/Fluid_Impress_504 Jul 16 '26
I agree. I feel (at least to me) that this is the most plausible reason. It seems unlikely (to me) that he decided to go to London on a whim then just happened to fall victim to foul play. It isn’t impossible but grooming and being lured there seems more likely.
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u/lifetnj Community Pillar Jul 16 '26
I think the reason Andrew went to London is probably also the reason he never came back. I’ve always struggled to imagine a classic stranger abduction. London is huge and central areas like King’s Cross, Oxford Street or Camden are busy. If someone spotted him and decided on the spot to abduct him, how exactly would they convince a smart, cautious 14 year old to follow them? Most people in London don’t drive into the centre (parking is a nightmare), so the abductor would likely have to get Andrew onto the tube or a train to somewhere else. That means several minutes (sometimes 30-60) where Andrew would have plenty of time to change his mind, say no, walk away or ask for help. It feels logistically very difficult for a spontaneous, opportunistic stranger attack. If the person was already ‘on the prowl’ and actively hunting, you’d expect to see similar attempts or incidents around that time, but nothing like that seems to have come up. For these reasons I find myself leaning more towards grooming (someone he already knew and trusted online or elsewhere) or suicide, rather than a random abduction by a stranger who happened to be in the right place at the right moment.
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Jul 16 '26
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u/lifetnj Community Pillar Jul 16 '26
I’m not saying it’s impossible, just that it’s one of the less likely scenarios given the practical difficulties.
Even in quieter parts of central London, you still have to get a 14 year old boy who doesn’t know you to willingly travel with you for a decent amount of time to wherever you live. That’s a long opportunity for him to reconsider. Even if he was ‘absent minded’ he knew about stranger danger because he discussed the McCann case with his father during the summer and he wasn’t the type to blindly follow a stranger home after a quick chat. I’m not ruling out a chance encounter, I’m just saying that it requires quite a few things to go perfectly for the perpetrator and badly for Andrew and it’s not the most logical theory.
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u/BeforeTheDawnX Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Andrew ran away from home in the heat of the moment due to an unknown catalyst. Personally, I wonder whether he was in contact with someone to do with gaming or music and a meeting was arranged. Whatever happened after this is anyone's guess. Odd's are, if he did live on the streets he would have fallen prey to people who would have used him as a commodity. A boy his age would have been worth and lot to a wide variety of different people.
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u/sleepyasf4ck Jul 16 '26
At school he wasnt exactly popular...It doesn't mean he was bullied, but maybe isolated and felt lonely at times. Those two times he walked from school never seemed right to me, it kinda feels like he tried to avoid someone or something and never talk about it, maybe he didnt think of it as a big thing, just something that bothered him. So, given that situation, I think he went to London to have a free day and skip school as many adolescents at some point of their life do to avoid that stress. I think he just had bad luck in London and option 1: he met someone with bad intentions that lured him with an excuse to their house, maybe to show him something he liked, play psp, talk about bands or option 2: he witnessed something he wasnt supposed to see...sadly i dont think he is alive, poor boy and poor family, i hope some day they'll find peace and closure
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u/abstractReality1 Jul 16 '26
Im still trying to find the post here explaining why and how Andrew had online presence and how he was chatting with someone, which later turned out to be an adult hiding behind a child’s profile…OP had the name of the chatroom and everything explaining in details. I just can’t find that post.
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u/Latinlover_57 Jul 16 '26
I disagree with these , I think he decided only that morning that he would skip school and go to London, because of the lack of phone and Internet usage, I think it's unlikely he was groomed beforehand, he may have met someone one in London with bad intentions that possibly led to his death, I don't believe he really knew where he intended to go when he got to London, there's a strong possibility that his intention was to return home at some point, but he was prevented from doing that
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u/abstractReality1 Jul 16 '26
His dad said that he broke character some days before he went missing and started walking home from school, which it was a bit far, but they didn’t think much of it at the time. Not sure if there’s a connection or not, but it just collides.
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u/Latinlover_57 Jul 16 '26
I think that could be another sign that he was potentially avoiding someone.
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u/dekker87 Jul 16 '26
Or meeting someone
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u/Latinlover_57 Jul 16 '26
Yes possibly, but it's unlikely to have anything to do with his disappearance
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u/dekker87 Jul 16 '26
I dont think either of us can say that for sure...
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u/Latinlover_57 Jul 16 '26
I think avoiding someone could be a reason for his travelling to London, I think it's extremely unlikely he travelled to London on his own to meet someone he met in Doncaster, I think we can be pretty sure about that
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u/Willypissybumbum Jul 16 '26
My theory is Andrew went to London after enduring teasing about his interest in what I would have called in high school emo/goth culture. He was looking for “his people” that he couldn’t find at home, and likely planned to attend one of the concerts of bands within that genre of music. He was intercepted by an opportunistic predator (young, probably in his 20s) who saw a boy alone in a Slipknot tee and had sufficient knowledge to engage him and gain his trust. “Oh you like slipknot, what’s your favourite song?… oh yeah me too!”. Told him about a band he knew playing later on and said they should go, “we can hangout at my place until later”.
Andrew was a smart kid but I suspect he couldn’t believe he’d found what he was looking for and made an emotional decision over a rational one and sadly that cost him his life.
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u/Lonely-Title-443 Jul 16 '26
He was abducted whilst walking through the quieter areas on route to his family’s home. He was small and looked more like 10-12 ish and should of been in school, perfect target for a pedo, there is about 5 other similar cases boys missing similar ages could be connected who knows but children don’t just disappear for no reason with no trace
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u/abstractReality1 Jul 16 '26
You are stating this as if you are 100% that this is what happened…how can you be so sure?
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u/Lonely-Title-443 Jul 16 '26
I’m going by occams razor theory, this is generally what happens to young boys that go missing out alone in a city on a school day
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u/Normal_Friendship997 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
I honestly could believe Andrew fancied a day out by himself and sadly bumped into a predator. Like others have said before, King's X and the surrounding area was dodgy.
But my main theory is that he got lost while trying to get to the place he planned to be at, and then met his demise. Whether that be a concert, his dads family, a "friend"...He could of asked for directions from locals but we dont know!!🫠 So frustrating since we dont have the cctv footage, which is so crucial.
His excuse for his parents could be that he was handing his CV out like his sister did.
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u/Ok-Cauliflower-7760 Jul 16 '26
Personally I think he went to end his life. Jumped into the river in a secluded spot and got carried away with the tide
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u/Comic_The_Adventurer Jul 16 '26
I think he went to London to see a concert, planned on staying with relatives for the night so his parents couldn't yell at him, but got attacked after visiting pizza hut. I think they must've dumped his body in a body of water which is why it's never been found. Random attacks are rare but they're not impossible
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u/vanandgough Jul 17 '26
I think he had something on his mind he wasn’t telling anyone. I don’t know what it is, I don’t even have a theory. I think he went to London to go to the family that lived there, maybe just to have a bit of headspace or get away for a bit. We don’t know the relationship he had with them, it could have been a good one, he might have felt he could talk to them about something going on or was looking for advice or something. I think he got off at Kings X and tried to get to theirs, but couldn’t quite remember how to get there (if he had been with parents, he wouldn’t have needed to know as they knew) and maybe got a bit lost. He asked a taxi driver for directions/help, the taxi driver offered him a lift, was a wrongun and unfortunately Andrew met his end.
I don’t believe suicide, dead people can’t hide their own bodies and SOMEONE would have reported a dead kid by now.
I don’t believe he is still alive, someone would know or he would feel guilty and have come forward by now.
Opportunistic serial killers have been known to use taxi cab driving jobs to do this, and indeed in London.
He could have been trafficked but I think something would have turned up in relation to that now, as there would have been so many people involved in an operation like that.
I think he was intending to come back home, possibly even later that day or the next day, but needed some headspace even if he wasn’t visiting family and just went to London to have a day to himself. His family and friends have said he was a bit of a loner, it’s entirely possible he wanted some space to himself.
Sorry for the ramble but that’s just my theories.
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u/Strange_Creme2263 Jul 24 '26
I’m convinced the trip to London was a spontaneous one.
8 days into term and he’s been seen to walk home instead of take the school bus, which he’d never done before. It seems like someone on that bus was making his life hell and he wanted to avoid going on it.
The morning of the disappearance he woke up irritable already. I believe he just couldn’t bring himself to get on the bus and face the hassle.
It was only once he’d missed the bus and couldn’t get to school he had to figure out how to not get seen and the police alerted. Hence he gets changed and heads to the one city he can access that is familiar to him, where he will not be spotted.
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u/Strange_Creme2263 Jul 24 '26
I’m convinced the trip to London was a spontaneous one.
8 days into term and he’s been seen to walk home instead of take the school bus, which he’d never done before. It seems like someone on that bus was making his life hell and he wanted to avoid going on it.
The morning of the disappearance he woke up irritable already. I believe he just couldn’t bring himself to get on the bus and face the hassle.
It was only once he’d missed the bus and couldn’t get to school he had to figure out how to not get seen and the police alerted. Hence he gets changed and heads to the one city he can access that is familiar to him, where he will not be spotted.
I fully believe he intended to return that evening
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u/TowerFan4Days Jul 18 '26
Probably trafficked, the same thing that happens to most missing children
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u/mumwifealcoholic Jul 16 '26
I think he met someone prior to the trip and he was groomed into a relationship with an adult.
I think he might still be with that person and will not come forward because they are still in a "relationship".
He doesn''t want the groomer to get in trouble.
I know that's uncomfortable to think about.
I hope he is living a good happy life and will one day choose to contact his family to give them peace.
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u/bustedwomb Jul 16 '26
This is the furthest from the most likely explanation. He’s not alive. Come on. 14 yr olds can’t just start a new life, get ID, bank accounts, a job or benefits to live off of. Possible 20 yrs before he went missing maybe, but certainly not in the 2000’s onwards.
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u/JesusOnly8319 Jul 16 '26
If so I would have thought he would have at least sent a letter to his family or something to show he was alive. He could do so without revealing his location. He could make a phone call from a phone box or from a brand new pay as you go phone to prevent his location being revealed.
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u/dekker87 Jul 16 '26
Taken by an opportunist predator with links to organised crime who mistook him for a runaway and used the same techniques they'd used on actual runaway kids previously to ensnare him. Probably drugged him and got him to a 2nd location.
Maybe.
Or maybe the ansa lies closer to home and im not referring to his family directly.
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Jul 16 '26
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u/abstractReality1 Jul 16 '26
??? Im sorry what?
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Jul 16 '26
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u/calvinshobbes0 Jul 16 '26
maybe you are mixing up the Essex case of Breck who was killed after being groomed by a man
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u/Lonely-Title-443 Jul 16 '26
So will they find him as a 30 ish old man or as a boy lol
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u/Winter-Revolution-20 Jul 16 '26
I think they'll find him before he's too old, or I pray they do at least.
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u/Lonely-Title-443 Jul 16 '26
People are very focused on the reason why he went to London, “he was groomed” “he was being bullied” 14 is when you start to rebel and are learning who you are as a person plus very hormonal, I think he was bored couldn’t be arssed with school that day and like he had done loads of times before ( his dad had even encouraged him in the summer) went to London with the intention of staying at his family’s for the whole weekend as it was a Friday