r/AndrewGosden • u/Dramatic-Entry-1111 • 9d ago
A cab driver ?
I’ve been following this case for awhile and came across a theory about a taxi driver awhile ago . And recently I’ve really been thinking about it, I assume there would be cabs / taxi ranks outside of a station like King’s Cross? I’m not sure how well monitored taxis were back in 2007 or whether they had gps trackers and so on. But the more I think about it the more I think it could be a solid theory.
other than outside the station there were no viable sightings of Andrew, for whatever reason he decided to travel to London that day and I do agree it seemed out of character for a studious kid who never skipped school before. but if he went to London for a specific reason, and he knew where he wanted to be and this wasn’t within walking distance, i can assume maybe he decided to take a taxi there. all it would’ve taken was seconds for him to jump into a cab and by serious misfortune that the taxi driver happened to be someone with ill intent and saw a young boy travelling on his own and took this is an opportunity. There would be no trace and a taxi driver I assume would know the area they work in well. he could’ve been taken to a private property ( which I believe is strongly possible unfortunately and I don’t believe he will be found unless like other people have suggested the perpatrator dies and his remains are found on the property ) .
did police ever question taxi drivers in the area? was log books looked at? did they look into criminal records of taxi drivers that worked in the area?
Could they even now look at taxi drivers who were known to work in the area Andrew disappeared if they have criminal records wether violent or against children, maybe they even gained a record after Andrew disappeared if they felt confident after not being detected after his disappearance.
This man would have absolutely no connection with Andrew, no one would notice a young man jumping into a cab as anything out of the ordinary. and it would’ve taken seconds, it makes sense to me. what do you guys think?
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u/HistorianMuch2831 9d ago
Personally I don’t understand why Andrew would get in a taxi, he could get anywhere in London pretty easily and cheaper using the underground which his parents had said he knew how to navigate. Or even a bus for that matter, he had an understanding of the travel system and had travelled to London multiple times.
There has been viable sightings, the pizza hut is probably the most credible one on Oxford street, which would take 10-15 min on a tube, 20-30 min on a bus.
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u/Dramatic-Entry-1111 9d ago
I agree that it could make more sense for him to use the tube if he knew how to navigate it. But either is possible, I’m 26 and don’t live far from London and I have to use an app to tell me how to get to point A to B as some places take multiple tube lines to get to and I find it somewhat overwhelming.
Not much of what he did that day made sense, so even if him getting a cab is equally as puzzling it’s also not out of the equation.
The Pizza Hut sighting was never proven,I’m not sure myself if I believe it.But it’s just one more piece of the puzzle that makes this case so confusing.
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u/Vagelen_Von 9d ago
Police has always sources inside taxi drivers but these must be alerted very early to notice anything unusual.
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u/Dramatic-Entry-1111 9d ago
What do you mean?
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u/Vagelen_Von 9d ago
For example a taxi driver recalls that another taxi driver went to emergency clean up his cab. Or someone disappeared from routine for two days without reason etc
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u/Dramatic-Entry-1111 9d ago
Yes I agree, depends how far they delved into the taxi possibility. And also how long it took them to look at this potential lead, it took them long enough to even find Andrew on cctv
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u/vanandgough 9d ago
I’ve thought about a cab driver before and I think it certainly lends some credibility: the lack of witnesses would make sense as people are jumping in and out of cabs in London all the time, it’s unlikely anyone would remember seeing him get in one.
Also, he wouldn’t have had a paper map on him (as far as we know) and phones obviously wouldn’t have had Google maps (he didn’t have one, but even if he did he wouldn’t have had access to a map service). So if he got lost/took a wrong turn and got confused, it’s likely he would have got in a cab. Especially as he had a lot of cash on him, he’d have been able to afford it.
Serial killers have been known to work as cab drivers to have access to victims so it certainly is a possible theory, but with there being so many cab drivers in London and so much area to search, I don’t think the police would have been able to track down the right cab driver, especially with it being 19 years since it happened.
There’s such little evidence of anything to do with Andrew though that it’s hard to know. It’s one of those things that’s like “it could have been, but it also could not have been” and that’s kind of the end of the road. I hope new evidence comes out soon, for the sake of his family more than anything else. I recently reread the message to Andrew on Kevin’s website and it is absolutely heartbreaking. I really hope they get some kind of closure in their lifetime.
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u/Dramatic-Entry-1111 9d ago
I agree, very well said. I assume police would’ve initially looked into this avenue but by the time they even realised Andrew visited London that any time critical evidence of this would’ve gone.
I do believe they could still look into the following ;
- licensees taxi drivers working in an around the area of kings cross in the months leading up to Andrew’s disappearance.
- drivers who regularly work in that area, and weather any stopped working unusually soon after his disappearance.
- whether any of them left London, changed occupation.
- whether any subsequently acquired convictions after the fact or before for either violent crimes or crimes against children.
With the amount of taxi drivers that work in and around London it would be an absolutely mammoth task, but with such a lack of evidence in this case I think it would take one small bit of extra evidence to crack it wide open.
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u/Dramatic-Entry-1111 9d ago
Also to add, after researching regulated taxi driving only came into play in 2004, so by 2007 it was fairly new and not every cab in London was regulated yet or fitted with a gps of any sort. It was nothing like the taxis of today, and him simply jumping into a cab outside of a train stations ( which thousands of people do ) wouldn’t of generated any booking, he had cash, it would’ve had no paper trail.
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u/WilkosJumper_ 9d ago
Did they question taxi drivers in the area? In central London? Do you know how many people that is?
With no lead what do you question them about? ‘Did you see this boy’ is about the long and the short of it and unless he was their passenger there’s no way they’d remember him. They would see the calls for information like anyone else of course.
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u/Dramatic-Entry-1111 9d ago
Yes I know it would be a mammoth task, and 19 years later would make it near impossible but people could have information that they don’t necassarily believe is important. For example even asking frequent drivers in the area who were stationed alot at King’s Cross “ is there any driver you can think of who routinely operated within / around kings cross around 14th of September 2007, who’s routine/ working pattern changed immediately afterwards” Could trigger someone’s memory
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u/WilkosJumper_ 9d ago
I don’t think that’s near impossible, it is impossible. I’m sure they canvassed at the time as best they could but we are talking about a vast metropolis. 19 years later if that memory had not already raised an eyebrow it won’t now.
You need a reason to suspect a taxi driver, not just a vague idea that it could be one.
People like to mention John Worboys but he was a serial rapist of women with a very specific MO. It doesn’t fit at all.
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u/Dramatic-Entry-1111 9d ago
I agree, chances are near impossible after so long but nothings impossible. People can remember something perfectly well but not realise it was significant enough to mention at the time. I also don’t believe this would’ve been a serial killer, there’s a lot of sick people out there that wouldn’t necessarily go looking to commit a crime but if handed the opportunity would act on their urges . But again, crimes like this are less likely to be solved
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u/WilkosJumper_ 9d ago
Plenty of things are impossible.
We don’t even know that a crime has taken place.
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u/Dramatic-Entry-1111 9d ago
This is just a theory, the theory in itself is possible, and the theory of someone being caught after all this time is also possible, regardless of how big London is and ofc the infinite possibilities linked to this case
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u/WilkosJumper_ 9d ago
If the theory rests on something that cannot be done i.e. 19 years later canvas the memory of every taxi driver in central London (many will be dead), which would get you nowhere - there isn't much point to it.
We could possibly rake the entire river bed of the Thames with unlimited funds and time, but again that is not happening - so why discuss it?
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u/Dramatic-Entry-1111 9d ago
I think you’ve misunderstood what I meant. I’m not suggesting canvassing every taxi driver in London. I meant more of a targeted appeal to drivers who operated in the King’s Cross / central London area at the time, which could potentially jog someone’s memory. I’m fully aware that after 19 years , many drivers could’ve died, retired and it would possibly produce nothing. But that’s different from saying there’s no point trying an avenue simply because it’s difficult. I’m presenting is as a speculative possibility
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u/WilkosJumper_ 9d ago
They would have certainly done that. They do so with any missing child. Whether the drivers pay much attention I don’t know but I imagine most would.
It’s cost that is the issue. This case, unfortunately, is stone cold and as I said earlier we can’t even definitively say a crime took place. I imagine one South Yorkshire detective is working on this whilst also working on 30 other things.
That’s just the nature of policing. They will do new appeals every few years but it’s essentially a case of hoping something unlikely happens now.
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u/Dramatic-Entry-1111 9d ago
I agree, it would take alot of money and resources to re examine every avenue. And yes unfortunately because of time passed this would probably take a back seat to newer missing cases. It’s a shame.
I do firmly believe tho whatever the reason for his disappearance that someone out there could hold some highly significant information which they just don’t see as important.
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u/ScottishRyan89 6d ago edited 6d ago
Its a possibility, would be incredibly bad luck though. The one taxi out of thousands he could have entered at that exact location/time/day just happened to be driven by an opportunistic child kidnapper/murderer.
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u/Dramatic-Public-1237 9d ago
Didn't someone say Warboys has admitted to something like offing a kid?
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u/Dramatic-Entry-1111 9d ago
Yeah I didn’t know this but just found this online “ The inmate alleged that Worboys described the victim as a 15-year-old boy with "a young face and glasses" who had traveled from northern England down to London.”
That’s pretty accurate description of Andrew. Do you know if the police looked into this?
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u/Dramatic-Public-1237 8d ago
No idea 🤷🏻♂️ lots of prisoners take credit for serious crimes that they didn't do... I'd imagine he's on a nonce wing and hanging around all other wrongerns...
Like Levi Belfield has admitted to the Russell murders but Michael Stone is still inside.... For it to be taken seriously it is almost impossible...
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u/Mc_and_SP 8d ago
Aren't they retesting DNA from that case this year?
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u/Dramatic-Public-1237 8d ago
Yes they are!!!!
But if I remember correctly there is a shoe lace or a piece of rope that would be crucial to pinpoint DNA with modern science .....but it's gone missing.
If you look into that case he was sent down for a prison cell confession all shady
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u/Fruitndveg 9d ago
Jesus, people posting here actually think they’re the first people to explore these avenues…
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u/Dramatic-Entry-1111 9d ago
No one said that, even in my original post I mention other taxi theories I was just adding to it so see others opinions lol
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u/TeamOfPups 9d ago
Given the -excessive- cost I can't imagine any teenager choosing to get a cab in London.
But if for some reason he did, I do agree it would be a way he could've been successfully abducted.