2007 disappearance of 14-year-old in London
Andrew Paul Gosden (born 10 July 1993) disappeared from Central London on 14 September 2007 when he was 14. On that day, Gosden left his home in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, withdrew £200 from his bank account and bought a one-way ticket to London from Doncaster station. He was last seen on CCTV leaving King's Cross station. Despite numerous national appeals for information in the years following his disappearance, Gosden's reason for travelling to London that day, and his subsequent fate, have not been established.
In December 2021, detectives investigating the case arrested two men on suspicion of kidnapping and human trafficking in relation to Gosden's disappearance. Both men were released under investigation while enquiries continued. In September 2023, police confirmed that the men had been eliminated from the investigation. They are believed to be the first arrests made in connection with Gosden's disappearance.
Background.
Home life.
The Gosden family lives in Balby, a suburb of Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Andrew Gosden's parents are both committed Anglican Christians, but had not baptised their children, as they did not want to impose their views on them. Prior to his disappearance, Gosden had not been to church for eighteen months. He had been a Cub Scout, but a few months before his disappearance he told his father that he would no longer involve himself with the group. Gosden's family described him as a "home bird" who rarely left the house and never without saying where he was going. Gosden was known to his family as "Roo".
School life.
Gosden was a gifted student with a 100% attendance record at the McAuley Catholic High School. He was on the Young Gifted and Talented Programme, which was designed to enhance the educational development of the top five per cent of school pupils. He was expected to score straight As in his GCSE examinations. Gosden was described as a prize-winning mathematician who seemed destined for Cambridge. He was described as having a neutral attitude about school, hoping the upcoming school term would provide more of a challenge after having "cruised" through his education thus far. Gosden said little about his school life to his parents.
During the 2006 summer holidays Gosden attended a two-week residential school at Lancaster University as part of the Young Gifted and Talented Programme. The summer school was for children from all over the UK aged 11–16 who were in the top 5% academically. Gosden's parents recalled that he returned from the summer school enthused about what he had been doing.
Gosden was described as being happy with his own company, but was not a loner as he had his own small group of like-minded friends. However, Gosden's family say that he did not socialise with his friends outside of school. Gosden exhibited no signs of depression, and there were no indications that he had been subjected to bullying.
Description.
Gosden was said by his father to be absent-minded, not streetwise, and potentially vulnerable. He was a "deep character" who did not get worked up or moody. His teachers characterized him as a shy, quiet young man who was mature beyond his years.
Other sources have stated that although Gosden was aged 14 when he disappeared, he looked younger; perhaps about 12, as he was small for his age. Gosden wore strong prescription glasses, is deaf in his left ear, and has a distinctive double ridge on his right ear. Gosden had light brown hair but was planning to dye it black before he disappeared. 
Gosden owned a couple of mobile phones between the ages of ten and twelve but he rarely used them and subsequently lost them. He was given a new phone for his twelfth birthday, but also rarely used this and did not want to replace it when he lost it months before his disappearance. When his parents offered to replace the lost phones he stated that he would prefer a new Xbox. 
Gosden was interested in video games and metal bands. He was last seen wearing a black Slipknot T-shirt, black jeans, trainers, a watch on his left wrist, and carrying a black canvas satchel with patches of rock and metal bands on it.(1 h 00 min 30 s)
Events leading up to the disappearance.
During the 2007 school summer holidays (typically July to September), Gosden's parents had suggested that he travel alone to London to stay with his grandmother, but he chose not to go.
At the time of his disappearance, Gosden was eight days into the new school year after returning from the summer holidays. In the days leading up to his disappearance, Gosden twice chose to break his normal routine; his parents reported that he told them he walked home from school rather than taking the school bus. Walking the route from school to his home would have taken around one hour and twenty minutes.
The evening before the day of the disappearance was described by Gosden's father as uneventful.(14 min 50 s) The family ate together as usual, and they all washed the dishes afterwards. Gosden spent an hour assembling a jigsaw puzzle on the computer with his father. He then watched some comedy programmes on television, including "Mock the Week" and "That Mitchell and Webb Look", with his mother.(14 min 50 s)
Day of the disappearance.
On the morning of his disappearance, Gosden 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 Gosden left his house and was witnessed walking across the local park (Westfield) to his usual bus stop by family friend Rev. Alan Murray who was sitting on a bench in the park. Instead of taking the school bus, Gosden diverted from his usual route and walked to a cash machine at a local garage where he withdrew £200 from his bank account. Although Gosden had £214 in his account, the ATM would only allow withdrawals in £20 increments, limiting him to £200.(4 min 40 s) Gosden was captured on a neighbour's CCTV system returning home.(3 min 30 s)
At home, Gosden placed his uniform in the washing machine and his blazer on the back of his chair. He 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 (PSP) console. No other possessions were identified as missing. It was quickly established that he had not taken his passport with him.(26 min 30 s) Gosden'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.(12 min 00 s) Gosden also left around £100 in cash that he had saved from birthdays.
At 8:30 am, Gosden departed 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 recalled that she had told Gosden that a return ticket cost just 50p more but he insisted on a single ticket. 
At 9:35 am Gosden was seen boarding the train to King's Cross station alone. A woman reported sitting next to Gosden, whom she described as being quiet and engrossed in playing his video game. When Gosden failed to attend morning lessons at his school, his teachers tried to contact his parents. The school believed that they had called Gosden's parents and left a message informing them that he had not attended school. However, the school dialled the number of the parents either above or below Gosden in the register and the message was left on the wrong person's phone.(4 min 40 s)
Gosden arrived at King's Cross station at 11:20 am. He was captured on CCTV leaving the main entrance of the station at 11:25 am. This was the last confirmed sighting of him.(5 min 55 s) 
Disappearance and initial investigation.
That evening the Gosden family and a family friend sat down for dinner thinking that Gosden was either in the converted cellar playing video games or in his room doing homework.(9 min 50 s) When the family discovered that he was not in the house, they initially thought he could be with a friend or a neighbour and had lost track of time. Gosden's parents telephoned his friends, who informed them that Gosden was not there and had not been at school that day. At around 7:00pm, the police were called. Gosden's sister, Charlotte, stated: "It was just a complete panic. We initially thought something must have happened on the way to school. When we found that he hadn't even been to school‍— even tried to go to school‍— that was even more worrying."
Charlotte and Gosden's father, Kevin, scouted Gosden's route to school and areas nearby, but found nothing.(10 min 30 s) Within three hours of discovering Gosden's disappearance, a missing-person leaflet was produced for circulation. Gosden's family and friends searched the area until nightfall. That weekend, the police searched the bushes near the Gosdens' home in Doncaster, but found nothing.
Three days later, after speaking to the woman who had sold Gosden his train ticket, the police confirmed that he had travelled to London. The ticket seller at Doncaster station remembered Gosden because he had refused a return ticket, despite it only costing a small amount more than a single. Gosden's father later stated that the purchase of a single ticket rather than a return did not seem strange to him, as Gosden knew numerous people in London with whom he could have stayed. Initial searches in London focused on the Chislehurst and Sidcup areas, where the Gosden family has relatives.
Days after the disappearance, the family travelled to London and handed out flyers and posters in the vicinity of anywhere they felt Gosden would have had an interest in visiting, especially museums and exhibitions.(12 min 00 s)
South Yorkshire Police (SYP) said it asked British Transport Police (BTP) to search the CCTV footage within two days of Gosden going missing, but BTP could not pick him out from the crowds. Three weeks later, CCTV footage at King's Cross was again reviewed by BTP and SYP, who identified Gosden. The CCTV image of Gosden leaving the main concourse at King's Cross was circulated in the media accompanied by a close up of his right ear, which has a distinctive double ridge.
Subsequent investigations.
The family and the police investigated the possibility that Gosden had gone to London to meet someone whom he had met over the Internet. However, there was no evidence for this. Gosden did not use a computer at home; his father stated that Gosden did not have an e-mail address and had not set up an online account on either his Xbox or his PSP.(41 min 00 s) The police took the computers from Gosden's school and Doncaster Library but their digital forensic investigations found no trace of any activity by Gosden. 
Investigators sent the unique serial number of Gosden's PSP to Sony HQ, who found that there was no record of an account being set up or communication established on the device. The Sony PSP 1000 had a DNAS authentication system allowing Sony to see when a PSP had connected to the internet. The only PC in the house was his sister's laptop, which had only been in her possession for eight weeks. Gosden'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".(43 min 30 s)
A year after Gosden's disappearance, the head teacher at McAuley Catholic High School, Mary Lawrence, travelled to London with staff and pupils and distributed 15,000 leaflets.
In September 2017 Mick Neville, retired head of the Metropolitan Police's Central Images Unit, drew comparisons between Gosden’s disappearance and that of another gifted maths student who disappeared without a trace in London Alex Sloley was 16 when he disappeared in 2008, less than a year after Gosden. When Sloley disappeared he was thought to have been on his way to Islington, which is two miles from King's Cross. "It raises the question on whether there is a serial killer on the prowl? ...the potential links between these cases need to be recognised," said Neville.
Reason for travelling to London.
After the initial CCTV trail