The Mysterious Vanishing of Andrew Gosden: What Happened to Him?

On September 14th, 2007, 14-year-old Andrew Gosden skipped school and left his family home in Doncaster, England.

He bought a one-way ticket to London and then vanished without a trace. The teen was last seen on CCTV exiting King’s Cross station.

**Andrew Gosden spotted leaving King’s Cross station. This was the final time he was ever seen. Image via BBC.**

That same footage has been repeatedly aired on TV stations across the United Kingdom and around the world. Almost two decades later, investigators are still trying to piece together what really happened to Andrew.

Background

Andrew Paul Gosden was born on July 10th, 1993, in Doncaster, England, to parents Kevin and Glenys. Andrew was known as a good kid who preferred to stay home, listen to music, and play video games.

He had been a Boy Scout for years, but by the summer of 2007, he informed his father that he was no longer interested in going to the meetings.

Andrew attended McAuley Catholic High School, where he had a perfect attendance record. Additionally, he was a gifted mathematician who won several prizes for his school and was a part of the Young Gifted and Talented Program.

In 2006, he spent two weeks of his summer holidays at Lancaster University, where he met other top-five percent students from the UK.

According to his family, Andrew was well-liked at school and didn’t experience any bullying. He had a small group of friends whom he rarely saw after classes. In his free time, Andrew loved to listen to metal music and had a collection of band shirts in his closet.

Even though he turned 14 years old in the summer of 2007, Andrew still looked small for his age. He wore prescription lenses and was deaf in his left ear. His right ear was uniquely shaped, featuring a double ridge.

**Andrew Gosden missing poster featuring his ear.**

Andrew was often careless with mobile phones and had a tendency to lose them. While his parents offered to replace the last mobile device he lost, the teen decided he would rather have an Xbox than a new phone.

The mysterious disappearance

On the morning of September 14th, 2007, Andrew’s mom, Glenys, had difficulty getting the teen out of bed. That was quite unusual, but the new school year had just started, and she thought Andrew needed a bit more time to adjust to the schedule.

He got ready and left the family house in Balby, a suburb of Doncaster, at 8:05 am. A family friend saw him walking through Westfield Park to reach his bus stop.

But the teen never boarded the bus. Instead, he walked to a nearby ATM, where he withdrew £200 from his account. Andrew then waited for everyone to leave the house before heading back.

A neighbor’s CCTV camera captured Andrew walking home shortly after his parents and sister left the house.

Once inside, Andrew placed his school uniform in the washing machine and changed into a black Slipknot t-shirt and black jeans. He packed his wallet, keys, and PlayStation Portable into a bag, leaving the console charger behind.

Andrew left his home at 8:30 am and walked to Doncaster railway station, where he purchased a one-way ticket to London. The ticket seller offered him a return ticket, but Andrew declined. At 9:30 am, Andrew boarded the train alone.

Witnesses later reported he didn’t speak much and spent the entire time playing games on his PSP handheld console. The teen arrived at King’s Cross station in London at 11:20 am.

Five minutes later, he was seen on CCTV as he left the station. This was the final time he was seen.

**Andrew Gosden leaving the train station.**

Andrew’s absence from school didn’t go unnoticed. His teachers were surprised because the teen had perfect attendance until that point. The school administrators tried to contact the Gosden family, but they likely dialed the wrong number since no one picked up.

When the Gosden family returned home in the afternoon, everything seemed normal. They assumed Andrew was either in his room or playing video games in the basement and didn’t want to disturb him.

Andrew’s absence was discovered around dinner time, but again, no one was raising the alarm. His parents phoned a couple of his school friends to see if he was with them, and that was the moment they learned Andrew had skipped school that day.

Fearing something had happened to Andrew that morning, Andrew’s dad, Kevin, and sister Charlotte searched the neighborhood looking for the teen.

The police were contacted at 7:00 pm, and soon, officers were combing the area around the Gosden home. Unfortunately, there was no sign of Andrew anywhere.

The search

During the initial interview with the Gosden family, they told the police that Andrew acted normally the day before his disappearance. He came home from school, ate dinner with them, and helped wash the dishes.

The teen then joined his father, who was working on a jigsaw puzzle on the family computer, and later watched TV with his mother before going to sleep.

South Yorkshire Police discovered Andrew had bought a one-way train ticket to London after leaving the house on September 14th. The Gosden family wasn’t surprised because they had relatives in London, and Andrew was always welcome in their homes.

Wanting to help, the Gosdens went to London and distributed flyers near museums, as Andrew loved visiting them. Whenever they traveled there in the past, the teen was always excited to see various exhibitions around the city.

Additionally, Andrew was supposed to stay at his grandmother’s house in London that summer, but he changed his mind. So, his parents believed he might have gone sightseeing without them over the weekend when he disappeared.

Meanwhile, the police moved their search to London areas of Chislehurst and Sidcup, where Andrew’s relatives lived. Weeks after his disappearance, the investigators finally obtained the CCTV footage of Andrew at King’s Cross.

Within hours, all major TV stations were playing the video of the last confirmed sighting of the missing teen, but even that failed to bring in the leads.

Investigators focused on finding the reason why Andrew traveled to London on his own. Considering his interest in video games, it was initially suspected he had met someone online and wanted to meet them in person.

But it was soon discovered that Andrew rarely used the computer and played offline games on his Xbox and PSP.

While he had an option to create a PSP account and communicate with other players, investigators revealed that Andrew didn’t activate this feature on his device.

Social media wasn’t as popular back in 2007, but Andrew’s sister told the police he never expressed a desire to create a profile on MySpace or any similar websites. The Gosdens confirmed he didn’t even have an email address.

Soon, investigators considered another theory: the teen may have gone to London to attend a concert. Thirty Seconds to Mars and SikTh played shows on September 14th, 2007. Andrew’s parents believed he was a fan of SikTh, so the police urged those who had been to the concert at the Carling Academy to send in the photos.

Additionally, members of HIM, one of Andrew’s favorite bands, were signing copies of their latest album on September 17th, 2007. They were scheduled to play a secret show that same day, and the only way to get inside was to complete several easy challenges.

When the members of HIM learned about the possible connection to Andrew’s disappearance, they provided the investigators with photos and videos of the events. Unfortunately, cameras didn’t capture Andrew at either the album signing or the secret show.

Immediately after the disappearance, a couple of people contacted the police about possible sightings of Andrew on Oxford Street in London. The teen’s parents criticized the investigators for failing to look into these leads.

In the weeks that followed, he was allegedly seen in Southwark, Waterloo, and Covent Garden. But regardless of police efforts, Andrew Gosden was never found.

The aftermath

Exactly two years after Andrew’s disappearance, his family published an age-progressed photo of the teen. Thinking that Andrew had run away from home to start fresh, the Gosden family appealed to the public once more to help them locate the missing teenager. Unfortunately, that was yet another dead end.

For 10 years, multiple unconfirmed sightings of Andrew were reported to the police. He was allegedly seen in Brighton, South Wales, and Birkenhead.

The South Yorkshire Police continued to monitor hospitals for anyone looking for prescription lenses similar to Andrew’s. His bank account hadn’t been used since the day of his disappearance.

Two more age progression photos were released on Andrew’s birthday in July of 2018.

By the late 2010s, those following Andrew’s unexplained disappearance were sure that the case had gone cold. But everyone was shocked when the South Yorkshire Police released a statement on January 11th, 2022, informing the public they had arrested two men in connection with Andrew’s case.

Both individuals were taken into custody on suspicion of kidnapping. The police received the tip about their involvement from an anonymous caller in late 2021. Multiple devices were seized and analyzed by forensic experts.

**Andrew Gosden age progression photos.**

In September 2023, the South Yorkshire Police published an update, saying both men were released, and investigators are confident they weren’t involved in Andrew’s disappearance. To this day, Andrew has never been found, but the investigation remains open.