Father of young Yorkshire man missing for 12 years describes 'endless torture' over disappearance

Andrew Gosden was just 14 when he left his home in Balby, South Yorkshire on the morning of September 14, 2007. He withdrew £200 from his bank account and bought a one-way ticket to London from Doncaster.

He was last seen on CCTV leaving King's Cross station and has not been seen since, resulting in 12 years and three months of torture and unanswered questions for his family, including his father Kevin Gosden.

Speaking exclusively to the Yorkshire Post from the family home in Balby, Mr Gosden said: "We have spent 12 years going through 'is he dead, is he alive?' and every single possible thought goes through your mind.

"He could have got off the train at London Kings Cross and someone has knifed him and chucked his body in the canal and he has never been found. We just have no clue.

"People speculate that he could have been murdered, radicalised, groomed etc and of course we have thought about all those possibilities.

"We just want to know what the hell has happened to him. It is just unanswerable and an endless torture for us.

Your head doesn't know if you are grieving or not, it is the worst part of mental torture in existence - it's just the not knowing."

Andrew was a gifted student with a 100 per cent 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 percent of school pupils and he had been expected to score straight A's in his GCSE examinations.

"He was lovely, a really easy kid to have around," Mr Gosden said.

"He was ridiculously clever which was obvious from a young age. He could read anything you put in front of him by the time he was three and mathematically he was exceptional.

"We called him 'Roo' because he was lively and bouncy. We just never saw him down or fed up. He just always seemed happy up to and including the night before he just disappeared."

The night before Andrew disappeared, the family had sat down for their evening meal as normal, before Andrew and his father washed the pots and watched some comedy programmes on the television.

"That's the really weird thing about it all is that he didn't seem any different to normal," Mr Gosden said.

" The weekend before he disappeared he was helping me outside paint the front gate and he made a good job of it too.

"When you reflect back you begin to think more. There are some psychological disorders that can be particularly well hidden and then create a breakdown but none of us picked up on anything and he didn't give us any hints that he was depressed or becoming schizophrenic. That's what's really strange about it all. He was just his usual, normal self.

"Part of me wishes we had had a row which make it all a bit more explicable, but we didn't.

"I remember us messing about when we were washing the pots and I said 'love ya' and he told me to 'get off' just like any normal teenage boy.

The last time Mr Gosden saw his son was on the morning of September 14, 2007.

"He was disappearing out the front door in his school uniform," Mr Gosden said.

"I said 'see you later' and he said 'see ya' and that was it."

The family all returned home at staggered times over that evening and at first thought Andrew was either in his bedroom or downstairs in the basement playing on his Xbox.

It wasn't until they shouted him for dinner that they realised he wasn't at home, but even then they just thought he could have been playing snooker with a friend and had forgotten the time.

After making enquiries with his friends, it was soon apparent that Andrew had not been to school that day.

His teachers had tried to contact his parents, but a misdialled number meant that his disappearance was not logged until later that day.

The family desperately called the local hospitals to see if Andrew had been admitted, as well as calling police and going out looking for him themselves.

In the days that followed, they also did an appeal at an assembly at Andrew's school and also travelled to Whitby - another of Andrew's favourite places.

Following various media appeals, a lady who sold Andrew his train ticket called police to tell them her vital piece of information.

Someone else who is also believed to have sat opposite Andrew on the train also told police how he was playing on a portable playstation and looked very relaxed.

The family travelled to London with posters of Andrew, asking in stations if anyone had seen him and also visiting places he liked to go including concert venues, but there have been no signs of him.

He has missed numerous birthdays, Christmases and the birth of his nephew.

Mr Gosden says his son's disappearance has led to him attempting to take his own life. He has also suffered with severe depression, PTSD and anxiety.

In a direct appeal to Andrew, he said: "We love you and we just want to know you are OK and if not we want to help.

"You don't have to tell us where you are. If you could just ring up the Missing People charity and tell them you are alive and well."

South Yorkshire Police have said the force remains "committed in continuing to pursue and investigate any information" that could lead to finding Andrew.

Detective Inspector Andrew Knowles said: “I’d ask anyone who believes they know a man that could be Andrew, but aren’t aware of his past beyond the last few years, to contact us. This includes professionals, such as doctors or dentists, who may have treated a 26-year-old man who has no records going back beyond the last ten years.“We have worked with Andrew’s family and we will continue to do so in an attempt to be able to provide the answers they understandably are desperate to have.

“I would also ask Andrew himself to please contact us, completely confidentially - let us know you are safe so we can reassure your family that you have come to no harm."

Andrew's family have set up a dedicated website in their search for him.

There is also a page dedicated to Andrew on the Missing People website.