K“I’ll see you later, Dad,” Evan Gosden remembers his son saying as he left for school 18 years ago.
Those were the last words she heard from her 14-year-old Andrew, as what started as a normal day turned into a nightmare the family never woke up from.
Andrew waved goodbye as he left their home in Doncaster on September 14, 2007 – but the family later concluded he never made it to school.
Instead, it emerged that the teenager took £200 from a cash register before returning home, after the rest of the family had left, to change into jeans, a T-shirt and a favorite bag. Then he went to the station and took a train to King’s Cross. After that it disappeared.
The family didn’t realize Andrew was missing until earlier that night. When he didn’t come down for dinner, the alarm went off. The panic only started after a friend at school confirmed that Andrew hadn’t attended at all – something quite unusual.
“There was nothing at all unusual about his behavior the evening before or before he disappeared,” Mr Gosden said. Independent. “We thought, ‘Something is deeply wrong here, we just don’t know what yet.’
That day has haunted him ever since. “I still live in it,” he said. “This feeling of panic, that just won’t stop – never stops. That’s why I go through life with anxiety. It’s just horrible. It’s completely crippling…
I certainly had and still have that feeling where you think, is this really real? For a long time I carried a needle in my pocket to poke myself with to find out if I was awake and alive or asleep and dreaming – but when it entered my dreams with nightmares and flashbacks, the needle stopped working. “That’s where you are, stumbling.”
Independent is joining forces with Lost to launch a new, free, 24/7 service that will be a lifeline for young people in crisis. Our aim is to raise £165,000 to help fund SafeCall, a service for the 72,000 children who go missing every year to find the support, safety and connection they need.
donate here Or text SAFE to 70577 to donate £10 missing people – It is enough to get help from a child.
Mr Gosden gave his full support to the campaign, calling SafeCall “absolutely essential” and an “investment in people’s lives”. He has relied on missing persons for nearly two decades. “They’ve helped in so many ways over the years … they’ve really helped me through some of the worst times.”
She said Andrew’s disappearance — and the way it was handled in the early days — left her with lasting mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression and PTSD. These led to breakdowns and a near-fatal attempt to commit suicide, eventually forcing him into early retirement.
The family immediately began searching, handing out flyers and putting up posters around Doncaster, London, and anywhere Andrew might have traveled. But Mr Gosden said the initial police response was slow and disorganized – a devastating blow to the critical first 48 hours.
“Their lack of effort to find him and the pressure they put on me caused me to attempt suicide, which I almost succeeded in doing,” he said. “That’s why I have anxiety, depression and PTSD. At that moment, I thought, ‘I’ve got to get out of the way or they’ll never find Andrew.’
However, he insists that as of 2018, South Yorkshire Police has handled the case well and he admits that a lack of resources may have contributed to the initial failures.
Police have also been quick to respond to deep-fake AI articles, images and videos falsely claiming that Andrew – or his remains – have been found. “Imagine if they started sharing,” he said. “It completely destroys everything we’ve done over the past 18 years to keep Andrew missing.” These incidents have made him feel “extremely anxious, helpless and helpless”.
The family still doesn’t know what happened to Andrew, and he says the uncertainty is their own torment.
Andrew, now 32, was a “deep thinker”, “super bright”, self-sufficient, confident and funny. Like the rest of his family, he loved rock and metal music and was close friends with his sister Charlotte, now 34.
She said: “Before Andrew disappeared, I thought losing your child must be the worst thing that can happen to a parent – but now I realize it’s worse not knowing what happened to them because you’re not quite able to work it out in your head.
“People ask me if we think Andrew is alive or dead – it depends on the day you ask me. We don’t know. All we know is that no one has been found and no one is in contact with information.”
Still, she said, glimmers of hope remain — some days brighter than others. “We are trying and hopefully we will discover something.”
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Knowles, who has led the investigation in recent years, said: “I’m in regular contact with the Gosden family and I’m very grateful for their support as we work together to answer questions that have gone unanswered for a long time. We’re going through all the information we’ve got, making sure it’s in there, it’s listed, it’s listed, it’s listed.”
please donate now To The Independent and Missing People’s SafeCall campaign, which aims to raise £165,000 to create a free, nationwide service to help vulnerable children find safety and support.
Text or call the Missing People charity on 116 000 for advice, support and options if you or someone you love has gone missing. It’s free, confidential and non-judgmental. or visit www.missingpeople.org.uk/get-help
If you are feeling distressed, or struggling to cope, feel free to speak to the Samaritans on 116 123 (UK & ROI), email [email protected], or visit: The Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch
If you are based in the United States and you or someone you know needs mental health help right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org To access the online chat from 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis line that is available to anyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to that country www.befrienders.org To find a helpline near you
