Sharing my thoughts so we can discuss.
- He was groomed.
Andrew was groomed by someone at school or scout camp or even church. He was involved in both the scouts and the church to a certain degree. Grooming and pedophilia is known to happen within these institutions, and dare I say that in the UK, it's prevalent.
Somebody groomed him and told him to meet them in London so they could see something Andrew was interested in, or buy some stuff, anything to make him go there.
..or he simply met someone online that did the same thing.
He was then a victim to the most horrible outcome possible in this case.
- Rebellious teenager.
He was 14 and had a 100% attendance record at school. He wanted to do something 'bad' at this time in his life as he was sick of being the good boy who did everything right.
It's not far fetched to think he wanted to rebel.
He went to London to see a show/museum/whatever, buy books or music, anything he wanted.
Think about at, at 14 he had a 100% attendance rate, and I'm sure he felt the pressure of keeping up that excellence in his school subjects.
That's quite extreme, and usually when there's one extreme it will swing the other way too.
He snapped and just wanted to do something completely out of the ordinary.
He ran out of money and tried to hitchhike home or got stranded and met somebody that took him, or maybe he slept outside for a while and passed away accidentally.
He left home abruptly, but showed signs he was coming back (I think he would bring his PSP charger and more money/items if he was planning to actually leave for good). He was highly intelligent - but also a metal fan and interested in goth subculture which tells me had a side to him that could easily feel like rebelling.
- He hated his life and wanted to leave for good.
This require Andrew to have a strong insensitive side to him in regards to his parents which is hard to say when you don't know him.
He hated his parents, his life and wanted to leave for good. He thought 200 pounds was enough to get him started on a new life and just didn't bother to bring his toiletries or any other items like. He thought he'd just play the PSP on the train ride and discard it once he got to London and his new life. Maybe he even thought as a 14 year old rebellious kid that living on the street 'off grid' for a while would be exciting. He pretended to have disappeared by putting his clothes in the washer etc etc. so people would think it was accidental.
More creative than Spielberg
The problem with the grooming theory is that police couldn't find any evidence of much online activity at all, so unless they missed something or Andrew had a secret phone, it would've had to have happened with someone he knew in real life. This is certainly possible, but it just narrows the pool from anyone on the Internet to anyone who actually knew Andrew, which makes it less likely.
the problem is that there is no evidence of anyone trying to groom him. there has to be some kind of evidence, to make it into a theory of what might have happened. but uf there is no evidence, then its something you made up. sorry, and not trying to be mean. just saying where is the evidence of someone trying to groom him?
Everything points to a spur of the moment decision to leave Balby, though for what reason we don't know. If I'm spending some time away from home I pack a bag, a change of clothing, toiletries such as soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, tissues to wipe the lenses of my glasses. Of course, he could have bought these things in London, but there's no sighting of him after Pizza Hut, Oxford Street, and even that is unconfirmed.
My hunch is he went to check out one of the music venues, Brixton or Carling Academy, he didn't want to be weighed down with too much clutter, and his intention was to stay overnight with one of his relatives in Chislehurst or Sidcup. Tragically he was intercepted along the route and offered a lift in a vehicle with terrible consequences.
Possibly another Stephen Port-type figure on the loose.
There is no evidence to substantiate any of that. It’s been a long time and there have been so sooo many posts. You could find x amount of posts with the same idea and post your agreement.
Generally speaking people who are groomed are typically people who are already considered at risk. This is because it is less likely people will notice they are missing. Andrew by all accounts had a stable home life with loving and supportive parents.
He was an intelligent kid who didn’t have a lot of friends and gravitated towards adults. It would be easy for an adult with ulterior motives to groom him. Lots of kids from loving and stable homes get groomed.
I've ruled out running away for good in my mind as he didn't pack enough or take all his money. He didn't even take a hoodie.
Andrew being groomed, and something bad happening to him in London aren't mutually exclusive.
Yes, I believe he was being groomed by a familiar adult.
That had nothing to do with the fact he decided to have a trip away to London.
I agree that there may well be two mysteries here instead of one.
The Asha Degree case seems to be following this line too - LE now seem to have a good idea of who was responsible for her not returning home BUT they still have no idea why she left home that night.
Suicide in my opinion. One last hurrah
What if someone that bullied Andrew met him on that day. Wasn’t he made fun of? Or singled out??