A new age-progression image has been released as part of an ongoing campaign to find a man who disappeared when he was 14 years old.
Andrew Gosden vanished from Doncaster in September 2007 and the mystery surrounding his disappearance has been one of the most high-profile missing person cases of the last 20 years.
South Yorkshire Police said the new picture is the first to show Andrew without glasses and detectives appealed to the missing man, or anyone who believes they may know him, to get in touch.
Andrew left his home in the Balby area of Doncaster on September 14 2007 and was seen heading down Littlemoor Lane, towards Westfield Park, at around 8.30am.
Around an hour later, he withdrew £200 from his bank account and boarded a London-bound train at Doncaster station.
You can also read details on our website here: https://t.co/XRIP2hX5Pk If you do know anyone that matches this description, please contact police or @missingpeople (2/2) @andrew_gosden pic.twitter.com/f9n3KLxfef
— SouthYorkshirePolice (@syptweet) October 28, 2019
Andrew was captured on CCTV at Kings Cross station at around 11.20am the same day.
A force spokesman said there have been many sightings of people bearing some resemblance to Andrew over the years but no positive sighting has ever been confirmed.
Andrew’s father Kevin has now released more details about his son’s appearance and traits on his blog.
He describes Andrew, who will now be 26 years old, as having an “unusual” right ear, deaf in his left ear, highly intelligent and speaking quickly and quietly, without a strong accent.
When Andrew went missing, his vision was very poor and he needed strong lenses but the new picture shows him without glasses as he may now be using contact lenses.
Detective Inspector Andy Knowles, who has been overseeing the police investigation into Andrew’s disappearance since 2017, said: “While this latest photograph may not seem to show much change, someone’s face can look drastically different without glasses and therefore it’s important that we share this photograph in case it helps jog someone’s memory.
“Andrew has now been missing 12 years and his family are understandably desperate for any answers that may help them understand what happened to their loved one.
“Sharing specific features of Andrew’s appearance and character is intended to help the public and reduce the number of generalised sightings we receive.
“We want you to study Kevin’s blog closely and think hard about anyone in your lives who may have one or more of these traits.
“Anyone in your life who has an incomplete life history, anyone who might not have easy access to a bank account or a passport possibly, with the distinctive right ear markings that we know Andrew had – we’d be really keen to speak to those people.”
Mr Knowles added: “I would also like to take this opportunity to once more appeal to Andrew directly.
“Andrew, know that you can contact us completely confidentially – let us know you are safe so we can reassure your family that you have come to no harm.”
More information about Andrew can be found on Mr Gosden’s blog at helpustofindandrew.weebly.com/blog/searching-for-andrew-what-to-look-for or on the Missing People charity website: www.missingpeople.org.uk/help-us-find/andrew-gosden-07-019198
Anyone who believes they have information about Andrew is asked to contact South Yorkshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 161 of 13 September 2017, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here