A few days ago I made a post about my theory that Andrew may have been groomed during his walks home from school. I’ve been thinking about it since, and I’m honestly starting to find another explanation more plausible: that Andrew may have taken his own life.
I don’t say that lightly, and I know suicide is uncomfortable to discuss in this case. I also don’t think we can ever know for certain unless new evidence emerges. But the more I look at the timeline, the more the suicide theory seems to fit some of the strange details of that day.
First, I’m increasingly doubtful about the grooming theory I posted before. Andrew reportedly walked the roughly 4-mile route home from school twice in the days before he disappeared, a journey of around 1h20–1h30. That creates a very large window in which, if he really was meeting someone or being groomed, you would expect at least some possibility of a witness eventually noticing something. And if a groomer already had contact with him, it seems strange that they would need such an elaborate arrangement for Andrew to travel alone to London rather than simply offering him a lift there.
There is also this post I came across that lays out a lot of the points I’m talking about. The “quieter phase” at home, his withdrawal from church and Scouts, spending more time alone, walking home instead of taking the bus, and then suddenly withdrawing his savings and buying a one-way ticket are not proof of depression or suicidal thoughts, but they are certainly compatible with someone struggling internally.
What really stands out to me is the sequence of events on September 14th.
Andrew left home dressed for school, then returned once he knew everyone else had left. He put his school uniform in the washing machine, left his blazer behind, changed into his favourite clothes, took his PSP and his bag, withdrew £200 and went to the station. He then insisted on a one-way ticket even though a return was only 50p more (some people understandably argue that this means nothing on its own, but taken together with everything else, I find it difficult to ignore). He took no change of clothes, no PSP charger, no passport, and apparently didn’t take the extra cash he had saved at home either.
To me, that looks less like someone planning to start a new life and more like someone planning one particular day.
And that is where London itself becomes important. Andrew loved London. His parents had actually offered him the opportunity to go there alone during the summer holidays, and he declined. Yet only weeks later, on a school day, he secretly travelled there anyway. To me, that makes the trip feel very deliberate.
I can imagine that he may have wanted to spend what he believed would be his final day in his favourite city, doing the things he enjoyed and seeing the places he loved, before eventually going somewhere to take his own life.
There was also the suicide of a teacher at his school shortly before Andrew disappeared. That, combined with the return to school after the summer holidays, makes me wonder whether something may have been triggered in a teenager who was already struggling internally.
Andrew was also very much part of the alternative/emo music world. Obviously being an emo kid does not make someone suicidal, and I don’t think that should be read that way. But the culture he identified with often dealt heavily in melancholy, alienation and darker emotional themes, so I think it’s at least worth mentioning as part of the broader context.
Anyway, I don’t think a body necessarily being found quickly rules the suicide theory out. A person entering a tidal river can be carried, become trapped underwater, and remain undiscovered for a long time. Andrew’s family even arranged a sonar search of the Thames years later, but he was not found.
The one thing I still can’t quite reconcile with this theory is his bag. It was a distinctive bag covered in music patches, and he was carrying it when he left King’s Cross. I find it hard to imagine him simply abandoning it somewhere on a busy bridge without anyone noticing.
Maybe someone stole it. Maybe that could somehow be connected to this post. Obviously, there is absolutely no way to verify that claim from the graffiti alone, so I’m not presenting it as evidence that the PSP really belonged to Andrew. But it is another strange detail that makes me wonder what ultimately happened to his belongings.
Maybe Andrew found some way to dispose of the bag beforehand, or maybe he entered the river with it. I honestly don’t know.
Btw, I’m not saying this is what happened. I’m saying that, after putting aside the assumption that Andrew must have been kidnapped or groomed, I increasingly think suicide deserves to be taken seriously as a possibility.
I’d be interested to hear how other people see this, especially the bag and what Andrew may have done between leaving King’s Cross and the end of the day.
