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The mother of a student who has been missing for more than a week believes she met someone online who “built her trust and confidence.”
Richard OkorogheyeThe 19-year-old left his family home in the Ladbroke Grove area of West London on the night of Monday March 22nd, boarded a bus and then took a 20-mile taxi ride from the W2 area of the capital to Loughton.
CCTV footage of him walking down an Essex city street At dawn on March 23, they were released by the Metropolitan Police.
His mother, Evidence Joel, told Sky News correspondent Ivor Bennett on Thursday: “He has never mentioned those places, so I am very surprised that the police said he went to Loughton.”
Richard Okorogheye has been missing for over a week. Photo: Met Police
CCTV footage of him on a Loughton street in the early hours of March 23rd. Photo: Met Police
She added: “I think he went to meet someone. Definitely. Richard can’t go there. Especially at that time in the morning … someone was waiting for Richard.”
When asked if she thinks her son met someone online, she added: “I think so. Definitely.”
Joel said that he often played games on his PlayStation 5 and had heard him laugh and be “very happy” while talking to someone.
She continued, “He was definitely talking to someone. Someone he trusted and cared about. Maybe the person gave him confidence.
“Somehow he knew his aspirations, his interests, so he trusted that person, he built trust and confidence.”
Ms. Joel said she did not know anything specific about the person.
Police searching for Mr. Okorogheye have said that there appears to have been no activity on his phone since he disappeared.
Superintendent Danny Gosling said detectives had not detected any activity on his cell phone and that his “laptops and computers” were “in the lab” being examined for clues.
A search is underway in Epping Forest. Photo: Met Police
Okorogheye was reported missing on Wednesday March 24 and a major search is now underway in Epping Forest in Essex.
Ms. Joel said police are now “responding very well” after she complained that her initial report was not taken seriously enough.
She said: “At first they ignored me. I was nobody. I was just a frenzied black woman and exaggerated by a 19-year-old adult, who we all know, these are vulnerable adults. I wish they had reacted sooner.”
Mr Okorogheye needs daily medication for his sickle cell disease, but it is not believed that he took any with him when he disappeared.
A CCTV image of Richard Okorogheye on the night of March 22. Photo: Met Police
Ms. Joel said Thursday: “He doesn’t have a jacket, he doesn’t have medication. He could be dehydrated, we don’t know. We don’t know his condition at this time. We don’t know if he’s alive.” We don’t know where it is. “
When asked if she thinks her son is alive, she added: “I don’t know what to believe. We can’t find him. I don’t know. Should I say I have hope? I don’t know. I don’t know what to think right now. My feelings are in everyone. parts. I don’t know. It’s scary. “
She added: “I don’t know what he looks like, how he feels right now, if he’s breathing. I don’t know. I’m trying to be strong. It’s very difficult.
“I’m holding on, but it’s very difficult. It’s very, very difficult.”
CCTV footage shows that she was wearing all black clothing and had a black tote bag with a white Adidas logo on her lower back.
Ms. Joel previously said that her son had spoken of “fighting to cope” with college pressures and that he had been protecting himself during the COVID-19 shutdown.
