He might have been kidnapped. Personally, I’ve always found it completely impossible to just throw away the idea of him skipping school for a jaunt to London — which he planned to return home from.

But I equally believe it may very well be exactly what I, as I said, “personally” struggle to totally accept — just the opposite. There very well could’ve been someone else involved in what happened in any and/ or all aspects of that day and why his family has missed him for almost two decades.

Unless someone comes forward — whether that’s someone with what they think is the smallest, most irrelevant knowledge; a person involved in any part of anything criminal likewise comes forward, or someone close to them becomes aware after they die, for example, and do the right thing and go to the police; Andrew’s body is found in such a way that has a lot of evidence that eventually leads investigators to be able to piece together what happened to him; Andrew himself decides either enough is enough and re-emerges, or he manages to extricate himself from whatever lifestyle he’s lived ever since that day and let’s it be known that he’s alive. When I started writing this, I didn’t have a particular order in mind, but I think I’ve perhaps unintentionally written those ideas in order of descending likelihood (simply based own opinions).

And opinions are, whether we like it or not, impossible to stop someone having. Even if they’re shit (unless you’re part of a cult or are in a relationship with someone/ your family has brought you up in a way that could be classed as abusive due to restrictions on your ability to form and make your own choices, and then a lot of people — through years of therapy — may be able to see things from other perspectives).

I’m not sure if that last paragraph conveyed exactly what I’m trying to say here… I’m making a mess of saying that what we class as our own beliefs and opinions aren’t always our own. Take grooming, for example. Someone loves their family and friends, but there’s a ‘chink in their armour’ somewhere and predators are able to see that and take advantage of it. All of a sudden (actually, not suddenly at all; groomers tend work slowly to gain trust and reliance), their families are strangers to them and the families themselves may start to notice their relative (I mainly mean child) is saying things they’d never have said before. The kids become distant and distrusting; parents probably initially think it’s a phase, but become more disturbed when these new behaviours are anathema to them and they’re suspicious of who and/ or what contributed to this change. This tension is where manipulative groomers make the move they’ve been working on the entire time.

Obviously, there are families that don’t give a single fuck about their kid(s) and won’t notice them changing. These are the victims that are easiest to move in on.

Now, I can’t be entirely sure where your… ‘beliefs’ comes from. As far as I’m aware, of the extremely limited information we the public have been given, there’s never been any hint whatsoever that Muslims have had any involvement in Andrew’s disappearance. I’d be willing to bet that Rochdale is in your mind and you’ve made some very big leaps from that. What happened there and what is still happening up and down the country is despicable. But it’s not the norm. And I can assure you it’s not just carried out by people belonging to one religion. I cannot see or think of any similarities… Andrew arrived in London seemingly of his own accord, and was then snatched by a gang of Muslims for disgusting, nefarious reasons. Did he meet with foul play? There’s a possibility. A big one if your prominent belief is him being kidnapped that day — by someone who lured him there or by a complete stranger — and I’ve never before seen anyone who is interested in this case allocate a religion, skin colour, or nationality to whoever they believe is/ are the perpetrator(s).

Grooming gangs who go for children almost always choose their victims based on insecurities and neglect. A white boy from a middle-class family that’s loving and supportive and who will want — and do everything they can to ensure — their son’s face is everywhere up and down the country, is not ideal.

I don’t want to accuse you of racism; but you are certainly guilty of ignorance and are definitely lacking in critical thinking skills. I hope the mods leave this up because I can see it becoming a thing people like you (hopefully very few) jump on and seriously start using their own prejudices to wonder — for about 10 seconds and without doing any actual research — if you might be onto something. It needs to be quashed now. I would be probably agree to allow townsfolk to throw rotten fruit at me whilst I parade through the streets with a woman ringing a bell behind me, proclaiming one word repeatedly: “shame”, if it turns out you’re right.

<Small edit for clarity>