[hbk4894]

Can be from 30 minutes to 30 years

[Shaun]

My mum declared me missing, phoned the police etc., when I went and stayed the night at a friend's house and stayed there most of the next day (my phone battery died). I was 19 though

Thankfully never experienced anything more serious. Have known a few family members of friends to go missing and for it to not end well.

[smudgie]

Yes, not once but twice.

First time mother had chased us out to play and we trekked to the nearest seaside, older brother, younger sister and myself.
We didn't realise how quick it became dark and it took us forever to get home.
All the street were out looking for us, dad had been called back from his shift at work and the police were trying to find us.

Second time we were on the liner going over to Capetown, I had been confined to the cabin due to having chicken pox, my dad came back to check on me, I was gone, the porthole above my bed was wide open, wild panic with the steward running to tell the Captain to stop the ship, thankfully he bumped into me as I sauntered back from the loo.
Needless to say the porthole was not opened again for the rest of the journey.

[user104658]

One of my daughters friends was missing for a couple of hours (scary when they're only 7) around here... But it turned out that she was just wandering about looking for friends to play with, and everyone looking for her literally kept just missing her, turning corners just as she appeared on that street etc, like a sitcom .

I also disappeared to France with my (now) wife when I was 22. we had only been together a couple of weeks, and I didn't tell any of my friends or family first... Dunno if that counts, haha. One of my friends texted me to ask if I wanted to go for a game of pool and I was like "Can't, I'm in France innit" and he was like "Wot??". Ahh simpler times...

[user104658]

Oh, and my sister was grounded for about a month when she was 12 because she was meant to be home by 8pm, and didn't roll home until something like 11.30. I didn't appreciate how worried my parents must have been until I had my own kids...

[Deirdre]

Thankfully not. I can't imagine the ongoing heartbreak of having no idea where a loved one is, even for a few hours or years. Scary too I imagine.

[Marsh.]

I'm still finding myself.

[Amy Jade]

I know somebody who went missing for over a week when he was 17, I knew of him through friends and his pictures were being shared on facebook, he was into skating and parkour so his family were worried he had possibly hurt himself.

It ended up he had gone to meet a guy he had been talking to online and he was too scared to tell anyone he was speaking to another guy so he went to meet him and stayed with him for a while, they're still together though which is nice

[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by Amy Jade

It ended up he had gone to meet a guy he had been talking to online and he was too scared to tell anyone he was speaking to another guy so he went to meet him and stayed with him for a while, they're still together though which is nice

That happened to me, only the other guy (Rob) actually held me against my will in his basement.

[Livia]

A friend lent my parents a caravan when I was a child. My brother went missing, he was about 3, I would have been 6-sh... but I remember the panic really clearly. All the grown ups searched the beach, the road, anywhere where he could be. It was aaaages before my father found him hiding under the caravan. I was little and it was ages ago but I remember it really clearly, and the hollow feeling I had in my stomach.

[Gusto Brunt]

Not personally no.

But this is a very strange case. He's still not found. Andrew Gosden


On September 14, 2009, bespectacled Andrew - a prize-winning schoolboy described by teachers as a maths genius - took a one-way train journey to London and vanished.

He has not been seen or heard from since.

The teenager made a £200 cashpoint withdrawal on his way to catch the train. The account was never used again.

Eight years on, Kevin, of Doncaster, South Yorks, and wife Glenys - who also have a daughter Charlotte - refuse to give up hope he is alive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFQwSPo0iLk

[Brillopad]

Originally Posted by Gusto Brunt

Not personally no.

But this is a very strange case. He's still not found. Andrew Gosden


On September 14, 2009, bespectacled Andrew - a prize-winning schoolboy described by teachers as a maths genius - took a one-way train journey to London and vanished.

He has not been seen or heard from since.

The teenager made a £200 cashpoint withdrawal on his way to catch the train. The account was never used again.

Eight years on, Kevin, of Doncaster, South Yorks, and wife Glenys - who also have a daughter Charlotte - refuse to give up hope he is alive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFQwSPo0iLk

That's very sad. Unfortunately I agree with the narrator and think he was probably killed by someone he met on line. Poor lad.

[Gusto Brunt]

^^

Yeah it's a possibility Andrew went down there on a promise of meeting perhaps an older girl of 16 or 17 who said he could stay with her and her family.

However, like you and the narrator said, it was probably a paedo guy who picked him up in a car saying he was the girl's dad, and then he probably assaulted and killed poor Andrew. Very sad.

On the other hand, Andrew was said to be a highly intelligent boy, who it's possible could have made his way in the world, saying he was 16 but looked younger. He may have lived rough for a while before getting a job...you never know.

It's also highly likely Andrew erased all the 'history' on his computer which probably held conversations and links to the possible killer.

** But what's also very very odd is that Andrew withdrew £200 from his bank account to travel down to London but did not take the £100 he kept in his bedroom, which also fuels the theory he may have committed suicide.

[Niamh.]

I never heard of that case Gusto, very sad though, must be awful for his parents to spend their lives not knowing

[Gusto Brunt]

^^

There's actually quite a few more cases similar to that one.

[waterhog]

I try to go missing but the poems always find me

[Gusto Brunt]

Originally Posted by waterhog

I try to go missing but the poems always find me

But do your audience?

[Gusto Brunt]

UPDATE:

I've just been searching Google to see if anyone had any news on Andrew's whereabouts.

A guy posted this on a forum of a man in London, who is aged in the region of 17-20.

Looks a lot like Andrew Gosden!

[T*]

my dignity