Richard Okorogheye, a 19-year-old student at Oxford Brookes University, has been missing for almost two weeks now and still haven’t been found. He was last seen after he left his home in Ladborke Grove area of west London on Monday, March 22nd evening and boarded a bus.
The UK police have launched a desperate search for the missing 19-year-old. His mother, Evidence Joel who is a nurse said her son, who had been shielding during the pandemic due to having sickle cell disease, had struggled with his online studies.
According to her, Richard left home at about 8.30 pm saying he was going to meet a friend but left his wallet, jacket, and medication behind.
“All he said to me was ‘mummy, I’m going to see my friend’. I trusted him, I had no doubt or no reason to ask him further questions,” she said.
Ms Joel said when she called the police to report Richard missing and was told by a police officer, “if you can’t find your son, how do you expect police officers to find your son for you?.”
She described Richard as her reason for living, adding: “It’s my baby, he’s my treasure, he’s my oxygen.”
After the story went viral, the Met Police broke their silence and said they were carrying out a search and that Richard’s disappearance was initially graded low-risk because of the many missing people reports it receives every day, often involving young people.
In the last confirmed sighting, Richard was seen boarding the number 23 bus southbound in Ladbroke Grove at 8.44 pm on Monday, March 22.
Officers have expanded their searches and have horses and dogs searching Epping Forest in Loughton as part of the investigation into Richard Okorogheye’s disappearance.
