My baby’s never coming home...
Anguished cries of mother as police divers find body in search for missing student
THE DISTRAUGHT mother of missing student Richard Okorogheye sobbed ‘my baby’s never coming home’ as the family awaited formal identification of a body found in a woodland pond.
Detectives searching for the 19year-old said on Monday that a body matching his description had been discovered by police divers 13 days after he was last seen.
Richard’s mother evidence Joel, 39, said it was impossible to describe the feeling of losing her only child, who had sickle cell disease.
‘We thought Richard would be found or would just come home, but he’s not,’ the community nurse said. ‘My baby will never come home to his mummy again.
‘I can’t even describe the feeling. He
‘Last thing I thought I would hear’
was taken away from me too early. The only child I have. It’s devastating and the last thing I thought I’d hear.’
She also told the evening Standard: ‘We didn’t give up hope but the conclusion is not what we expected.’
Mrs Joel said she had kept her son’s favourite dish of spaghetti in the fridge ready for his return.
Her friend Claudine Rose said she was doing her best to offer support.
‘Her heart has been torn out of her chest. It is the most awful, terrible situation to be in,’ Mrs Rose said. ‘There is nothing anyone can do to ease the pain.’
Richard, who was in his first year studying IT and business at Oxford Brookes University, had been shielding throughout the pandemic due to his condition, which causes misshapen blood cells to block vessels – raising the risk of infections.
The straight-A student would only leave the house to go to hospital for regular blood transfusions for his condition.
He left his home in Ladbroke Grove, west London, on the evening of March 22, saying he was going to meet a friend and that he would see his mother later. But he didn’t take his wallet, jacket or daily medication.
Police said Richard took a bus, then a taxi to Loughton in essex and CCTV showed him walking towards epping Forest in the early hours of March 23. The body was found in Wake Valley pond.
Mrs Joel said her son had been struggling with remote studying and being unable to see his friends.
She has said she feared her son had been groomed online and lured to a meeting because he had no friends living in essex. Mrs Joel criticised the police for responding too slowly to Richard’s disappearance, and claimed that when she first made the missing persons report an officer asked ‘if you can’t find your son, how do you expect us to?’ Scotland Yard said specially trained officers were supporting the family.
A post mortem examination is due to be carried out. Detectives said they were keeping an open mind while their enquiries continue. They said Richard’s phone has not been in use since his disappearance.
Detective Superintendent Danny Gosling added: ‘This is an extensive inquiry. It includes forensic, medical and specialist inquiries, which all take time to complete.’