Cruel thieves snatch tools from dad of missing Doncaster teenager Andrew Gosden

Kevin Gosden, who has a 17-year hunt for his missing son Andrew, was working at Jackdaw Wood in Scawthorpe when thieves snatched a bag containing tools – including gifts from his wife, as well as new woodworking equipment.

Upset locals have now launched a funding campaign to relace the tools he uses for a variety of projects in the wood which he has described as “his quiet happy place.”

Suzanne Wass, who has created the fundraiser which you can donate to HERE said: “Kev has been volunteering for a few years now. He built his dragon walk and began his wood working and crafting self taught woodland decorations.

“He made the totem poles and his family of dragons inspired many a child’s fairy story.

"Whilst working, his tool bag was stolen. Anyone that has met Kev knows this is his happy quiet place where he comes to potter and dig over the soil ready for tree planting.

“I’d just like him to see how much we appreciate him, even when local kids think it’s funny.

“We respect and care for all the work he puts back into the woodland.”

“He is a volunteer who has made a big creative difference to our magical space. You don’t expect children to take whilst you are working.”

Mr Gosden’s 14-year-old son Andrew Gosden disappeared in 2007 – and despite huge national and international manhunts, he has never been found.

He has never given up on finding Andrew, who was last seen at King’s Cross Station in London on September 14 of that year after leaving the family’s home in Balby.

In a social media post on Andrew’s 30th birthday last year he said: “Almost every day since he disappeared, I have struggled with crippling anxiety and depression, to the extent that it is barely possible to function.

"No matter how many years pass by without him, those feelings never change and are often intensified by seemingly small things that would not have been a problem before he vanished.

"After all the searching, appealing, praying and hoping, we all still miss him intensely every single day; it never seems to become easier.”

In a major breakthrough in the case, in December 2021, two men were arrested in connection with Andrew's disappearance.

The pair were detained on suspicion of kidnap and human trafficking and at the time of the arrests in London, police said electronics taken from the pair, aged 39 and 46, could take "six to 12 months" to analyse.

The older man was also arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children, the force said at the time.

But they were both released – and the case still remains open.

On the day of his disappearance, Andrew skipped school and withdrew just under £200 from his bank account before buying a one-way ticket to the capital.

He was last seen on CCTV at King's Cross Station and has not been seen since.

The teenager's motive for travelling to London on the day he was last seen has never been established.