A father has described his life as "a living nightmare" for four decades after his 15-year-old son vanished without a trace. Lee Boxell was last seen on September 10, 1988, after leaving his home in Sutton, south west London, to meet a friend. He was seen on the High Street that day, but there have been no confirmed sightings since.
Police theory
Police have theorised that Lee could have been killed after stepping in to stop or threatening to report an assault in the grounds of a church where an unofficial youth club took place.
Appearing on ITV's This Morning, his father Peter Boxell shared how the family were "panic-stricken" and went through their "worst nightmare" after Lee didn't come home that day. "It was just like a living nightmare from then on," he said. "I think it's every person's, every family member, every parent's worst nightmare. And for us, it was a living nightmare."
Living in limbo
He told hosts Josie Gibson and Paddy McGuinness: "We couldn't sleep for weeks after that. We thought, we didn't want to miss a phone call or a knock on the door if Lee could come home."
Asked how he had carried on through the years, Peter replied: "Well, we've been essentially living in limbo, not knowing what's happened to our son, Lee. And we desperately want to know what happened to him. I mean, I'm old now. I'm 80. His mother's a few years older than me."
Most of Lee's relatives have passed on, but he has a sister who desperately wants to know what happened to him. She has her own children, so Lee now has a niece and a nephew who know all about him and want to know what happened.
What Peter thinks happened
Asked what he thought had happened, Peter said: "I think that the police's theory is correct, that Lee went to the unofficial youth club at the back of the church in the graveyard at St Dunstan's in Cheam. And I think he went there, maybe only once."
"And I think he may have seen something, some criminal activity going on. Maybe he saw somebody assaulting a child there. And he would either have gone to the aid of that child or he would have gone for help."
"And I'm only guessing. I just think that the adults who were carrying out that crime may have tried to silence Lee. They may have unintentionally killed him. I don't know, but I think they may have killed him. That's what I think has happened."
Met Police appeal
Josie also read out a comment from the Met, saying: "They have said, 'We've never stopped our investigation into what happened to Lee. And it remains ongoing within the Met's cold case team.'"
"We would urge anyone who did not feel able to speak to police in the past to come forward and tell us what they know. If you can help, whether anonymously or otherwise, please, please, please get in touch."
This Morning airs on ITV at 10am on weekdays.
