The mother of a teenager found dead in the woods says his heartbreaking loss continues to torment her a year on.
Richard Okorogheye, 19, was discovered in Epping Forest on 5 April 2021 after going missing from his home in west London for over a week.
An intense police search found that the student, who was said to be struggling to cope with shielding during the pandemic, travelled almost 30 miles away to the Essex area where he was later found in a pond in the woodland.
“Richard left a big hole and life has never been the same,” Richard’s mother Evidence Joel told The Independent.
“Sometimes I imagine he’s travelled and he’ll come back but it’s a year now and that seems impossible.
“Each day to me is torment, I’m still waiting for him to knock on the door and say, ‘mummy’.”
Since he was found, a police investigation has been launched into the Met’s handling of Richard’s disappearance after Ms Joel claimed officers initially failed to take his disappearance seriously and allegedly told her: “If you can’t find your son, how can we?”
An investigation is also ongoing into Richard’s cause of death which is yet to be established. However, following his identification the Metropolitan Police claimed that no evidence of assault or physical trauma had been found.
Ms Joel said the last few days since 22 March, when Richard went missing a year ago, have been a rollercoaster for the family and even harder as they continue to wait to find out what happened to the university student who suffered from sickle cell disease, the genetic blood disorder.
“I don’t know if my life will be the same again, I don’t know if I’ll be a normal person. When he left he took part of me with him, part of me left. He’s my only child – I just couldn’t imagine life without my son.”
Ms Joel added that she’s kept Richard’s room the same and sometimes asks him if she can come in.
“The feeling will never go away. He will always be my baby, my little boy.
“He was my best friend, he could look at me in his face and know what’s wrong with mummy. I miss his kind words, I miss him when he says ‘mummy I love you, mummy have you eaten?’ The love that has no stain, it’s genuine,” Ms Joel said.
Since his death, Richard’s family has launched the Richard Okorogheye Foundation to raise awareness of sickle cell.
Ms Joel said she was overjoyed by the people coming forward to give blood in memory of Richard and hopes to continue campaigning for the genetic disorder which is prevalent in African and Caribbean people.
