Mum of missing student sobbed ‘my baby’s not coming home’ after body found
Richard Okorogheye’s heartbroken mum broke down into tears and said ‘my baby’s never coming home’ after police told her a body found matched his description today.
Evidence Joel said she thought her only child would come home to her and ‘couldn’t even describe the feeling’ of hearing he had been ‘taken too early’.
Officers are yet to formally identify the body found in a pond in Epping Forest on Monday afternoon, but Ms Joel has paid tribute to her son, 19, who she said is her ‘moon and sun’.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, she said: ‘We thought Richard would be found or would just come home. But he’s not.
‘My baby will never come home to his mummy again. I can’t even describe the feeling. He 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 continued: ‘Richard is my moon and sun. He is the reason I wake up each morning and breathe. I worship the ground he walks on.’
The community nurse added that she was ‘surprised to hear Richard was seen in Loughton and Epping Forest’ as he did not have any friends in that area.
She has thanked everyone who shared appeals to find the teenager, and everyone who ‘pulled together to support’ the family.
Richard, who has sickle cell disease, left his family home in the Ladbroke Grove area of west London on the evening of March 22, and was reported missing two days later.
He was last seen on CCTV in Loughton, Essex, in the early hours of March 23, walking towards Epping Forest.
His mother previously said he had left the house without his medication, wallet or jacket and begged the public to help find him.
The body found is expected to be formally identified this afternoon. A post-mortem examination will take place later this week.
The Metropolitan Police say they are keeping an open mind over the death.
A spokesman said: ‘Richard’s family are being supported by specially trained officers and kept updated with developments. Officers remain at the scene and inquiries continue.’
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