UK Police have confirmed the body found in a lake in Epping Forest, as that of the missing 19-year-old Nigerian student, Richard Okorogheye.
Okorogheye who was a student at Oxford Brookes University, suffered from sickle cell disease, and had left his family home in the Ladbroke Grove area of West London on the evening of March 22, after which he was reported missing.
Officers searching for the teenager found a body in a pond in Epping Forest on Monday evening, after which authorities informed his family.
A post-mortem examination conducted on Wednesday however found no evidence of physical trauma or assault, as the Metropolitan Police said the cause of his death is pending while further investigations are being carried out.
The Nigerian teenager was last seen on CCTV in Loughton, Essex, in the early hours of Tuesday, March 23, walking towards Epping Forest.
Okorogheye’s mother Evidence Joel described her son as “a treasure” and said he had spoken of “struggling to cope” with university pressures and had been shielding during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Speaking to Sky News of her son, the embittered mum said: “It’s my baby, it’s my treasure. He’s my oxygen, he’s my crown. He’s everything to me, he’s the reason why I live, the reason I exist”.
The 19-year-old’s death is being treated as “unexplained”, the Metropolitan Police said, and officers do not believe, at this stage, that there was any third-party involvement.
Detective Superintendent, Danny Gosling, Head of the Metropolitan Police Central West Public Protection Unit, said: “My deepest sympathies go out to Richard’s family at this incredibly difficult time.
“This was not the outcome that any of us had hoped for and we will ensure that his grieving family are well-supported by specially trained officers.
“I would like to extend my thanks to the many officers, staff, and members of the public who have each played a part in the extensive effort to locate Richard”.
