Owen Harding: The teenage exactly who gone away during lockdown
By Callum MayBBC News
As Britain scrambled to adjust to initial day of a life of lockdown in late March, Owen Harding and his awesome mum Stella comprise arguing.
The 16-year-old was actually discouraged that their sweetheart Meg Wells Rhodes ended up being 280 miles aside in York, in which she resides. It turned out an emotional couple of days. Meg have only just leftover after a quick trip to Owen’s home in Saltdean, eastern Sussex. Restrictions on vacation have been enforced and it was extremely unlikely the happy couple would be able to get together again in the near future.
The youngsters failed to see one another regularly considering the length, but Owen discovered the uncertainty unsettling.
«I’m sure that we me ended up being really nervous,» states their mum Stella. «And I know many my buddies had been extremely anxious besides, and experiencing countless despair about being unable to spend some time together.»
Owen life together with his mum and five-year-old sis when you look at the artwork deco-era village of Saltdean set in addition high cliffs throughout the east side of Brighton.
Stella represent herself as «typical Brighton» — a diving and diving teacher which traveled the world with a backpack and satisfied Owen’s daddy on an Indian coastline. The guy passed away at home in Geneva 2 years in the past after an abrupt sickness.
On a video clip call from teenager’s rooms, Stella defines her boy as «an articulate and best and mature, psychologically intelligent son». Heading missing out on had been off dynamics.
Owen’s GCSE artwork outlines the bedroom wall space, along with photos of buddies. You will find sports trophies from his three-year profession with Woodingdean Wanderers.
Owen and Meg’s households turned buddies through Britain’s burgeoning people of moms and dads exactly who decide to homes class their children. Meg try taught home, and Owen have earlier went to Brighton Waldorf School, the Steiner School circle of providers of alternate education, before beginning art and movies researches A-levels at a sixth type college or university.
The two got understood one another because they are 11 but have merely become a couple couple of years in the past.
Owen planned to spend lockdown with Meg, along with joked along with her along with his friends that he might create your way north. But his mum was adament that this had not been going to result.
«It was like this ongoing topic all week. That has been truly, actually complicated between all of us,» she claims.
On Thursday 26 March, the debate flared once again, so when the evening sunrays lit up the southern area lows, Owen remaining your house without saying a phrase to his mummy. CCTV photos reveal the kid strolling south, down Bannings Vale in Saltdean, towards the cliff very top at 18:13.
The exact distance on the high cliffs are less than half a mile. The eastern edge of Saltdean rests alongside Telscombe Tye, a scrubby expanse of grass popular with walkers that marks the meeting of Brighton’s east suburbs in addition to southern area Downs. There are only a hundred or so yards of grass beyond the coastline path ahead of the Tye prevents at the Sussex chalk.
He produced a phone call to Meg after the guy leftover your house. «the guy said that he’d only have a big discussion together with his mum,» she says. «and that I ended up being disturb besides because I had only have a quarrel using my mum comparable thing. And then we just sort of cheered up-and in which he said he had been simply probably watch the sundown.»
It actually was the final times people features reported having talked to Owen.
Cell webpages documents demonstrate that Owen’s cellphone ended up being attached to the mast towards the top of Longridge Avenue, which works through the downland behind Saltdean on the coast roadway and cliff top. At 18:23 it had been disconnected.
Meg produced another name to the girl sweetheart at 18:32, however it moved straight away to voicemail. Unaware of this, Stella wasn’t stressed. «We living from the ocean, we stay near the Downs. We going for walks a great deal. He merely went, off he gone and that I just think: ‘Well, close, get and get your own allocated day-to-day workout.
«‘Go and stomp it off, get and obtain it off the torso and after that you’ll come-back.'» But by belated nights she have be concerned. She contacted pals in Saltdean and Meg’s family members in York. Around 23:00 she called the police.
Meg along with her parents hurried back once again to the southern area coastline the very next day plus the individuals began searching from the Downs behind Saltdean, and across the coast as far as Newhaven. They known as in at abandoned farmhouses, shouting Owen’s name.
A huge police procedure ended up being quickly organised. About 80 officials checked out house and enterprises close to the Hardings’ bungalow. Nevertheless lockdown produced the procedure harder. Police were occasionally annoyed by individuals not responding to gates, and shops that may are in a position to offer CCTV photographs got shut considering the lockdown.
But police performed bring people just who had video security cameras police memory space sticks. They were remaining in solutions outside houses and soon after amassed by officials.