Disappearance of Lee Boxell

On the morning of Saturday 10 September 1988, Boxell left his home in Cheam, in the London Borough of Sutton, to meet a friend at 11 am in the nearby town of Sutton. Boxell and his friend spent a couple of hours window shopping and parted company at 1 pm. When he was leaving, Boxell said he might go to Selhurst Park football stadium to watch a match between Charlton Athletic F.C. and Millwall F.C. Despite extensive appeals on both the BBC's Crimewatch and at Selhurst Park and other football stadiums, no one has come forward with any confirmed sightings of Boxell at any of the football grounds in the area. However, a witness did come forward to say that they had spotted him outside a Tesco location on Sutton High Street (now an Asda) at 2:20 pm. This meant it was unlikely that he would have made it to any of the football grounds in the area in time for a 3 pm kick off. He has not been seen since. ==Subsequent events==

In 2012, a further witness stated that Boxell attended an unofficial youth club in the annexe of St Dunstan's Church in Cheam, known as "The Shed", which was previously unknown to the police. Following extensive inquiries the police found out that paedophiles were operating in the area at the time Boxell disappeared. William Lambert, the St Dunstan's graveyard digger who ran The Shed, was jailed for eleven years in 2011, when he was aged 75, after sexually abusing four girls who attended the club. Between June and September 2012 the police excavated part of the St Dunstan's graveyard, digs which resumed in April 2013. In 2013, to coincide with what would have been Boxell's 40th birthday, Crimewatch featured another appeal for information, working on the new theory that Boxell attended The Shed on the day he disappeared. In 2018, a Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed that cold case detectives had interviewed a potential witness and new information was being investigated that could lead to Boxell's remains being found. The following year, Boxell was featured in a missing person campaign promoted by Italian football club AS Roma. ==Potential suspects==

In 2001, links were suggested between Boxell's disappearance and the late Brian Lunn Field, a paedophile and serial sex offender who had recently been arrested for the 1968 murder of Roy Tutill. His body was found in woodland three days after his disappearance. These boys have also never been found. ==See also==