THE BOY FROM SUTTON

The Fifteen-Year-Old Boy Who Disappeared
On a Saturday afternoon in September 1988, fifteen-year-old Lee Boxell was seen in Sutton High Street. It was the last confirmed sighting of him.

Lee had gone into Sutton that morning to meet a friend. They separated at about one o'clock, and Lee mentioned that he might go to Selhurst Park to watch football. At approximately 2:20 p.m., he was seen again in Sutton. After that, the trail stopped. What followed was a search that would stretch across decades.

Police investigated the initial leads, appealed for information and examined the places Lee was known to visit. Years later, the investigation took a new direction when police learned of Lee's connection to The Shed, a youth club at St Dunstan's Church. The churchyard was searched and extensively excavated. Lee was not found.
Later police inquiries examined whether Lee might have encountered criminal activity connected with the club. In 2014, several people were arrested in connection with the investigation, but no one was charged with Lee's murder. No conviction has established what happened to him.

Further appeals and witness information followed, yet the central question remained unanswered:
Where did Lee go after 2:20?
The Boy from Sutton follows Lee's disappearance, the investigations that followed, the evidence that changed the direction of the case, and the decades-long search for an answer. It examines what the evidence can establish, what remains disputed, and what is still unknown.
At the centre of the investigation is a fifteen-year-old boy who left home one Saturday in September 1988 and never returned. Nearly four decades later, the question remains.
What happened to Lee Boxell?