Grieving dad Peter Boxell tells The Sun how his family have been given an unexpected lifeline in their decades-long fight for answers about what happened to their beloved son

TEENAGER Lee Boxell shuffled downstairs after sleeping in late, having stayed up all night watching TV, and slumped in an armchair then dozed off again.
The 15-year-old’s parents, Peter and Christine, were heading out and cheerily told him “see you later!” – but they never would and have been searching for answers ever since. Now, after nearly 40 years, they’ve been given an unexpected lifeline which they believe is their final hope.

Peter and Christine Boxell, whose son, Lee Boxell, went missing in 1988 aged 15 Credit: Ben Stevens

Lee disappeared while heading out to see a football match at Selhurst Park Credit: Peter Boxell
The Met last month re-opened a cold case review into Lee’s disappearance – with a dedicated team set to apply modern DNA and forensic techniques to historic evidence – including a watch found years ago that detectives hope can yield new clues.
Lee’s dad Peter, 79, told The Sun the news is a “godsend” but added: “We’re getting older now. This will be our last chance to find out what happened.”
Football-mad Lee, from Sutton, South London, vanished without a trace on Saturday September 10, 1988 – with his family and investigators fearing he had ventured over to “The Shed”, an unofficial youth club near their home he attended from time to time to meet friends, where he was murdered.
In the years since, the hang-out, for youths to congregate, smoke and drink – on the grounds of St Dunstan’s Church, has been linked to a network of groomers – and it’s theorised Lee witnessed a sexual assault there and was ultimately silenced.
Peter said: “He was a good, kind boy – he may have gone to help, they may have tried to stop him from helping and ended up killing him.”
Church gravedigger, William Lambert, who ran the club, would later be jailed for child abuse offences.
He was arrested on suspicion of Lee’s murder in April 2014, alongside two other men and a woman – but they were all released without charge due to a lack of evidence.
Lambert died in 2020, aged 83, with police and even his own son Steve expressing his belief the convicted paedophile was responsible for Lee’s death.

William Lambert, a gravedigger, was arrested for Lee’s murder but never charged Credit: PA

Lee is thought to have gone to ‘The Shed’ on the grounds of St Dunstan’s Church in Cheam, Surrey Credit: Gary Stone – The Sun
Police had initially been unaware of Lee’s previous ties to the club.
Following multiple tip-offs, cops launched a major archaeological dig of the area around the church in 2012 and 2013 but found no remains.
A £20,000 reward is still on offer for information leading to the recovery of Lee’s body.
On the day of his disappearance, Lee had gone to a friend’s home near to where he lived in the Cheam area, and on leaving that afternoon, said he might go to Selhurst Park stadium – the home of Crystal Palace, but who were ground-sharing with Charlton Athletic at the time – to watch a match.
He was last spotted outside a Tesco on Sutton High Street at 2.20pm – but investigators were unable to find any confirmed CCTV sightings of him around the stadium, nearly eight miles away.
Detectives believe it is unlikely he would have made it in time for the 3pm kick-off, and instead remained more local.
The review will see the team trawling through piles and piles of documents, as well as CCTV footage, and conducting modern forensic examinations.
“The news was a godsend,” Peter told the Sun.

Police during a major dig of the church site in 2013 – though no remains were found Credit: Gary Stone – The Sun

The cold case review will be Lee’s parents’ last chance of figuring out what happened to their son Credit: Peter Boxell
“When homicide teams look at cases, they often get distracted and have to drop everything.
“Whereas the cold case review team don’t handle live cases, so they can go all the way through without distractions.”
It will hopefully bring the family a sense of closure, if nothing else.
Peter says that not knowing what happened to their son has been agony.
For most, remembering what happened last week is hard enough, let along 40 years ago.
But for Peter and his family, the day Lee vanished has been etched into their minds irrevocably, representing the “before” and “after” of their lives.
And when his grandchildren visit their home, they still refer to the teen’s bedroom – a time capsule with its dog-eared posters and dusty vinyl collections – as “Lee’s room”.
“It was a very sunny day,” said Peter. “It was lovely and warm.”

Peter described his son as a ‘caring’ and ‘considerate’ boy Credit: Peter Boxell

Peter says not knowing what happened to his son has been agony Credit: Peter Boxell
Peter was about to take his wife, Christine, to the bus stop so she could go to see her elderly mother, before he went shopping. His daughter, Lindsey, was heading off to meet a friend.
Lee, in his pyjamas, got up late, “probably after watching TV all night”, Peter laughed.
“He came down and sat in the armchair and I asked him what his plans were for the day. He just mumbled something. He was half-asleep so I thought, ‘I won’t press him’.
“So off we went, we just said, ‘See you later, Lee!’”
Little did they know they never would.
When Peter returned that evening, Lee wasn’t there, nor had he left a message on the answer phone, which was unusual given he was a “considerate” youngster.
“He would always find a phone box to ring home and say he was okay and that he was getting on the coach. Because he knew that his mum would worry,” said Peter.
When he told his wife that Lee was missing, she jumped in a taxi immediately and headed home. It was dark and the two of them were beginning to panic.

Lee’s bedroom has been kept more or less the same for forty years, including many of his posters and his record collection Credit: Peter Boxell

Members of the public claim to have sighted Lee at Sutton train station with a man around the time he went missing Credit: Peter Boxell
Neighbours, friends, the local hospital – the couple tried everyone until eventually deciding to contact police, who made a TV appeal via then-Wimbledon footballer John Fashanu.
“They clearly thought it was serious,” said Peter, adding that such a broadcast was unusual for the time – alerts were typically only put out for teenage girls, not teenage boys, who can “look after themselves”.
A lack of CCTV at the time meant the family could only rely on eyewitnesses, including an alleged sighting of Lee at the Sutton train station accompanied by a man.
But sadly, none of them led to anything.
“It was a living nightmare for weeks,” said Peter.
“We couldn’t sleep. We lay awake hoping for a knock on the door.
“There was nothing. We couldn’t leave the house, in case we missed the call. We didn’t have an answer machine.”
As days rolled into weeks and no breakthroughs were made, Peter decided the most sensible approach was to make life as normal as possible again, especially for his daughter, who was a few years younger than Lee.

Police launched an appeal on TV days after Lee was reported missing Credit: Peter Boxell

Peter described the days after Lee’s disappearance as a ‘living nightmare’ Credit: Peter Boxell
Peter, a civil servant, returned to work, while Christine occupied herself writing letters to local authorities and community hubs.
Diana Lamplugh – whose 25-year-old daughter Suzy had gone missing a couple of years prior – even visited the Boxells, advising them to get as much media attention on the issue as possible.
Indeed, Peter would go on to do this in an extraordinary way that would move the nation.
After joining as a volunteer with the Missing People charity – which formed in 1993 in the wake of Suzy’s disappearance – Peter was invited to give a talk at a church in London.
He had made a throwaway remark to the organiser about a vivid dream he’d had the night before: “I told her I dreamt I was singing in a big church, a song about Lee being missing,” said Peter.
“I could remember a lot which was unusual. She told me to sing it after the talk. Just to humour her, I said alright then – just joking.
“Blow me down, the next day she rang up and said she’d arranged for me to go to a recording studio in Kingston, to help me with a song.”
Despite not being a musician – nor “much of a singer” – Peter agreed to get his song, for which he wrote all the lyrics, recorded, and sang the piece at the service where he delivered his speech.

Peter was the founding member of the Missing People choir Credit: ITV

The lyrics to ‘I miss you’ were written by Peter, in memory of Lee Credit: ITV
“I felt elated when I was singing,” he said.
“I didn’t use the PA system. I just stood in the centre of the aisle and sang my heart out. My voice is very loud – it echoed around this huge church. It was so cathartic. I felt as though I was singing to Lee. I got a standing ovation, 800 people!”
Missing People eventually went on to record the song – ‘I Miss You’ – at Abbey Road Studios, alongside some dazzling footage of them performing on top of the News Building, which got them spotted by the one of the nation’s favourite shows, Britain’s Got Talent, who invited them to perform.
While the group didn’t quite win the final prize, they arguably got an even better gift.
Faces of missing relatives and friends were projected onto the screen behind them, two of which were recognised and resulted in moving reunions.
The Met Police provided an earlier statement from 2023.
Then senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Kate Blackburn said:
“While we don’t have conclusive evidence that Lee came to harm, with no sightings or credible information in 35 years we sadly believe that Lee is no longer alive.
“Over the years we have interviewed a number of people who we believe were involved in, or know about Lee’s disappearance. When arrested, those people gave a number of conflicting accounts.
She added: “My hope is that someone who didn’t feel they could speak to us in the past may now feel that they can come forward and share what they know.
“At this stage of our investigation my priority is to find Lee so that he can be returned to his parents. Lee’s parents deserve answers and they deserve the opportunity to bury their much-loved son.