Student With ‘Bright Future’ Drowned in Lake Before his Mother Reported him Missing, Inquest Told

Coroner reduced scope of inquest as a result of iPhone evidence

An undated image of Richard Okorogheye, a 19-year-old with sickle cell anaemia, who was found dead in Epping Forest, Essex, on April 5, 2022. Family of Richard Okorogheye/PA

CHELMSFORD—An inquest into the death of a black teenager who was found dead in a lake in Epping Forest has heard he drowned and was already dead when his mother reported him missing.

Richard Okorogheye, 19, left his home in Ladbroke Grove, west London, on the evening of March 22, 2021 and his mother, Evidence Joel, reported him missing at around 6:51 p.m. the following day, when he failed to return home.