A schoolboy who has been missing for more than two months vanished after reading George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London, the classic 1930s memoir of travelling and living in poverty.
Arthur Heeler-Frood, 15, disappeared from his home in rural Devon, leaving his parents a letter explaining that he was bored with his life, asking them not to try to find him and promising to be back within a year.
The teenager left home without his phone or bank cards and had just £350 earned from a job working in a restaurant kitchen – which is what Orwell did in Paris.
There has been no trace of him since and his parents, Caroline and Jeremy Heeler-Frood, are becoming increasingly worried.
Speaking to the Guardian on Friday, Caroline Heeler-Frood said Arthur was an idealistic boy who liked the idea of adventure and may have been inspired by his older siblings, who had both travelled around Europe. But she said he had grown up in the country and was not streetwise.
“He was bright and had a strong interest in current affairs and politics,” she said. “He was adventurous. He enjoyed all the Bear Grylls survival challenge programmes. For the last two summers, his brother Reuben has hitchhiked across Europe. He travelled extensively into eastern Europe. His sister Hester went inter-railing. I think he was inspired by all that.
“We think that he felt he wanted his own adventure. Hester was leaving for university and he was going to be the last one at home with us. I think he wasn’t looking forward to being left alone with us. Perhaps he wanted to test himself, prove his abilities.”
She said Arthur was an avid reader. “The book he was reading before he left was Down and Out in Paris and London. You wonder if that had been an influence. He was reading it on a Kindle, which he left behind.
“The police have asked us if it is possible he jumped on the back of a lorry. We can’t rule that out. He would have been following what was going on with refugees in Europe.”
The 15-year-old has not been seen since he left for Colyton grammar school on his bicycle at 7.30am on Tuesday 6 September. His last words to his mother were: “Don’t worry, I’ve got my fluorescent [jacket].”
He used to leave his bike at a local post office and get the bus from there to school. When he did not return home, his mother went to the post office but could find no sign of him.
The next day a letter arrived in the post. It said: “To mum and dad I have run away because I am bored of my life. Please do not try to find me or make me come home. I don’t know how long I will be away for but it won’t be longer than a year. You will find my school uniform in a bin bag in a small barn in the field on the green down the road near Membury church.
“My bike is chained to the fence ... Please apologise to the restaurant and tell them that I will no longer be able to work there. I know you will be upset but please understand that I have to do this, from Arthur.” The letter had been posted in Devon.
She added: “We have no idea what’s happened to him. He left with very little. His letter shows his departure was well-planned but he took very little with him. That gives us very little indication of what he had in mind or how he hoped to survive. We don’t know if he had a clear objective in mind or was just going to go whichever way the wind took him.”
Arthur is very bright. He had just received outstanding GCSE grades and started his A-levels the previous day at Colyton grammar in Devon, one of Britain’s most highly-rated state schools.
“At 15 you lack emotional maturity. He had read a lot and he had watched things on television and picked up on things online he had little direct experience. He wasn’t streetwise. You worry about how well he would be able to read situations.
“We’re baffled by the whole thing and constantly speculating on what he may be doing. We can’t believe he has done this so we have to keep an open mind on what he might be doing now.
“There was no row before he left, no indication. You rake over all the conversations before he left. There was absolutely no indication. That’s the same for his school friends. None of them had any inkling.”
Devon and Cornwall police have found it difficult to find the teenager because he took no electronic equipment with him and has no bank account. No CCTV footage of him has been found.
His parents have travelled to towns on the south coast and cities including London, Liverpool and Manchester to try to find him, putting up posters and speaking to hospitals and homeless charities.
Appealing directly to the boy, his mother said: “Arthur, please whatever you do just make contact. Phone us, call us text us. Anything at all. We just need to know you are safe. We are desperate to know you are safe.”
Police are asking anyone who may have employed Arthur, accommodated him, or who may have provided him with transport to get in touch.
Supt Sam de Reya said: “We are appealing to business owners, likely to be restaurateurs, hoteliers and cafe owners who may have had a young man work for them in the last few months or anyone who may have provided accommodation to him in that time period.”
He is described as white, 5ft 4in tall, of slight build with short, light brown hair. He may now have considerably shorter hair, possibly shaven.
• If anyone has information, please contact police by calling 101 or emailing 101@dc.police.uk quoting log 255 of 14 September.
