'It's been 36 years... we want to say goodbye to Lee before it's too late'

When Peter Boxell looks at his grandson Alex, he sees the uncanny likeness of his 15-year-old son Lee, who went missing 36 years ago.

- SIOBHAN MCNALLY

"Alex reminds me so much of our Lee," says Peter, about the 17-year-old boy who is now two years older than his uncle was when he disappeared. "I forget and sometimes call him Lee." For nearly four decades, Peter, 78, and his wife Christine, 84, have been waiting for their son to return from a trip to Sutton high street in South London.

Speaking from their home, festooned with festive decorations, Peter says: "We've haven't moved. We had to stay here in case Lee ever came home. I couldn't bear to think of him knocking on the door and nobody's here." For many years, the Boxells kept Lee's bedroom as he left it on September 10, 1988, with his Sam Fox calendar, Wimbledon and Charlton football pullouts and Kylie and Mel and Kim posters.

Christine sighs: "It's 36 years ago but that day is still so vivid." Peter recalls: "The day he went missing was a beautiful sunny Saturday.

Lee was in his pyjamas when he came downstairs. I asked what he was up to that day. He just mumbled, you know, like boys do when they've just got up." Lee was planning on watching a Crystal Palace match with his friend.

When he did not come home, Peter was not immediately worried. "At his age I'd have been down the pub," he jokes.