Police seeking information about a 33-year-old man who disappeared 17 years ago have offered a £10,000 reward.
Alexander Sloley was 16 and studying accountancy at college when he disappeared from Islington, north London, in August 2008. His family and friends have not heard from him since, despite issuing an efit of what he might look like in his late 20s when the police investigation was reopened in 2019.
At the time of his disappearance Sloley was described as a “light-skinned black male”, 5ft 5in tall and of medium build. He is reported to have “striking” blue eyes.
Previously, police said he had little money, no wallet and no bag with extra clothes on him to indicate he was planning to run away, adding there was no proof that Sloley had been harmed and there was no evidence his case was linked to any others.
DCI Sarb Kaur, who is leading the investigation, said: “Alex was reported missing to police on 8 August 2008. Since then there have been extensive inquiries made by police but sadly Alex has not yet been found.
“We are now offering a reward of up to £10,000 for anyone who has information relating to Alex’s whereabouts.
“This remains an active missing person investigation, subject to regular review by senior officers, with the aim of locating Alex and bringing some comfort to his family.
“We have recently met with Alex’s mother to outline how we intend to progress our investigation to find him.
“I would ask anyone with information who could help to please get in contact immediately, no matter how insignificant you think this could be.”
In 2023, research by the charity Missing People found that missing persons cases involving black and Asian people are less likely to be resolved by police than those involving white people. Black and Asian children are also likely to be missing for longer, the report found.
Only 16% of incidents related to black children and 19% related to Asian children were concluded with the person being found by the police, compared with 23% of incidents related to white children.
In 2019, when the efit was issued, Sloley’s mother, Nerissa Tivy, said it was a great picture of him, adding that she tries to imagine what her son might look like and how he might dress. “He was quite a slick dresser, my son; he wasn’t scruffy.”
She added: “There’s no closure to this and, with all the appeals and knowing your child would not just run away, you start thinking something terrible has happened to him,” she said at the time.
“I would love to see him walk through the door.”
