A £100,000 reward remains on offer for information about Charlene Downes, the schoolgirl feared to have been murdered and minced into kebab meat, 23 years after she disappeared from Blackpool.
Charlene Downes was last seen at the end of an alleyway on Abingdon Street on November 1, 2003, after meeting a friend on the North Pier. She was aged just 14 at the time. Despite police taking 6,800 statements and recording 7,400 pieces of evidence, no trace of her has ever been found.
Murder Trial and Prosecution Claims
Two local takeaway workers stood trial for her murder in May 2007. Prosecutors claimed during the case that the former St George's High School pupil's body was cut up and minced into kebabs, and her bones crushed into tile grouting.
It is thought she was one of a number of girls who were groomed for sex. Charges were dropped when a jury was unable to reach a verdict, and a retrial was called off after the police probe was judged to have been 'handled unprofessionally'.
Police Appeal and Reward
Lancashire Police this week revealed the reward remains on offer for information leading to the prosecution of her killers or the recovery of her body. Her disappearance remains the force's longest unsolved murder investigation and active case.
A spokesperson for the force said: "November 1st marks 23 years since Charlene Downes disappeared in Blackpool and since that time our efforts to find out what happened to her have not stopped.
"Charlene was 14 years old and vulnerable when she went missing and the investigation into her disappearance and murder is one of the largest and longest running in the history of Lancashire Police.
"We still want justice for Charlene, and we want justice for Charlene's parents and family and we would encourage anyone who has any information which could help us find out what happened to her to come forward, no matter how insignificant you think it may be.
"A £100,000 reward, sanctioned by Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw, remains on offer for anyone with information that leads to the prosecution of her killer(s) or assists in the recovery of Charlene's body.
"Over the last 23 years, Lancashire Police's inquiry into Charlene's disappearance has generated more than 16,000 police actions or lines of inquiry. Almost 7000 statements have been taken and more than 7,500 exhibits recorded.
"If you can help please call us on 101 or contact independent charity Crimestoppers, free and in confidence, on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers.org."
Investigation History and Family Plea
There was no CCTV evidence around the vicinity of the area where Charlene went missing. Detectives still investigating the case are understood to think she was sexually exploited and murdered. The teenager is thought to have been a victim caught up in a web of suspicious older men taking advantage of vulnerable young girls.
Her case was upgraded from a missing person investigation to a murder inquiry in 2006 after it is understood she was one of several girls in the town who was being sexually exploited. Although the police brought two trials to court, one of them a retrial, and offered a reward of £100,000 in December 2014, no one has ever been convicted of her murder.
Lancashire Police was the subject of an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission in 2009. The IPCC concluded that the way evidence was gathered by police played a key part in the retrial's collapse.
There have been documentaries, a Justice for Charlene campaign, an inquiry by a private investigator, and a podcast by Blackpool-born broadcaster and actress Nicola Thorp, Charlene: Somebody Knows Something, but the trail remains cold.
In 2023, on the 20th anniversary of the teen's disappearance, Charlene's mum Karen Downes, now 61, said she still lived in hope that her daughter was alive and well. Making an emotional plea to end her family's "terrible nightmare", she called for Charlene to let the family know if she was alive and safe. Karen said: "I always live in hope that Charlene is alive and happy somewhere and I hope that you are happy sweetheart." Talking directly to her missing daughter, Karen said: "We miss you more than words could ever describe. Please if you are out there let us know. End our terrible nightmare and torment we have suffered over the last 20 years."
