Parents of Charlene Downes issue fresh appeal two decades since she went missing
The mum and dad of a 14-year-old girl who vanished 20 years ago have pleaded for anyone with information to help them ‘end their nightmare’.
‘Lovely, cheeky, and bubbly’ Charlene Downes was last seen saying goodbye to a friend near an alleyway in Blackpool on November 1, 2003.
In the years following her disappearance, police have uncovered evidence that the teen may have been the victim of child sexual exploitation – after she was groomed by a gang.
her mum Karen and dad Bob have pleaded for information today, on the 20th anniversary of her disappearance.
She said: ‘All we want is answers. Obviously, somebody out there knows something and we want somebody to come forward and please end our nightmare.
‘After 20 years it is terrible. We just live in hope, we hope and pray that something will happen and we can get justice or closure for Charlene.’
Prosecutors claimed the schoolgirl was cut up and minced into kebabs and her bones crushed into tile grouting at a murder trial in 2007, but the charges were dropped as the jury couldn’t reach a verdict.
Police still have a dedicated team conducting one of the largest investigations in its history to help find Charlene.
Lancashire Police Detective Chief Superintendent Pauline Stables said: ‘I think it’s really important that we never give up hope.
‘There’s got to be somebody out there who knows what’s happened and now’s the time to come forward and tell us.
‘Twenty years on, we hope that now is the time for those people who have got answers to tell us. It is not too late.’
Mum Karen said she’s been ‘stuck in the day’ Charlene disappeared but still prays for justice.
She said: ‘I never sleep. I can’t carry on with life. I am still stuck in that day. Since she disappeared, I have had a candle burning in my window, and it still burns today.’
The family plans to release 20 white doves today, one for each year Charlene has been missing.
A memorial service and candlelight vigil will also be held in the church the teen attended for Sunday school.
The Downes family is no stranger to tragedy – Charlene’s brother Robert tragically died of an overdose last year, and was found by his parents.
Mum Karen said her son ‘never got over’ the disappearance of his sister Charlene, and had struggled with drug abuse previously.
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