The Blackpool teen still missing after 22 years

Charlene Downes has been missing for 22 years

The disappearance of a Blackpool teenager exactly 22 years ago - on 1 November 2003 - remains Lancashire Police's longest unsolved murder investigation and active case.

Last seen on Talbot Road, Charlene Downes was aged just 14 when she disappeared one Saturday night in November after meeting a friend at Blackpool's North Pier.

Lancashire Police eventually opened a murder inquiry in 2006, but despite a number of arrests, two trials and the offer of a £100,000 reward, no-one has been convicted for the schoolgirl's assumed killing.

Police have said they believe Charlene, who attended St George's school, was among a number of girls who were being sexually exploited in the seaside resort.

'Continue to fight'

Thousands of people have been spoken to by officers, and almost 7,000 statements taken, in the search for answers.

In 2008, a man who ran a local takeaway was cleared of Charlene's murder when a retrial collapsed due to the judge's "grave concerns" about the evidence. A second man was also acquitted of helping to dispose of a body.

The retrial came after a jury in the suspect's first trial, in 2007, had failed to reach a verdict.

In 2009, the Independent Police Complaints Commission said errors in evidence-gathering by police had contributed to the retrial's collapse.

In 2017, a 51-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder but later released.

Charlene's mother, Karen Downes has campaigned for investigations into grooming gangs in Blackpool, and welcomed the announcement of a national grooming inquiry earlier this year.

"I'd never heard of grooming gangs when Charlene went missing. I was shocked by the scale of it," she said, in June.

"Hopefully this inquiry will shed more light on it and more will be done."

Speaking earlier this week, the leader of Blackpool Council, Lynn Williams, reiterated the authority would "engage fully in the National Enquiry".

The Justice for Charlene Downes Campaign Group, on Facebook, have said they will "continue to fight until justice is finally served, and every person and agency that failed Charlene is held to account".

Meanwhile, a new podcast entitled Charlene: Somebody Knows Something - by actress, broadcaster and fellow Blackpool native Nicola Thorp - was recently released with Thorp telling the Guardian, she hoped it might be "a call to action... for people to bring information forward".

Charlene Downes: Timeline of disappearance

• 21:30 GMT on 1 November 2003: Having returned to her home on Buchanan Street and then gone to a friend's house, Charlene went to the Carousel bar on Blackpool's North Pier.

• 23:00: She heads back to the town centre, parting ways with her friend near the junction of Talbot Road and Abingdon Street. CCTV shows a possible further sighting of Charlene with a taller woman at the junction with Dickson Road.

• 3 November: Charlene reported missing.

• 11 November: Police appeal for information about the teenager.

• November 2004: Police say they are "hoping for the best, but fear the worst".

• March 2006: Disappearance is treated as a murder investigation; two men are arrested on suspicion of her murder, with a third held in connection with her disappearance.

• May 2007: A 28-year-old man faces a murder trial but the jury are discharged after failing to reach a verdict.

• 9 April 2008: At a retrial, the suspect is cleared of Charlene's murder, while a second man is also acquitted of helping to dispose of a body.

• October 2009: The Independent Police Complaints Commission says police evidence-gathering errors contributed to the retrial's collapse.

• December 2011: A detective is found guilty of two counts of misconduct and forced to resign, following a review of the investigation by Lancashire Police.

• 17 December 2012: Tribunal overturns the findings and says the detective should be reinstated.

• November 2013: Memorial service for Charlene on the 10th anniversary of her disappearance.

• 4 December 2014: BBC One's Crimewatch announces a £100,000 reward.

• 31 January 2015: Appeal made to Blackpool football fans during a match.

• 1 November 2016: CCTV released by police on the 13th anniversary of her disappearance.

• June 2017: Fresh appeal for information on her murder on BBC's Crimewatch Roadshow.

• 1 August 2017: Man, 51, from Preston, arrested on suspicion of murder.

• 3 August 2017: The 51-year-man is released and is no longer under investigation.

• 1 November 2023: Charlene's parents make a fresh appeal for information 20 years after her disappearance.

• 15 June 2025: Mother Karen Downes welcomes the announcement of a national grooming inquiry.