Charlene Downes: Parents of girl missing since 2003 make fresh plea

Charlene Downes disappeared in Blackpool 20 years ago

The parents of a 14-year-old girl thought to have been murdered 20 years ago have made an emotional appeal for someone to come forward with new information and "end our nightmare".

Charlene Downes disappeared in the Lancashire town of Blackpool on 1 November 2003.

Police opened a murder inquiry but despite arrests, trials and a £100,000 reward no-one has ever been convicted.

"Hope is all I have left," her mother Karen said.

The hunt for Charlene has been one of Lancashire Police's longest-running missing person inquiries.

Thousands of people were spoken to by officers and almost 7,000 statements were taken.

A man was cleared of her murder in 2008 after "grave doubts" were raised about evidence during his second trial. The jury in his first trial had failed to reach a verdict.

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

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

Charlene Downes (far right) is seen with her sister in central Blackpool

Charlene's parents Karen and Robert Downes have renewed an appeal for information about what happened to their "lovely, cheeky, bubbly" girl.

"Somebody knows something somewhere and we ask them to come forward and please, end our nightmare," Mrs Downes said.

"Hope is all we can do and we just hope that one day something will happen and we can get some justice or some closure for Charlene."

Police believe Charlene was one of a number of girls who were sexually exploited in the town at the time.

Charlene's parents have been campaigning for answers for the last 20 years

In 2018, Mrs Downes published a book on sexual exploitation in the hope it would give others "a wake-up call about grooming gangs".

"This can never happen again, if I can help one girl and stop them being groomed, Charlene wouldn't have disappeared or died for nothing," she said.

The 58-year-old said it had "affected the family in many ways".

"It really affected my beloved son, who was only 12 when it happened," she said.

"He got into drugs and sadly passed away through an accidental drug overdose.

"It was all down to what happened to Charlene. He never got over it, none of my girls have ever got over it."

Charlene's father Robert added that the family "just want the nightmare over".

"We just want someone to come forward. Be brave and don't be scared."

Det Ch Supt Pauline Stables said she firmly believed there are people who know what happened who have yet to come forward.

She appealed once again "on this very sad milestone" for them to make themselves known.

Charlene Downes last known movements

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

• 23:00: She heads back into the town centre and parts from 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.

CCTV shows a possible sighting of Charlene with a woman at 23:00

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

• March 2006: Disappearance is treated as a murder investigation and 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 following a review of the investigation by Lancashire Police, and forced to resign.

• 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.