Police step up
hunt for killers
of missing girls

Police are stepping up their efforts to solve the murders of two teenagers years after they disappeared in the hope witnesses might now be confident enough to come forward with crucial information.

Charlene Downes, 14, disappeared in Blackpool on November 1 2003 and no trace has been found of her.

On the 10th anniversary of her disappearance, police have announced they will bolster the investigation with a dedicated senior investigating officer, Superintendent Andy Webster, assigned to her case full-time along with a team of specialist officers.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

At the same time, the team will also investigate the disappearance of another local teenager, Paige Chivers, 15, who vanished in August 2007. Her body has also never been found and police, who followed up leads in the North West, Midlands and Yorkshire, have not ruled out a link between the two cases.

Assistant Chief Constable Andy Rhodes said Lancashire Constabulary had never given up the search for either girl, but hoped the fresh investigation would jog people’s memories.

“There is nothing evidentially that links these cases at present although we would never rule it out but as with Charlene, I would also ask people to remember Paige and, again, let us know if there’s anything they have been keeping to themselves about what happened to her,” he said.

Mr Rhodes said he was certain someone had information that would help solve both cases.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We know that people are more confident in coming forward to report historic information nowadays and this may be the case here,” he said.

“Charlene and Paige’s friends, obviously just teenagers at the time they went missing, will now be grown up and may have their own children. I would hope they may be more confident now in coming forward and telling us what they may know.

“We appreciate that a considerable amount of time has passed since both Charlene and Paige went missing but we would still encourage anyone with information to come forward and speak to us as it could assist in our inquiries, and help bring the killer or killers to justice.”

Lancashire police and crime commissioner Clive Grunshaw said he had seen many cases where information years later resulted in successful prosecutions.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Grunshaw specifically mentioned the case of former BBC presenter Stuart Hall, who was jailed for child sexual abuse against 14 girls between 1967 and 1985.

“I hope, in the cases of both Charlene and Paige, there is someone out there who now feels comfortable enough to come forward and tell the police what they know,” he said.

“Charlene and Paige’s families have a right to know what happened to their children, and I would urge anyone who thinks they might know something – no matter how small – to take this opportunity and contact the police.”

Charlene disappeared after saying goodbye to her mother at a bus stop on her way to see friends. Her mother raised the alarm when she did not return home that night and when questioned, her daughter’s friends said they had not seen her. The inquiry was upgraded to a murder investigation in March 2006.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Prosecutors in the 2007 trial of takeaway owner Iyad Albattikhi, accused and later acquitted of Charlene’s death, claimed her body was chopped up and had “gone into kebabs”.

The court heard Charlene was one of a number of young white girls who were having sex with older men associated with Blackpool’s takeaways.

Mr Albattikhi was formally cleared of Charlene’s murder while co-defendant Mohammed Reveshi was acquitted of helping to dispose of her body.

Both of the accused were later reported to have received six-figure compensation sums for false imprisonment.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Paige had also been linked to sex exploitation in the area. She was last seen on a bus travelling to Blackpool on August 23, 2007.

Over the years, police have made four arrests on suspicion of Paige’s murder but all have been freed without charge.

Related topics: