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LAST HOPE
I was told my missing girl was ground into kebab meat, I won’t believe it, I’m begging you to help me uncover the truth
Karen Downes is begging the public for help to solve the two decade old mystery
THE mother of missing schoolgirl Charlene Downes has revealed she will never give up fighting for the truth.
Karen Downes says she has accepted her daughter is dead but hopes one day she might get the answers she needs.
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It has been almost 21 years since Charlene vanished. But despite two trials and a lengthy investigation, including lurid claims that Charlene’s remains were chopped into kebab meat, her final whereabouts remains a mystery.
Mother of four Karen, 59, who lives in Blackpool, says: “Not a day goes by that I don’t think of my Charlene.
“I never sleep. I can’t carry on with life. I am still stuck on that day.
“Since she disappeared, I have had a candle burning in my window - and it still burns today. I hope and pray for justice.
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“I never for a moment believed she was dismembered and hidden into kebab meat but it’s a claim which has followed us around.
“There have been so many awful rumours about what happened to her and as her mum it is hard to take.
“I just want closure, for her and for the rest of the family.”
Private investigator Jen Jarvie, part of a crack team specialising in cold cases, last year announced a review into the disappearance of the Blackpool teen, who would be 35 now.
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But the investigation has so far brought no new information.
Karen and her husband Bob are now pinning all their hopes on the new investigation and say they have completely lost faith in the police.
CCTV of Blackpool teen Charlene Downes who disappeared in 2003
Karen says: “I get my hopes up every time there is a review or someone new takes over the case. But it’s all for nothing.
“Every time, we hit a brick wall and I am no nearer to knowing where she is than the day she disappeared.”
Charlene was only 14 years old when she left the family home on November 1 2003 to meet with friends.
Karen says: “I had a job delivering leaflets at the time and I came across Charlene on the promenade, with her older sister.
“We chatted for a bit and I made her promise she’d be home on time.
“I could never have known that was the last time I’d ever see her. I bought fish and chips later that night for the whole family, but Charlene never came home for hers.
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“I kept her portion for a couple of days, wrapped up in the fridge, praying she’d come home
“The police got involved and at first, Charlene was dismissed as a runaway. There were rumours she’d fallen victim to Child Sexual Exploitation.
“She’d been pushing the boundaries, smoking and staying out late. But to me, she was still a child, she loved Darren Day and Hello Kitty. She was a typical teenager.
“Those first few weeks were hellish, there were bogus sightings which turned out to be nothing.
“Every time a body was found, I was sick with nerves. I was even interviewed myself. I even turned to mediums in the search for answers but I never got any.”
Karen revealed her family has been torn apart by Charlene’s disappearance.
She says: “I lost my son, Robert, in December 2021. He was only 30 and never got over the loss of his sister.
“He used to climb out of his bedroom to look for her in the early days. Her disappearance cost him his life.
“It also killed my mum. She couldn’t cope with it. I hope they’re all together in heaven. It’s my only comfort.
“I have eight grandchildren now who bring me so much joy and yet I can’t help thinking how happy I would be if Charlene had her own children and what she would be like.
My candle will burn at my window until justice is done
Karen Downes
“Life is always ‘what if?‘
“I have a six-year-old granddaughter who really reminds me of Charlene and it is bittersweet. She lives on through her yet it’s a reminder of what we have lost.”
Cops believe Charlene was murdered within hours of disappearing in Blackpool city centre.
Her murder uncovered a dark side of the faded seaside town after a police report revealed Charlene was one of 60 girls - some as young as eleven - who had been groomed by takeaway workers. The girls were given food and cigarettes in exchange for sex acts.
Detectives allege that Charlene has been strangled and dismembered, and that her killers joked about having turned her flesh into kebab meat and her bones into tiling grout - after she threatened to blow the whistle on them.
In 2007, Iyad Albattikhi, then 27, who ran the Funny Boyz takeaway in Blackpool, was charged with Charlene’s murder. His landlord and business partner Mohammed Reveshi was charged with helping him dispose of her body.
They went on trial in May 2007 when the jury was played taped conversations in which it was alleged Iyad had joked that he killed the girl, that she was ‘chopped up’ and her body had ‘gone into the kebabs’.
The jury failed to reach a verdict and a retrial was also dropped after a police watchdog found the investigation by Lancashire Constabulary was ‘handled unprofessionally’ and plagued by a ‘catalogue of errors’.
Serious doubts were also uncovered over the way transcripts were made.
Both men were paid £250,000 each in compensation. One of the men's lawyers accused the police of "incompetence, manipulation and lies".
OTHER THEORIES OF WHAT HAPPENED TO CHARLENE DOWNES
Here we take a look at the two other theories of what happened to the tragic teen.
RAYMOND MUNRO
Not everyone is convinced of the kebab story - with many believing she was murdered by someone else.
Ronay Crompton, from the Justice for Charlene Downes campaign, has recently joined up with Dr Kirsty Bennett, a lecturer at Leeds Trinity University specialising in cold cases.
Together they hope to discover what really happened to Charlene.
Speaking in a new documentary for Shots TV Ronay said: “There’s a number of reasons why I don’t believe that Charlene has gone in a kebab or has been ground up.
“One of the main reasons is the absolute lack of any forensic evidence to suggest that.
“From what I have heard from experts, to grind a body through a mincer and not leave any DNA anywhere is near on impossible.”
And in a previous doc on Channel 5, it was revealed that a convicted sex offender, Ray Munro, had been staying at the family’s home at the time of her disappearance.
Munro, a friend of Charlene’s dad, had pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual abuse of ten-year-old children.
Social service reports there was an incident between Charlene and Munro on the day she disappeared.
Munro has never been arrested by police over the incident.
PARENTS TROLLED
Karen and Bob Downes have been dealing with the loss of their beloved Charlene for the last 21 years.
The family were quizzed extensively by police before eventually being cleared.
However, Karen 58, says they get accused of taking their daughter's life and "targeted" by people online and in person.
The distraught mum even said husband Bob, 61, has been punched and hit by a car on purpose.
Karen told the : "It is disgusting what people say and do.
"All they point the finger at us. I get abuse online, but Bob has it much worse. He will go into a pub and will be targeted.
"He has been called a murderer, a paedophile and accused of pimping out his daughters.
"He has never done that and there is no evidence that he has ever done that.
"One time he was threatened and was told that if he came in the pub again, he would end up dead like Charlene.
"He is always approached by people and has been punched several times.
"He has even been hit by a car while walking home from the pub. Once he was struck in the leg and the other time in the side.
"It is a disgrace. We have done nothing wrong."
Karen is now pleading with the public to come forward with any information they might have.
“On the 21st anniversary, I would appeal as always for someone to come forward,” she says.
“Someone knows the truth.
“My candle will burn at my window until justice is done. I hope one day soon we can lay her spirit to rest.”
After a planned retrial was abandoned in 2008, Karen began to give up hope of ever finding the truth and came close to suffering a nervous breakdown.
There has been no meaningful progress on the case since.
Karen adds: “Looking back, I feel so guilty that I didn’t see the signs with my daughter.
“I could -and should – have been a better parent. Nobody can blame me more than I blame myself. Yet I am still a grieving mother. I still need justice.
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“Deep down I have to accept that my darling daughter is dead, but without a body, I will always have a glimmer of hope.
“I will never stop fighting for justice. For all our sakes, we need the truth.”
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