Blackpool Police offer £100k reward to catch Charlene Downes' killer on 23rd anniversary of her disappearance

Today marks 23-years since Blackpool teenager Charlene Downes disappeared without trace and to mark the occasion police are reminding the public a £100,000 reward remains on offer for information that helps catch her killers or helps recover her body.

The disappearance of 14-year-old Charlene is a case which has cast a shadow over Blackpool for more than two decades.

The former St George’s High School pupil was last seen alive on November 1, 2003 at the age of 14.

Her disappearance remains Lancashire Police's longest unsolved murder investigation and active case.

Over the last 23 years, Lancashire Police’s inquiry into Charlene’s disappearance has generated more than 16,000 police actions or lines of inquiry.

Almost 7000 statements have been taken and more than 7,500 exhibits recorded.

Today Lancashire Police confirmed that the case remains open as they appealed for new information to help bring closure for her devastated family.

Charlene, who would now be 37-years-old, disappeared on a Saturday night and she was last seen, at the end of an alleyway on Abingdon Street, after meeting a friend on North Pier.

Although there was no CCTV evidence around that vicinity.

Detectives still investigating the case believe she was sexually exploited and murdered. The teenager is thought to have been a victim caught up in a web of suspicious older men taking advantage of vulnerable young girls.

Her case was upgraded from a missing person investigation to a murder inquiry in 2006 after it is understood she was one of several girls in the town who was being sexually exploited.

But although the police brought two trials to court, one of them a retrial, and even offered a reward of £100,000, no one has ever been convicted of her murder.

Lancashire Police was even the subject of an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission in 2009. The IPCC concluded that the way evidence was gathered by police played a key part in the retrial's collapse.

There have been documentaries, a Justice for Charlene campaign, an inquiry by a private investigator and a podcast by Blackpool-born broadcaster and actress Nicola Thorp, Charlene: Somebody Knows Something, but the trail remains cold.

Charlene’s mother, Karen Downes has even called for an investigation into grooming gangs in Blackpool as well as issuing her own appeals for information over the years.

But despite all this, the truth about what happened to Charlene remains a mystery.

What Lancashire Police said today

A Lancashire Police spokesman said today: “November 1st marks 23 years since Charlene Downes disappeared in Blackpool and since that time our efforts to find out what happened to her have not stopped.

“Charlene was 14 years old and vulnerable when she went missing and the investigation into her disappearance and murder is one of the largest and longest running in the history of Lancashire Police.

“We still want justice for Charlene, and we want justice for Charlene’s parents and family and we would encourage anyone who has any information which could help us find out what happened to her to come forward, no matter how insignificant you think it may be.

“A £100,000 reward, sanctioned by Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw, remains on offer for anyone with information that leads to the prosecution of her killer(s) or assists in the recovery of Charlene’s body.

“Over the last 23 years, Lancashire Police’s inquiry into Charlene’s disappearance has generated more than 16,000 police actions or lines of inquiry.

“Almost 7000 statements have been taken and more than 7,500 exhibits recorded.

“If you can help please call us on 101 or contact independent charity Crimestoppers, free and in confidence, on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers.org.”

The Downes family

In 2023, on the 20th anniversary of the teen's disappearance, Charlene’s mum Karen Downes said she still lived in hope that her daughter was alive and well.

Making an emotional plea to end her family's ‘terrible nightmare’, she called for Charlene to let the family know if she was alive and safe.

Karen, now 61, told The Gazette in 2023: “I always live in hope that Charlene is alive and happy somewhere and I hope that you are happy sweetheart.”

Talking directly to her missing daughter, Karen said: "We miss you more than words could ever describe. Please if you are out there let us know. End our terrible nightmare and torment we have suffered over the last 20 years.”