The mother of missing schoolgirl Charlene Downes has revealed she will never give up in her fight for the truth.
Karen Downes says she has accepted that her daughter is dead, but she hopes one day she will get the answers she needs.
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It’s been nearly 21 years since Charlene disappeared. But despite two lawsuits and a lengthy investigation, including gruesome claims that Charlene’s remains were chopped into kebab meat, her final whereabouts remain a mystery.
Karen, 59, a mother of four who lives in Blackpool, said: “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about my Charlene.
“I never sleep. I can’t go on with life. I’m still stuck on that day.
“Since she disappeared, I have had a candle burning in my window – and it is still burning. I hope and pray for justice.
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“I have never believed that she was chopped up and stuffed into kebab meat, but it is an allegation that haunts us.
“There are so many horrible rumors about what happened to her and as a mother it is hard to process that.
“I just want closure, for her and for the rest of the family.”
Private investigator Jen Jarvie, part of a team specialising in cold cases, last year announced an investigation into the disappearance of the Blackpool teenager, now believed to be 35.
But the research has not yet yielded any new information.
Karen and her husband Bob have now pinned all their hopes on the new investigation and say they have completely lost confidence in the police.
Karen says: “I always get my hopes up when there is a review or someone else takes over the business. But it’s all for nothing.
“Every time we hit a wall and I’m still no closer to finding out where she is than I was the day she disappeared.”
Charlene was only 14 years old when she left home on November 1, 2003 to meet friends.
Karen says: “At the time I had a job as a flyer deliverer and I met Charlene on the boulevard, with her older sister.
“We talked for a while and I promised her that she would be home on time.
“I could never have known that this would be the last time I would see her. I bought fish and chips for the whole family later that evening, but Charlene never came home for hers.
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“I kept her portion wrapped in the fridge for a few days, praying she would come home
“The police got involved and initially Charlene was dismissed as a runaway. There were rumours that she had been a victim of child sexual exploitation.
“She had pushed the boundaries, smoked and stayed up 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 hell, there were false sightings that ultimately led to nothing.
“Every time a body was found, I was sick with nerves. I was even interviewed myself. I even turned to mediums in search of answers, but I never got any.”
Karen said 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. Her disappearance cost him his life.
“It killed my mother too. She couldn’t handle it. I hope they’re all together in heaven. It’s my only comfort.
“I now have eight grandchildren who bring me so much joy and yet I can’t help but think how happy I would be if Charlene had children of her own and what she would be like.
My candle will burn by 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’s a double whammy. She lives through her, but it’s a reminder of what we’ve lost.”
Police suspect that Charlene was murdered in Blackpool town centre just hours after her disappearance.
Her murder revealed a dark side to the faded resort after a police report revealed Charlene was one of 60 girls – some as young as 11 – manipulated by takeaway workers, who were given food and cigarettes in exchange for sex acts.
Detectives allege Charlene was strangled and dismembered, and her killers joked about turning her flesh into kebab meat and her bones into tile grout after she threatened to blow the whistle.
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. The jury was played recorded conversations in which Iyad allegedly joked that he had killed the girl, that she had been “chopped to pieces” and that her body had been “put in kebabs”.
The jury reached no verdict and a retrial was also halted after a police regulator ruled the investigation by Lancashire Constabulary had been conducted “unprofessionally” and plagued by a “series of errors”.
Serious doubts were also raised about the manner in which the transcriptions were produced.
Both men were awarded £250,000 in damages each. One of the men’s lawyers accused the police of “incompetence, manipulation and lies”.
OTHER THEORIES ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO CHARLENE DOWNES
Here we look at the two other theories about what happened to the tragic teen.
RAYMOND MUNRO
Not everyone is convinced by the kebab story. Many believe she was murdered by someone else.
Ronay Crompton from the Justice for Charlene Downes campaign recently teamed up with Dr Kirsty Bennett, a lecturer at Leeds Trinity University who specialises in cold cases.
Together they hope to discover what really happened to Charlene.
Ronay said in a new documentary for Shots TV: “There are a number of reasons why I don’t believe Charlene went into a kebab or was ground up.
“One of the main reasons is the absolute lack of forensic evidence to suggest this.
“From what I’ve heard from experts, it’s nearly impossible to put a body through a meat grinder and not leave any DNA behind.”
An earlier Channel 5 documentary revealed that a convicted sex offender, Ray Munro, was staying in the family’s home at the time of her disappearance.
Munro, a friend of Charlene’s father, had pleaded guilty to four charges of sexually abusing ten-year-old children.
According to social services, there was an incident between Charlene and Munro on the day she disappeared.
Munro was never arrested by police for this incident.
PARENTS TROLLED
Karen and Bob Downes have been dealing with the loss of their beloved Charlene for the past 21 years.
The family was extensively questioned by police before eventually being acquitted.
However, Karen (58) says they are accused of taking their daughter’s life and are being ‘targeted’ by various people online and in real life.
The distraught mother even said her husband Bob, 61, was deliberately hit and hit by a car.
Karen told the E-mailOnline: “It’s disgusting what people say and do.
“They all point their fingers at us. I get abused online, but Bob has it much worse. He goes to a pub and gets targeted.
“He has been called a murderer and a pedophile and accused of using his daughters as pimps.
“He never did that and there is no evidence that he ever did that.
“He was once threatened and told that if he went into the pub again he would be dead like Charlene.
“He is constantly approached by people and has been hit several times.
“He was even hit when he was walking home from the pub. He was hit once in the leg and the other time in the side.
“It’s a disgrace. We have done nothing wrong.”
Karen is now calling on the public to come forward with any information they may have.
“On the 21st birthday, as always, I would like to appeal to someone to come forward,” she says.
“Someone knows the truth.
“My candle will burn by my window until justice is done. I hope we can lay her spirit to rest soon.”
After a planned retrial was called off in 2008, Karen began to lose hope for the truth and nearly had a nervous breakdown.
Since then, no significant progress has been made in the case.
Karen adds: “Looking back, I feel so guilty that I didn’t see the signs in my daughter.
“I could have been a better parent, and I should have been. No one can blame me more than I blame myself. Yet I am still a grieving mother. I still need justice.
“Deep down I have to accept that my sweet daughter is dead, but without a body I will always have a glimmer of hope.
“I will never stop fighting for justice. For the good of all of us, we need the truth.”
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