Post by Joanna on Nov 1, 2013 23:10:49 GMT -5
Charlene Downes: Murder Case Reopened
Police in Blackpool, Lancashire, are reopening their investigation into the unsolved murder of 14-year-old Charlene Downes on the 10th anniversary of when she was last seen alive. Charlene went missing November 1, 2003, and her body has never been found.
During the 2007 trial of a Jordanian takeaway owner and his Iranian business partner, who were both charged with Charlene’s murder, but acquitted at trial, it was revealed the teenager was one of a number of young white girls who gravitated to Blackpool’s fast food outlets to have sex with older men. Prosecutors claimed her body was chopped up and had “gone into kebabs.” The two men received compensation of more than £230,000 after being found not guilty.
“We know that people are more confident in coming forward to report historic information nowadays and this may be the case here,” said Lancashire Police Assistant Chief Constable Andy Rhodes. “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.”
The British National Party (BNP) has organized a memorial to Charlene and will hold a rally against “Muslim grooming gangs,” which they have repeatedly claimed were responsible for her exploitation. However, confidential police documents and witness statements quoted by the Times newspaper suggested Charlene was systematically abused throughout her life.
Sources: SkyNews, November 1, 2013; and Bizarre Crimes.
