Charlene Downes

Charlene Elizabeth Caroline Downes, a 14-year-old girl from Blackpool, Lancashire, disappeared on 1 November 2003.

She was last seen in the town centre near fast-food outlets; police believe she was groomed, sexually exploited (as one of up to 60 local girls targeted by takeaway workers), murdered within hours and her body disposed of, but she has never been found and the case remains unsolved with no one ever convicted of her murder.

The two main suspects tried in 2007 at Preston Crown Court were Iyad Albattikhi (then 29, a Jordanian national who owned the Funny Boyz kebab shop on Dickson Road, charged with murder) and his business partner/landlord Mohammed Reveshi (charged with assisting an offender by helping dispose of the body); the prosecution relied on covert recordings in which the men allegedly joked about having sex with Charlene and chopping her up for kebabs, but after a hung jury and a retrial that collapsed due to disputed transcriptions and evidential failures, both were released with no convictions. 

A separate 2017 arrest of another man was dropped after two days and as of late 2025 a £100,000 reward remains unclaimed.

Her mother, Karen Downes, continues to campaign for answers, including through a national grooming inquiry.

Rest in peace Charlene. You will not be forgotten.