AUDIOBOOK
About
'1st November 2003 started so unremarkably that I wish I had appreciated the normality of it. Because I would never, ever know peace again.'
Charlene Downes was 14 when she went missing in Blackpool's seedy underbelly. Once a happy-go-lucky schoolgirl, she had become a truant - hanging out with the wrong crowd by the takeaway shops and pier. But Charlene's mum, Karen, always knew her typical teenage daughter would come home.
Until one day she didn't.
Karen has been searching for 15 years, campaigning for the truth of what happened to her daughter. To this day, Karen and her family have no body, no convictions and no answers. Arrests were made and a murder trial took place, but no one has ever been brought to justice.
On the 15th anniversary of Charlene's disappearance, Karen shares this heartbreaking account of every parent's worst nightmare. Karen Downes lives in Blackpool. She loves to spend time with her grandchildren whilst she continues to fight for justice for her daughter Charlene. A heartbreaking memoir from the mother of missing child and presumed child sex abuse victim, Charlene Downes This case was a huge national press story and still attracts attention 15 years on, with Panorama recently airing a documentary called The Girl Who Vanished. Child sex exploitation still dominates the headlines as more and more cases come to light with a seemingly national network in place. This is a unique perspective from the mother's point of view. Comparison titles include Girl A (67,000 tcm), Madeleine by Kate McCann (350,000 tcm), Denise Fergus, mum of James Bulger (27,000 tcm) and My Sister Milly by Gemma Dowler (17,000 tcm) Karen is working with two very well-connected national journalists Ann and Joe Cusack who have close links with tabloid press, daytime tv shows, and women's weeklies.
Charlene Downes was 14 when she went missing in Blackpool's seedy underbelly. Once a happy-go-lucky schoolgirl, she had become a truant - hanging out with the wrong crowd by the takeaway shops and pier. But Charlene's mum, Karen, always knew her typical teenage daughter would come home.
Until one day she didn't.
Karen has been searching for 15 years, campaigning for the truth of what happened to her daughter. To this day, Karen and her family have no body, no convictions and no answers. Arrests were made and a murder trial took place, but no one has ever been brought to justice.
On the 15th anniversary of Charlene's disappearance, Karen shares this heartbreaking account of every parent's worst nightmare. Karen Downes lives in Blackpool. She loves to spend time with her grandchildren whilst she continues to fight for justice for her daughter Charlene. A heartbreaking memoir from the mother of missing child and presumed child sex abuse victim, Charlene Downes This case was a huge national press story and still attracts attention 15 years on, with Panorama recently airing a documentary called The Girl Who Vanished. Child sex exploitation still dominates the headlines as more and more cases come to light with a seemingly national network in place. This is a unique perspective from the mother's point of view. Comparison titles include Girl A (67,000 tcm), Madeleine by Kate McCann (350,000 tcm), Denise Fergus, mum of James Bulger (27,000 tcm) and My Sister Milly by Gemma Dowler (17,000 tcm) Karen is working with two very well-connected national journalists Ann and Joe Cusack who have close links with tabloid press, daytime tv shows, and women's weeklies.