UK UK - David Spencer, 13, & Patrick Warren, 11, Chelmsley Wood England, 1996

These 2 boys were initially thought of as runaways. I heard about this case when it happened but have never been able to find any more info on them until now when this 'break' happened in 2003. I personally can t find any more info on whether anything ever cam of this. Can anyone help?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3139027.stm

They reminded me a little of the 2 developmentally disabled boys that are currently missing in the USA- dont think they have been found yet - sorry could be wrong about that?!

Could they have survived for this long?

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006520406,00.html

new lead in this case as a jailed paedophile is questioned.

Police searching for two West Midlands boys who went missing 10 years ago say they are closer than ever to solving the mystery of what happened to them.

David Spencer, 13, and Patrick Warren, 11, disappeared from their Chelmsley Wood homes on Boxing Day.

Det Ch Supt Gordon Fraser said they had moved further forward but there were still pieces of the puzzle missing.

He added that it was hard for the families every Christmas, but the 10th anniversary would be worse.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_midlands/6210297.stm

Aw lets hope the family can have closure if nothing else. I often think of these 2 little lads. I think as they were quite a streetwise little pair, people always held onto the hope that they could have looked after themselves even for a short while.

30-Jan-2007

Did Brian Field Murder Patrick Warren and David Spencer?


http://img119.imageshack.us/my.php?image=spencerwarren2xn5.jpgPatrick Warren, 11, and David Spencer, 13, (pictured) disappeared on Boxing Day 1996 from Chelmsley Wood on the outskirts of Birmingham. The last sighting of them was at a petrol station just after midnight, where they were given a packet of biscuits by the assistant. The boys were reported missing in the early hours of the next day, 27th December 1996. Later, Patrick's red bicycle, a Christmas present, was discovered hidden at the back of the petrol station in an area used for storing commercial bins.

Sadly, the boys have never been found. Living in the Chelmsley Wood area at the time was one Brian Lunn Field, the man who raped and murdered Surrey schoolboy Roy Tutill, 14, in 1968. Is Field also responsible for the murders of Patrick and David?

If he is, he's not admitting it (he's currently serving a life sentence for Tutill's murder). In the 1980s, Field lured two Shropshire boys aged 13 and 16 into the backseat of his car. Fortunately, the teens managed to escape. Field has proven he has the audacity to attack two boys at the same time, and experience suggests the compulsive behaviour of paedophiles doesn't tend to change over time. Unless it's established for certain he wasn't involved with the boys' disappearance, Field cannot be eliminated as a suspect.

The case still remains unresolved. Were you in the Chelmsley Wood area over Christmas 1996? Call West Midlands Police's Operation Stenley incident room if you think you may have seen anything - however unimportant it may seem.</SPAN>
http://truecrimebloguk.blogspot.com/2007/01/did-brian-field-murder-patrick-warren.html

Police start digging for bodies of boys missing since 1996



[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]&#183; Move to start digging follows interview with jailed paedophile
&#183; JCB digger brought in to clear site for search[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Rosie Cowan, crime correspondent
Wednesday November 15, 2006
The Guardian

[/FONT]
Police searching for two schoolboys who went missing 10 years ago have begun digging up wasteland near their homes, a week after interviewing a convicted paedophile and murderer. Best friends David Spencer,13, and 11-year-old Patrick Warren, from Chelmsley Wood, near Birmingham, vanished without a trace on Boxing Day 1996.
Detectives think there is little hope that the boys are still alive, and last week they visited Full Sutton prison in York to talk to Brian Lunn Field, who is serving life for raping and strangling 14-year-old Roy Tutill in Surrey in 1968.
Article continues

</IMG>

Field, 70, was living in Chelmsley Wood in 1996, working as a gardener and odd job man. He was interviewed under caution over three days but denied any knowledge of the boys' disappearance. But yesterday, police search teams started excavation of a site at Old Damson Lane, Solihull, near Birmingham airport, about four miles from the boys' homes, in the hope of finding their bodies. Detective Chief Superintendent Gordon Fraser, of West Midlands police, said Field had not given police any information about Patrick and David, nor had he made any reference to this site. But he used to dump garden waste there and had access to it over Christmas 1996.
Mr Fraser said a considerable amount of debris had been deposited over the past 10 years, so the first job would be to level the ground using a JCB digger. Specialist officers will then begin sifting through the soil, looking for any remains. A forensic archaeologist, Professor John Hunter, who has helped uncover mass graves in Bosnia and Iraq, is helping them.
"This is only one location we will be searching and the search may go on for days, maybe weeks," said Mr Fraser. Last weekend, 10,000 leaflets were distributed around Chelmsley Wood to jog people's memories, and Mr Fraser said the excellent public response had led to some new lines of inquiry. "I still believe someone out there knows exactly what has happened to David and Patrick. It may be 10 years ago - through loyalty to a relationship or an individual that person did not come forward. I would urge that person to rethink and consider if they may be able to bring closure to these two families."
David and Patrick were due to stay at Patrick's brother's house on Boxing night, but were last seen at a petrol station shop shortly after midnight. Patrick's new bicycle, a Christmas present, was abandoned outside the shop, prompting police to discount the theory that they had run away. Yesterday, David's mother, Christine O'Toole, 43, made a fresh plea for information.
"I really hope David is still alive but I just can't see it," said Mrs O'Toole. "I don't celebrate Christmas and haven't put a tree or trimmings up since David went missing." Patrick's father, Derek Warren, 64, said: "We are desperate to know what has happened to Patrick." Field has a long history of violently sexually abusing boys. He only admitted the murder of Roy Tutill more than 30 years later when he was caught drink-driving in 1999 and his DNA matched that of a sample found on the dead boy's trousers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1948063,00.html

So did LE find anything during the digging? Anyone know?

Hoppy

To my knowledge nothing was found related to the boys. I wonder if the poilce are keeping on with the Brian Field line?

Thanks for posting this, I know of this case personally. In my opinion the red bike is interesting. The lad was over the moon to get it and knew he'd be in trouble if he lost it, Im surprised he left it at the side of the Shell garage. I do wonder if someone moved it - ie, if the lads were snatched the bike may have been taken to the garage then. Alternatively if he did leave it there I would say he expected to be back in a few minutes. The garage worker said they saw the lads heading towards the shopping centre. Doesnt say if this is with or without the bike!! I think either they were put into a van (and they would have fought like crazy so it would have to be more than one attacker) OR they decided to have an adventure and hitchhike somewhere...this is when they got picked up by the wrong person. Im also wondering if they met up with people who appeared to be exciting (to them, at their age) youngish homeless people with access to a squat; who they went along with for the adventure. Paddy and David were used to having all-nighters, walking around wanting a bit of excitement. Anyone on the fringes of society might have appealed as interesting to the boys. In only one report I have read about an Atherstone link (a farm worker found 2 boys sleeping rough in a disused stable, and also a worker at Greggs gave the lads free cakes), was this them?? If so they may have been on the way to London -or got mixed up with the wrong sort in Atherstone, which despite being small does have its hidden problems.

PS, Forensics went to the park and the area was dug, also a helicopter went over the top but they have found the letter was sent as a hoax and the man was arrested.

If they were last seen at the Shell garage in Chelmsley Wood, then they would have been right across the road from the shopping centre, at night the whole place is empty but it's not unusual for kids and teenagers to hang around in there at night, only a part of the centre is locked up but the part from across the street from KFC(old shell garage used to be) is open, well it is in the present day.

I wonder if the police are still looking at Brian Field in connection with this case.Unless the police have been able to rule him out he still looks like a strong suspect in this case.

Isn't it about tome there was another crimewatch appeal on this case

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/629107/Child-sex-killer-riddle-missing-boys

Brian Field is the prime suspect in the disappearance of Birmingham boys 13-year-old David Spencer and 11-year-old Patrick Warren who went out to play on Boxing Day in 1996 and never returned.

Field is curently serving a life sentence for the kidnap, rape and murder of Surrey schoolboy Roy Tuthill in 1968.

Click to expand...

Now, 19 years after the children vanished and with the main suspect approaching 80 years old, leading criminologist Professor David Wilson said it is highly likely Field will die behind bars without ever revealing his chilling secret.

Click to expand...

Prof Wilson, of Birmingham City University, famous for the Channel 5 series Killers Behind Bars, said: &#8220;If he was responsible, then he is unlikely to ever reveal what happened to them.

&#8220;People who have killed repeatedly are often unwilling, silent and uncommunicative.

&#8220;They never admit to the crimes they have committed, even when the evidence is in front of them.

&#8220;They just won&#8217;t talk about it.

&#8220;A normal person would want to purge themselves of guilt.

&#8220;A psychopath doesn&#8217;t think like that.&#8221;

Click to expand...

There must be someone out there who saw something that could be of importance the day they went missing. I think another crimewatch appeal could bring some new light on this case. As for Field i believe he has commited many more crimes.

The real crime documentary on Brian Field shows how manipulative he can be and his attempted kidnap of two boys could be a chilling imsight into this case. https://youtu.be/706d0-0CtmA

The brother of a Birmingham schoolboy who went missing with a friend 20 years ago has made a desperate plea for information &#8211; so he can finally be laid to rest.

Patrick Warren and David Spencer left their homes in Chelmsley Wood to visit a relative on Boxing Day 1996 but never arrived.


As the 20th anniversary of their disappearance approaches, David&#8217;s younger brother, Lee O&#8217;Toole, has spoken for the first time about the nightmare his family has endured over two decades.

Click to expand...

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/what-happened-birmingham-schoolboy-pals-12354420

The renewed appeal for information has also been picked up by the Grauniad.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...patrick-warren-david-spencer?CMP=share_btn_tw

I was just coming here to post that link

It reminds me of the murders of Jessica and Holly... they disappeared from their parents house and were never seen again. 20 years without knowing anything must just be awful, especially around Christmas