Deceased/Not Found UK - Steven Clark, 23, disabled, Saltburn, Dec 1992

[Alyce]

I thought there was another child, a daughter? Maybe I'm wrong about that, I'll have to go back and check. So moo for now.

there is

 

[cocomod]

Wow! Surprising arrest IMVHO

 

[ZaZara]

Family of missing man in call for DNA system

Another local man Craig Hetherington, from Guisborough, has been missing since the early hours of Saturday February 22, 2003.

Mr Hetherington, then aged 22, was last seen leaving The Cornerhouse nightclub in Middlesbrough at about 1am. He has not been heard from since.

According to friends who had spent the evening with him, Craig was not drunk when he left and the Teesside University chemical engineering student gave no indication he was planning to disappear.

On April 19, 1998 Donna Keogh, then aged 17, disappeared having last been seen at an address on Bow Street, Middlesbrough.

Repeated appeals from police and family have never shed light on what happened next.

Rachel Wilson was just 19 when she was last seen on Southfield Road, Middlesbrough, in the early hours of May 31, 2002. Despite a massive police inquiry, not a trace of the former Hall Garth School pupil has been found.


BBM

£25m probe expected to uncover 'substantial' child sex scandal

The £25m investigation expected to uncover 'substantial' child sex exploitation in Cleveland Police area
Teesside Live has seen a report that describes 'poor quality' investigations and predicts further scrutiny for Cleveland Police

A major inquiry into how detectives failed three murdered Teesside girls is expected to expose a “substantial” child sexual abuse scandal.

Cleveland Police established a specialist team to look back at the murders of Donna Keogh, Vicky Glass and Rachel Wilson.

But a review of the grant application to the Home Office - seen by Teesside Live - reveals the full extent of the force inquiry.

The damning report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire Services (HMICFRS) notes “poor quality” investigations and failings by the force in relation to the three tragic murder victims.

What is Operation Pandect?
Operation Pandect is the name of the inquiry run by a specialist team from Cleveland Police.

It has four separate strands; Operations Resolute, Ardent, Seyton and Sturgeon.

* Operation Resolute is concerned with the investigation into the murder of Donna Keogh. The 17-year-old was last seen at a house party in Bow Street in Middlesbrough in May 1998.

* Operation Ardent relates to 21-year-old Stockton woman Vicky Glass, whose body was found in North Yorkshire on November 3, 2000. As in Donna’s case, her killer has never been brought to justice.

* Operation Seyton involves Rachel Wilson, who was 19 when she was reported missing in June 2002. Her remains were not recovered until June 27, 2012, when they were found on farmland in Middlesbrough. A local suspect arrested four years ago remains on police bail.

* Operation Sturgeon which will deal with the sexual exploitation and abuse of other young people.


BBM


One wonders.... same area....

 

[MrsWatson]

Wow, that's very interesting @ZaZara . Makes me wonder if there was much of an actual investigation when Steven went missing.

 

[Funky funky]

I’ve just come across this story and I’ve been doing a bit of digging for more info.
It’s very strange indeed. I hope they will do a dig of the garden soon.
I am not permitted to link it here, however it appears there was a FB group set up by the family to find Steven at one stage and then it was swiftly taken down when people offered to volunteer to put up posters and search. It’s very odd behaviour.
As a parent, I’d be going out of my mind to locate my missing son, their statement “after all this time, we still wonder what happened to him” seems off?

 

[Funky funky]

From The Mirror
Parents arrive to be arrested for 'murder' of son who vanished 28 years ago
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mi...rents-arrive-arrested-murder-son-22695800.amp
So I’m wondering if the Father was at the football match whist they were walking or did he go when his wife came home? Seems very strange that he would go on to the football match when his disabled son is missing?
They are also talking about Steven in the past tense, but also more or less implying that he is missing, so why talk in the past tense as if he is no longer alive?

 

[ZaZara]

From The Mirror
Parents arrive to be arrested for 'murder' of son who vanished 28 years ago
So I’m wondering if the Father was at the football match whist they were walking or did he go when his wife came home? Seems very strange that he would go on to the football match when his disabled son is missing?
They are also talking about Steven in the past tense, but also more or less implying that he is missing, so why talk in the past tense as if he is no longer alive?

From the link that you posted:

Although Steven had been injured in a road accident in Scotland when he was two, leaving him with a limp, he was still able to walk fairly quickly, Charles said.

He added: “A bad limp affected his walk, but he could have got quite a distance in a short time, we walked to Saltburn regularly.

"He was quick if he wanted to be. There was not a hint of any problems, honestly there was not.”

(...)

His mother described Steven as a very sociable young man.

She said: “Obviously, he hated his disability. But he loved being out with people.”

She said Steven enjoyed music, bowling and going out.


BBM


The only disabilities that I have seen mentioned sofar are a disabled arm and a slight limp. Didn't stop him from walking or bowling or socializing.

This was the age when mobile phones were only starting to appear and not the commodity they are today. When people could not check on everything and everyone and had to make independent decisions. The son was 23 and an adult, not a toddler. So the mother went home and put the kettle on, expecting the son to come home. The father went to a football match.

Sensible behaviour in 1992.

 

[Alyce]

Thanks for that link Funky.

Timings on that day
Mrs C says Steven goes into gents toilets at 3pm as she goes into Ladies.
When she comes out - 3.05pm ? She says that she waited for quite a while - so 20 to 30 minutes ?
She then walked back home which is a 50 minute walk for an average walker.
Sunset at 3.45pm so the last half hour or so of her walk would be dusk, turning dark...did she walk along the beach ?
gets home about 4.30pm and puts the kettle on.
And says her husband then left to go to a football match ..seems a bit late for a bank holiday fixture.

 

[Kitkat28]

The son was 23 and an adult, not a toddler. So the mother went home and put the kettle on, expecting the son to come home. The father went to a football match.

Sensible behaviour in 1992.

Which is all well and good, but how many 23 year old men go out for a random walk with their mother? Wouldn’t it be more typical that he’d have gone to the football with his dad?

If some friends had turned up while his mum was still in the loo, then surely he’d have either waited till she was finished or shouted to her “I'm off mum, see you at home later”.

The Mirror article says that the parents were told they had to wait 72 hours due to Steven being an adult, but still gives no indication of what, if anything, the police did after those 72 hours were up.

 

[Alyce]

Which is all well and good, but how many 23 year old men go out for a random walk with their mother? Wouldn’t it be more typical that he’d have gone to the football with his dad?

If some friends had turned up while his mum was still in the loo, then surely he’d have either waited till she was finished or shouted to her “I'm off mum, see you at home later”.

The Mirror article says that the parents were told they had to wait 72 hours due to Steven being an adult, but still gives no indication of what, if anything, the police did after those 72 hours were up.

Exactly this. He wasn't a young child, who might see his mates, get distracted and head straight off, not thinking about mum - he was a 23 yr old adult and by all accounts a pleasant, sociable person. Surely well mannered enough to wait for a few minutes until his mother came out of the loo and tell her, face to face, that he was off to join his mates.
And, as I've said before, I still find it unbelievable that mum would not check if something had happened to him inside the toilets. Nothing to do with him having a disability, just basic common sense to make sure your son is ok and hasn't had an accident of any kind.

 

[RobinCAL]

Steven Clark murder probe: Searches launched and letter writer sought

 

[Legally Bland]

Steven Clark murder probe: Searches launched and letter writer sought

From the link:

Detectives leading the Steven Clark murder investigation are appealing for an anonymous letter writer to come forward and speak to the force.

On September 24, 1999 an anonymous handwritten letter relating to Steven’s disappearance was posted to Guisborough Police Station.

[...]

The latest appeal comes as specialist search teams begin searches in Marske on Thursday morning.

Cleveland Police have confirmed officers are carrying out land searches today a bid to find Steven.

 

[Skigh]

Land searches...Does that mean they will be digging up a garden. Wonder if the Clarks had an allotment.

 

[MrsWatson]

I'd love to see what was in that letter.

 

[Legally Bland]

Some pics from the search. A couple of locations mentioned:


Police search teams work their way through undergrowth next to a path along the rear of Bydales School in Marske.

[...]

Search teams from North Yorkshire Police are assisting Cleveland in searching undergrowth along the path from the sea front.

The path remains open to dog walkers and cyclists.

The car park where officers are based is Marske Stray car park.

LIVE: Detectives carry out searches in Steven Clark murder probe

 

[RobinCAL]

Steven Clark murder: Appeal for letter writer to come forward

"Police have not revealed the contents but said records showed the information was "assessed by officers and the information was recorded".
Det Ch Insp Shaun Page said: "They obviously felt compelled to write the letter seven years after his disappearance and I would like to hear from them again now."

 

[Skigh]

I'd love to see what was in that letter.

So would I.
I wonder if the information given was taken seriously and investigated at the time it was sent.
Any guesses who might have sent it.
Neighbour?work friend of Steven? Family member?
Why wait that long before sending it.

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Why was the information not acted on in 1999?

 

[Skigh]

Why was the information not acted on in 1999?

Perhaps if it was anonymous it was not taken seriously.

 

[Legally Bland]

Area being searched
This gives an indication of the area being searched by officers.

The focus is around the woodland just off the Coast Road

LIVE: Detectives carry out searches in Steven Clark murder probe