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

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StillDiggin

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Steven Clark: Two arrested for murder of Marske man missing since 1992

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Steven Clark, who was 23 when he disappeared, was last seen using the toilets near Saltburn pier on 28 December 1992.

Detectives believe Mr Clark, who was left disabled from injuries in a car crash as a child, had "come to harm".
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A missing persons report said Mr Clark, who lived in Marske-by-the-Sea was last seen at 15:00 GMT after a family walk.
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The report said he went to use the gents' public toilets on Saltburn promenade while his mother went into the ladies at the same time. He was not seen coming out of the toilets and did not return home.

Det Ch Insp Shaun Page said understanding Mr Clark's relationships with those who knew him was key to the investigation.
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Mr Clark had a severely damaged left arm, a damaged leg and pronounced limp with his ability to walk described as severely impaired.

Shortly before he went missing he was awarded the apprentice of the year award from the Rathbone Society in Redcar which helped people with disabilities improve their employment skills.

Steven Clark: Two arrested for murder of Marske man missing since 1992
 
Article published in 2010
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It was when they were just short of this age bracket that Steven Clark and Craig Hetherington vanished without a trace. Steven's mother Doris had accompanied him on a walk on Saltburn beach just after the Christmas of 1992 when, just as they were about to head home, he said he wanted to pop to the toilet. As he went into the gents, Doris went into the ladies. It was the last time she saw her son.

"When I came out, I did look around but then I thought, 'I'll just pop home and get the kettle on and be waiting for him,'" she says. "When his dad came back from the football match I said, 'Steven hasn't come back yet' and after a while, we went onto the beach with torches, then his dad went travelling around the area in the car. You think, 'Where on earth could he be?' Nobody would dream that somebody would just disappear."
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She admits to being angry over what he has put the family through and jokes about giving him "a cuddle first and a slap later" if he ever came home. But she can't keep a trace of bitterness from her voice when she says: "People say that he has every right to do what he wants because he's an adult, and he has, but we would still like to know where he is."

Some more details and other older articles about Steven's case - Clark, Steven December 1992
 
From the Daily Mail

Elderly parents of 23-year-old who disappeared in 1992 when he went into public toilet say it is 'absolutely ludicrous' that they have been arrested for his murder 28 years later

"The elderly parents of a 23-year-old who disappeared in 1992 have said their arrest this week for his murder was 'absolutely ludicrous'.

Doris and Charles Clark have previously appealed for help in solving the mystery of what happened to their son Steven just after Christmas, almost 28 years ago.

The missing persons report stated that he was on a family walk and used the gents' public toilets near the pier on the promenade at Saltburn, Cleveland, while his mother went into the ladies' at the same time."


"When he failed to come out, the missing persons report stated his mother thought he must have made his way home, but they never saw him again.

No body has ever been found.

Detectives from the Cleveland and North Yorkshire Cold Case Unit reopened the case earlier this year.

As a result, officers began a murder investigation as there was no proof of life, and said they had arrested two people."

"Cleveland Police would not disclose any details about their sex or age. They have since been bailed.

At her neat semi-detached home close to the beach in Marske-by-the-Sea, Mrs Clark confirmed she and her husband were arrested on suspicion of murder.

She said: 'It's just absolutely ludicrous. There's nothing more to say, it's surreal."
 
MajorHoople said:
From the Daily Mail

Elderly parents of 23-year-old who disappeared in 1992 when he went into public toilet say it is 'absolutely ludicrous' that they have been arrested for his murder 28 years later

"The elderly parents of a 23-year-old who disappeared in 1992 have said their arrest this week for his murder was 'absolutely ludicrous'.

Doris and Charles Clark have previously appealed for help in solving the mystery of what happened to their son Steven just after Christmas, almost 28 years ago.

The missing persons report stated that he was on a family walk and used the gents' public toilets near the pier on the promenade at Saltburn, Cleveland, while his mother went into the ladies' at the same time."


"When he failed to come out, the missing persons report stated his mother thought he must have made his way home, but they never saw him again.

No body has ever been found.

Detectives from the Cleveland and North Yorkshire Cold Case Unit reopened the case earlier this year.

As a result, officers began a murder investigation as there was no proof of life, and said they had arrested two people."

"Cleveland Police would not disclose any details about their sex or age. They have since been bailed.

At her neat semi-detached home close to the beach in Marske-by-the-Sea, Mrs Clark confirmed she and her husband were arrested on suspicion of murder.

She said: 'It's just absolutely ludicrous. There's nothing more to say, it's surreal."
Click to expand...

Wow, after all this time! I wonder what convincing evidence they have uncovered.
 
Yes i also want to see what evidence they have. One point i will say if a male goes to the toilet and is attacked, stabbed, forced in a vechicle etc, the attacker would have to make sure there is no scream which the mother in the neighbouring ladies toilet could have heard.
 
StillDiggin said:
Yes i also want to see what evidence they have. One point i will say if a male goes to the toilet and is attacked, stabbed, forced in a vechicle etc, the attacker would have to make sure there is no scream which the mother in the neighbouring ladies toilet could have heard.
Click to expand...
 
Before I even saw the pic - in link above - I had in mind this kind of toilet set up on the Promenade.

Now,having seen the pic, I do find it strange that - if two people are using the toilets - that one would just come out and walk away and not wait for the other person.
Did Mrs Clark ask the next male going into the toilets to check if Steve was there ? did she look around the area at all - the Promenade seems quite open, as is the road to the side that goes up the hill.
Quite easy, I would have thought, to see someone even if they were a distance away.

all just MOO and could be much that is not being reported as to what exactly happened that afternoon.
 
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I wonder if they were even actually at the Prom that day. Maybe that's what LE has, some proof that they weren't where they claimed to be?

JMO but it seems strange that after all these years, the parents are arrested. Unless LE always had something that pointed in that direction and are now able to prove it. Forensics, CCTV enhancement, etc.
 
Officers have now appealed for information from those who knew Mr Clark, or anyone who may have seen something odd on that Christmas Bank Holiday weekend.

Cleveland Police said the key to the investigation was establishing what his relationships were like with the people he knew at the time of his disappearance.

[...]

Asked if she thought publicity about the case could help solve the mystery, she replied: 'It's 28 years ago. How on earth can anyone remember anything on that day? How can they (the police) ask other people, I cannot imagine anybody would remember.

[...]

In an appeal 10 years ago in the Teeside-based Gazette newspaper, Mrs Clark said: 'There are times when I think, 'it's never going to happen'.

'But it's got to. Surely, something has got to turn up. Somebody out there knows something.'

Murder detectives arrest two over disappearance of 23-year-old man last seen 28 years ago | Daily Mail Online


I guess views can change over time.
 
I wonder how long the parents waited to call the police to report Steven missing. How much longer did it take the police to investigate the toilets? What did they find there?

Google is telling me Marske to Saltburn is a 48 minute walk. That seems quite ambitious for someone with the reasonably severe disabilities that it sounds as though Steven may have had.
 
Sunset on that day was around 3.45pm. Mrs C says she waited for * quite a while * before heading off home.
I wonder how long that actually was. As KitKat has said, it's a 48 minute walk home , so she might not have wanted to walk home in the dark.
But surely she would at least have had a look inside the toilets before she left, just to make sure Steven was not there. After a few minutes of waiting and if no one else came out of the mens toilets, then it would have been almost obvious that there was no one else in there. So, if no other male turned up, that she could ask to check for her, then why not just go inside. It would seem rather odd not to do that because - for all she knew - Steven might have collapsed or injured himself.
 
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