Disappearance of Patrick Warren and David Spencer

Patrick Warren
Born Patrick Warren
Disappeared 26 December 1996 (age 11)
Solihull, West Midlands
Status Missing for 21 years, 9 months and 17 days
Nationality British
David Spencer
Born David Spencer
Disappeared 26 December 1996 (age 13)
Solihull, West Midlands
Status Missing for 21 years, 9 months and 17 days
Nationality British

Patrick Warren and David Spencer were two English schoolboys who disappeared on Boxing Day 1996 in the town of Solihull, near Birmingham. Despite numerous appeals from both families, including a BBC Crimewatch special report, the case remains unsolved.[1]

Disappearance

On Boxing Day evening in 1996, best friends Patrick Warren and David Spencer left their Chelmsley Wood homes to visit a friend. They left on brand new bicycles which had been Christmas presents. The boys had been spotted by a police officer earlier that afternoon playing with another group of children in Meriden Park, where they had been warned by the officer not to play on the frozen pond. After returning home, they told their parents of their plans to visit one of Patrick's brothers that evening. Derek Warren, another of Patrick's brothers, went looking for the boys the next day when he found out that they had not arrived. The last known sighting of the boys was just after midnight by a petrol attendant who gave them a packet of biscuits. Patrick's brand new red Apollo bicycle was found abandoned behind the petrol station near the bins.[2] The petrol station attendant said they saw the boys walking toward the local shopping centre.[3]

Later developments

The boys' faces were among the first to be used in a groundbreaking missing person's milk carton ad campaign. On the 10th anniversary of their disappearance, the boys were the subject of a BBC Crimewatch special appeal for information, which drew no fresh leads.[4] In 2003, West Midlands Police publicly announced that they had arrested a 37-year-old man in connection with the disappearances; he was later released on bail and has never been charged.[2] Following a second Crimewatch appeal, fresh new leads were announced by the police. In 2006, the police announced they were "closer than ever" to solving the mystery of what happened to the boys, but despite renewed hope from the families, no one has ever been charged with their abduction.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mail, Birmingham (26 December 2011). "Special Report: Chelmsley Wood families of David Spencer and Patrick Warren tell of 15-year anguish".
  2. 1 2 3 "BBC NEWS - UK - England - West Midlands - Arrest in 1996 missing boys inquiry".
  3. ↑ "Milk Carton Kids – WBNews - Tag". WBNews. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  4. ↑ Cowan, Rosie; correspondent, crime (10 November 2006). "Police talk to jailed child killer over missing boys". The Guardian.
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