Hey there. I'm Kathleen Goldtar, and I have a confession to make. I am a true crime fanatic. I devour books and films, and most of all, true crime podcasts. But sometimes I just want to know more. I want to go deeper. And that's where my podcast, Crime Story, comes in. Every week, I go behind the scenes with the creators of the best in true crime. I chat with the host of Scamanda, Teacher's Pet, Bone Valley. The list goes on. For the Insider scoop, find Crime Story in your podcast app.

In Canada, in 2022, almost 65,000 people were reported missing. That's 177 people every day or seven people every single hour. In the majority of cases, the missing person is traced, safe and sound. But 1% of cases remain open indefinitely. These are the long-term missing, mysteries that haunt the police, friends, and family who live each day with no resolution.

I thought if I worked hard enough for long enough, I'd find him.

Imagine a loved one of yours went missing. Would you ever give up hope or ever stop searching? It's a question none of us can know for sure. But this episode meets a woman who has spent more than 30 years looking for her son. Charles Horbath-Allen disappeared in 1989, and ever since, his mom, Denise, has been looking, campaigning, and pleading for answers.

I have searched the world over and will continue to do so. I'll search for my son until the day I die.

And what What makes this search all the more remarkable is that Charles vanished more than 4,000 miles from home in Canada. Every summer, Denise flies to Canada from the UK to continue the hunt. Every year, she summons up the energy to search for Charles wherever she can.

I said to him, Is this all that's left of my son?

In the summer of 2020, we embarked on this story, and little did we know we were walking into a case with an imminent breakthrough and a life-changing moment for Denise.

I feel that I betrayed my child before I've actually got him in my arms.

I'm Ashley Loeb-Blasingame, and you're listening to The Missing, a What's the Story? Original podcast series. This episode, and all the episodes in the United States and Canada, are brought to you with the help of the DOE Network, a not-for-profit volunteer organization dedicated to returning the missing to their families and giving the names back to the unidentified. And with them, we've set up a simple way for you to share any tips, ideas, leads, or information which can be passed to the relevant authorities. They believe that all of the cases in this series could still be solved. This is the missing, Charles Horbath-Allen. It's June 2020. Denise Allen is in a taxi in the city of London. It's the first time she's left her house in weeks. The COVID restrictions have meant she's been in isolation, shielding to keep herself safe. But not even a global pandemic could stop Denise today. That's because Denise is on her way to possibly the toughest day of her life. We'll jump out here, I think.

There is.

The day she has to tell a court she believes her son is dead.

I said on the right, didn't I? I'm not so terrified of how we'll cope with the ordeal standing there asking a judge to agree to an application for a presumption of death certificate for my child. I don't think there was anything on Earth that can be more soul-destroying. I thought if I worked hard enough or long enough, I'd find him.

This is a story that begins back in 1989, when Denise was in her 30s and her son Charles was a careful free 21-year-old set to explore the world.

Charles was a very adventurous young man. He was a dreamer. He was very loving. He was very kind to people, especially those less privileged as himself. He adored his Nana, his great grandparents. If he was away, as a young adult traveling, he was always aware of not letting his Nana worry or myself. Quite naive. And he would believe anything he was told, sadly. He was very trusting, which is possibly his downfall.

Charles' love of travel had already taken him around Europe, but now he wanted to go further.

He was trying to find his feet and what he was going to do. He'd done various courses, art, printing. He He was curious about Canada, the country he was born. We talked about him going to Canada for a visit. The end result was I got him an early '21st ticket so he could go visit his grandma there and his father, his godfather, and explore the country of his birth.

Charles had no memory of Canada. He left when he was just a few months old. But with family there to keep an eye on him and a world of opportunity, Charles set off wide-eyed and care-free to see what Canada had in store.

Charles had sufficient funds for three months. He had a return ticket If he got work, he could stay longer. There was no time frame put upon his trip. It just as his journey took him. Whilst he was in Quebec, he got a modeling assignment. He had a job during the day and the modeling assignment in the evening. I flew out to watch him on the catwalks, just his stuff. I was so proud of him.

Modeling jobs weren't a regular earner, but Charles was able to find occasional bar work, and with low outgoings, he earned enough to keep funding his travels.

After several weeks in Montreal, he then continued on across Canada by greyhound bus, hitchhiking, whatever means, were available to him. And he reached Ontario and went to Koshina, to the town he was born, which is way, way up north. After visiting there, he traveled south to Southern Ontario and visited with his father. If there was a landline, he would be in touch constantly, and I would call him back. He might be in touch several times in a week or in a month. It varied, but his main concern was, mommy, don't worry.

This was the late '80s. E-mail barely existed, and if you wanted to make plans, you had to do it face-to-face or on the phone. By Now, Charles was in Banff, a tourist destination in the province of Alberta, working in a local hotel. And he seemed to be thinking about a trip back home.

He talked about coming home for his 21st to London.

That was in the last conversation Denise ever had with Charles. He later phoned his father and suggested he might go to Hong Kong instead. He seemed to have a girlfriend, and there was nothing unusual without his indecisive change of plans. A week later, Charles arrived in Colona and pende the facts back home.

Dear Mom, I hope you're well. How are the cats? Alan and Anna. He told me about his job prospects. He gave me the details of the cost of the flights from Vancouver to Hong Kong.

So Hong Kong it was. Denise planned to fly out to see Charles there. She was waiting for his next call to confirm everything, a call that never came.

As the days and weeks passed, I became extremely anxious, and by the end of the month, I I finally phoned the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and very embarrassingly, asked them if they'd see my son in town. I know when Charles was such a character, he talked to anybody. I was hoping and it stumbled across him. Unfortunately, the RCMP were not very helpful. They suggested as he was over 18, if he didn't want to call his mom, he didn't have to. Despite their indifference, I plumped up the courage and continued to call them, begging, pleading for them to help me because I knew something was terribly wrong.

Four weeks had passed. Charles was last known to be in Colona, but he'd not made contact with home. Had he been in an accident, run out of money, gone traveling? Colona is a small city in British Columbia in Western Canada, bordered by Okinaguin Lake to the west and surrounded by parks, forests, and mountains. It was feasible that Charles could have gone on an adventure. And despite Denise's insistence that something was wrong, the police policy wasn't to escalate the case.

We understood at that point that we were not going to get any assistance assistance from the authorities in Canada. I contacted the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, any agencies that may be able to assist with a missing person to no avail. And then we started to plan to make arrangements to go to Canada to look for Charles ourselves.

But where do you begin and looking. Before she set off, Denise sent a letter detailing her journey plans to the local newspaper in Colona. Unbeknown to her, they printed it, and by the time Denise arrived, there was a slew of people wanting to help and tell Denise what they knew.

I was not prepared for the volume of phone calls and information that I would receive the following day from people who'd met Charles via student job agencies, people he'd worked for, friends he'd made, people who'd given him accommodation. And I was trying to write all this information down on little hotel notepads. I was totally ill-prepared. It was extremely difficult to take in.

Amongst the tips and clues was a recent sighting of Charles in town.

We received information that somebody had seen Charles in this little shop just outside Colona. I believe it was Haberdashire, and he was with a young lady. Of course, my mom built all her hopes up, and I said to her, Mom, it won't be him. It won't be him. It's just too easy. We traveled. We found the vicinity where the little shop was, just over the bridge And the young man did look like Charles, but sadly, it wasn't him.

Hey there. I'm Kathleen Goldtar, and I have a confession to make. I am a true crime fanatic. I devour books and films, and most of all, true crime podcasts. But sometimes I just want to know more. I want to go deeper. And that's where my podcast, Crime Story, comes in. Every week, I go behind the scenes with the creators of the best in true crime. I chat with the host of Scamanda, Teacher's Pet, Bone Valley. The list goes on. For the Insider scoop, find Crime Story in your podcast app.

After a couple of days in Colona, Denise was contacted by a couple who'd met Charles while staying at a campsite in the area named Tiny Tent Town.

The couple were from Vancouver Island, and Charles had camped next to them. He was told them about what he was up to and who he met. He'd been on a sailboat downtown. He had a lot to chat with them about. I'd never heard of Tiny Tent Town. Ironically, it was across the street from the Pandosium where we were staying, which was daunting. So eerie. I plumped up courage to go across to the campsite and ask if they'd remembered Charles.

As Denise arrived, she remembers thinking the campsite was...

Filthy, run down, eerie, dirty.

But undeterred, she went inside. If Charles had been staying here, perhaps someone would know where he was headed next.

The first gentleman I met at Tiny Town was very uncomfortable when I asked about Charles. He kept reiterating I had to wait until the manager came back. The manager said he did recall Charles, and then he went to the orange storage shed behind him and returned with three small items that belonged to Charles. A rosary given by his godfather, a tiny red Bible, and a leather strap off Charles' boot. As I held these items in my hands in disbelief, I said to him, Is this all that's left of my son? He stated that his belongings had been thrown away, including his shaving bag, which contained his personal photographs, ID papers, and as I later found out, his passport to be in there also.

There was no suggestion that the staff had been involved. Campsites can sometimes gather lost or abandoned property, but the campsite marked the end of the trail. Denise told the local police what she had learned that Charles had stayed at the tiny tent campsite, and that his belongings appeared to have been left there. Why hadn't he taken them with him? Police searched the site themselves. They learned that some of Charles's clothes had been shared among other residents. And then they had the starkest warning for Denise.

It is the belief of this attachment that your son is dead. We may never find his body or what happened to him. I thought he was insane. I couldn't comprehend how a police officer could say this to a mother who had been telephoning, consistently begging, pleading for help to locate her missing son. And after four days in Colona to be told they believe him to be dead. Why? Why didn't his colleagues listen to his gut feeling. Listen to local knowledge. Why didn't anybody care about my young son?

With that, Denise returned to the UK. Her search for Charles had ended in Colona, and from there, the trail ran cold. Despite clinging on to hope that Charles would turn up, a fax or a call would arrive, nothing did. And then, the weeks turned into months.

When I returned home, all I could think about was going back to Colona to continue the search, continue the investigation, to follow up on lead received. But unfortunately, this wasn't possible. It took two years before I was able to plan the journey to return.

Denise believed the answers had to be in Colona, and this time, Denise would get a breakthrough.

After being in Colona a few days, we received an anonymous letter which was delivered by Yellow Cab to my motel. The note had been collected from a young person by a pay phone and addressed to me. It stated that they were parting at Tiny Town, and two men had knocked Charles out, but he died, his bodies in the lake by the Bridge.

And in mission that Charles had been killed, Denise's world fell apart.

I can't really call much of my feelings at the time, but from sheer horror and panic and disbelief.

Police took the tip off and they started a search by the bridge. For two days, all Denise could do was wait and wonder.

My volunteer team had asked me to stay away from the side of the lake as it was extremely traumatic for them searching for my child. I did what they asked, and I stayed at the motel hotel. During this time, we received a second anonymous note, which was delivered in the same method by Yellow Cab to my motel. Well. The second note stated that they were searching on the wrong side of the bridge.

Somebody was watching the police, someone who seemingly wanted Charles to be found.

On the fifth day of the search, the RCMP divers joined the search. Around 2:20, the tires breached to my motel door. The two police officers jumped out of the car and were very anxious, saying that a body had been found. I just shook my head with disbelief at the whole scenario. They came into my motel room and told me what the body was clothed in. I was in total shock. The gentleman had long John's, Corderoy trousers, Hush Puppies. I told the RCMP that my grandfather would have worn these clothing. Not my son. Charles was 20 years old, 6-foot-tall young man. He would have been in a pair of M&S briefs. Blue jeans, black jeans. Certainly not. Hush puppies.

Denise was shell-shocked in a foreign country and struggling to deal with the news that Charles's body had been found. The next day, a coroner came to speak with her.

I was in disbelief. I asked him if they'd identified the body. He said, No, but we're sure it's Charles. I couldn't believe that they were doing I asked where the body was because I didn't know if I wanted to view it covered with a sheet. I knew how tall my son was. I'd watched him grow for 20 years. I just couldn't comprehend what he was saying. And I said, Have you identified it? No. But we're sure it's Charles.

So that was that until later in the day when there was another visitor.

The coroner came to the motel with a press release, timed at 5:25. The press release stated it was not the body of Charles. I couldn't believe it wasn't him. Part of me wished it was all over because of the three years I'd endured of pure hell not knowing the fate of my only son. The other part, hoping against all odds that he'd be out there somewhere, hoping we'd find him alive.

The body was that of an older man who had apparently taken his own life several years earlier. Tragically, it was another family who had been thrown into mourning. But Denise and her family went back into limbo, not knowing if Charles was alive or dead. What could they make of the tip-off delivered by hand to her motel? Someone had to know what had happened to Charles, but their information wasn't enough.

I know there are people in Colona who know the fate of my young son, but unfortunately, they're too afraid to come forward. I don't understand why when they can remain anonymous, but I don't live there. I don't walk in their shoes. I just pray that whilst I'm still alive, they will somehow find the courage to come forward and tell someone where the remains of my son may be located.

At the start of 2020, Denise was planning once again to visit Canada. She's been countless times now. Each trip, hoping and praying it would be the one where she finds the answers. She believes it's all she can do as a mother to continue to keep the hope alive.

The toll taken upon my family over the 31 long year, Search for Charles, has been unimaginable. The pain, The heartache, the duress, the hope. Would it be this year, the search would be over? Would it be tomorrow? The day after? The day after? Every day hoping against all odds that one person who knows where his remains lay would make the call to tell where we could recover his body.

But by the summer of 2020, Denise was preparing for something different, a court hearing, a hearing to decide decide whether Charles would be declared dead. It's something Denise never wanted to happen, but a death certificate allows her to arrange Charles's affairs, something she hasn't been able to do for 31 years. It's down to a judge in the high court to decide whether to grant one.

If the judge grants the presumption of death certificate, it will enable me to attend to Charles's financial affairs. Emotionally, it will be devastating for me as I feel that I betrayed my child before I've actually got him in my arms. But I don't have a choice. I shall be 71 years old shortly, and none of us are immortal. These legal matters have to be attended to.

The judge did grant the certificate. He agreed that with no word from Charles and the circumstances around his last known movements in Colona, it's likely he is dead. But having that certificate doesn't end the suffering for Denise. For her, the search isn't over.

I will never stop searching for answers. I have searched the world over for 31 years and will continue to do so as long as I can stand, walk, and talk. I'll search for my son until the day I die.

In 2020, Denise was offered a lifeline. Locate International are a team of ex-detectives and specialists set up to reinvestigate missing person's cases. They've identified Charles' case as one they believe they can help. And now, six criminology students from Leeds Becket University are investigating his disappearance one more. This is Dave Grimset, a former senior police officer who now leads the new inquiries.

There are over 4,500 unsolved missing people cases that are 12 months or more old. That's a huge number of families who have lost a loved one. We know that the police service are engaged day to day in missing persons investigations. I've been there myself as a Detective Inspector responsible for reviewing unsolved cases where we haven't been able to make progress, trying to find the resources to apply to those cases when the police service are faced with the demands of everyday policing. It is difficult to get those resources. That was one of the reasons that we formed Locate was to provide support for the families and for the police at no cost to them.

Fresh pairs of eyes, a fresh impetus, and they hoped this new investigation might at last shine some new light on what happened to Charles. They're pouring over online records, revisiting the original news coverage, and tracking down the people who knew Charles.

There is always the opportunity opportunity to discover more information, whether it's cross-matching a missing person with unidentified body or remains. We also know that allegences can change over time. We know that in a case like Charles, that even over 30 years after the case, we know that there may be somebody there with the information that can make a difference to that case. So we will go right back to the start, build the timeline, and look to investigate those places where Charles went, where he spent time, who he associated with.

Their focus is on Colona, but they'll keep an open mind, searching wherever the clues take them. And while they're hoping they can uncover new leads, they want the public to help. Locate work by bringing the public to their investigations. The more minds they can have on the case, the more chance of finding finding answers.

I would urge the public to think about their own skills, to think about how if they want to volunteer to be able to use those skills in a positive way, There is the mechanism to do that. There is the route to do that, and you could make a difference in a missing person's investigation.

In November 2020, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police got in touch with Locate. They stressed trust that they're committed to pursuing any new lead. For them, the case will never be closed, but it will need new information. If you're the person who sent the anonymous tip off to Denise, if you were in Colona in 1989, or you stayed at the same campsite, and you have any information to share, please get in touch. The Missing is a What's the Story original podcast series. It's hosted by me, Ashley Loeb-Blasingame. And this episode is made with the support of DOE Network. They're a nonprofit volunteer organization who are dedicated to returning the missing to their families and giving the names back to the unidentified. They believe this case is one which could be solved, and it could take just one person to come forward with information. They've set up a dedicated email address where you can share tips, leads, or information. Missing podcast podcast tips@donetwork. Org. You can also visit their website, www. Donetwork. Org, to find information on hundreds of unsolved missing persons' cases. For more images and detail on this episode, you can visit www. Themissingpodcast. Org.

All of this information and the ways to get in touch are in the show notes. This episode was produced and edited by Jack O'Kennedy. Executive producers for What's the Story are Darryl Brown and Sophie Ellis.

At the heart of this violent, bloody case is a love story, a very unusual love story.

The Ruxton case is different. Any investigation before the Ruxton case was ancient history.

It changed the way that we investigate serious crime.

Beyond Recommission is a new limited series coming to the Small Town Dix podcast feed on July 19th. Don't miss it. Don't forget, if If you want to hear The Missing completely ad-free and get them first, then join The Missing Plus. Your subscription helps to keep the show on air. It isn't funded by any major platform, and it grows purely by word of mouth and support from listeners. You'll get exclusive access to series you can't hear anywhere else, as well as early access to all episodes of The Missing completely ad-free. Signing up is really easy. Easy. Just search Missing Plus in Apple Podcasts or follow the link in the show notes.