ANNIVERSARY APPEAL - DAVID SPENCER & PATRICK WARREN
It is 22yrs today since the two boys went missing together from Chelmsley Wood in Solihull, West Midlands. Please keep their families in your thoughts
On Boxing Day evening, 26 December 1996, best friends 11yr old Patrick Warren and 12yr old David Spencer left their respective homes, having told their parents they were staying at Patrick’s brother’s house for the night.
When the family realised the boys hadn’t arrived at their destination, Derek Warren, Patrick’s brother went out looking for them and reported them missing. It was quickly established that a police officer had spoken to them the previous afternoon to warn them of the dangers of playing on a frozen pond at Meriden Park. The initial thought was the boys were just hiding and the opinion was they were “lads being lads”. This consensus has unfortunately become a popular stance when boys and young adult males go missing.
It became more evident that foul-play was suspected, especially as Patrick’s treasured Christmas present had been left abandoned. Despite hundreds of appeals from family and West Midlands Police, no traces of them have ever been found. They have appeared on Crimewatch special reports, with lots of TV appearances by their families. Over the years numerous sightings have been reported, but we never corroborated.
In 2003 it was reported that detectives had received an anonymous letter 18 months previously. The letter was traced to Winson Green Prison in Birmingham and implied the boys were buried in Woodgate Valley. However, a police search did not find them. A 37yr old man was arrested, but was later bailed and was not formally charged with their abduction.
The boys were the first to appear on Missing People campaign to feature missing children on milk cartons. This scheme had proven very successful in America, but unfortunately no new leads came forward.
In 2001, Brian Field was convicted of the murder of 14yr old Roy Tutill who had disappeared in 1968 in Surrey. When re-examining the boys case in 2006, police realised he had lived in the area in Chelmsley Wood area in 1996. Detectives went to visit him at Full Sutton prison in York, but he denied any involvement. Police intelligence suggested the boys may have been buried in Old Damson Lane, Soluhill, where Brian Field was known to have dumped garden waste at the time. Specialist officers helped by Professor John Hunter, a forensic archaeologist performed a thorough excavation, but nothing was found.
On the fifteenth anniversary of Patrick & David’s disappearance, the Birmingham Post featured a special report:
Special Report: Chelmsley Wood families of David Spencer and Patrick Warren tell of 15-year anguish
In 2015, Prof. David Wilson, a criminologist at Birmingham University concluded he believes Brian Field is responsible for the boys deaths after police changed the case to a murder enquiry. He spoke to the Daily Express:
Child sex killer may never solve riddle of missing schoolboys who vanished 19 years ago
On the 20th anniversary of their disappearance, Lee O’Toole, David’s brother made a heartfelt plea to continue looking for his brother and his friend. Over the Christmas period most media outlets published articles about re-investigation of their case. The police have re-opened the case codenamed Operation Stenley. For more information please visit:
West Midlands Police
The Mystery of the Milk Carton Kids:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-37999316
Missing People Appeal - Patrick Warren:
https://www.missingpeople.org.uk/h…/patrick-warren-97-000329
Missing People Appeal - David Spencer:
https://www.missingpeople.org.uk/he…/david-spencer-97-000328
#MilkCartonKids #OpStenley #DamiensLaw