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

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  1. I have not found any thing specific from the Rathbone society,who awarded him the apprentice of the year award.The Rathbone society appears to be a national organization set up to support people with learning difficulties. So Steven,as we had guessed did have some level of mental impairment.
This is what they do:
  1. We provide support for people with learning disabilities/difficulties to live as independently as possible in their own homes and local community. This can include support to access training, further education, volunteering and employment opportunities; securing and maintaining safe accommodation; accessing health services, managing finances and a range of social and leisure activities.
 
Skigh said:
  1. I have not found any thing specific from the Rathbone society,who awarded him the apprentice of the year award.The Rathbone society appears to be a national organization set up to support people with learning difficulties. So Steven,as we had guessed did have some level of mental impairment.
This is what they do:
  1. We provide support for people with learning disabilities/difficulties to live as independently as possible in their own homes and local community. This can include support to access training, further education, volunteering and employment opportunities; securing and maintaining safe accommodation; accessing health services, managing finances and a range of social and leisure activities.
Click to expand...
I could be wrong, but I think Steven may have mad acquired cerebral palsy due to a brain injury from the car accident. I have read varying reports about his level of mobility but I find it worrying that his parents weren’t more concerned right after he went missing given his disabilities.
 
Funky funky said:
I could be wrong, but I think Steven may have mad acquired cerebral palsy due to a brain injury from the car accident. I have read varying reports about his level of mobility but I find it worrying that his parents weren’t more concerned right after he went missing given his disabilities.
Click to expand...

There has been virtually nothing said indicating he had learning difficulties or the severity of them.
I find it incredibly that a full scale search was not made when he was first was reported missing as he was obviously a vulnerable person.

It is unbelievable that his mother would say he could be living an independent life somewhere.
 
Last edited:
Skigh said:
There has been virtually nothing said indicating he had learning difficulties or the severity of them.
I find it incredibly that a full scale search was not made when he was first was reported missing as he was obviously a vulnerable person.

It is unbelievable that his mother would say he could be living an independent life somewhere.was
Click to expand...

I’ve read that he had ‘mild learning difficulties’ ACP can come in many levels. I have also read conflicting reports that he was mobile but at the same time couldn’t walk long distances.
Personally, I’d be worried if my son suddenly disappeared even if he didn’t have learning disabilities. I certainly wouldn’t head on my way and go off to a football match.
If Steven did have ACP then he wouldn’t have very good cognitive skills or intellectual intelligence. I’d really love to know the level of care he required.
 
Thanks, @Alyce . I'm just looking in the archive sections of papers I've found online. Unfortunately, since I am not a native Brit, my geography is not great, so I'm not sure which areas I should be looking in. It might be worthwhile to just email the reporter who did some recent bits in the Echo, encourage a rehash of the initial coverage?
 
I’ve taken this from Cerebralpalsy.org

Acquired Cerebral Palsy can also result from head injury caused by a motor accident, a fall, a near-drowning experience, or abuse. Shaken baby syndrome can result in acquired Cerebral Palsy if the brain has not yet developed when the injury occurred.
 
Funky funky said:
I’ve read that he had ‘mild learning difficulties’ ACP can come in many levels. I have also read conflicting reports that he was mobile but at the same time couldn’t walk long distances.
Personally, I’d be worried if my son suddenly disappeared even if he didn’t have learning disabilities. I certainly wouldn’t head on my way and go off to a football match.
If Steven did have ACP then he wouldn’t have very good cognitive skills or intellectual intelligence. I’d really love to know the level of care he required.
Click to expand...

The going out to a football match,is probably a reporting error.There have been other reports which say she popped on the kettle whilst waiting for her husband to return from football,(and for Steven to appear)which is most likely correct as most matches have a 3pm kick off.
I too would like to know the degree of his mental disabilities.
Looking at his photos I would say they were not mild.
I do not understand why other family members, locals and people at the Rathbone society did not go to the police and question the Clarks' story when they first told it in 1992.
 
MrsWatson said:
Thanks, @Alyce . I'm just looking in the archive sections of papers I've found online. Unfortunately, since I am not a native Brit, my geography is not great, so I'm not sure which areas I should be looking in. It might be worthwhile to just email the reporter who did some recent bits in the Echo, encourage a rehash of the initial coverage?
Click to expand...

Good idea, I will do that
 
Hi Guys,

I've been following this for a number of years & recall when it was reported he went missing.

I vaguely remember the local media/press reports. For some reason I don't think there was a massive media presence/reporting and I'm inclined to believe there was more coverage on the anniversary/anniversaries of his disappearance than at the actual time. However that could be due to my young age in the 90s & not reading/watching news.

I've tried to search the archives of the local newspapers too, but as someone already stated, they only seem to go back to 1995. Hope someone has some more luck with this.

I think you would have to visit the local/Teesside archives in person to view the reports/newspapers from that time?

I'm aware there was a Middlesbrough Vs Crystal Palace football match which had a 3pm kick off.

I assume this is the football match referred to, unless there was a local football club match that day also?

I just wanted to pick up on Skigh's comment of:

'The going out to a football match, is probably a reporting error'.

I'm wondering the same & immediately picked up on that.

I would believe you would have to leave Marske at approx/even before 2pm to get to Ayresome Park Football stadium for a 3pm Kick off. Allowing for traffic/parking/queues etc if driving or even by public transport.

I can't see how he could have been leaving after 3pm, if indeed this was the football match in question. Surely a reporting error or different football match?

I also bare in mind the age of the parents. Could she have simply forgotten if the father was at home or not? Maybe he would know where he was though?

What I'd like to find out is the exact weather for that day in Marske along with tide times?

Does anyone live near there who would remember or can anyone find out online?

Although Middlesbrough is approx 10 miles away and Marske is more coastal, I've tried to find footage of the football game just to try & gauge the weather.

I came across a tweet from someone who mentioned this particular 1992 football game and saying how they remember how cold they were.

In Steven's Missing poster, it also states the photo shows the clothes he was wearing when he went missing. This duffle? type coat would suggest is was a cold day. Although the North East in December probably always is!

I just wonder whether it was Sunny/Windy/Dry/Wet/Snowy etc, especially on the coast/beach?

I'm also trying to work out all the possible routes from Saltburn to Marske Steven could have taken on foot.

It would seem the beach is the easiest/quickest route back to Marske? However, I don't think the alternative routes would have added too much longer to the journey should the weather/tide times make the beach not a good route?


I think the below website can help with historical tide times for North Shields/Whitby but have no idea how to use?

Any help with the weather/tide times would be interesting.

Download processed UK Tide Gauge Network data from BODC
 
Hi - @what Did You Find Welcome to the thread and thanks for your useful input.

I think, as Skigh said, the football situation was a reporting error - this quote below, from Mrs C, makes it clearer ( I hope ) that Mr C had already gone to the match earlier in the day and only learnt about Steven being missing when he arrived home that evening.


"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'

Archive news from the The Northern Echo




We have worked out some approximate timings for that day.

2pm ( possibly earlier ) Mr C leaves home in Marske to go to the match - agree with you, we also decided that the 3pm kick off was the correct match that he attended

2.15pm latest ( could have been much earlier ) Mrs C and Steven set out to walk along the beach to Saltburn ( 45-50 minutes for an average walker )

3.00pm Steven and Mrs C are in Saltburn, near to the Pier. They are ready to return home when Steven decides to nip to the toilet and Mrs C does likewise.

3.05pm ?? Mrs C exits the ladies toilets.

From here we have two versions of what she did ( both direct quotes from Mrs C )

Version One
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

Version Two
When I came out and waited for quite a while to see if he was there, or if he was coming out, nothing happened. He didn't appear and we haven't seen him since."

So either
she had a quick look round and then set off for home
or
she waited maybe 20-30 minutes.

If she did a quick look round and left at - say -3.10pm, she would be home by about 4.pm
If she did wait * quite a while * and departed circa 3.30pm, then she would arrive home 4.20pm

The difference in timing could be interesting - sunset was 3.45pm that day, so her later departure would mean walking in almost darkness for the final stretch of her journey along the beach. Maybe she took a torch in anticipation of a later return that day ?

6pm or thereabouts. Mr C returns home from the match. That is assuming he drove straight home and didn't stop off for a drink with pals.

6.30pm ? Mr and Mrs C head down to the beach with torches to search for Steven.

some time later that evening - Mr C drives around the area searching for Steven.

Later again that evening - Mr and Mrs C report Steven missing to the police.
Police advise them to wait 72 hours before making a missing report.
Mrs C's comment of
The police were good after the first couple of days

does seem to indicate that the Clarks waited out the 72 hour period
 
Last edited:
what-did-YOU-find said:
Hi Guys,

I've been following this for a number of years & recall when it was reported he went missing.

I vaguely remember the local media/press reports. For some reason I don't think there was a massive media presence/reporting and I'm inclined to believe there was more coverage on the anniversary/anniversaries of his disappearance than at the actual time. However that could be due to my young age in the 90s & not reading/watching news.

I've tried to search the archives of the local newspapers too, but as someone already stated, they only seem to go back to 1995. Hope someone has some more luck with this.

I think you would have to visit the local/Teesside archives in person to view the reports/newspapers from that time?

I'm aware there was a Middlesbrough Vs Crystal Palace football match which had a 3pm kick off.

I assume this is the football match referred to, unless there was a local football club match that day also?

I just wanted to pick up on Skigh's comment of:

'The going out to a football match, is probably a reporting error'.

I'm wondering the same & immediately picked up on that.

I would believe you would have to leave Marske at approx/even before 2pm to get to Ayresome Park Football stadium for a 3pm Kick off. Allowing for traffic/parking/queues etc if driving or even by public transport.

I can't see how he could have been leaving after 3pm, if indeed this was the football match in question. Surely a reporting error or different football match?

I also bare in mind the age of the parents. Could she have simply forgotten if the father was at home or not? Maybe he would know where he was though?

What I'd like to find out is the exact weather for that day in Marske along with tide times?

Does anyone live near there who would remember or can anyone find out online?

Although Middlesbrough is approx 10 miles away and Marske is more coastal, I've tried to find footage of the football game just to try & gauge the weather.

I came across a tweet from someone who mentioned this particular 1992 football game and saying how they remember how cold they were.

In Steven's Missing poster, it also states the photo shows the clothes he was wearing when he went missing. This duffle? type coat would suggest is was a cold day. Although the North East in December probably always is!

I just wonder whether it was Sunny/Windy/Dry/Wet/Snowy etc, especially on the coast/beach?

I'm also trying to work out all the possible routes from Saltburn to Marske Steven could have taken on foot.

It would seem the beach is the easiest/quickest route back to Marske? However, I don't think the alternative routes would have added too much longer to the journey should the weather/tide times make the beach not a good route?


I think the below website can help with historical tide times for North Shields/Whitby but have no idea how to use?

Any help with the weather/tide times would be interesting.

Download processed UK Tide Gauge Network data from BODC
Click to expand...

good to have you in this thread.

I have not yet found a weather report for that exact day in Marske.
I did find a general weather report for December 1992,which I posted earlier ,which was that up to 21st December it was mild, after that it turned much colder with frosts ,the coldest weather since 1981.
It was dry .
 
Just snipped this from your post WhatDidYouFind


I also bare in mind the age of the parents. Could she have simply forgotten if the father was at home or not? Maybe he would know where he was though?

At the time Steven went missing, Mrs C was 54 and Mr C was 51.
 
So their house is literally doors down from mine and the police are on day 3 of searching it.
My dad and also a friend’s mum knows Charles and Doris from the bowling club and told me 2 things:

1) that the Clark’s laid a patio a few weeks/months after, he couldn’t remember how close but does remember people ‘joking’ “oh now we know where steven is”.

2) been told a few times, by the parents, that on the day he went missing him and his dad argued about the Boro ticket. Steven wanted his dad to pay for a ticket and take him, but Charles told him to pay for it himself.
 
I read somewhere (possibly the DM) that his father was an ex policeman. Perhaps that, based with the lackadaisical approach of that said force (based on other reports) meant that they just took their word for it?
Also, if Stephen did walk on home as she thought, wouldn’t she have at one stage caught up with him as his walking was impaired?
Like I said before, I think Steven came to harm before the walk, his father used the football match as an alibi of sorts and the mother the walk.
I also read in the DM that no one saw him coming out of the toilet. Did anyone see him going into the toilet?
 
Thank you for the warm welcome :) along with the information you guys have.

One of the reasons I'm interested in the tide times is I know tides are normally high/low every 12 hours. I just wondered what the tide would be at 6pm or just after when the clarks were searching it in the dark?
At 2pm was the tide coming in/going out etc?

I've found reference to a BBC TV show "the day they disappeared" which featured Steven & his family

TV show gives mum hope of finding son

Anyone know where you would be able to watch this?
 
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