Deceased/Not Found UK - Steven Clark, 23, disabled, Saltburn, 28 Dec 1992

[Inspector Evans]

How did his father or even both manage to do that?

My realistic assumption was there might've been an altercation at the house that day. Or the day before.

His Father admitted in the docu he'd got physical with him previously when he turned up drunk one night from nearby pub so not hard to see things escalating with him getting older and tension of Xmas.

He also didn't go to the football match that day which imo is another significant detail that should've been investigated much more thoroughly. Why? Again his Father claims he didn't want to pay his own way but that makes little sense as he'd recently won that gifted award which came with sizeable grant for the time and football prices in 1992 were nowhere near the prices they are today, guessing a tenner to get in.

Too many holes in the parents story of that day I'm afraid that I don't think was probably scrutinised at the time by local police and media as I find too much of it far fetched.

 

[wtiger]

always been dubious of the parents account of that day - something just does not smell right about this case to me

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

Man missing for 28 years in 'unsolved murder' seen in footage

Apologies if this has been posted before, I have been reading the thread with great interest and do not remember seeing it.

There has been a lot of questions about how disabled Steven was and his ability to walk (or even run) distances. This clip shows him walking and a very small amount of him talking as well which I think gives us a real insight into the level of disability he had..

Just bumping this post from earlier in the Thread for anyone who hasnt seen it. It briefly shows Steven walking and using IT.

 

[ekardh]

My realistic assumption was there might've been an altercation at the house that day. Or the day before.

His Father admitted in the docu he'd got physical with him previously when he turned up drunk one night from nearby pub so not hard to see things escalating with him getting older and tension of Xmas.

He also didn't go to the football match that day which imo is another significant detail that should've been investigated much more thoroughly. Why? Again his Father claims he didn't want to pay his own way but that makes little sense as he'd recently won that gifted award which came with sizeable grant for the time and football prices in 1992 were nowhere near the prices they are today, guessing a tenner to get in.

Too many holes in the parents story of that day I'm afraid that I don't think was probably scrutinised at the time by local police and media as I find too much of it far fetched.

And apparently the last sighting of Steven independent of his parents was 3 days before he went missing, so if they were responsible, they had time to get rid of the body before they concocted their alibis.

No one can verify that Charles went to the football match, and no one can verify that Doris and Steven were on the walk. If the latter could be verified, that would at least lend some credence to Doris' story, but the fact there's no trace of the parents movements that day is a massive red flag.

 

[ctaylor]

Just had another look in newspaper archives and this is an article from The Northern Echo of 20 September 1999 and again Steven's father states that Steven was seen 3 days later and "behaved as if he didn't want to be found". How would a witness know that? 3 days later would have been New Years Eve and if he didn't want to be found he would surely not be in the area or be laying low on a busy day?

 

[avob00]

Have the parents taken action against the police? I listened to the podcast with Steven’s sister from a few years back and she said the parents were in the process of trying to get financial compensation for their “torture” during the arrests.

 

[annpats]

Have the parents taken action against the police? I listened to the podcast with Steven’s sister from a few years back and she said the parents were in the process of trying to get financial compensation for their “torture” during the arrests.

An article from 2021 stating the police put them through "mental torture" by letting the investigation against them drag on for longer than they felt needed, and also for digging up their garden and moving the shed to look underneath it.

Steven Clark: Parents speak of 'mental torture' they endured after arrest over his disappearance

THE elderly couple who were accused of murdering their own son have spoken of the 'mental torture' they endured during the four-month long…

www.thenorthernecho.co.uk

 

[branmuffin]

Could he run at all? He had a bad leg.

I went to school with a boy who had one leg shorter than the other so he wore a shoe with a big thick sole so even though his height seemed even, his knees weren't even since his lower leg was withered. So if he was similar to Steven he'd be able to move faster he would have to adjust to the difference by hitching his leg

It's a strange one as it was 40 minutes to get there with Steven's limp. So loads of people would've ID'ed them on the route if it happened as was a bank holiday.

Can't remember any of the story at the time due to age so can only assume police just took their word the walk happened and so didn't just appeal for eyewitnesses for that day?

Then as years have gone on with no serious leads at all they perhaps suspect they should've appealed more to the local community while memories were still fresh.

The whole story to me has just never made sense from the Mother just walking away while he was apparently still in the toilet! How many parents on here would genuinely do this if your Son/Daughter had gone in. Unless thousands do this in shopping centres/railway stations?

Very odd behaviour if that is genuinely what happened. Only logic is it was his home turf so he knew how to get back home compared to other parts of the U.K.

I don't think the behavior is odd at all. Their son was disabled physically but he wasn't disabled mentally. The accident that caused his disability happened in Edinburgh, Scotland when he was two. So for his whole life up until he went missing, his disability may have been the overriding identifier as he grew up. He may not have been able to access the care for rehabilitation while in a foreign country and ultimately experienced all the negative things that could have occurred in his life: the staring, the isolation, the diminished ability to play sport or going out on a bike ride with other kids, to go to a dance with a girl, going on a date, all sorts of normal things that kids growing up experience. Include in that, the moving from one country to another, eventually being physically comfortable in his space only to be uprooted to move back to the UK. It sounds to me that his parents were equal parts solicitous to his disability but also frustrated with the child they basically created: a child who may have been injured because of a momentary lapse in care creating guilt for his injuries. He received a fairly sizeable payout which was managed by his parents and as he aged he wanted access to those funds. He had a job but he wasn't amenable to shelling out his own funds for entertainment according to his parents which caused some arguments and I believe them. It seemed he wanted his independence but was tied to his parents physically, financially and emotionally and I think a lot of arguments occurred in that household as to the viability of him living independently. It's possible there was a lot of yelling and storming off about a lot of things in that household; two former cops who's jobs required adherence to rules and regulations who straddled rules and the relaxing of rules who battled with guilt, frustration and fear for his future, a daughter who seemed to be an enigma, an afterthought or an observer and a man who struggled with dependence and a desire for autonomy. I don't know what really occurred the day that SC went missing but if he stormed off out of the house and never returned for hours and hours I can see the parents concocting the story about the walk and him leaving the lavatories and the mom not seeing him after that because public opinion about letting a disabled man takes off in anger and not do anything about for hours comes across as unfeeling when it could have just been emotional and physical exhaustion. After 34 years, after being arrested for murder, having their property dug up then having charges dropped, if LE had any indication of their guilt they'd charge them.

 

[avob00]

I went to school with a boy who had one leg shorter than the other so he wore a shoe with a big thick sole so even though his height seemed even, his knees weren't even since his lower leg was withered. So if he was similar to Steven he'd be able to move faster he would have to adjust to the difference by hitching his leg


I don't think the behavior is odd at all. Their son was disabled physically but he wasn't disabled mentally. The accident that caused his disability happened in Edinburgh, Scotland when he was two. So for his whole life up until he went missing, his disability may have been the overriding identifier as he grew up. He may not have been able to access the care for rehabilitation while in a foreign country and ultimately experienced all the negative things that could have occurred in his life: the staring, the isolation, the diminished ability to play sport or going out on a bike ride with other kids, to go to a dance with a girl, going on a date, all sorts of normal things that kids growing up experience. Include in that, the moving from one country to another, eventually being physically comfortable in his space only to be uprooted to move back to the UK. It sounds to me that his parents were equal parts solicitous to his disability but also frustrated with the child they basically created: a child who may have been injured because of a momentary lapse in care creating guilt for his injuries. He received a fairly sizeable payout which was managed by his parents and as he aged he wanted access to those funds. He had a job but he wasn't amenable to shelling out his own funds for entertainment according to his parents which caused some arguments and I believe them. It seemed he wanted his independence but was tied to his parents physically, financially and emotionally and I think a lot of arguments occurred in that household as to the viability of him living independently. It's possible there was a lot of yelling and storming off about a lot of things in that household; two former cops who's jobs required adherence to rules and regulations who straddled rules and the relaxing of rules who battled with guilt, frustration and fear for his future, a daughter who seemed to be an enigma, an afterthought or an observer and a man who struggled with dependence and a desire for autonomy. I don't know what really occurred the day that SC went missing but if he stormed off out of the house and never returned for hours and hours I can see the parents concocting the story about the walk and him leaving the lavatories and the mom not seeing him after that because public opinion about letting a disabled man takes off in anger and not do anything about for hours comes across as unfeeling when it could have just been emotional and physical exhaustion. After 34 years, after being arrested for murder, having their property dug up then having charges dropped, if LE had any indication of their guilt they'd charge them.

Thank you for this very detailed insight. If his parents are indeed not involved, I wonder what could have happened.

There’s no evidence the mother ever went on the walk or that the father went to the match. The parents have done very little if anything over the years prior to the arrests to keep his name in the public eye. As former police they should’ve been hounding the force.

The match especially should be somewhat possible to prove given the number of witnesses there. Surely some regulars would know the father. I know there wouldn’t be any transaction trace as it wasn’t online all those years ago and obviously not paid by card. And CCTV not a thing or else written over in the days that followed. I could be missing something, but I don’t think the police did any digging whatsoever to verify his statement. I know for the mother they couldn’t get any witnesses to verify her presence at Saltburn.

If they had no involvement whatsoever, the only possibility is he got into an argument with someone and foul play occured.

 

[ZaZara]

I went to school with a boy who had one leg shorter than the other so he wore a shoe with a big thick sole so even though his height seemed even, his knees weren't even since his lower leg was withered. So if he was similar to Steven he'd be able to move faster he would have to adjust to the difference by hitching his leg


I don't think the behavior is odd at all. Their son was disabled physically but he wasn't disabled mentally. The accident that caused his disability happened in Edinburgh, Scotland when he was two. So for his whole life up until he went missing, his disability may have been the overriding identifier as he grew up. He may not have been able to access the care for rehabilitation while in a foreign country and ultimately experienced all the negative things that could have occurred in his life: the staring, the isolation, the diminished ability to play sport or going out on a bike ride with other kids, to go to a dance with a girl, going on a date, all sorts of normal things that kids growing up experience. Include in that, the moving from one country to another, eventually being physically comfortable in his space only to be uprooted to move back to the UK. It sounds to me that his parents were equal parts solicitous to his disability but also frustrated with the child they basically created: a child who may have been injured because of a momentary lapse in care creating guilt for his injuries. He received a fairly sizeable payout which was managed by his parents and as he aged he wanted access to those funds. He had a job but he wasn't amenable to shelling out his own funds for entertainment according to his parents which caused some arguments and I believe them. It seemed he wanted his independence but was tied to his parents physically, financially and emotionally and I think a lot of arguments occurred in that household as to the viability of him living independently. It's possible there was a lot of yelling and storming off about a lot of things in that household; two former cops who's jobs required adherence to rules and regulations who straddled rules and the relaxing of rules who battled with guilt, frustration and fear for his future, a daughter who seemed to be an enigma, an afterthought or an observer and a man who struggled with dependence and a desire for autonomy. I don't know what really occurred the day that SC went missing but if he stormed off out of the house and never returned for hours and hours I can see the parents concocting the story about the walk and him leaving the lavatories and the mom not seeing him after that because public opinion about letting a disabled man takes off in anger and not do anything about for hours comes across as unfeeling when it could have just been emotional and physical exhaustion. After 34 years, after being arrested for murder, having their property dug up then having charges dropped, if LE had any indication of their guilt they'd charge them.

The parents have been cleared of any involvement. Somehow this fact continues to elude several posters on this thread.

Please link to a mainstream source that confirms that Steven received a fairly sizable payout that he wanted access to?

 

[branmuffin]

The parents have been cleared of any involvement. Somehow this fact continues to elude several posters on this thread.

Please link to a mainstream source that confirms that Steven received a fairly sizable payout that he wanted access to?

I've reviewed all the info and I can't find any evidence that he received any payout probably because his injuries were related to his parent's neglect. Although, I'm pretty positive I read something a few years ago about some form of payment unless it was Steven receiving a disability pension from the UK government that was being handled by his parents. Either that or his parents may have received a caregivers allowance from the government looking after Steven. I don't know where I originally found information that said he received compensation. I apologize for providing misinformation. I can't go back and change my account other than replying to my own post. Thanks.

 

[branmuffin]

I went to school with a boy who had one leg shorter than the other so he wore a shoe with a big thick sole so even though his height seemed even, his knees weren't even since his lower leg was withered. So if he was similar to Steven he'd be able to move faster he would have to adjust to the difference by hitching his leg


I don't think the behavior is odd at all. Their son was disabled physically but he wasn't disabled mentally. The accident that caused his disability happened in Edinburgh, Scotland when he was two. So for his whole life up until he went missing, his disability may have been the overriding identifier as he grew up. He may not have been able to access the care for rehabilitation while in a foreign country and ultimately experienced all the negative things that could have occurred in his life: the staring, the isolation, the diminished ability to play sport or going out on a bike ride with other kids, to go to a dance with a girl, going on a date, all sorts of normal things that kids growing up experience. Include in that, the moving from one country to another, eventually being physically comfortable in his space only to be uprooted to move back to the UK. It sounds to me that his parents were equal parts solicitous to his disability but also frustrated with the child they basically created: a child who may have been injured because of a momentary lapse in care creating guilt for his injuries. He received a fairly sizeable payout which was managed by his parents and as he aged he wanted access to those funds. He had a job but he wasn't amenable to shelling out his own funds for entertainment according to his parents which caused some arguments and I believe them. It seemed he wanted his independence but was tied to his parents physically, financially and emotionally and I think a lot of arguments occurred in that household as to the viability of him living independently. It's possible there was a lot of yelling and storming off about a lot of things in that household; two former cops who's jobs required adherence to rules and regulations who straddled rules and the relaxing of rules who battled with guilt, frustration and fear for his future, a daughter who seemed to be an enigma, an afterthought or an observer and a man who struggled with dependence and a desire for autonomy. I don't know what really occurred the day that SC went missing but if he stormed off out of the house and never returned for hours and hours I can see the parents concocting the story about the walk and him leaving the lavatories and the mom not seeing him after that because public opinion about letting a disabled man takes off in anger and not do anything about for hours comes across as unfeeling when it could have just been emotional and physical exhaustion. After 34 years, after being arrested for murder, having their property dug up then having charges dropped, if LE had any indication of their guilt they'd charge them.

I'm responding to my own comments because after a review prompted by a fellow WSer, I would like to retract my comment that SC received 'a sizeable settlement' due to his accident as a child. Sorry, for the confusion.