The Disappearance of Charlene Downes (Full Documentary)

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 12:37:16 +0000

This true crime documentary follows the disappearance of 14-year-old Charlene from her home in Blackpool in 2003, with unprecedented access to Charlene's friends, family, suspects, and police. The information the police received would unveil what was considered to be Britain's first grooming gang scandal.

Despite the strength of the evidence, a suspect claimed he was only accused due to racism and a long-running personal vendetta against him by a member of the police force. Feeling let down by the system, the family continued campaigning for their missing daughter. But with Blackpool awash with rumors around Charlene's home life before she went missing, nothing was what it seemed.

This documentary was originally published in 2020 as a multi-part series on ‪@VICE, and rereleased here for the first time in full.

Read more on Charlene Downes: https://www.vice.com/en/articl....e/charlene-downes-mu

Connect with VICE:
Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com
Follow VICE on Facebook: http://fb.com/vice
Follow VICE on X: https://x.com/VICE
Follow VICE on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vice/
Follow VICE on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vice

Subscribe to the VICE YouTube Network:
VICE: https://www.youtube.com/VICE
MUNCHIES: https://www.youtube.com/MUNCHIES
VICE News: https://www.youtube.com/VICENews
VICE TV: https://www.youtube.com/channe....l/UCWF0PiUvUi3Jma2oF
Noisey: https://www.youtube.com/Noisey
Motherboard: https://www.youtube.com/MotherboardTV
Sports: https://www.youtube.com/channe....l/UC8C8WuWSsFjWFaTHc
Waypoint: https://www.youtube.com/WaypointVICE

About VICE:

The Definitive Guide To Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, our immersive, caustic, ground-breaking and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet and other subjects that don't even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world you never knew existed. Welcome to VICE.