Disappearance of Sowerby Bridge backpacker revisited in podcast

The case Charles Horvath-Allen are being opened up and delved back into in The Missing, a podcast created in the hopes of keeping their names fresh in the public’s memory.

Host Pandora Sykes joins with the Missing People’s charity to take a fresh look at both cases, dedicating an episode each to adults and children who have seemingly vanished without a trace – sometimes decades ago – with no bodies or evidence to point towards their fate.

There are currently more than 250 unsolved cases of missing people in Yorkshire, with one person reported missing in the region every 15 minutes.

Charles Horvath-Allen, a 20-year-old backpacker originally from Sowerby Bridge, disappeared in Canada in May 1989 while visiting the country for a hiking trip.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police failed to take action and his mother, Denise, travelled to British Colombia where she knew he had last been, finding that he had been in a camping site in the city of Kelowna. Mr Horvath-Allan was declared dead by a court in August last year, under the Presumption of Death Act 2013, although his mother has said she would continue to search for answers.

His mother, who now lives in London, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled and privileged that they are taking on my Charles’ case, I hope it will provide me with answers on the fate of my son.”

Anyone with any information about Charles Horvath-Allan can contact police or Crimestoppers anonymously.

Anyone who is missing or thinking of leaving home can contact the Missing People UK charity confidentially on 116 000. The Missing is available on Apple podcasts, Spotify and Google podcasts.