New search begins for missing Milk Carton Kids who disappeared 25 years ago in Birmingham
The brother of one of the missing Milk Carton Kids who disappeared 25 years ago has been joined by hundreds of volunteers digging near a football ground after receiving a tip-off.Schoolboys David Spencer, 13, and Patrick "Paddy" Warren were out playing in Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham, when they vanished on Boxing Day, 1996.Cops initially treated them as runaways, saying there was no evidence to suspect they had come to any harm.The bodies of the pair - known as the Milk Carton Kids after police printed pleas for information on milk containers - have never been found.The last known sighting of them was at a petrol station at 12.45am on December 27, 1996.Channel 4 documentary 'In the Footsteps of Killers' claims child-killer Brian Field had been seen with the boys in the days before they vanished.David's brother Lee O'Toole, 34, who was nine when his sibling disappeared, is now leading a dig on land off Damson Wood Lane, near Solihull Moors FC, West Mids.Hundreds of volunteers started working in shifts on Monday (28/6) after organisers say they received "credible" new information following the TV programme.Lee said: "The community is doing what the police should do."A man contacted me directly to say he had seen a man digging in a field off Damson Wood Lane, near Solihull Moors Football Club, at the time they disappeared."Apparently he's been telling the police for years and they've never acted on it."I don't know what more police need.
They've left me no choice other than to put the shovel in the ground."Posting a video of the search on Facebook, a member of the group added: "We have been tipped off, due to the documentary, someone has come forward and told us that this place cannot go unlooked."We're going to be here every single day.
We are at the back of the 3G football pitch at Solihull Moors exactly at the half-way line."Everyone deserves justice.
Please repost this.
We need people to come here.
Bring your shovels and machinery.
We need your help."West Midlands Police, who are still investigating the boys' disappearance, have urged volunteers to stay away from the unofficial dig site.A force spokesperson said: "We recognise and sympathise with the strong sense of feeling surrounding the disappearance of Patrick Warren and David Spencer in 1996."It's highly emotive for their families, friends and the wider community."We understand there are many frustrations and a lack of trust around our initial investigation and the many reviews we've carried out since."We also know a group has been set up encouraging people to take matters into their own hands and dig at the back of a football ground in Damson Wood Lane."We'd urge people not to do this.
Searching should be left to us and is based on areas of interest, we use trained specialist experts who are able to preserve any evidence that may be found."We're in touch with the Spencer family, and others, who are providing new information."It is not the first time land near the football club has been searched for the two boys.In 2003, police announced that they had arrested a 37-year-old man in connection with the disappearances but he was later released on bail and has never been charged.In 2006, the police announced they were "closer than ever" to solving the mystery of what happened but no one has ever been charged with their abduction.In the same year police dug up a field in Old Damson Lane - half-a-mile away from Solihull Moor FC - but abandoned the search several weeks later after finding nothing.Following a review of the case in 2006, convicted murderer and paedophile Brian Field was interviewed by cops in connection with the case.Field denied any involvement in the boys' disappearance and police said he was just one line of enquiry in their investigation.Field was living in Solihull when he was stopped for drink-driving in 1999. He was jailed for life in 2001 for the rape and murder of 14-year-old Surrey schoolboy Roy Tutill, killed in 1968.
The brother of one of the missing Milk Carton Kids who disappeared 25 years ago has been joined by hundreds of volunteers digging near a football ground after receiving a tip-off.Schoolboys David Spencer, 13, and Patrick "Paddy" Warren were out playing in Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham, when they vanished on Boxing Day, 1996.Cops initially treated them as runaways, saying there was no evidence to suspect they had come to any harm.The bodies of the pair - known as the Milk Carton Kids after police printed pleas for information on milk containers - have never been found.The last known sighting of them was at a petrol station at 12.45am on December 27, 1996.Channel 4 documentary 'In the Footsteps of Killers' claims child-killer Brian Field had been seen with the boys in the days before they vanished.David's brother Lee O'Toole, 34, who was nine when his sibling disappeared, is now leading a dig on land off Damson Wood Lane, near Solihull Moors FC, West Mids.Hundreds of volunteers started working in shifts on Monday (28/6) after organisers say they received "credible" new information following the TV programme.Lee said: "The community is doing what the police should do."A man contacted me directly to say he had seen a man digging in a field off Damson Wood Lane, near Solihull Moors Football Club, at the time they disappeared."Apparently he's been telling the police for years and they've never acted on it."I don't know what more police need.
They've left me no choice other than to put the shovel in the ground."Posting a video of the search on Facebook, a member of the group added: "We have been tipped off, due to the documentary, someone has come forward and told us that this place cannot go unlooked."We're going to be here every single day.
We are at the back of the 3G football pitch at Solihull Moors exactly at the half-way line."Everyone deserves justice.
Please repost this.
We need people to come here.
Bring your shovels and machinery.
We need your help."West Midlands Police, who are still investigating the boys' disappearance, have urged volunteers to stay away from the unofficial dig site.A force spokesperson said: "We recognise and sympathise with the strong sense of feeling surrounding the disappearance of Patrick Warren and David Spencer in 1996."It's highly emotive for their families, friends and the wider community."We understand there are many frustrations and a lack of trust around our initial investigation and the many reviews we've carried out since."We also know a group has been set up encouraging people to take matters into their own hands and dig at the back of a football ground in Damson Wood Lane."We'd urge people not to do this.
Searching should be left to us and is based on areas of interest, we use trained specialist experts who are able to preserve any evidence that may be found."We're in touch with the Spencer family, and others, who are providing new information."It is not the first time land near the football club has been searched for the two boys.In 2003, police announced that they had arrested a 37-year-old man in connection with the disappearances but he was later released on bail and has never been charged.In 2006, the police announced they were "closer than ever" to solving the mystery of what happened but no one has ever been charged with their abduction.In the same year police dug up a field in Old Damson Lane - half-a-mile away from Solihull Moor FC - but abandoned the search several weeks later after finding nothing.Following a review of the case in 2006, convicted murderer and paedophile Brian Field was interviewed by cops in connection with the case.Field denied any involvement in the boys' disappearance and police said he was just one line of enquiry in their investigation.Field was living in Solihull when he was stopped for drink-driving in 1999.
He was jailed for life in 2001 for the rape and murder of 14-year-old Surrey schoolboy Roy Tutill, killed in 1968.
