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Man who went missing 31 years ago in Kelowna officially presumed dead

U.K. backpacker Charles Horvath-Allan went missing May 26, 1989

More than 31 years after going missing in Kelowna, Charles Horvath-Allan is officially presumed dead in his home country of the United Kingdom.

On Friday, Aug. 14, U.K. courts granted Charles’ mother, Denise Horvath-Allan, a presumption of death application — something she had been pursuing for a number of years so she could finally settle Charles’ outstanding financial affairs.

The 20-year old from Yorkshire, England, had been backpacking through Canada in 1989. On May 26, of that year, he went to the Orchard Park Royal Bank to cash a cheque and was never seen again.

He had been staying at the Tiny Town Tent and RV Park on Lakeshore Road in Kelowna for a few weeks before his disappearance.

Denise has been making trips to Kelowna periodically since her son’s disappearance, her last being in September of 2018.

“I would like to know where he came to rest the day he died, who was responsible and why he died. I don’t care about the rest,” she told the Kelowna Capital News at the time.

“I just want to end the nightmare. My mom went to her grave 17 years ago tormented by not knowing what happened to her grandson and watched her daughter drag herself around the world trying to find him.”

Anyone with information on Charles’ disappearance is asked to call Sgt. Paul Gosling of the Kelowna Serious Crime Unit at 250-762-3300.

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Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com


@michaelrdrguez
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