November 4, 2025 • 19 mins
A young man sets out for his first big adventure, but when communication from him goes silent, his family wonders if it would also be his last.
If you have any information please contact the Kelowna Detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Serious Crime Unit at 250-762-3300 or you can submit a tip anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Thank you to The Missing Podcast, Legacy.com, The CBC, Unsolved Case Files Canada, Unsolved Mysteries, The Doe Network, Locate International, The Mystery Delver, Websleuths, Wikipedia, InfoNews.ca, and Leeds Beckett University for information contributing to today’s case.
This episode was written by Kira McQueen, edited by John Lordan, and produced by LordanArts.
Do you have any comments, or a case you’d like to suggest? You’ll find a comment form and case submission link at LordanArts.com.
This is not intended to act as a means of proving or disproving anything related to the investigation. It is a conversation about the current known facts and theories being discussed. Everyone directly or indirectly referred to is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
LordanArts 2025
If you have any information please contact the Kelowna Detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Serious Crime Unit at 250-762-3300 or you can submit a tip anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Thank you to The Missing Podcast, Legacy.com, The CBC, Unsolved Case Files Canada, Unsolved Mysteries, The Doe Network, Locate International, The Mystery Delver, Websleuths, Wikipedia, InfoNews.ca, and Leeds Beckett University for information contributing to today’s case.
This episode was written by Kira McQueen, edited by John Lordan, and produced by LordanArts.
Do you have any comments, or a case you’d like to suggest? You’ll find a comment form and case submission link at LordanArts.com.
This is not intended to act as a means of proving or disproving anything related to the investigation. It is a conversation about the current known facts and theories being discussed. Everyone directly or indirectly referred to is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
LordanArts 2025
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
There's something timeless about backpacking, the pull to venture out
into the greater world with little more than a heavy
pack and a rough plan for survival. For many young adults,
it's a rite of passage, a test of independence, and
a chance to see who you are when no one's watching.
In the nineteen eighties, that freedom carried a different kind
(00:41):
of uncertainty than it does today. The world was less connected.
You didn't have a cell phone in your pocket or
the Internet to guide you through a problem. Calling home
meant trekking to find a landline phone and make an
expensive call. Most found their way using their instincts, maps,
bus schedules, and trusting in strangers. They slept in campgrounds, hostels,
(01:05):
or even the airport that they landed in that night.
The world felt safer then, or maybe it just seemed
that way. Charles Horvath Allen was one of those travelers,
setting off from the UK in September of nineteen eighty
eight to explore Canada. It was meant to be a
trip of a lifetime. Instead, his seriously mysterious disappearance has
(01:27):
confounded investigators for more than thirty five years. I'm John Lorden,
and today we'll explore his story and the theories about
what may have happened. Charles was actually born Korroy John
Horvath on August twenty first, nineteen sixty eight, in Kushner, Ontario,
to an English mother and a Canadian father. Just months later,
(01:50):
his mother brought him back to England to live with
her full time. As a child, his Hungarian name was
changed to the English version Charles, because it was easier
for English speakers. His parents had divorced when he was
an infant, and his father returned to Canada. His last
name would later be changed to Horvath Allan, with the
Allan added in reference to his stepfather, Stewart Alan. Charles
(02:13):
spent most of his life in Yorkshire, England, where he
was raised by his mother, Denise, and was close with
his nana and great grandparents. He was seven years old
when the Yorkshire Ripper murders began to dominate local headlines
and cast a long shadow of fear across the region.
Yet those who knew Charles remembered him as not being
hardened by that atmosphere, but as a warm, curious and
(02:36):
open hearted young man. His mother told the Missing Podcast,
Charles was a very adventurous young man. He was a dreamer.
He was very loving if he was away as a
young adult traveling, he was always aware of not letting
his Nana worry or myself. Quite naive, he would believe
anything he was told. Sadly, he was very trusting, which
(02:58):
is possibly his downfall. Charles wasn't completely a strange from
his father's side of the family, but he didn't spend
time in Canada growing up. His brother, Denise, said, he
was curious about Canada. We talked him into going. The
end result was I got him a ticket so he
could go visit his grandma there and his father, his godfather,
and explore the country of his birth. So in September
(03:22):
of nineteen eighty eight, Charles set off on his early
twenty first birthday trip. His plan was to start in
Quebec and backpack west across Canada to British Columbia, picking
up odd jobs, hitchhiking, making friends and camping wherever he could.
Denise explained Charles had sufficient funds for three months, he
had a return ticket. If he got work, he could
(03:44):
stay longer. There was no time frame put upon his trip.
It was just as his journey took him as he
traveled through Canada. He stayed in touch, however he could.
Denise said, if there was a landline, he would be
in touch constantly and I would call him back. He
might be in touch several times in a week or
in a month. It varied, but his main concern was Mommy,
(04:05):
don't worry. By December, he landed a modeling job at
the Delta Hotel in Montreal. Denise flew out to see
her son on the runway and celebrate in early Christmas together.
She was very proud of him. It was clear that
Charles was doing well supporting himself on his journey. He
worked at the rim Rock Hotel in Banff, Alberta for
a short time. He also visited his father, godfather, and
(04:28):
grandmother along the way. To get from place to place,
he relied on Greyhound buses or hitch hiking. If you'd
seen Charles hitchhiking, he would have seemed quite young and friendly,
but also not someone easy to take advantage of. He
was six feet tall, quite lean, and usually wearing a
leather jacket and jeans. He had a skull in mohawk
(04:49):
tattoo on his arm that gave him a little hint
of an edge. On May third, nineteen eighty nine, Charles
arrived in the city of Colonna, marking his first stop
in BC. Colonna, whose name comes from the local Seilk
word for grizzly bear, sits in the Okanagan along the
eastern shore of Okanagan Lake. Today it's a fast growing
(05:10):
city of over one hundred and sixty thousand people, but
in nineteen eighty nine it still had the feel of
a mid size lake town. Colonna lies in the heart
of Orchard Country, where each summer migrant workers arrived to
pick fruit beneath the valleys. Sun Tourists come for its beaches, campgrounds,
and dry warmth. For a young traveler, Colonna offered everything
(05:32):
seasonal work, affordable places to stay, and a laid back,
welcoming atmosphere. When he arrived, Charles state at the Colonna
Gospel Mission for a few nights, and sometimes on the
couches of new friends that he met around town. He
worked briefly at Vernon Gordon Carpet's, where the owner suggested
that he try a local campground called Tiny Tent Town
(05:53):
in r V Park on Lake Shore Road. He also
registered with job Mart and other student employment agencies, picking
up temporary work around Colonna, including a short stint at
the Flintstones theme Park in the Rutland area. On May eleventh,
nineteen eighty nine, Charles faxed a letter to his mother
from Rausch Stationeers in Colonna. He wrote about the cost
(06:14):
of airline tickets for their upcoming shared birthday trip and
asked how their cats were doing. That August twenty first
would mark Denise's fortieth birthday and Charles's twenty first, and
they planned to celebrate together in Hong Kong along with
his stepfather Stewart. Nothing in the message hinted at any
concern or trouble. Denise fully expected to hear from him
(06:34):
soon and to continue making arrangements. Two weeks later, on
May twenty sixth, Charles finished a shift at the Flintstones
Theme Park and cashed a paycheck at the Orchard Park
branch of the Royal Bank. This is considered the last
confirmed siding of him, though it's unclear if this branch
had a security camera back in nineteen eighty nine. If
(06:55):
someone else had stolen and tried to cash his check,
they would have needed his ID and a convincing resemblance
to Charles to do so. Other sightings of Charles would
(07:19):
be discovered on Unsolved Mysteries. A man named Gino Bourdain
recalled Charles often chatting with him and his family at
their campsite in Tiny Tent Town. He claims he saw
Charles at an all night party at the campground on
the same evening of the supposed siding at the bank,
May twenty sixth Gino remembered seeing Charles's belongings left unattended
(07:39):
the following day. He told Unsolved Mysteries that Charles was
a nice guy. He was a good friend. He used
to come over to our camp and have coffee in
the morning and play frisbee and catch with my son
and just sit and chat with us. He was a
real friendly guy, probably too friendly, he seemed, I don't know, naive.
He talked to anybody, make friends with anybody. A woman
(08:04):
named Joanne Zebrov came forward after seeing missing flyers around town.
She told investigators that she and Charles had become friends
and he had stayed on her couch a few times.
In her Unsolved Mysteries interview, she would share when I
first met Charles, it was this charming good looking guy
who was obviously new to Canada, and I really liked him.
(08:25):
He loved his family. He showed me pictures. He was
so proud of all these photographs of his mother. They
were very close. Joanne last heard from Charles in May
of nineteen eighty nine, when he stopped by her apartment unexpectedly,
but she had to turn him away because she was
hosting family. Some reports suggest that Joanne may have seen
Charles again that August at the nearby Live Wire nightclub,
(08:48):
but it doesn't appear that they spoke to each other,
and that sighting was never confirmed. If she had actually
seen him, it would mean Charles was still in Kelowna
as late as August, but for some reason, he had
abandoned all his belongings at Tiny Tent Town months earlier
and hadn't called his mother to check in or finalize
their birthday trip. After his last facts on May eleventh,
(09:11):
Denise had simply waited as usual for her son's next call.
More and more time passed, and she began to worry.
On August tenth, nineteen eighty nine, she contacted the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police for help. Of course, she got a
reply that we hear too often. The RCMP suggested that,
since he was over eighteen, if he didn't want to
(09:31):
call his mom, he didn't have to. In the months
and years that followed, Denise would travel from England to
Canada again and again, posting flyers, meeting with police, and
conducting her own searches. When she first visited Tiny Tent
Town in our v Park, she remembered being met with
general discomfort. She was told to wait for the manager,
(09:53):
who claimed Charles had left behind his belongings and most
had been disposed of. He handed her what remained a
rosary given to Charles by his godfather, a small red bible,
and a leather strap from his boot. Denise recalls the
moment saying, as I held these items in my hands
in disbelief, I said to him, is this all that's
(10:13):
left of my son? He stated that his belongings had
been thrown away, including his shaving bag which contained his
personal photographs, ID papers, and, as I later found out,
his passport. In July of nineteen ninety, more than a
year after Charles disappeared, the RCMP finally conducted their own
search of Tiny Tent Town. During that search, they found
(10:35):
that the shaving bag was actually in the possession of
one of the residents. It still contained the cherished personal
photographs and Charles's passport. Denise struggles to believe that he
would have willingly left without them. The RCMP later brought
in cadaver dogs and used sonar to search the area
that they found nothing. By then, the slow start to
(10:57):
the investigation had already taken its toll. In the decades
that followed, Denise returned to Colonna many times to continue
the search. She even sold her hair and beauty salon
in England to finance the ongoing trips. During one of
these trips, in March of nineteen ninety two, a mysterious
message set the case ablaze. An anonymous letter arrived via
(11:18):
yellow cab to the Pandosi Inn where Denise was staying.
The cab company said that they didn't have any information,
only that a young person had dropped the letter off
near a payphone. Whoever arranged for the covert delivery not
only knew that Denise was in town, but exactly where
she was staying. The letter claimed that there had been
a party at tiny tent town and two men had
(11:40):
knocked Charles unconscious. He had died from his injuries soon after,
and his body had been dumped into Okanagan Lake near
the bridge. If the sightings of Charles at the May
twenty sixth party at Tiny Tent Town were accurate, then
the events described in the letter were entirely plausible. The
campground on Lake Shore Road sits just steps from Okanagan Lake.
(12:01):
By day it seemed nearly harmless. Kids played frisbee on
the grass and splashed in the water, but by night
it had a reputation for loud parties that were unpredictable
and sometimes a little rough. A few locals even called
the place evil, although if that reputation was earned or
exaggerated is unclear. In response to the letter, volunteer divers
(12:24):
searched Okanagan Lake for three days, joined by a Vancouver
based group called International Sea Search. They brought a submersible
camera and combed the water beneath the old floating bridge.
The team asked Denise to stay in her hotel, not
wanting her to be watching in case they found remains.
While Denise was waiting, a second letter was delivered to
(12:44):
her hotel, again by taxi. It stated that they were
searching on the wrong side of the bridge. Not only
was the letter writer aware of the search, the writer
was watching it happen in real time and were possibly
even trying to be helpful by directing the search. But
why did they truly believe Charles was in that water?
(13:05):
Or was it all an elaborate act designed to torment
a grieving mother. To this day, nobody knows. Police would
have had the tools to test for fingerprints or handwriting
in the early nineties, but there was no record that
they ever did. In the end, the search teams did
locate a body, but it was not Charles. It was
(13:25):
an older man who had taken his own life. So
what really happened to Charles? When Unsolved Mysteries aired this case,
Sergeant Gary Tidsbury of the RCMP claimed that some relatives
told police Charles said he wanted to disappear off the
face of the earth, but no names were given and
the statement doesn't fit what we know about his behavior.
(13:46):
We know he called his mother, often, left behind his
passport and sentimental items, and seemed excited to go to
Hong Kong. It's possible that someone from his father's side
of the family made the comment out of misunderstanding, but honestly,
we just don't know much about Charles's family dynamics. He
had no known mental health issues, and no one who
(14:07):
met him before or during his travels reported even the
slightest hint of concern outside of his naive nature. It's
also important to entertain the idea that this could have
been an accident. While there's no definitive indication that he
had any issues with drugs or alcohol, he might have
been partaking or experimenting socially. Is it possible that an
(14:29):
intoxicated or disoriented Charles simply stumbled into Okanagan Lake in
the dark. There are countless cases of young men who
go missing after a night out, only to be found
later in a nearby body of water. Okanagan Lake is
extremely close to the campground and is far from shallow.
In spots, it plunges more than seven hundred feet, descends
(14:51):
into hidden canyons, and hides steep drop offs. Regardless of
all the searches, it remains a possibility that if he
went into that lake, he might never be found, particularly
with the time that has passed over the years. Sinister
rumors of foul play in tiny tent town have circulated
around Colonna. One person claimed to have overheard in the
(15:13):
showers that Charles had been killed and his body hidden
in the septic tank. Police took that claim seriously and
searched the tank, but found nothing. Denise also recalls being
contacted by someone who said it was common knowledge that
Charles had been killed there and his body dumped in
the lake weighed down with cinderblocks. Sadly, something like this
(15:35):
is certainly possible, But if foul play was involved, what
was the motive? We know Charles cashed his paycheck earlier
that day, meaning he likely had cash on him or
in his tent. Some people staying at campgrounds of this
type could have been truly struggling. If Charles mentioned his
travel plans or that day's payday and casual conversation, he
(15:56):
might have unintentionally made himself a target for someone desperate
or dangerous. Or maybe it wasn't about money at all.
Maybe it was an argument, a misunderstanding, or just the
wrong company on the wrong night. The reality is that
until more evidence emerges, the truth remains just as hidden
as Charles. It's been more than thirty five years since
(16:20):
his disappearance. But Denise has never stopped searching for her son.
Though health issues have ended her visits to Canada, her
determination to find answers remains unchanged. Sadly, many members of
his family have passed away without knowing whatever happened to him,
including his father, his stepfather, and his beloved grandparents. In
(16:41):
twenty twenty, a team of criminology students from Leeds Beckett
University took on Charles's case with the help of Locate International,
a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the families of missing people.
Their efforts brought renewed attention to the story, but no
new clues have surfaced. That same year, on August fourteen,
UK courts declared Charles legally presumed dead, allowing Denise to
(17:05):
settle his affairs. Now in her mid seventies, Denise holds
onto the hope that someone will come forward and let
her lay Charles to rest properly beside his beloved Nana.
She wrote a poem that reads, in part, for whoever
knows what happened to you, please speak up now, It's
long overdue. All I want is my child to have
(17:27):
and to bury here with his family in a quaint cemetery.
Please bring me answers to where Charles will be found.
I'll dig myself, I'll turn up the ground. Nobody needs
to know except you and me. Please send me a
tip and your heart will be free. Charles Horvath Allen
(17:48):
is a white male, standing six feet tall with dark
brown hair and dark brown eyes. He has a tattoo
of a skull with a mohawk on his upper left arm.
He was wearing a black leather jacket, blue jeans, white
Rebos sneakers, a motorhead band T shirt and a neck
chain with a small medallion. He went missing in Colonna,
British Columbia, Canada, in May of nineteen eighty nine. If
(18:09):
alive today, he would be fifty seven years old. If
you have any information, please contact the Colonna Detachment of
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Serious Crime Unit at two
five zero seven six two three three zero zero, where
you can also submit a tip anonymously to crime Stoppers
at one eight hundred two two two tips. Do you
(18:30):
have any insights or a case you'd like to suggest,
feel free to send it to me. You'll find a
comment form and case submission link at lordenarts dot com.
Thank you to the missing podcast, Legacy dot Com, the
CBC Unsolved Case Files, Canada Unsolved Mysteries, the Dough Network,
Locate International, the Mystery Delver, Webslutes, Wikipedia, Infonews dot Ca
(18:52):
and Leeds Beckett University for information contributing to today's case.
This episode was written by Kira McQueen, edited by John
Lorden and produced by Lorden Arts. Thank you to our
audience here for the live recording session hosted on the
YouTube channel lord and Arts Studio two. Special thanks to
Seriously Mysterious financial supporters Lindsay Morgan, Susie and b Jones.
(19:13):
Most of all, thank you for listening. I'm John Lordon.
Please join us again next week for another case I
know you'll find seriously mysterious
There's something timeless about backpacking, the pull to venture out
into the greater world with little more than a heavy
pack and a rough plan for survival. For many young adults,
it's a rite of passage, a test of independence, and
a chance to see who you are when no one's watching.
In the nineteen eighties, that freedom carried a different kind
(00:41):
of uncertainty than it does today. The world was less connected.
You didn't have a cell phone in your pocket or
the Internet to guide you through a problem. Calling home
meant trekking to find a landline phone and make an
expensive call. Most found their way using their instincts, maps,
bus schedules, and trusting in strangers. They slept in campgrounds, hostels,
(01:05):
or even the airport that they landed in that night.
The world felt safer then, or maybe it just seemed
that way. Charles Horvath Allen was one of those travelers,
setting off from the UK in September of nineteen eighty
eight to explore Canada. It was meant to be a
trip of a lifetime. Instead, his seriously mysterious disappearance has
(01:27):
confounded investigators for more than thirty five years. I'm John Lorden,
and today we'll explore his story and the theories about
what may have happened. Charles was actually born Korroy John
Horvath on August twenty first, nineteen sixty eight, in Kushner, Ontario,
to an English mother and a Canadian father. Just months later,
(01:50):
his mother brought him back to England to live with
her full time. As a child, his Hungarian name was
changed to the English version Charles, because it was easier
for English speakers. His parents had divorced when he was
an infant, and his father returned to Canada. His last
name would later be changed to Horvath Allan, with the
Allan added in reference to his stepfather, Stewart Alan. Charles
(02:13):
spent most of his life in Yorkshire, England, where he
was raised by his mother, Denise, and was close with
his nana and great grandparents. He was seven years old
when the Yorkshire Ripper murders began to dominate local headlines
and cast a long shadow of fear across the region.
Yet those who knew Charles remembered him as not being
hardened by that atmosphere, but as a warm, curious and
(02:36):
open hearted young man. His mother told the Missing Podcast,
Charles was a very adventurous young man. He was a dreamer.
He was very loving if he was away as a
young adult traveling, he was always aware of not letting
his Nana worry or myself. Quite naive, he would believe
anything he was told. Sadly, he was very trusting, which
(02:58):
is possibly his downfall. Charles wasn't completely a strange from
his father's side of the family, but he didn't spend
time in Canada growing up. His brother, Denise, said, he
was curious about Canada. We talked him into going. The
end result was I got him a ticket so he
could go visit his grandma there and his father, his godfather,
and explore the country of his birth. So in September
(03:22):
of nineteen eighty eight, Charles set off on his early
twenty first birthday trip. His plan was to start in
Quebec and backpack west across Canada to British Columbia, picking
up odd jobs, hitchhiking, making friends and camping wherever he could.
Denise explained Charles had sufficient funds for three months, he
had a return ticket. If he got work, he could
(03:44):
stay longer. There was no time frame put upon his trip.
It was just as his journey took him as he
traveled through Canada. He stayed in touch, however he could.
Denise said, if there was a landline, he would be
in touch constantly and I would call him back. He
might be in touch several times in a week or
in a month. It varied, but his main concern was Mommy,
(04:05):
don't worry. By December, he landed a modeling job at
the Delta Hotel in Montreal. Denise flew out to see
her son on the runway and celebrate in early Christmas together.
She was very proud of him. It was clear that
Charles was doing well supporting himself on his journey. He
worked at the rim Rock Hotel in Banff, Alberta for
a short time. He also visited his father, godfather, and
(04:28):
grandmother along the way. To get from place to place,
he relied on Greyhound buses or hitch hiking. If you'd
seen Charles hitchhiking, he would have seemed quite young and friendly,
but also not someone easy to take advantage of. He
was six feet tall, quite lean, and usually wearing a
leather jacket and jeans. He had a skull in mohawk
(04:49):
tattoo on his arm that gave him a little hint
of an edge. On May third, nineteen eighty nine, Charles
arrived in the city of Colonna, marking his first stop
in BC. Colonna, whose name comes from the local Seilk
word for grizzly bear, sits in the Okanagan along the
eastern shore of Okanagan Lake. Today it's a fast growing
(05:10):
city of over one hundred and sixty thousand people, but
in nineteen eighty nine it still had the feel of
a mid size lake town. Colonna lies in the heart
of Orchard Country, where each summer migrant workers arrived to
pick fruit beneath the valleys. Sun Tourists come for its beaches, campgrounds,
and dry warmth. For a young traveler, Colonna offered everything
(05:32):
seasonal work, affordable places to stay, and a laid back,
welcoming atmosphere. When he arrived, Charles state at the Colonna
Gospel Mission for a few nights, and sometimes on the
couches of new friends that he met around town. He
worked briefly at Vernon Gordon Carpet's, where the owner suggested
that he try a local campground called Tiny Tent Town
(05:53):
in r V Park on Lake Shore Road. He also
registered with job Mart and other student employment agencies, picking
up temporary work around Colonna, including a short stint at
the Flintstones theme Park in the Rutland area. On May eleventh,
nineteen eighty nine, Charles faxed a letter to his mother
from Rausch Stationeers in Colonna. He wrote about the cost
(06:14):
of airline tickets for their upcoming shared birthday trip and
asked how their cats were doing. That August twenty first
would mark Denise's fortieth birthday and Charles's twenty first, and
they planned to celebrate together in Hong Kong along with
his stepfather Stewart. Nothing in the message hinted at any
concern or trouble. Denise fully expected to hear from him
(06:34):
soon and to continue making arrangements. Two weeks later, on
May twenty sixth, Charles finished a shift at the Flintstones
Theme Park and cashed a paycheck at the Orchard Park
branch of the Royal Bank. This is considered the last
confirmed siding of him, though it's unclear if this branch
had a security camera back in nineteen eighty nine. If
(06:55):
someone else had stolen and tried to cash his check,
they would have needed his ID and a convincing resemblance
to Charles to do so. Other sightings of Charles would
(07:19):
be discovered on Unsolved Mysteries. A man named Gino Bourdain
recalled Charles often chatting with him and his family at
their campsite in Tiny Tent Town. He claims he saw
Charles at an all night party at the campground on
the same evening of the supposed siding at the bank,
May twenty sixth Gino remembered seeing Charles's belongings left unattended
(07:39):
the following day. He told Unsolved Mysteries that Charles was
a nice guy. He was a good friend. He used
to come over to our camp and have coffee in
the morning and play frisbee and catch with my son
and just sit and chat with us. He was a
real friendly guy, probably too friendly, he seemed, I don't know, naive.
He talked to anybody, make friends with anybody. A woman
(08:04):
named Joanne Zebrov came forward after seeing missing flyers around town.
She told investigators that she and Charles had become friends
and he had stayed on her couch a few times.
In her Unsolved Mysteries interview, she would share when I
first met Charles, it was this charming good looking guy
who was obviously new to Canada, and I really liked him.
(08:25):
He loved his family. He showed me pictures. He was
so proud of all these photographs of his mother. They
were very close. Joanne last heard from Charles in May
of nineteen eighty nine, when he stopped by her apartment unexpectedly,
but she had to turn him away because she was
hosting family. Some reports suggest that Joanne may have seen
Charles again that August at the nearby Live Wire nightclub,
(08:48):
but it doesn't appear that they spoke to each other,
and that sighting was never confirmed. If she had actually
seen him, it would mean Charles was still in Kelowna
as late as August, but for some reason, he had
abandoned all his belongings at Tiny Tent Town months earlier
and hadn't called his mother to check in or finalize
their birthday trip. After his last facts on May eleventh,
(09:11):
Denise had simply waited as usual for her son's next call.
More and more time passed, and she began to worry.
On August tenth, nineteen eighty nine, she contacted the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police for help. Of course, she got a
reply that we hear too often. The RCMP suggested that,
since he was over eighteen, if he didn't want to
(09:31):
call his mom, he didn't have to. In the months
and years that followed, Denise would travel from England to
Canada again and again, posting flyers, meeting with police, and
conducting her own searches. When she first visited Tiny Tent
Town in our v Park, she remembered being met with
general discomfort. She was told to wait for the manager,
(09:53):
who claimed Charles had left behind his belongings and most
had been disposed of. He handed her what remained a
rosary given to Charles by his godfather, a small red bible,
and a leather strap from his boot. Denise recalls the
moment saying, as I held these items in my hands
in disbelief, I said to him, is this all that's
(10:13):
left of my son? He stated that his belongings had
been thrown away, including his shaving bag which contained his
personal photographs, ID papers, and, as I later found out,
his passport. In July of nineteen ninety, more than a
year after Charles disappeared, the RCMP finally conducted their own
search of Tiny Tent Town. During that search, they found
(10:35):
that the shaving bag was actually in the possession of
one of the residents. It still contained the cherished personal
photographs and Charles's passport. Denise struggles to believe that he
would have willingly left without them. The RCMP later brought
in cadaver dogs and used sonar to search the area
that they found nothing. By then, the slow start to
(10:57):
the investigation had already taken its toll. In the decades
that followed, Denise returned to Colonna many times to continue
the search. She even sold her hair and beauty salon
in England to finance the ongoing trips. During one of
these trips, in March of nineteen ninety two, a mysterious
message set the case ablaze. An anonymous letter arrived via
(11:18):
yellow cab to the Pandosi Inn where Denise was staying.
The cab company said that they didn't have any information,
only that a young person had dropped the letter off
near a payphone. Whoever arranged for the covert delivery not
only knew that Denise was in town, but exactly where
she was staying. The letter claimed that there had been
a party at tiny tent town and two men had
(11:40):
knocked Charles unconscious. He had died from his injuries soon after,
and his body had been dumped into Okanagan Lake near
the bridge. If the sightings of Charles at the May
twenty sixth party at Tiny Tent Town were accurate, then
the events described in the letter were entirely plausible. The
campground on Lake Shore Road sits just steps from Okanagan Lake.
(12:01):
By day it seemed nearly harmless. Kids played frisbee on
the grass and splashed in the water, but by night
it had a reputation for loud parties that were unpredictable
and sometimes a little rough. A few locals even called
the place evil, although if that reputation was earned or
exaggerated is unclear. In response to the letter, volunteer divers
(12:24):
searched Okanagan Lake for three days, joined by a Vancouver
based group called International Sea Search. They brought a submersible
camera and combed the water beneath the old floating bridge.
The team asked Denise to stay in her hotel, not
wanting her to be watching in case they found remains.
While Denise was waiting, a second letter was delivered to
(12:44):
her hotel, again by taxi. It stated that they were
searching on the wrong side of the bridge. Not only
was the letter writer aware of the search, the writer
was watching it happen in real time and were possibly
even trying to be helpful by directing the search. But
why did they truly believe Charles was in that water?
(13:05):
Or was it all an elaborate act designed to torment
a grieving mother. To this day, nobody knows. Police would
have had the tools to test for fingerprints or handwriting
in the early nineties, but there was no record that
they ever did. In the end, the search teams did
locate a body, but it was not Charles. It was
(13:25):
an older man who had taken his own life. So
what really happened to Charles? When Unsolved Mysteries aired this case,
Sergeant Gary Tidsbury of the RCMP claimed that some relatives
told police Charles said he wanted to disappear off the
face of the earth, but no names were given and
the statement doesn't fit what we know about his behavior.
(13:46):
We know he called his mother, often, left behind his
passport and sentimental items, and seemed excited to go to
Hong Kong. It's possible that someone from his father's side
of the family made the comment out of misunderstanding, but honestly,
we just don't know much about Charles's family dynamics. He
had no known mental health issues, and no one who
(14:07):
met him before or during his travels reported even the
slightest hint of concern outside of his naive nature. It's
also important to entertain the idea that this could have
been an accident. While there's no definitive indication that he
had any issues with drugs or alcohol, he might have
been partaking or experimenting socially. Is it possible that an
(14:29):
intoxicated or disoriented Charles simply stumbled into Okanagan Lake in
the dark. There are countless cases of young men who
go missing after a night out, only to be found
later in a nearby body of water. Okanagan Lake is
extremely close to the campground and is far from shallow.
In spots, it plunges more than seven hundred feet, descends
(14:51):
into hidden canyons, and hides steep drop offs. Regardless of
all the searches, it remains a possibility that if he
went into that lake, he might never be found, particularly
with the time that has passed over the years. Sinister
rumors of foul play in tiny tent town have circulated
around Colonna. One person claimed to have overheard in the
(15:13):
showers that Charles had been killed and his body hidden
in the septic tank. Police took that claim seriously and
searched the tank, but found nothing. Denise also recalls being
contacted by someone who said it was common knowledge that
Charles had been killed there and his body dumped in
the lake weighed down with cinderblocks. Sadly, something like this
(15:35):
is certainly possible, But if foul play was involved, what
was the motive? We know Charles cashed his paycheck earlier
that day, meaning he likely had cash on him or
in his tent. Some people staying at campgrounds of this
type could have been truly struggling. If Charles mentioned his
travel plans or that day's payday and casual conversation, he
(15:56):
might have unintentionally made himself a target for someone desperate
or dangerous. Or maybe it wasn't about money at all.
Maybe it was an argument, a misunderstanding, or just the
wrong company on the wrong night. The reality is that
until more evidence emerges, the truth remains just as hidden
as Charles. It's been more than thirty five years since
(16:20):
his disappearance. But Denise has never stopped searching for her son.
Though health issues have ended her visits to Canada, her
determination to find answers remains unchanged. Sadly, many members of
his family have passed away without knowing whatever happened to him,
including his father, his stepfather, and his beloved grandparents. In
(16:41):
twenty twenty, a team of criminology students from Leeds Beckett
University took on Charles's case with the help of Locate International,
a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the families of missing people.
Their efforts brought renewed attention to the story, but no
new clues have surfaced. That same year, on August fourteen,
UK courts declared Charles legally presumed dead, allowing Denise to
(17:05):
settle his affairs. Now in her mid seventies, Denise holds
onto the hope that someone will come forward and let
her lay Charles to rest properly beside his beloved Nana.
She wrote a poem that reads, in part, for whoever
knows what happened to you, please speak up now, It's
long overdue. All I want is my child to have
(17:27):
and to bury here with his family in a quaint cemetery.
Please bring me answers to where Charles will be found.
I'll dig myself, I'll turn up the ground. Nobody needs
to know except you and me. Please send me a
tip and your heart will be free. Charles Horvath Allen
(17:48):
is a white male, standing six feet tall with dark
brown hair and dark brown eyes. He has a tattoo
of a skull with a mohawk on his upper left arm.
He was wearing a black leather jacket, blue jeans, white
Rebos sneakers, a motorhead band T shirt and a neck
chain with a small medallion. He went missing in Colonna,
British Columbia, Canada, in May of nineteen eighty nine. If
(18:09):
alive today, he would be fifty seven years old. If
you have any information, please contact the Colonna Detachment of
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Serious Crime Unit at two
five zero seven six two three three zero zero, where
you can also submit a tip anonymously to crime Stoppers
at one eight hundred two two two tips. Do you
(18:30):
have any insights or a case you'd like to suggest,
feel free to send it to me. You'll find a
comment form and case submission link at lordenarts dot com.
Thank you to the missing podcast, Legacy dot Com, the
CBC Unsolved Case Files, Canada Unsolved Mysteries, the Dough Network,
Locate International, the Mystery Delver, Webslutes, Wikipedia, Infonews dot Ca
(18:52):
and Leeds Beckett University for information contributing to today's case.
This episode was written by Kira McQueen, edited by John
Lorden and produced by Lorden Arts. Thank you to our
audience here for the live recording session hosted on the
YouTube channel lord and Arts Studio two. Special thanks to
Seriously Mysterious financial supporters Lindsay Morgan, Susie and b Jones.
(19:13):
Most of all, thank you for listening. I'm John Lordon.
Please join us again next week for another case I
know you'll find seriously mysterious
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