top of page

Police appeal for information on 20th anniversary of child’s disappearance

16/04/2018

Twenty years ago a girl disappeared from Middlesbrough, traumatising her family and friends and tormenting them with questions which remain unanswered to this day. Donna Keogh was just 17-years-old when she disappeared from her home in Middlesbrough in 1998. Despite a number of investigations into her disappearance over the years, she has never been found, and what began as a missing person enquiry is now being conducted as a murder investigation.

The disappearance of Donna, as well the deaths of two other young women, now forms part of Cleveland Police’s Historic Investigations Unit, recently established by a special grant from the Home Office.

The strategic operational advisor Detective Chief Superintendent Jon Green said: “Donna was born in November 1980, the middle of three children. She enjoyed a happy childhood and was close to her family including cousins her own age. She had many friends both from school and her local estates and while at school she had dreams of following a family tradition in joining the military, showing a particular interest in the Navy.”

“At the time she went missing, which is believed to be sometime in mid-April 1998, Donna was living with her cousins at King House in Middlesbrough. A missing person enquiry was launched but the case has remained unresolved and is now being treated as a homicide. Donna’s body has never been found and we are appealing directly to anybody who knows where Donna is or knows what happened to her to help us now. We want to help give Donna’s family the answers and closure they so desperately seek.”

“Three generations of Donna’s family, from her parents to nieces and nephews who she never had the chance to meet still grieve her loss and 2018, the 20th anniversary of her disappearance, is a sad reminder for the family of the life that Donna could have had, but has devastatingly missed out on. We are appealing to the public to help end the nightmare which Donna’s friends and family continue to live with every day. We are appealing for help to find Donna.”

To support the investigation, a new Find Donna website has been launched at www.finddonna.co.uk with details about Donna’s life, her disappearance and the police’s ongoing investigation.

Detective Chief Superintendent Jon Green continued: “Someone knows what happened to Donna. Many more people will have vital information about her which could help her family and friends reach some sort of closure. It has been too long, 20 years is too long for a family to live like this, please help us find Donna.”

bottom of page