Today the first episode of ‘The Missing’ is out now across all podcast streaming platforms - listen here. The episode begins in a car with missing person Charles Hovarth-Allan’s mother as they drive to court to ask a judge for permission to issue a death certificate for Charles, 31 years after his disappearance in Canada.

‘The Missing’, hosted by Pandora Sykes, is a brand-new podcast by Podimo which looks to re-engage public interest in the cases of the long-term missing and encourage those with information to come forward. It has been created in collaboration with UK charity Missing People and Locate International - a community interest organisation made up of ex-detectives dedicated to helping families of unsolved missing person cases find their loved ones. Each episode explores an unsolved missing person case, featuring interviews with the family and friends closest to the missing individuals.

Today’s episode of ‘The Missing’ investigates the case of Charles Horvath-Allan, a British man who went missing whilst travelling across Canada in 1989. In the episode Charles Hovarth-Allan’s mother Denise discusses her son’s missing person case, giving ‘The Missing’ insight into the British Columbia backpacking circuit, where her son went missing.

Charles’ mother Denise says:

“For more than 30 years I’ve been trying to find out what happened to my son Charles. As the parent of a missing person I’ve learned to deal with setbacks and false hopes; the feeling of not knowing what happened to him is overwhelming. I’m pleased that this podcast series has chosen to include Charles’ case – as one way to find out what happened to him is to keep the conversation going. I’m so grateful that the case is being featured and that the team at Locate International are re-investigating his disappearance. My hope is that by hearing this story, somebody who knows Charles’ fate comes forward with information.”

‘The Missing’ will study the cases of twenty different long-term missing people, with a new episode each week. The aim of the podcast is to bring new information to light and reach new break-throughs in long-term missing cases, or cases which remain open indefinitely. Early next year it will also be available in Spanish, German and Danish, with the intention of reaching as many people as possible.

Hosting ‘The Missing’ is Pandora Sykes - writer, journalist, broadcaster and co-founder of her widely-successful podcast ‘The High Low’, which has recently aired its final episode. On her involvement with ‘The Missing’, Pandora says:

“I am thrilled to be the host on the first season of ‘The Missing’. It’s true mystery, with an ethical purpose - to try and find, or at least find out what happened to, the long term missing, of which there are 4,500 cases in the UK alone. I am so grateful to Missing People and Locate International for their support and tireless hard work and Podimo and What’s the Story? Sounds, for allowing me to be a part of the project.”

‘The Missing’ is a Podimo podcast series produced by What’s The Story Sounds and made in association with specialists Locate International and Missing People.

Subscribe to ‘The Missing’ here - https://www.themissingpodcast.org/.

https://www.instagram.com/themissing_podcast/