Kelowna, British Columbia — On Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, 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.
Denise has been making trips to Kelowna periodically since her son's disappearance, her last being in September of 2018.
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"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."
Charles Horvath-Allan, 20, disappeared in May 1989 from a campsite. A Canadian-born British national, was hiking across Canada and had plans to meet up with his mother and stepfather in Hong Kong by August 1989, but never made it.
Charles had been staying at a local hostel, the homes of friends and the Tiny Tent Town Campsite + RV Pk, 3316 Lakeshore Road, V1W 3T1, (near to route 97 in the city) and registered at various student employment agencies during May 1989.
He was last positively identified on the 26 May 1989 cashing a cheque at a bank in Orchard Pk. He was due to meet up with his mother and step-father in Hong Kong for his 21st birthday (and his mother's 40th) in August of that year.
He last contacted his parents by fax on 11 May 1989 but failed to contact them again to enable his mother to purchase his ticket to travel to Hong Kong.
A missing persons listing for Horvath-Allan noted that he left behind his tent and personal belongings and that foul play is suspected.
One source claims that they met Horvath-Allan in May 1989 and allowed him to stay at their home in Kelowna. The same source claims they saw him alive in the Live Wire nightclub in August 1989, but this claim is unverified.
Denise Horvath-Allan telephoned the Kelowna Detachment of the RCMP asking for their help in locating her son as she was anxious as she had not received an expected call from him in May 1989. After several more calls to the RCMP, Denise Horvath-Allan reported Charles missing on the 10 August 1989.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police launched a search of the area inside the campsite in July 1990, after his mother Denise Horvath-Allan advised them that Charles had been camping at Tiny Tent Town. The RCMP retrieved some of Charles' clothing and a shaving bag from a 1989 Tiny Town resident.
In September 1995, the police found a decomposed body in the logging country around Kelowna. Horvath-Allan's family waited for six weeks to be told that the body found was not of their son. At that time, the police hadn't contacted Mrs. Allan or any family member about the find of the dead body; the family were informed via friends and relatives who had seen reports in the local press.
By 2010, the Serious Crime Unit of the RCMP at Kelowna listed Horvath-Allan as deceased. According to the Police, the case is still an open investigation.
Read More On This Case: U.K. mom has new hope of finding out what happened to her son - 30 years after he disappeared in B.C.
