Patrick Warren

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

West Midlands (POLICE)

Missing From:

Solihull, England

Summary:

Patrick Warren, an 11-year-old English schoolboy from Chelmsley Wood, Solihull, near Birmingham, disappeared on December 27, 1996, along with his best friend David Spencer. The boys were last seen just after midnight at a petrol station; Patrick's brand-new red Apollo bicycle was found abandoned behind the station. Presumed deceased but never recovered, they became known as the 'Milk Carton Kids' after becoming the first missing children featured on UK milk cartons.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

On Boxing Day evening, December 26, 1996, Patrick and David left their homes to play outside. That afternoon, they were spotted by police in Meriden Park playing with other children and were warned not to play on a frozen pond. They returned home and told their parents they planned to visit one of Patrick's brothers that evening. Rather than going directly there, the boys stayed out and were last seen just after midnight by a petrol station attendant near their homes in Chelmsley Wood, who gave them a packet of biscuits. Patrick's brand-new red Apollo Laser bicycle, a Christmas gift, was discovered abandoned behind the petrol station near the bins several weeks later. The boys never arrived at Patrick's brother's house and were reported missing the next morning.

Additional Details:

Initially treated by West Midlands Police as runaways, the disappearance received little media attention until April 1997, when Patrick and David became the first missing children in the United Kingdom to appear on milk cartons, featured on four-pint cartons distributed across 770 Iceland stores nationwide by the National Missing Persons Helpline. The campaign yielded no major breakthroughs despite the widespread distribution. The case was reclassified as a murder investigation in 2006. Brian Lunn Field, a convicted paedophile and sex offender who lived in Solihull at the time, emerged as the prime suspect after his 2001 conviction for the 1968 abduction, rape, and murder of 14-year-old Roy Tutill in Surrey. Field had a history of child sex offences, including a 1986 conviction for abducting two boys. On the night of the boys' disappearance, witnesses reported seeing Field driving a white van in the area while intoxicated. Police interviewed Field in prison in 2006 about the boys' disappearance; he denied involvement and there was insufficient evidence to charge him. Officers dug up land at Old Damson Lane in Solihull in 2006 but found nothing. In August 2003, West Midlands Police arrested a 37-year-old man in connection with the disappearances; he was later released on bail and never charged. In 2021, following a Channel 4 documentary on the case, the local community led searches at a wasteland site behind Solihull Moors Football Club based on a tip-off that Field had been seen digging there; nearly £15,000 was raised through a GoFundMe campaign but no breakthrough was achieved. A BBC Crimewatch special appeal in 2006 drew no fresh leads. Field died in prison in February 2024. The case remains unsolved with no bodies recovered.

Case Last Updated:

Jul 17, 2026