David Spencer

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

West Midlands (POLICE)

Missing From:

Chelmsley Wood, West Midlands

Summary:

David Spencer (born 1983) was an English schoolboy who disappeared on 27 December 1996 in the town of Solihull, near Birmingham. He was described by his family as an "adorable" but rebellious boy with a passion for boxing. He had faced challenges, including petty offenses that led to exclusion from school, but was deeply loved by his family. Although initially treated by the police as a runaway, he is now presumed deceased.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

On the evening of Boxing Day 1996, best friends Patrick Warren and David Spencer left their Chelmsley Wood residences to play outside. Patrick left on his brand-new bicycle, which had been a Christmas present, while David was on foot. The boys had been spotted by a police officer earlier that afternoon playing with another group of children in Meriden Park, where they had been warned by the officer not to play on the frozen pond. After returning home, they told their parents of their plans to visit one of Patrick's brothers that evening. The last known sighting of the boys was just after midnight by a petrol station attendant who gave them a packet of biscuits. Patrick's brand-new red Apollo bicycle was found abandoned behind the petrol station near the bins, although the police did not realise that it was his until several weeks later.

Additional Details:

Although initially treated by the police as runaways, they are now presumed deceased. In April 1997, Patrick Warren and David Spencer became the first missing children featured on milk cartons in the United Kingdom through a campaign organized by the National Missing Persons Helpline. Their photographs were printed on four-pint milk cartons distributed across 770 Iceland stores nationwide, aiming to leverage everyday consumer exposure to generate leads and raise public awareness about their Boxing Day 1996 disappearance. This initiative marked a novel adaptation of the U.S.-style "milk carton kids" approach to child abduction cases, though it yielded no breakthroughs in the investigation despite widespread distribution. Brian Lunn Field, convicted paedophile and sex offender, emerged as the prime suspect in the case after his 2001 conviction for the abduction, rape and murder of 14-year-old Roy Tutill in 1968. Field lived in Solihull in 1996 and is known to have been driving around in a white van in the vicinity of the boys' last known location on the night of their disappearance, while under the influence of alcohol. Police interviewed Field in prison in 2006 about the disappearance of Warren and Spencer, suspecting he may have killed them. It was thought he had lured the boys from outside the shop they were last seen visiting, killed them and then buried their bodies. Field denied involvement and there was insufficient evidence to charge him. Officers dug up land in 2006 that he used as a dumping ground at Old Damson Lane in Solihull but did not find anything. In 2003, officers arrested a 37-year-old man in connection with the disappearance but released him on bail without charges, as evidence proved insufficient. After the release of Wilson's Footsteps of Killers documentary in 2021, locals organised a dig of a field off Damson Wood Lane in Solihull after a tip-off was received from a man who said he had seen a man digging there at the time of the boys' disappearance. The now-adult brother of David Spencer helped organise the search. Field died in prison in February 2024. As of late 2025, no bodies have been recovered, no one has been charged, and the case remains open.

Case Last Updated:

Jul 17, 2026