Daniel Entwistle: Police seeking 'credible' leads over seven-year-old boy missing since 2003

Detectives investigating the disappearance of a seven-year-old boy 20 years ago say they are still no closer to finding out what happened to him - despite 12 new leads in the past five years.

Daniel Entwistle was last seen near his home in Great Yarmouth in Norfolk over the bank holiday weekend on 3 May 2003.

His parents Paula and David became concerned that evening when he failed to return to his home in Copperfield Avenue for dinner and started to look for him, asking friends and neighbours to join them.

The local community rallied round and began a major investigation, supported by search and rescue teams.

Daniel was seen on CCTV at Blencowes, a convenience shop near his home at around 5.05pm that day, and there were other potential sightings of him, including him being with a group of other boys seen playing near the river at Trinity Quay at around 3.30pm.

His red BMX bike was found abandoned by the river close to Trinity Quay in the early hours of the next morning and sonar examinations of the riverbed soon formed a major part of the inquiry.

Daniel was described as being 3ft 2ins tall, of thin build with light brown cropped short hair. He had a pale complexion and a strong northern accent, said police.

He was last seen wearing a blue Adidas t-shirt with striped sleeves and an Adidas motif on the chest, blue tracksuit bottoms and grey-coloured training shoes.

Despite the huge police search involving many people and other agencies no trace of Daniel was ever found.

Norfolk Police said his case remained open and that new lines of inquiry were regularly followed up - including 12 in the past five years - and searches had taken place in Great Yarmouth, but that none had come to anything.

Andy Guy, the force's cold case manager, said: “We recognise the enormity of two decades passing since Daniel went missing, and the impact this has had on his family in that time.

"As a force we remain committed to finding answers for them, and we have continued to explore new lines of inquiry in this case in response to new and credible information.

"In the last five years we have pursued 12 pieces of information passed to us.

"However, despite the original investigation carried out in 2003, our continued efforts and the subsequent appeals in the intervening years, no information or evidence has yet established what happened to Daniel since the last confirmed sighting of him on 3 May 2003."

Officers have followed more than 2,500 lines of inquiry and taken more than 580 statements in the 20 years since Daniel's disappearance.

Anyone with information should call 01953 423819, email unsolvedcasereviews@norfolk.police.uk or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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