Disappearance of Donna Keogh

Donna Keogh was a teenager from a military family, raised in Middlesbrough, where she attended Newlands and Sacred Heart Schools. Her parents were Brian and Shirley Keogh. She was described as bubbly and ambitious, worked at Ormesby Care Home, and hoped to join the Royal Navy. At the time of her disappearance she was living with cousins at King House, Middlesbrough. Shortly before she vanished, her parents became aware she had become involved with drugs, and she had reportedly also been involved in prostitution. She was known to have travelled to Leeds in 1998 and was reportedly sighted in the Chapeltown area of that city.

Keogh was last seen in Middlesbrough town centre on 28 April 1998. She had reportedly visited a house with a friend and did not return, and was last reported seen at a house on Bow Street in the Gresham area. No further sightings were confirmed, though a later police review of evidence found she had been reported seen that day in the Hartington Road, Aske Road and Bow Street areas of Middlesbrough, including one sighting of her entering a red hatchback vehicle on Hartington Road. Unconfirmed sightings reported in the Zetland Road area in May 1998 are now thought to be false. Her father believed something sinister had happened, and investigators did not believe she had run away.

In March 1999, two individuals were detained on suspicion of murder but were released without charge. The case received considerable media attention, then went cold, with police suspecting she had been murdered. Her parents were involved in publicising the case over the years, appearing in press conferences alongside police.

The case was re-examined in 2000 following the disappearance of prostitute Vicky Glass, and again in 2002 after the murder of Rachel Wilson, another woman last seen in the same area. Cleveland Police made renewed appeals in 2007, 2010, and for the 15th anniversary in 2013. In 2015, Cleveland Police apologised to the family and launched a review after the family publicly expressed disappointment with the investigation, saying they felt "let down." In 2016, following an independent review, police launched Operation Resolute, a newly formed inquiry. In 2018, the case was re-investigated alongside those of Rachel Wilson and Vicky Glass after the force was awarded £3.77m by the Home Office, and a new website was launched with information about the case.

In June 2018, Cleveland Police excavated a former allotment site near Troon Close in the Saltersgill area of Middlesbrough. The three-week search uncovered only medieval remains. In June 2025, Donna Keogh's parents were informed a man had been detained in Thailand for extradition to the UK; her father died on 26 July 2025. A £20,000 reward was offered by Crimestoppers UK. On 31 March 2026, police confirmed a man had been arrested by West Yorkshire Police, and a fresh appeal was made in April 2026. A further arrest of a Manchester man was made in July 2026.