A second man has been arrested over the unsolved murder of teenager Donna Keogh who went missing nearly 30 years ago.
Cleveland Police are questioning a 62-year-old man arrested in the Manchester area in relation to Donna, 17, who disappeared from Middlesbrough in 1998.
Earlier this year, officers arrested a 64-year-old man from the Leeds area, also on suspicion of the murder of Donna. He remains on police bail while enquiries continue.
Officers know Donna was last seen in central Middlesbrough on Tuesday, 28 April 1998 and is known to have travelled to Leeds during that year.
Donna’s body has never been found and it is strongly suspected she was murdered shortly after she disappeared.
Her father Brian Keogh died aged 69 last July, without ever discovering what happened to his daughter.
He led relentless campaigns to discover the fate of his ‘bubbly and ambitious’ girl.
Deputy senior investigating officer, Det Insp Evan Kirtley, said: ‘This morning we have made a second arrest in connection with the murder of Donna Keogh. The man remains in police custody where he will be interviewed.
Donna Keogh was just 17 when she vanished in Middlesbrough on 19 April 1998 with police believing she had ‘come to serious harm’. Pictured: Donna with her late father Brian
A second man has now been arrested in relation to the murder of Donna Keogh (pictured), who has been missing for 28 years. Her body has never been found
Donna was seen in the Hartington Road, Aske Road and Bow Street areas of Middlesbrough
‘We remain in close contact with Donna’s family and they are being kept fully updated. Donna’s family have lived with unbearable uncertainty for nearly 30 years as they need answers as to what happened to Donna, and we are determined to find those answers for them.
‘Somebody out there knows what happened and could tell us, in order to give the family some comfort and peace, after all this time.
‘If you have information, please tell us. You can contact us directly or report anonymously.’
Previous enquiries led police in 2018 to dig up a disused allotment two miles from where she was last seen in Middlesbrough.
The site – at Troon Close, on the Saltersgill estate – had been revealed as a place of interest after a review of the old investigation, as well as several other places.
The five-day search was unsuccessful, however, only finding human remains that were dated back to medieval times.
Donna was reported missing on May 30 1998 by her family after the usual regular contact she kept was suddenly broken.
At the time of her disappearance she had been living with her cousins in a flat at Kings House in Central Mews, Middlesbrough.
On the day of her disappearance, she was seen in the Hartington Road, Aske Road and Bow Street areas of Middlesbrough.
Police officially deemed her case a murder in 2016 and reopened the investigation, probing sites in the area and excavating an allotment.
Her father Brian died last year after suffering a lung condition linked to his work.
Brian Keogh (pictured with his wife Shirley Keogh) died last July without finding out what happened to his daughter Donna following her disappearance in 1998
Police dug up a disused allotment two miles from where Donna was last seen in Middlesbrough in 2018, but did not find her body
Mr Keogh, a former soldier with Green Howards, worked as a doorman in his younger years and went on to run his own family business in plastering and damp-proofing before retiring just last year.
His wife Shirley Keogh said her husband’s death caused her heart ‘to break into a million pieces’ – but despite the family’s loss, she vowed to continue their efforts to discover what happened to Donna.
Mrs Keogh told TeessideLive at the time of her husband’s death: ‘He was hellbent on keeping the fight going.
‘Even the day before he died he kept mentioning it – he just wanted a bit more time. I know he would have wanted me to express his thanks for all the support in Middlesbrough.’
Anyone with information is urged to contact Cleveland Police or Crimestoppers – which is offering a £20,000 reward – on 0800 555 111.
