One of Kelowna’s longest running unsolved cases is getting some high profile attention overseas.
Denise Horvath-Allan is a member of the Missing People Choir, which is currently competing on Britain’s Got Talent. Their performance is turning the spotlight toward her son who went missing from this city 27 years ago.
“My son Charles went missing when he was 20-years-old,” Horvath-Allan said in a clip for the program that has an estimated nine million viewers.
“He was back-packing 27 years ago. There isn’t a minute your mind is free from the pain and heartbreak.”
Horvath-Allan has just one of many stories of loss among members of the choir, and she said that the choir is “good for the soul.”
“We all have a common goal — find our missing loved ones and bring them home, where they belong,” she said.
The song the choir performed prompted tears from both the audience and the four-person panel of judges, who later gave their full support of the choir.
“Look, guys first of all I have to pay you absolute respect for what you’ve done,” said judge Simon Cowell. “Sometimes I think awareness is just as important as anything else. So, it’s incredible.”
The Capital News spoke to Horvath-Allan earlier this year, and touched base with her about where the investigation into her son’s death stood.
“I’m getting older now at age 67, so there isn’t much time left,” said Horvath-Allan, who has been searching for son Charles Horvath since May 26,1989.
She believes the secret of what happened to her son was somewhere around the Tiny Town campsite where her son had been staying in a tent, but tangible clues to assist the police investigation have not been found.
“It’s the hardest thing to deal with in your life. My world has been a rollercoaster to hell. I’m tired now and I want to get off and see it resolved,” said Horvath-Allan.
“But I’ve always said as long as I can stand, walk and talk, I will keep searching for my son. As a friend said to me once, ‘Don’t let the buggers get you down,’” she said.