Jordan Ratcliffe was last seen when his aunt dropped him off in Manchester city centre. She bid him farewell, unaware that it would be the last time she would lay eyes on him. She had parked on Tib Street and instructed him to call her once he had checked into the hostel where he was supposed to stay – but tragically, that call never came.
It was August 31, 2008 – nearly 17 years ago. Jordan, who was just 16 at the time, has not been seen or heard from since. His missing persons case remains open, but Greater Manchester Police have reported no new developments regarding his disappearance.
Jordan, a well-known figure in the tight-knit Miners estate in Moston, had agreed to spend some time at a city centre hostel after his grandfather fell ill. He had only a small black rucksack with him, containing a packet of crisps and £5 in cash, reports the Manchester Evening News.
He was described as popular and well-liked. The Manchester United FC fan was a pupil at the North Manchester School for boys. After saying goodbye to his aunt Kimberley Pierce, who had looked after him since he was just 20 months old, the teenager was supposed to check into the Men’s Direct Hotel, but he never made it there and has not been heard from since.
His disappearance sparked a major police investigation. He was reported missing by his family days later, on September 8. Public appeals have been made, including a heartfelt plea from Jordan’s aunt Kimberley to the public. As police investigations deepened, it was discovered that he wasn’t captured on CCTV in the city centre due to the time lapse between his last sighting on Tib Street and when the missing report was filed.
The Manchester Evening News has consistently covered the baffling case throughout the years. Three years after he went missing, Kimberley issued another urgent appeal, begging Jordan to make contact.
“He was perfectly normal, there was no bad feeling or anything like that,” she stated in 2011. “I just don’t know what happened to him. Jordan, I hope you’re ok. We all really love and miss you and can’t understand why you’re doing this. Please just contact us to let us know you are safe.”
In 2015, the police released digitally enhanced images predicting Jordan’s appearance in later years. The £20,000 reward for information leading to his whereabouts remains unclaimed. Despite various alleged sightings, none have led to Jordan. A reported sighting in Liverpool in 2012 was ruled out, and other potential sightings in London were never verified. Police conducted searches across parts of London, including Covent Garden and notable homeless charities.
In 2010, a British Transport Police PCSO encountered a young man at London’s Waterloo station who bore a striking resemblance to Ratcliffe. He claimed to be from Manchester, sparking extensive enquiries in the capital over fears that Jordan was homeless, but the lead turned out to be a dead end.
Four years on, police were dispatched to Portsmouth after a sighting was reported, yet no further information surfaced. In 2017, the investigation intensified when Greater Manchester Police’s murder squad drained a section of the Rochdale Canal near Piccadilly Village apartments in search of Ratcliffe, but to no avail.
Since then, the trail has gone cold. The case has been relegated to GMP’s cold case unit, although it remains active. Jordan is described as a white male, medium build, tall with short ginger hair and brown eyes. His last known attire in 2008 included a black and grey jacket, black Nike tracksuit bottoms, and black trainers. Kimberley, during a heartfelt interview with the M. E. N in 2015, insisted that it was uncharacteristic for Jordan to vanish and remembered him as ‘a nice lad, very outgoing, spoke to a lot of people’. At the time he went missing in 2008, he was job hunting and ‘seemed happy’.
“It’s been so hard not having him here,” she expressed. “It never gets any easier. It just sits at the back of your mind. Every time you hear about someone found in the canal, you think ‘is that Jordan?’ and you’re waiting for a phone call or a knock at the door. We just don’t understand why he would just disappear.”