Damien Nettles aged 16 went missing November 2nd, 1996 on The Isle of Wight

He had been out with friends and parted company from them at approx 10.30pm. He was seen on Cowes High St by various people throughout the evening and he was in good spirits.

Damien was caught on security camera at Yorkie’s Chip Shop on Cowes High Street at approx 11:45pm. This is the last known sighting of Damien

He was surrounded by a group of 5/6 men who have been identified as army men who were visiting the IW that weekend. The police do not feel they were involved.

These photos are the part of a video that is the last (surviving) footage of Damien – he left this shop, walked to the bus stop and then walked back along the High Street where he was caught on CCTV – he was last seen at 12:02 a.m on November 3 – then nothing further.

Two of the men in the video were identified by an anonymous caller early in 1997 after a documentary featuring missing kids, when interviewed by the police the two men that had been identified admitted being in the army but said they did not know of the other men.

After 14 years all the men were finally identified and it turned out that all were in the army. Why did the initial two that were interviewed deny knowing the others ?

The last of eight suspects arrested and questioned over Damien’s disappearance, or possible murder, was released from bail by police, with no further action, in June 2012

But Damien’s mother Valerie remains hopeful her son’s remains will be found as she believes people living on the island know what happened to him.

“I don’t know what they’re scared of,” she said.

“But don’t you think almost 16 years is too long to leave a family in this limbo of hell?

“Someone has to come forward and tell the police what happened to Damien.”

Mrs Nettles, who hopes to raise a £10,000 reward to catch the killers she believes are responsible, said it was her “mission” to remind people her son is still missing.

“The chatter coming out of the Isle of Wight is that Damien was murdered, I need these people to come forward,” she said.

In 2010, Damien’s case was changed by the police from that of a missing person to a suspected murder investigation.

Can you help ?

Did you see Damien on the night of November 2, 1996?

Who was on the High Street in Cowes that night?

Why did the police lose the street CCTV film footage of Damien on the street that night?

Was there something/someone to hide?

Who is still out there that is a threat to local people?

Were you young and afraid to say anything?

Message and petiton set up by the family of Damien

Please help us to potentially find my brother by signing this petition so we can dig Parkhurst Forest. We need the Forestry Commission and the Hampshire Constabulary to take notice that this is an important request, whether the information is true or not. We will not know, until we dig!!

My brother, Damien Nettles has been a missing person for nearly 16 years. He went out one night in Cowes on the Isle of Wight in the UK, and never came home, and was reported a Missing Person on November 2, 1996. 

Over the many years he has been missing, my family has never given up hope that we will find out what happened to him. We have been told numerous stories about where Damien’s body has been buried. Many of them are obviously rumors, some of them the Hampshire Police have searched into, and then there are others that have been flat out refused to be looked into. 

The most recent deposition site was brought to my family’s attention in January 2011. We were approached with the story, that some of Damien’s remains lay in a shallow grave in Parkhurst Forest (on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom). We were given the exact location where we could find him. We told the police … and it was dismissed because the source of the information was unreliable due to his criminal past. 

Then, recently, the same deposition site was advised to our family by sources who received detailed and provable information via Paranormal means. Although my family understands that these means are not conventional, the fact that the information provided, backs up the information we received from real sources should be considered. 

Based on the above information both the Hampshire Constabulary and the Forestry Commission refuse to allow my family and friends to dig the site in Parkhurst Forest at our own time and expense. They have advised that anyone who goes to dig up the site in Parkhurst Forest will be arrested. 

This petition is crucial because my 16 year old brother’s remains (that may have been laying there for the same time as his age when he went missing) could be in the forest. For our family’s peace of mind, and for the sake of my brother who deserves to be found, we need to know whether or not we can check this location off of the list. We need to know if his remains are there or not. And if they are, we need to be able to finally lay him to rest. 

Please sign this petition to allow for my family and our friends to dig up the deposition area where Damien’s remains are reported to be at our own time and expense and labor. It is our intent to restore the forest where we dig to the best state that we are able. 

We appreciate that the Forest is protected land, and we have the most respect for the area. But I to think that Damien is buried, alone in the middle of nowhere waiting to be found, takes complete precedence to us. 

Click the photo below to goto the petition