February 2012 January 25th - the couple that were arrested in November were re-bailed until March 7th. February 1, 2012 four of the five arrested in May 2011 were released from police bail NFA (no further action) - that is unless they find some further information that will implicate them. So we are left with a total of 3 individuals, a woman and 2 men.
January 2012 What a roller coaster year was 2011....a total of 8 arrests on suspicion of murder and conspiracy to commit murder of Damien... (yes, 8 but one was let go almost as quickly as arrested) so we have a total of 7 currently on bail. Two will answer bail again on January 25 and the rest on February 1, 2012. It is interesting that two of the arrested are publicly pleading innocent on Facebook when no formal charges have been brought yet. So one has to wonder whether they are actually guilty of 'something' to be going public in this manner - who knows why anyone would go public with their arrests? Someone knows something...........
We have another billboard for Damien to mark the 15th year anniversary of his going missing.
May 26th 2011 - My daughter Sarah wrote "The issue of missing people is not just about the families left behind ... it is about the human life that is MISSING and alone, is away from their family, is potentially dead or dying or suffering, do not have a voice, do not have any protection, isnt able to grow up and live their life like us, arent able to have children because they are laying somewhere waiting to finally be found, do not know who they are because their identity has been changed, or because they are victims of sex trafficking ... these people should stop being seen as "missing", and as real human beings in potentially harmful situations ... they are not just MISSING ... they are in trouble and need HELP!!!"
May 2011
Damien's case is currently being investigated as a murder case. There have been five arrests on suspicion of murder, however all five were bailed until June, 2011.
January 2011
Sarah and I traveled to England to organize an event for Damien and the missing issue and to meet the new police team on his case. See events page.
September 1, 2010 In an effort to mark the 14th anniversary of Damien going missing, his family has been given the opportunity to rent a billboard in the heart of Newport, Isle of Wight in an attempt to appeal for information. Damien went missing November 2, 1996 from Cowes High Street, Isle of Wight, England. For further information please go to www.damiennettles.com
The family of Damien have donated funds to cover the cost of this project and local businesses on the Isle of Wight have also helped to fund with the balance.
The billboard will be displayed October 27th 2010 for 10 days. The board has been provided by Biltmore Printers on the Island. Funds have been donated by Wight Quote, Vectis Radio (www. vectisradio.com) and IW Gazette and Biltmore Printers. The billboard will contain the local Hampshire Crime Stoppers phone number and Damien’s website where there is a link to the family email www.damiennettles.com.
We hope that this will encourage anyone who may have knowledge of what happened to come forward to help the family find a resolution to what is an endless grief. Damien is a much loved and missed by so many.
October 2009 Damien will have been missing 13 years on November 2, 2009. ForeverSearching will be profiling Damien for publicity. Also on November 1st, Damien will be featured in the live webcast from LA by band, Clemstreet as part of the Squeaky Wheel Tour. Please see links www.411gina.org Still looking for our beautiful boy and wondering what happened.
May 2009 Damien to be featured in International Missing Children's Day Where? South Bank, London - The event will be held on Monday 18th May 2009, at The National Theatre, South Bank, London in their new venue 'The Deck'.with some key players from the charitable sector. A balloon arch is planned with the balloons showing 5 missing children from each of the 17 Global Missing Children Network (GMCN) members countries, approximately 85 children will be shown. > Due to International Children's day occurring on a Bank Holiday, the event will take place on Monday 18th May at 2.30pm. NPIA and MIssing People are participating in the International Missing Children's Day (Bank Holiday Monday - 25th May) in co-ordination with the Australian Federal Police, the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC Washington - USA) and other partners of the Global Missing Children's Network. Missing Children Europe and its associated NGOs are also involved.
Forever Searching are organising a March for the Missing in Leicester on Sunday 24th May, all are welcome to attend please go to their website www.foreversearching.com for further details.
JANUARY 14, 2009 ANOTHER YEAR BEGINS, AND WE ARE NOT GIVING UP EVEN IF THE POLICE APPEAR TO BE!
WE ARE APPEALING FOR ANYONE TO CONTACT US WITH WHAT THEY MAY KNOW OR HAVE HEARD ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO DAMIEN. AT THIS POINT THE POLICE JUST ABOUT WASHED THEIR HANDS OF DAMIEN...THEY DON'T WANT TO KEEP FOLLOWING LEADS AND WE SUSPECT THAT THERE MAY BE LEADS THEY WERE GIVEN IN THE EARLY DAYS THAT THEY HAVE NOT FOLLOWED UP ON, SO WE NEED TO FIND OUR OWN. WE ARE ON OUR OWN AND WE NEED YOUR HELP TO BRING SOME CLOSURE. WHAT HAPPENED TO DAMIEN NETTLES
November 2nd, 2008
Damien was featured today in a live webcast on Sunday November 2nd, 2008 by the LA, California based band Clementine. This was an amazing webcast.
Music was played by the band and UK artist Darius Lux. There were several people from the UK featured who either went missing in the UK or were UK citizens who went missing abroad.
There was an opportunity during the webcast for people to send emails that were read live on the webcast.
We, the families who were featured, are very grateful for our missing family members to be included.
This is an amazing new and unique way to get the message across about missing people by using popular music as a venue to draw attention to the whole missing people issue.
A BIG thanks to the UK group Forever Searching www.foreversearching.com for making this possible! You are really are an awesome dedicated group who truly have the interests of each family at heart!
Please go to www.411gina.org for more information about the band and what they do for the missing.
Or www.foreversearching.com
I will be going to the band's Dallas performance which will be held at Poor David's Pub on Lamar in Dallas on November 7th, 2008. I hope any of the Dallas crew will join us there.
I have pasted the link, unfortunately, it is only available for UK viewers only. As I am in the States, I cannot watch it, but have folk out there who will tape it for me and send it. Wish I could be there myself.
If anyone has any information please call the Hampshire Constabulary 0845 045 45 45 or please contact the Missing People Charity 0500 700 700.
We miss Damien every day, please can someone tell us what happened to him? We really need to know even if it is the worst case scenario, we cannot rest until we find out.
My nephew, Sam, is doing a presentation to his school today about the phenomenon of Missing People and they will do a fund raiser for the Charity. May 25th is International Missing Children's Day. We are all very proud of Sam for having the courage to stand before his school and tell of our struggle as a family and how it affects those who are left behind. It affects everyone, although Sam was only a baby when Damien went missing, he has an awareness that other children don't. He has grown up with the feeling of loss in the family and witnessed our struggles. The next generation will carry on the search. My younger nephew, Callum who is only 8 tells me that when he grows up, he is going to find Damien.
One thing we must remember and that is not all people who go missing are 'children'. Many adults, young and old disappear, leaving behind valued items and taking nothing with them, out of character, and we must focus on all missing people.
It has been a tough year. Nicki Durbin (Luke Durbin's mother) and I got our heads together with the help of Jill Blonsky, and we organized the March for the Missing which took place in London on March 12, 2008. I returned to the UK to take part in the March and represent Damien, with my family and friends who came to support us. The families missing people and friends gathered at the Raoul Wallenberg Statue, in Great Cumberland Square. We marched to Trafalgar Square, where we held a ceremony, reading out the names of some missing people. It was a great day. We had a full police escort and we certainly turned heads in the city of London as we made our message felt.
It has been exhausting, but well worth all the effort and hopefully we have started the ball rolling for getting some help and guidelines in place to help the families left behind and to help with future families who may suffer through the agony of having a loved one go missing.
We suffered some anguish when recently Damien's name had been found to be used by someone who steals the identity of missing persons, the police investigated this and found that this person has done this before. It caused us a lot of unnecessary distress. I hope they lock him up and throw away the key! And people like him that prey on the sensitivity and vulnerability of the family that is already going through hell.
JANUARY 2008
Yet another year rolls around.
Please see the link below, we are trying to get a reward offered for Damien and I would ask anyone who has the power to help with this to please contact us: www.iwcp.co.uk/News/REWARD_SOUGHT_IN_DAMIEN_MYSTERY.aspx
December 2007
Nicki Durbin and I are trying to get families of the missing together to make our voices heard by the government. We are in need of long term support as the families left behind when a loved one goes missing. No matter what the reasons are that someone goes missing, it leaves the family torn apart. Please read our aims set out in a letter on this website November 2007 11th Anniversary Damien Nettles, Missing from Isle of Wight 1996
Friday November 2, 2007 will mark the 11th anniversary of my son, Damien Richard Nettles going missing. He went out with friends and visited East Cowes, before returning across the River Medina to Cowes on the western side of the Island. He was seen around town with his friend Chris until he and Chris decided to start to walk home. At around 10.30 p.m. he and Chris parted company at the corner of Northwood Park. It was later learned that Damien returned to the High St. area. He was reportedly asking acquaintances whether they had seen his sister Sarah. He seemed to think she may be around and she had mentioned that she might come home from Portsmouth University. She did not, but he had it in his head she might be somewhere. He was seen by several people. He was caught on a security video inside Yorkie’s Chip Shop on Cowes High St. at approximately 11.35 to 11.40 p.m. He was surrounded by several men, only two have ever been identified. The Hampshire Constabulary have pictures of the chip shop video on their website in Damien’s casebook. Please click the following link Hampshire Constabulary: Casebook - Damien Nettles I would beg everyone to please take time to scrutinize these pictures. Please also visit Missing People. And UK Missing Children's Website
Damien was then seen on the CCTV camera’s on the High St. We left the chip shop around 11.40 p.m. and was seen walking toward the Co-op, which is the bus stop. Several people reported seeing and speaking to him there. He apparently was thought to be acting in an odd manner, which may be attributed to have been drinking cider earlier in the evening. He left the bus stop and was again seen on the CCTV film walking back along the High St., past the entrance to the pontoon and the last sighting was around 12.02 a.m. under a camera by the across from the Indian Restaurant and right before Sun Hill. He was not seen anywhere on any camera along the High St. after that point. We watched the camera footage until around the 12.30 a.m. mark, but he was never picked up on the other CCTV camera’s. So after approaching the junction of Sun Hill, he was never seen again.
This is still an active case and I would like to appeal to the public to cast your minds back to that time and if you heard of any rumor or think you might know something, please just let us know. We want to know what happened to Damien and we cannot rest until we have some kind of closure. Call the anonymous number at the Missing People 0500 700 700 or the Hampshire Constabulary 0845 045 45 45. Or email us at valnett@yahoo.com or themissing@hotmail.co.uk.
October 2007 10/20 It is hard to believe that it is nearly 11 years since we have seen or heard from Damien. We love him and miss him so much. We just need closure. The police and the Missing Peoples Charity are going to do some kind of press release. We are hopeful that someone will have information to pass to the police that might give us some kind of hope that we will know the truth about what happened to Damien. I wish that just for one moment that I could give him a hug and tell him how much we all love and miss him. If anyone knows anything, please tell us. Val. The police have completed their review. We were visited by an officer from Hants Constab in July who appraised us of their findings. We are still hoping for a miracle. If anyone out there knows something, please give us the information that we need to bring closure. I am considering returning around the anniversary of Damien going missing. We miss Damien every day. Will someone help us? Tell us what happened?
May 2007 Damien has been missing now for nearly eleven years. He was 16 when he went missing for no apparent reason. Damien's 27 birthday is on June 21, 2007. It is midsummers day, the longest day of the year.
We continue to look for answers to his disappearance. We have continued to keep contact with the police and recently, I made a complaint to the Police Complaints Commission. This resulted in what has been almost a year of review of the case one officer. It was decided that rather than use a team of officers, it would be better, in case one piece of evidence might be overlooked that connected to another. This recently came to a conclusion and it does appear, that on the whole, most lines of enquiry were bottomed out, there are area's that they can revisit. I am waiting for further contact on a way forward.
Meanwhile, markers in his life that we missed his company. His brother James married last year and now has a beautiful baby boy who is four months old, named Robert Damien.
There is not a day goes by when we don't think about him.