Men Rebailed In Murder Case

Five men arrested on suspicion of murdering a teenager who went missing 15 years ago have been rebailed by police.

The suspects were arrested last month by police investigating the disappearance of 16-year-old Damien Nettles on the Isle of Wight in 1996.

The men were detained "in response to information about the case", a Hampshire police spokesman said.

Four men from the Isle of Wight answered police bail on June the 8th and were rebailed until September 14.

They are a 48-year-old man from Sandown, a 44-year-old man from Cowes, a 50-year-old man from Newport and a 37-year-old man from Ryde. 

A fifth man, aged 39 and from Gravesend in Kent  answered bail on June the 9th and was also rebailed until September 14.

Damien, of Woodvale Road, Gurnard, Isle of Wight, went missing on Saturday, November 2, 1996, after a night out with friends.

He was last seen on CCTV footage caught on a security camera at Yorkie's Chip Shop on Cowes High Street on the island at around 11.45pm.

He has not been seen since despite his family keeping the disappearance in the spotlight over the years.

Following the arrests, officers carried out a search for his body at Dodnor Nature Reserve, near Newport, but nothing was found.

His mother Valerie, 58, who now lives near Dallas in Texas, and his brother and two sisters have ceaselessly campaigned to find out what happened to their loved one.

Speaking from the United States, secretary Mrs Nettles said she was "cautiously optimistic" about the arrests but she was prepared for it to come to nothing.

"I have always felt that something bad happened to Damien that night. It's just a shock we are here and now and this is being looked at. I'm hoping that we will get a result," she said.