Hello! I'm new here. So I searched to see if a thread had already been made on this case, it seems not.
On the 2nd/3rd November 1996, 16 year old Damien Nettles vanished. He was last seen on CCTV, walking along Cowes High Street, on the Isle Of Wight. Damien had been out with a friend, but had parted company earlier in the evening. He was seen on CCTV in a takeaway shop at 11:30, some suggest that he may appear under the influence of narcotics, due to his strange nature. He struggled to construct a complete sentence and did seem confused. Less than 40 minutes later, he was sighted for the last time.
I have just watched a documentary on his disappearance, which is available here:-
Here are my points from the documentary. Firstly, the friend Chris Boon seemed uncomfortable throughout the documentary. He witheld information about his and Damien's usage of drugs initially. You may think that's understandable, he may not want his and Damien's names tarnishing. However, he says that Damien headed for home around an hour before Damien was sighted in the takeaway shop. Is it really believable that Damien decided to turn around and head back in to town on his own on a cold, rainy night?
Damien's family have questioned the editing of the CCTV footage by police. Apparently, some of the footage has been spliced. Why would this be? Why would potentially valuable information be removed?
I also think that some other posibilities need to be explored. For example, the posibility that Damien left the island either by boat or the ferry the next day. A way to rule this out would have been to check CCTV from mainland ports and travel centres from the 3rd November 1996. I believe that this posibility would be unlikely, but would still be worth exploring.
Witnesses in the documentary say they saw a notorious man, often linked with drugs to be having a heated argument with Damien AFTER he left the takeaway. Some suggest that Damien may have been killed as a result of the argument escalating. The investigators in the documentary searched a nearby woodland, where it is rumoured that Damien is buried. They did not find any remains.
The police initially suggested that Damien had come to harm in the sea. Local harbour staff advised Damien's family that this would be unlikely, as Damien's body would most probably have been washed to shore.
Later in the documentary, the reporters tracked down and questioned a man, who was rumoured to keep relaying the phrase "no body, no crime". The man appeared startled by being approached by the reporter but what sticks out in my mind is that when asked if he would like to make a comment to Damien's mother he said that he's sorry...then he did what could be interpreted as a hesitation and later added "for her loss". Could this be a slip up?
I have done some research in to how narcotics affect a person. Some of the characteristics do seem match Damien's behaviour that evening, for example struggles with communication. However, other people online have suggested that narcotics suppress the appetite, yet according to an online source, Damien ate 2 bags of chips that evening.
Some online posters have speculated on whether the timing for the effects of a drug to take effect would tie in with the timeline of Damien's activity that night. There is actually a large gap in time betweem whem Damien's friend claims he parted company with him and the footage in the takeaway shop. Online research tells me that narcotics can take just 20 minutes for the effects to be noticable.
The suggested posibility of drugs being involved, despite Damien's family being confident that they weren't, is key to a theory that Damien was killed by a drug dealer for owing money for drugs. One source in the documentary, suggested that Damien was killed by accident over the cost of a small amount of cannabis, during a heated conflict. Would a drug dealer become so heated over a small amount of cannabis that they could accidentally kill someone? Canabis is known to cause paranoia and erratic behaviour, which would make sense if it were the case that the drug dealer used cannabis as well. Cannabis is also known to cause a heightened appetite - which would make sense as to why Damien allegedly had two servings of chips that evening.
So, what does everyone think? Despite hours of searching and numerous public appeals, the case has not yet reached a conclusion. It will be 21 years this November since Damien's family last saw him.