THE family of missing teenager Damien Nettles hope to raise £10,000 for a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in his disappearance and finding his remains.
Damien disappeared in 1996, aged 16, following a night out in Cowes. Earlier this month, four men arrested in May 2011 on suspicion of his murder were released from bail with no further action, while a 38-year-old man from Ryde, also arrested in May, was rebailed until March 7, pending further enquiries.
A man and a woman arrested in November in connection with a search of a chalet in Marsh Close, Gurnard, have also been bailed until that date.
In a statement issued today (Tuesday) his mother, Valerie Nettles, who now lives in Texas, said: "We feel there are answers to be found on the Island.
"We believe there are still people with information about what allegedly happened to Damien and who have not come forward.
"We hope that by offering a reward we can encourage those people to agree to give a statement about what they know.
"Only by their coming forward can we progress this case to a conclusion.
"We have wanted to do a reward by conventional methods and in conjunction with police and Crimestoppers for years, but have been actively dissuaded from this by the police for their own purposes. However, they have said they cannot stop us from doing a reward so we are taking this opportunity to try."
She thanked people for their continued support and donations and said if they did not get the result they hoped for, the cash would be donated to UK-based missing people charities.
On a Just Giving web page, where people can make donations to the fund, Damien’s sister Sarah said: "All we want is to know where his body is, so we can lay him to rest."
Anyone who would like to donate to the fund can visit the website at www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Nettles
Reporter: ross.findon@iwcp.co.uk