Human remains are Daniel

Daniel Nolan was experienced in the water

Human remains washed up on a Dorset beach have been confirmed as those of missing schoolboy Daniel Nolan.

Daniel, 14, disappeared on 1 January 2002, after a late night fishing trip with friends in Hamble, Hampshire, where he lived.

The 14-year-old went to collect his fishing gear while his friends began walking home, but his mother Pauline found his rod still on the pontoon in the early hours of the next morning.

Earlier tests on the remains, which included a trainer and sock found in May 50 miles from where he was last seen, had proved inconclusive.

We remain open-minded in terms of what may have happened to him Detective Chief Inspector Dave Williams

A police inquiry is now investigating how Daniel died, after the case was moved to Hampshire's Major Crime Unit in February, 13 months after he disappeared.

Other forensic tests on human remains washed up in Warsash in February, just six miles from Hamble, have shown they did not belong to the schoolboy.

A separate investigation is now being carried out into those findings.

Mrs Nolan told the BBC that she and her husband, Greg, now finally accept their son has died.

But she said: "We still very much believe that there is an element of foul play within Daniel's disappearence.

"It is a very very difficult situation for the police, because they just haven't got any witnesses at all."

'Remain open-minded'

Detective Chief Inspector Dave Williams, leading the inquiry at the Major Crime Unit said: "It has been suggested in certain corners that Daniel might have been abducted from the waterfront during that evening.

"So we have been actively pursuing that as a potential theory.

"Although I have to say that despite our extensive investigations, there has been no indication at this stage that Daniel was abducted.

"We remain open-minded in terms of what may have happened to him.

"Our thoughts are with the Nolan family at this time."