Beach search in missing teens case

Daniel Nolan's family is being kept informed

A fresh search has been made for human remains on a Hampshire beach where the bones of a teenage boy were found.

The mother of missing Hampshire teenager Daniel Nolan was present as specialist officers examined the beach at Warsash.

Daniel's family and that of missing Isle of Wight teenager Damien Nettles are still waiting anxiously for the result of DNA tests to identify the bones.

On Saturday, specialist teams from Hampshire, Sussex and the Metropolitan Police joined forces to search the beach and water at Warsash and Hamble for any more remains or clothing.

It was the largest of a series of recent searches organised since the discovery of skeletal human remains on the foreshore at Warsash in February 2003.

'Open mind'

The bones were sent to the Forensic Science Service at Wetherby in Yorkshire for DNA analysis. The results are still awaited.

The remains, however, have been assessed as those of a male youth aged between 13 and 17 years old.

Daniel Nolan, 14, was last seen on 1 January, 2002, on a pontoon at Hamble Marina.

Before Saturday's search Detective Inspector John Ashworth said: "We are still keeping an open mind as to the identity of the recovered bones and hope to have DNA results within the next couple of weeks.

"We have to bear in mind that this could be Daniel and we have been keeping his parents, Greg and Pauline, fully informed at every stage."

Damien Nettles, 16, was last seen in a chip shop in Cowes on 2 November 1996.