Police resume Parkes search in Trafalgar Cemetery

Police officers investigating the disappearance of Royal Navy sailor Simon Parkes over 30 years ago were back at work in Trafalgar Cemetery on Tuesday morning.

Police had already carried out work at the site earlier this year.

The work is being carried out by the Royal Gibraltar Police in coordination with Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, which is leading the investigation into Simon’s disappearance in Gibraltar over three decades ago.

Royal Navy Rating Parkes, from Bristol, was last seen in December 1986 when the ship he was serving on, HMS Illustrious, was docked in Gibraltar.

The 18-year-old radio operator went onto shore but never made it back on-board and when the ship returned to Portsmouth days later, no one knew what had happened to him despite a huge manhunt to find him.

Since then, investigations into his disappearance have so far failed to find answers for his long-suffering parents.