Pictures show start of search for missing Royal Navy sailor Simon Parkes in Gibraltar

A POLICE search of a cemetery for the remains of a missing sailor has started apace.
By Ben Fishwick
Published 28th Nov 2019, 15:52 BST
Updated 2nd Dec 2019, 19:04 BST
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Pictures from Trafalgar Cemetery in Gibraltar show officers in white forensics suits on Monday as they look for answers over the 1986 vanishing of Simon Parkes.

As reported, HMS Illustrious radio operator Simon was 18 when he was last seen with convicted killer Allan Grimson at the Horseshoe Bar – a short walk from the cemetery.

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Police from Hampshire have been searching Trafalgar Cemetery in Gibraltar after receiving 'credible' new information in relation to the disappearance of HMS Illustrious radio operator Simon Parkes who vanished on the Rock on December 12 in 1986. Picture: Hampshire policePolice from Hampshire have been searching Trafalgar Cemetery in Gibraltar after receiving 'credible' new information in relation to the disappearance of HMS Illustrious radio operator Simon Parkes who vanished on the Rock on December 12 in 1986. Picture: Hampshire police
Police from Hampshire have been searching Trafalgar Cemetery in Gibraltar after receiving 'credible' new information in relation to the disappearance of HMS Illustrious radio operator Simon Parkes who vanished on the Rock on December 12 in 1986. Picture: Hampshire police
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Hampshire started an investigation into Simon’s disappearance in 2001 when Grimson confessed to killing two young men in Portsmouth.

Searches will continue all this week. A nine-strong team is in the British Overseas Territory.

Announcing the search in The News yesterday, Detective Inspector Roger Wood said: ‘A new witness has come forward with significant information which we have assessed and found to be credible.’

Police from Hampshire have been searching Trafalgar Cemetery in Gibraltar after receiving 'credible' new information in relation to the disappearance of HMS Illustrious radio operator Simon Parkes who vanished on the Rock on December 12 in 1986. Picture: Hampshire policePolice from Hampshire have been searching Trafalgar Cemetery in Gibraltar after receiving 'credible' new information in relation to the disappearance of HMS Illustrious radio operator Simon Parkes who vanished on the Rock on December 12 in 1986. Picture: Hampshire police
Police from Hampshire have been searching Trafalgar Cemetery in Gibraltar after receiving 'credible' new information in relation to the disappearance of HMS Illustrious radio operator Simon Parkes who vanished on the Rock on December 12 in 1986. Picture: Hampshire police

DI Wood added: ‘So in conjunction with the Royal Gibraltar Police and other partner agencies we're carrying out a week-long operation doing some proportionate searches within that cemetery, hopefully to locate the remains of Simon Parkes and answer finally what happened to him, and who if anybody is responsible for his disappearance.’