Simon Parkes: Remains found at Gibraltar cemetery during hunt for Royal Navy sailor were 'not human'

THE murder investigation into the disappearance of missing sailor Simon Parkes remains ‘active’ after material found at a cemetery dig proved not to be human, police said.
By Ben Fishwick
Published 13th Oct 2020, 12:57 BST
Updated 13th Oct 2020, 16:19 BST
Royal Gibraltar Police at Trafalgar Cemetery in Gibraltar on September 21 2020 in the resumed search for missing Royal Navy sailor Simon Parkes. Picture: Johnny Bugeja/Gibraltar ChronicleRoyal Gibraltar Police at Trafalgar Cemetery in Gibraltar on September 21 2020 in the resumed search for missing Royal Navy sailor Simon Parkes. Picture: Johnny Bugeja/Gibraltar Chronicle
Royal Gibraltar Police at Trafalgar Cemetery in Gibraltar on September 21 2020 in the resumed search for missing Royal Navy sailor Simon Parkes. Picture: Johnny Bugeja/Gibraltar Chronicle

Detectives are still probing how 18-year-old radio operator Simon Parkes vanished in Gibraltar more than 30 years ago having arrived onboard HMS Illustrious in December 1986.

Last month new searches were carried out at Trafalgar Cemetery by Royal Gibraltar Police following some carried out at the end of last year.

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Now police have said material found this year was not human, and bone fragments found last year were from an animal.

Simon Parkes and the search at Trafalgar Cemetery last yearSimon Parkes and the search at Trafalgar Cemetery last year
Simon Parkes and the search at Trafalgar Cemetery last year

A Hampshire police spokesman said: ‘Following the search operation, no materials that were examined have been identified as human.

‘The materials recovered in December were not human either and were animal.’

He added: ‘This is still an active investigation.’

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More police searches for missing Royal Navy sailor being carried out in Gibralta...

Publicity from the search last year generated new lines of enquiry, police previously said.

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Simon’s Bristol-based parents have been updated with the latest developments.

Detective Inspector Adam Edwards previously said: ‘We know this remains a difficult time for them and we hope our work will finally bring them the answers they so desperately want.’

As reported, questions were raised about Allan Grimson, who also served on Illustrious, after he was convicted and jailed for brutal murder of two ratings he lured back to his Portsmouth flat in 1997 and 1998.

READ NEXT: ‘Bone material’ found in Gibraltar search for missing Royal Navy sailor

Grimson served 22 years in the senior service travelling the globe. But he was secretly a murderer who would later tell police killing was ‘better than sex’.

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The Royal Gibraltar Police and Royal Navy are involved in the British police investigation.

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