In 1986, 18-year-old Simon Parkes vanishes into thin air while on shore leave in Gibraltar, leaving all his possessions on the ship. What happened to Simon?
In the 1980s Portsmouth was the home port for the HMS Illustrious, a ship that was returning home for Christmas. One of the sailors on board was Simon Parkes.
The ship docked in Gibraltar, before its return to Portsmouth. Simon and his fellow shipmates were able to enjoy some relaxation time, and a chance to have a few drinks in one of the pubs there. Unfortunately, Simon never made it back to Portsmouth. The next day, he was nowhere to be found. At the time, his fellow sailors believed that he had had too much to drink and fallen asleep somewhere. They assumed he would eventually turn up, but he never did. Eventually HMS Illustrious had to set sail from Gibraltar and return home, with one sailor missing from its ranks.
In December 1997, a new story was breaking. 18-year-old sailor Nicholas Wright had gone AWOL after returning to Portsmouth from HMS Birmingham. Wright held a junior rank in the Royal Navy and had not long left home to sign up. Now he was missing after a night out, in one of Portsmouth’s many Navy nightclubs. Tragically, He was never seen alive again.
In 1998, 20-year-old Sion Jenkins also went missing. Having joined the Royal Navy for a brief spell, Sion was working as a barman in the Hogs Head pub in Portsmouth at the time of his disappearance.
What happened to Sion and Nicholas? And could the mysteries surrounding these two men somehow be connected to the strange disappearance of Simon Parkes over a decade before?
Murdertown Series 2 Episode 1
