THE impact on his siblings, and the life's work the search has become, has been laid bare by the family of missing Damien Nettles.

A quarter of a century has passed since Damien went missing from Cowes town centre — a mystery that was never solved.

He was just 16 at the time and the impact on his family was, of course, life-changing for all.

Valerie Nettles, Damien's mother, told the County Press this week: "Although it’s been 25 years since our lives changed forever, we still hope for answers."

Read more:

She said: "I spend much of my time working with others to bring about change in how missing cases are perceived and handled.

"My daughters Sarah and Melissa created a group called International Siblings of the Missing.

"The siblings sit on the sidelines as they watch their family life, as they knew it, crumble.

"They have a growing membership from around the world.

"Damien’s going missing has become a life’s work.

"We have become pro-active in this world of ‘missingness’ and that is what keeps us sane.

"We still receive information sent our way and police are still in touch with us, albeit it is still a cold case.

"Locate International, which is run by ex-police officers, and University of South Wales criminology department have reviewed the case.

"They identified some areas they felt could be further explored and have passed this to police for consideration/collaboration.”

Valerie write a book about the disappearance of Damien.

See the pages set up by Damien's sisters on Facebook and Instagram, and on Twitter @SiblingsMissing

See the page on Damien at Locate's website at locate.international/missing-persons/damien-nettles/

Anyone with any information about Damien can call police on 101 or anonymous Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.