Solved case · 2002
Also known as Dan Nolan
The short answer
Daniel Nolan, a 14-year-old boy, vanished after a New Year's Day fishing trip in Hamble-le-Rice, Hampshire, in 2002; his remains were found in Dorset in 2003, confirming his death.
No one's coverage is attached to this file yet.
Know great coverage of this case?
A documentary, a podcast episode, a careful long-form video. Suggest it and an editor will review it before it appears here.
Suggest coverage for Death of Daniel NolanDaniel James Nolan, known as "Dan," was born on 5 February 1987 and was the eldest of five children. He grew up by the sea in the Hampshire harbour town of Hamble-le-Rice and was described as an avid and experienced fisherman.
On the evening of New Year's Day 2002, Daniel went fishing with a group of friends. He had told his parents he would return home around 2am. He was last seen outside the Victory Pub in the village, where he left the group to head back to the pontoon to collect his fishing gear. When he failed to arrive home after 2am, his parents reported him missing.
Police responded and searched the pontoon area where Daniel had been heading. Divers searched the waters for clues about his whereabouts, but failing light and a high tide made the search difficult. The search did not locate Daniel, and no trace of him was found at the time.
More than a year later, on 15 May 2003, human remains — feet encased in two socks — were discovered at Chapman's Pool, a remote area near Swanage, Dorset, located miles from where Daniel had disappeared. DNA evidence later positively identified the remains as Daniel's, confirming his death.
The case inspired a play by playwright Mark Wheeller, who was prompted to write it after seeing missing-person posters of Daniel outside his local Tesco. The play, titled "Dan Nolan: Missing," was first published in 2003 while the case remained open. Following the discovery of the remains later that year, the play was revised and retitled "Missing Dan Nolan."
Daniel James Nolan is born, the eldest of five children.
Daniel goes fishing with friends near Hamble-le-Rice, Hampshire, and is last seen outside the Victory Pub before heading to a pontoon to collect his fishing gear.
Daniel fails to return home after 2am; his parents report him missing and police search the area, including diving in the harbour waters.
Human remains (feet encased in two socks) are found at Chapman's Pool, near Swanage, Dorset.
DNA evidence positively identifies the remains as Daniel's, confirming his death; the play originally titled 'Dan Nolan: Missing' is subsequently revised and retitled 'Missing Dan Nolan'.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
14-year-old boy who disappeared on New Year's Day 2002 near Hamble-le-Rice, Hampshire; his remains were found in Dorset in 2003 and identified via DNA, confirming his death.[3]
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
Are you family of someone named in this file? Corrections and removal requests from victims’ families are prioritized.
Credit: Ian CapperCC BY-SA 2.0SourceUNSOLVEDListenCowes, Isle of Wight, England · 1990s
Damien Nettles, 16, vanished from Cowes on the Isle of Wight in the early hours of 2 November 1996 after a night out; despite multiple arrests over the years, no one has been charged and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Credit: Hampshire Police page 3Editorial useSourceSOLVEDListenTom Tackle public house, Commercial Road, Southampton, England · 2000s
Teresa De Simone, a 22-year-old barmaid, was raped and murdered in a car outside the Tom Tackle pub in Southampton in December 1979. Sean Hodgson was wrongly convicted of her murder in 1982 and spent 27 years in prison before DNA evidence exonerated him in 2009. Police later identified David Lace, who had confessed to the crime in 1983 but was disbelieved, as the DNA-matched perpetrator; he had died by suicide in 1988.
SOLVEDListenSouthampton, Hampshire, England · 2000s
Hannah Foster, a 17-year-old student, was abducted, raped and murdered while walking home in Southampton, England, in March 2003; Maninder Pal Singh Kohli was convicted of the killing in 2008 after being extradited from India.
Credit: Bengt NymanCC BY-SA 4.0SourceUNSOLVEDListenPraia da Luz, Lagos, Portugal · 2007
Madeleine McCann, a three-year-old British girl, disappeared from her bed in a ground-floor holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on the evening of 3 May 2007 while her parents dined nearby. Despite extensive Portuguese and British investigations, her whereabouts remain unknown.
Credit: fbiPublic domainSourceONGOINGListenNear Highway 18, Shelby, North Carolina · 2000s
Nine-year-old Asha Degree vanished from her Shelby, North Carolina home in the early hours of February 14, 2000, after packing a bookbag and walking along Highway 18 in a storm; she has never been found. In 2025 the case was reclassified as a homicide investigation and suspects were publicly identified following renewed searches.
Credit: Derek HarperCC BY-SA 2.0SourceUNSOLVEDListenKing's Cross station, London · 2007
Andrew Gosden, a 14-year-old schoolboy from Doncaster, England, disappeared on 14 September 2007 after secretly travelling alone by train to London, where CCTV recorded him leaving King's Cross station just after 11:25 am — the last confirmed sighting of him. Despite national appeals, hundreds of reported sightings, and the 2021 arrest and later release without charge of two men, his whereabouts remain unknown and the case is unsolved.
