THE mystery disappearance of Isle of Wight schoolboy Damien Nettles eight years ago is to be featured in a national TV series about missing people.

Viewers will follow Damien's mother Valerie as she returns from the USA to revisit the scene where 16-year-old Daniel vanished in November 1996.

The teenager, pictured, of Woodvale Road, Gurnard, near Cowes, disappeared after a night out with friends.

Video footage caught him in a fish and chip shop before he was last seen in Cowes High Street late at night.

Two years ago the National Missing Person's Helpline (NMPH) released a new age-enhanced picture of Damien, to show how he might look now.

Now the charity has teamed up with the BBC to highlight some of the 210,000 people who are reported missing in the UK every year.

Presented by Sally Magnusson, the Missing series will follow the families left behind.

Through cases provided by NMPH, the series will also show some of the methods the organisation uses to search for the missing.

NMPH spokesman Ross Miller said: "Each Missing programme features an appeal for the public's help to solve a long-term missing person mystery.

"We are hoping viewers will call in with new clues to five cases registered with NMPH and ultimately help us to reunite another family."

Missing will feature on BBC1 at 9.15am every day this week. A second week of programmes will air on the channel in May.