THE mother of missing Hampshire teenager Dan Nolan has spoken of her family's pain and fear as they patiently wait to discover if remains of a human foot, a sock and a training shoe are his.
The grim find, including the recovery of a DC trainer - matching the description of that worn by Dan on the night he vanished - was washed up at Swanage beach in Dorset.
Police scientists are now testing the remains to confirm if they are the Hamble teenager's.
The results will take weeks to come through, leaving Dan's mother and father Pauline and Gregg - and his brothers and sisters - in limbo.
Pauline said: "It's the fear that is worst. When things like this happen we realise that Dan's not about and the reality of the whole situation comes home.
"As a mother I have the awful fear that I might have lost a child. We are all aware that we might not have a positive outcome."
The King Edward VI schoolboy was 14 when he went missing after a late-night fishing trip with pals on a pontoon at Hamble on New Year's Day last year.
He was wearing clumpy air force blue and black DC trainers, similar to the one washed up.
Police in Dorset recovered the remains on May 15, but Hampshire police have told the Daily Echo they were only informed of the find on Friday. Pauline said: "We find it quite wrong that it has taken two weeks to let us know about something so significant. "The major crime unit in Southampton has been brilliant and as soon as they were told by Dorset police they came to see us.
"It's a breakdown of communication which is not good as this is a very significant find and speed should have been of the essence."
Pauline said the family has learned to be patient with six false alarms to date of bones or human remains found.
"We are trying to continue as normally as we can. We have been here before and it's 17 months since Dan went missing. It's becoming a way of life. We have learnt to be patient until we know what we are dealing with.
"Each time it's completely different. We never know what to expect but we learn to be patient. I can't change anything and we have to accept whatever happens as a family."
No conclusive trace of Dan has ever been found. Human bones discovered near Hook-with-Warsash nature reserve in February are still undergoing DNA tests. However, they are so badly sea-damaged that experts will never be able to say definitively if they are Dan's.
Pauline added: "Gregg and I have always believed that he never accidentally fell into the water that night. If it is Dan, then we have to look at foul play."
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