Who is Simon Parkes? Gibraltar car park dug up by police in hunt for Royal Navy sailor who went missing 37 years ago

In a renewed effort to uncover the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of Able Seaman Simon Parkes, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary is conducting excavations at the Town Range Car Park in Gibraltar.

Parkes went missing 37 years ago in December 1986 after leaving the docked HMS Illustrious in the British territory. The search is fueled by suspicions that Parkes may have fallen victim to the notorious Royal Navy serial killer Petty Officer Allan Grimson.

Searches done in Trafalgar Cemetery (Image via Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary)

Meanwhile, reports suggest that Simon's mother Margaret Parkes still remains hopeful for closure after decades of uncertainty.

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Town Range Car Park and the Rock on the Rock Club in Gibraltar are focal points for detectives in uncovering the mystery behind Simon Parkes's disappearance

An Able Seaman in the Royal Navy, Parkes disappeared at the age of 18. Initially, the Navy suspected that Parkes had gone AWOL, leading to a lack of support or information for over a decade. It wasn't until the conviction of Grimson, the 'Frankenstein serial killer,' that a connection between Grimson and Parkes emerged.

Simon Parkes was described as someone full of life. Tragically, the Parkes family also lost his older brother, Derek, to a brain aneurysm in 2000.

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What happened to Simon Parkes' case?

Allan Grimson, now 66, served alongside Parkes on the HMS Illustrious and the destroyer HMS Edinburgh. He was convicted in 2001 for the murders of two young men, Nicholas Wright and Sion Jenkins. He is up for parole next month, raising concerns about his potential release.

The former Navy man is believed to have used his position to target vulnerable individuals, particularly young homeless boys, in different cities while using a Manchester United season ticket as a cover.

His brutal modus operandi involved luring victims to his flat and attacking them with a baseball bat. The extent of his crimes went beyond the known two murders, which resulted in fears that he might have been responsible for over a dozen other deaths.

According to reports, Margaret Parkes, while cautiously hopeful, believed that Grimson posed a threat to society. Despite the passage of 37 years, she yearned for answers about her son's fate, expressing the difficult journey her family had endured.

As detectives continue to excavate the Town Range Car Park in Gibraltar, the search for Simon Parkes remains a poignant reminder of an unsolved mystery spanning decades.

As per the reports, Margaret Parkes, who resided on the outskirts of Bristol, allegedly acknowledged that the recent excavation in Gibraltar was not the first of its kind. The search, reportedly following a previous effort in August, had become a routine reminder of the unresolved nature of Simon's disappearance.

The years have not diminished Margaret's desire to find her son's remains and bring him home. Reflecting on the passage of time, she recognized the inevitability of aging and the acceptance that comes with it.

The Parkes family's endurance, marked by a memorial in September 2022 and a tree planted in Gibraltar's Theatre Royal Park, underscores their unwavering commitment to Simon's memory.

Margaret Parkes and David Parkes (Image via Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary)

As the investigation progresses, the Town Range Car Park and the Rock on the Rock Club in Gibraltar are focal points for detectives, continuing their meticulous search for any clues that might unravel the mystery of Simon Parkes' disappearance.

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For Margaret Parkes, this latest search is a bittersweet reminder of a son who vanished too soon. While the passage of time may have tempered expectations, the search for Simon Parkes remains a steadfast pursuit of truth and closure. The outcome of this endeavor remains uncertain, but the quest for answers in the disappearance of Simon Parkes presses on, driven by a mother's enduring hope and an unwavering determination to unravel the mystery that has lingered for 37 years.