Chilling final moments of missing James Nutley before he vanished on golf trip
The parents of a man who has been missing for almost 20 years say they hope tonight’s Vanished on Channel 5 might jolt someone’s memory and help them find out what happened to him.
James Nutley, 25, disappeared while on a golfing trip in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, on 24 October 2004 and still to this day no one knows what happened. It is now the longest missing persons case in Wales.
The 25-year-old from Caldicot had visited a few pubs the evening he was last seen. The last recording of him on CCTV was near the Giltar Hotel at 23:57 where he was staying, but what happened after that no-one knows.
James Nutley pictured at the pub before he went missing (John Myers)James' driving licence and other cards were later found on the seaside town's South Beach but his parents don’t believe he would have committed suicide as he was happy and enjoying his dream job demonstrating golf clubs.
His dad Jeffrey told BBC News in July that what happened to James is still a mystery but insisted they haven’t given up hope. "It is hanging over you all the time," he said. "We were thinking 'he'll turn up in a day or two' - 20 years later we're still thinking 'where is he?'."
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His mum Catherine said a day doesn't go by when she doesn't think about him and she still has questions that remain unanswered. Did James leave for a different life? Or did someone abduct him?
At one point they thought they had answers - Pembroke Dock man Richard Fairbrass even confessed - telling police how he and his girlfriend murdered James and threw his body into the sea at Stack Rocks.
However, he later said he’d made the whole story up and was jailed for two years in 2006 for attempting to pervert the course of justice. A spotlight was shone on his case again in July this year, when his parents were featured on a podcast with Pandora Sykes.
James Nutley's parents hope Vanished might jog someone's memory (Handout)
James Nutley lived with his parents in Caldicot (John Myers)"We still go down to Tenby twice a year like we’ve done every year and we do the route we know he walked that night," Jeff told Wales Online. "The sea wall is high. He’d have had a hell of a job falling into the sea by accident. There was no evidence of him anywhere other than the wallet and cards.
“We go and put a bunch of flowers there and put a picture of James saying: ‘James Nutley went missing here in 2004’. We go to the Giltar and have a meal and chat to them. They’re wonderful people in the Giltar and Malcolm, the owner, has helped us a great deal over the years.”
Catherine and Jeff will never give up hope (John Myers)His mum Catherine said she just wants to know what happened to her son and spends hours scanning the National Crime Agency database for clues. “All the police officers who dealt with the case are now retired," she said. We still have a lot of support and people often talk about James. People have asked why we’ve never had a memorial service for James, but how can we if he’s not dead?
“We’re still looking to find him. We haven’t given up. Once we’ve got him, if he’s gone then we’ll have the memorial service at Caerwent Church. It’d be a lovely service.” She can't hep but wonder what life would be like for him now had he not disappeared.
“Yes, he pops in and out (of my mind). I think about how life would be very different if we were a complete family. James might have got married and had children, maybe he has done. It’s the not knowing.
"I think of him when I’m on the golf course in particular,” Jeff said. “When I sink a good putt I think of what James would say. If he knew I was playing with his clubs he’d be going absolutely mad. We’ve done 19 years of him not being around now and every Father’s Day or Mother’s Day you wonder whether a note will turn up. It’s special occasions when you feel it most. At those times we really miss him.”
Vanished is on Channel 5 tonight at 7:15pm.
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