FRIENDS of a former Cheltenham man who disappeared on a Caribbean island have been asked to light candles in his memory.
It has now been 10 months since Nathan Clarke vanished while on a night out at a beachside bar in Grand Cayman Island.
Despite a big search, the only trace of the 31-year-old was his mobile phone, found submerged in the sea 50 metres offshore.
The common theory among islanders was that the former Pittville School pupil decided to go for a swim in the sea and drowned. But his family have struggled to believe this as he spent several years as a watersports instructor and was an exceptional swimmer.
Other theories range from a shark attack to being poisoned by a stone fish, abduction or sudden adult death syndrome.
Now, as they approach Christmas, his parents Lizzie and Randell Clarke are no closer to solving the riddle behind his disappearance. Lizzie, 65, has just returned from the Caribbean island, where Nathan had been happy working as a teaching instructor at a primary school. She went with her daughter Sam.
She had previously promised Nathan that she would visit him for her 65th birthday. She called for friends to light a candle for him and remember him as he was – a young man full of life and adventure.
Lizzie, who lived in Cheltenham for more than 20 years but is now based in France, said the family was still desperate for answers – saying not knowing was "a mother's worst nightmare".
"We have been unable to grieve properly as a family because there are so many unanswered questions," she said.
Nathan was last seen at around 8.30pm on February 25 as he, his fiancée Lisa Beck and a group of friends enjoyed drinks at Calico Jack's bar on the island's Seven Mile Beach.
Lisa said she left Nathan to go towards the bar to chat to others in the group – last seeing him walk towards the water's edge. Minutes later he had vanished.
Exhaustive searches, supported by donations from friends and family in Cheltenham proved fruitless and after three weeks the island's emergency services halted their efforts.
Anthony Davis, a former classmate of Nathan at Pittville School, spoke for many friends when he said his thoughts would be with Nathan this Christmas – as well as his heartbroken family.
"It must be extremely difficult for the family not knowing what happened as there is no closure for them," said the 31-year-old, from Rowanfield.
"At Christmas I'm sure a lot of us who knew Nathan will be thinking of him and wondering what can have happened.
"Hopefully one day we will find out."
