I have twice now had this event where 8 of my villagers go off in a raft to try and find another part of the island. Has this happened to anyone else and will they ever return to me???????

I had this event several times and no, they will not come back may be we'll find them in VV3!!

It's one of the events that occurs only late in the game, after most (or all) of the puzzles have been solved. There are several discussions about that event, including this one.

i have gotten that event way tooooo many times

Man i get left out! I've NEVER gotten it!

Do you mean you hope they'll come back in a later game, or that the event will also appear in VV3 or VV4?

Update on this - since this happened i have had 2 barrels of babies and a couple over the waterfall 3 days in a row, think this more that makes up for the people i lost!

This event has never happened to me even though I have 97 people and have solved all the puzzles

There are a lot more events than most people will ever see, even playing the games for a very long time.