Elite Police Scotland team to review mystery surrounding the disappearance of Renee MacRae and her son from Inverness
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
POLICE have re-interviewed witnesses in the 43-year mystery surrounding the disappearance of mother-of-two Renee MacRae and her three-year-old son Andrew.
Officers from Police Scotland’s major investigations team are making an attempt to crack the case and find the bodies of the mother and son who they believe have been the victims of foul play.
Mrs MacRae (36) was last seen on November 12, 1976 when she left Inverness in her BMW car with Andrew.
Estranged from husband Gordon, a boss of MacRae the builders, Mrs MacRae told her best friend that she was heading to a rendezvous with her married lover Bill MacDowall, company secretary at her husband’s firm.
Neither she nor Andrew have been seen since, though the car was found badly burned that night in a layby off the A9 at Dalmagarry, 12 miles south of Inverness.
Thousands of police hours have been put into the case which has been subject to ongoing reviews over the decades, including a month-long excavation of Dalmagarry Quarry in 2004 and a return to Leanach Quarry near Culloden by forensics teams last year.
This week Detective Inspector Brian Geddes, who is leading the current review, said: “The team is working to identify new lines of inquiry and develop any existing lines of inquiry where there is potential to progress them further.
“This involves reviewing existing information gathered during the investigation and re-interviewing people who have previously been spoken to as part of the inquiry.
“We are grateful to everyone who has assisted our inquiry so far and you can be assured that we thoroughly review every piece of information which is passed to us.
“Our priorities remain to bring a person, or persons, to justice and to locate the remains of Renee and Andrew in order to bring some form of closure to their family.
“Anyone who believes they can assist police is asked to contact 101 or you can email a dedicated inbox at SCDHOLMESInverness@scotland.pnn.police.uk. You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
Police have never made an arrest in connection with the disappearance of the mother and son, although a prime suspect was identified and named in a report to prosecutors.
Mrs MacRae’s sister Morag Govans said: “I am pleased they are carrying on with the investigation. Hopefully something will come from it when you have different people looking at the case.”
She added: “I want someone to be brought to justice. It is a long time but I am hoping for the best – that someone will be caught and put away.”
