Mum pleas for missing son to 'ring me' after she believes he has started a new life in the Highlands
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The mum of a missing Castle Douglas man believes that he might be in the Highlands.
Andrew John Gardiner, also known as Andy– who would now be 47 – went missing on September 7 2020.
In spite of extensive police searches around his home area he has still not been found.
His mum Geraldine Grave is desperate for any news about her son, believing he may have moved to the Highlands.
Mr Gardiner is married and has a daughter, he lived in Castle Douglas in South West Scotland.
She said: "Andrew drove a timber wagon and was regularly in the Highlands for work. He had a strong affinity with the Highlands and I think he would have wanted to work on a large estate or in forestry.
"Prior to Foot and Mouth disease he was working as a game keeper and I know that he always wanted to return to that."
Mr Gardiner drove a timber wagon and worked out of estates in Inverness, Ross-shire, Caithness and Sutherland taking runs down the west coast to Fort William.
He is 6'2" and weighs around 15 stone. He has brown eyes and a fair complexion.
She continued: "Andrew parked his wagon on September 7 in South Lanarkshire and walked away.
"We just don't know what has happened to him, but I know that he is alive. He is my only relative, apart from my husband. I have a feeling that everything got on top of him before he disappeared.
"The pressures of family life, work and of Covid all just got to him, and I think he has started a new life in the Highlands.
"The police have been wonderful and have done everything they can to help us. We have had huge searches of the forest, using drones as well as police and they have not turned up anything.
"He always wanted to get back to being a game keeper and I think it all got too much for him and he decided to break away from everything.
"I have contacted the newspaper as I just had to do something. It is unbearable not knowing where he is. We just want him back.
"I don't think he is dead, I think he is still here and he has started a new life away from all his pressures."
She added: "I love him and I want to know he is ok. If anyone has seen him, please ask him to ring me, or his dad."
If you have any information that could assist the enquiry please call 101 and quote incident number 2036 of 07/09/20.
READ: Taskforce to tackle mental health crisis in the Highlands
