Case of missing Easter Ross man Finn Creaney shared with a million viewers of new TV series
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DETAILS of an Easter Ross dad-of-two who went missing a year ago have been shared with a million viewers of a brand new TV series.
Finn Creaney (33), of the Tain area, was last seen by family on March 25, 2022 before setting out for a planned hike in Sutherland.
A year on, there has been no trace of him – and in that time he has become a father for the second time.
A new series, Vanished: The Hunt for Britain's Missing People, highlighted Finn's case in its first episode featuring an extensive interview with his wife, Lucy, and comment from a former Met Police chief superintendent and the boss of the Missing People charity.
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"For him to go missing, has a third party been involved? And that's where this programme is particularly important in that if somebody saw him whilst he was doing that walk or on the route that would be really helpful in establishing that theory." - former Met Police chief superintendent Parm Sandhu
In a heartfelt interview at her Easter Ross home, Lucy (28) said: "I miss everything about Finn all the time.
"The adventures, the laughs. His whole being and aura. We're a family, you know, we're a unit all together. I still have that hope and belief that he will come through that door one day."
Presenter Dan Walker set the scene by stating that across the UK, 350,000 missing person calls are registered ever year, equating to about one every 90 seconds.
While the vast majority of missing people are found, often within hours, some are not – and they are the focus of the four-part series.
Dan Walker told viewers: "Happily married to Lucy, they have a beautiful daughter, Luna, and when he went missing they had another child on the way.
"It's exactly a year since Finn went for a hike in the mountains and never came back. We don't know what has happened to him. No one does. What makes this more baffling is that Finn was an experienced hiker. He used to film himself quite a bit, a survival expert he knew the mountains well. Since he has been missing Lucy has had their second baby, a little boy called Bran."
Lucy told the series: "I miss everything about Finn all the time. The adventures, the laughs. His whole being and aura. We're a family, you know, we're a unit all together. I still have that hope and belief that he will come through that door one day. He helps lots of different children from different backgrounds get back into nature and such. He does bushcraft."
On the programme they showed family footage and clips from some of his bushcraft YouTube videos.
Lucy said that he was filming a final episode for season 2 of a series called Wildcat Bushcraft when he went missing and had been planning the 40km hike over the hills to Golspie for two or three months.
She said: "He's a very adventurous soul. It would be strange if he wasn't adventuring."
She told the show: "It has been a year since Finn went missing and it's kind of perplexing to be honest because we didn't think it would be this long.
"Prior to him going missing we found out we were having a baby boy which was a dream come true for him. The last time I saw him was on the 25th of March at this house. We all had a lovely family hug together and then off her went. 'I'll see you on Sunday.' It was just, you know, normal.
"There was one sighting and I was just so hopeful and I put all my eggs in one basket. It crushed me. And that's when I learned don't do that to yourself.
"You have to think of all scenarios and explore all scenarios no matter how painful it is. Just do it because at the end of the day you want to find your special person.
"He could have been taken you know because we live in a crazy world. He could have fallen, there's that potential.
"I don't think he has deliberately done anything or deliberately left us because he's always wanted a family.
"We're stuck in limbo basically. It's the only way I can describe it. Some days it's difficult to say how you feel because you are just so frustrated with the situation.
"I've never been in a situation where you don't know when it's going to end. having to do celebrations without him, all that sort of stuff, it's just been difficult to process."
"And of course my son's birth – I think that's pretty much every pregnant woman's worse nightmare is to give birth without their husband."
She said: "I will never give up. I could never give up. I love Finn with all my heart. He is a wonderful person."
Dan Walker asked his guests: "How is someone who is fit, who knows the terrain, who is a survival expert, go missing?"
Parm Sandhu, former chief superintendent, of the Met Police, said: "There would be three main theories in relation to Finn and the first would be that it was an accidental issue, something has happened to him.
"Now bearing in mind he is a fit young man, he is used to camping out, he is used to that sort of life, that would be a theory that doesn't hold water.
"The second one would be that he has voluntarily gone missing and some people do do that. But when you look at his family, and he was excited about the birth of his second child, you do look at that and you think is that really credible.
"And third main theory that I would have been looking at is that there has been a third party intervention or somebody else is involved. The thing for me is that he knows what he's doing, he knows where he is going and he is in contact with his family.
"For him to go missing, has a third party been involved? And that's where this programme is particularly important in that if somebody saw him whilst he was doing that walk or on the route that would be really helpful in establishing that theory."
She was asked what police are saying about the case at the moment. "What the police are saying is that they have exhausted all their lines of enquiry. They have searched the route, they have looked for sightings, they haven't got any more leads to look at.
"And that's why the need the public's help because police cannot solve this themselves. They can only solve it with the help of the public. That means that this might jog somebody's memory. They might think of something or remember something from a year ago.
"That may open another avenue of enquiry which would be really helpful."
Asked what the charity can do to help, Jo Youle, chief executive of Missing People, said: "The devastation for the family is incredible and there she is looking after two children. Having support in place is vital.
"The charity can also be there to provide support every day of the year. We can be there every hour if it's needed."
She notes that while charity receives thousands of calls, every case is different and workers are trained for that.
"We will be there for as long as it takes".
Dan Walker said: "If you think you can help Finn's family find the answers, then do contact Police Scotland. It's 101."
The Missing People phone number is 116000.
To find out how to watch the programme again, see www.channel5.com
What the police say
POLICE last week issued a fresh appeal for information after the search for a missing Easter Ross man – exactly one year after he disappeared in Sutherland.
Finn Creaney, from the Tain area, has not been seen he set off for a planned walk in the county last March. The last sighting of him was on the B873 at Loch Naver at 2.15pm on March 25, 2022.
Despite an extensive search and repeated appeals for information, there has been no trace of him since.
peaking on the one-year anniversary of his disappearance, Police Scotland Inspector Chris Murray said: “Finn Creaney has now been missing for a year and we know what a difficult period this has been for his family and friends. Finn was dropped off near to the Caravan Club on the north side of Loch Naver with the intention of walking across country to Golspie.
Finn had completed many adventures like this previously and the outdoor lifestyle is his passion.
“We know the feeling of concern for him is shared by people across the Highlands and we are grateful to them for their continued support of our enquiries
“Extensive searches and enquiries have been carried out, sadly so far without success, and we will continue to act on any new information received.
"I would thank the public who have already been in touch and also encourage anyone who thinks they may have seen something, or has any information they feel relevant to make contact with us on 101, quoting reference number 0912 of March 28, 2022.”
