Woman's body found on Highland castle grounds after murder in nearby village
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Police Scotland has just issued a statement confirming that a 74-year-old man was murdered at Keiss in Caithness on Sunday afternoon (July 3) and a woman linked to the incident was later found dead nearby.
Emergency services personnel were seen in large numbers around the coastline, close to the village harbour, searching for the woman whose body was later discovered on the grounds of Keiss Castle.
Detective chief inspector Brian Geddes said: “Following concerns being raised, around 12.05am on Sunday, 2 July the body of a 74-year-old man was found within a property at Robertson Crescent in Keiss.
"His death is being treated as murder."
His statement continued: “The body of a 39-year-old woman was found within the grounds of Keiss Castle around 8pm on the same day during a police search. An investigation is ongoing but we are treating these incidents as linked and contained, with no risk to the wider public.
“A police presence will remain in the area while our investigation continues.”
Yesterday afternoon, Wick lifeboat was observed in Sinclair's Bay close to Keiss harbour at around 5pm. A RNLI spokesperson for the lifeboat said : "Wick Lifeboat Roy Barker II was requested by HM Coastguard to assist in a search for a missing person, the boat left Wick at 16:08 and carried out a search in calm conditions from Wick as far North as Nybster. The crew under Coxswain Mark Cormack were assisted by the Coastguard helicopter Rescue151 from Inverness and Coastguard teams from Wick Duncansby and Scrabster. The boat returned to Wick at 17:26 with no person found."
Coastguard teams from Scrabster, Duncansby and Melvich along with a rescue helicopter were involved in the search from 2.40pm yesterday with personnel seen looking around Keiss harbour and around the remains of the nearby 16th century castle. The coastguard search was stood down at 8.20pm last night. A coastguard spokesman said that the operation was police-led and was unable to supply information this morning.
The property at Robertson Crescent where the initial incident occurred was taped off by police and access restricted to the street as police conducted the initial search. Police officers were seen in the village this morning conducting further inquiries.
