UK UK - Peter Edwards, 65, Stonehaven (Scotland), 1 Nov 2016

[Craggus]

Day of Disappearance

Day known to be missing:

Tuesday


Date known to be missing:

1st Nov 2016

Date reported missing:

Reported by whom:

Reported missing by family members in Scone


Weather:

Daylight:

Fading

Time:

15:20



Last sighting info: Left the x7 bus in Stonehaven on Barclay Street.



Known intents day went missing: Believed he may not know Stonehaven well. Took number 7 bus Scone to Perth -Spotted 07:43 on Glasgow Road in Perth that morning near the Lovat Hotel. He then walked towards the city centre. Arrived in Aberdeen around Noon. Took the 2pm bus to Stonehaven leaving the bus at 15:20.


Major life events: Helped found the Perth Christian Fellowship church in the 1980’s. Moved from USA to Scotland in the 1980s.



The Search

Police: Carried out door to door enquiries. Reviewed CCTV footgae.



Mountain Rescue:

Divers:

Helicopters:

Search dogs:



Community volunteers:

Poster:

Yes



Current photo:

Yes

Aged photo:

No

Police website:

Yes

Missing website:

Yes

Police statement:

Insp Kevin Chase said: "It has been nearly three months since Peter's disappearance.

"He has never been reported missing before and this incident was totally out of character.

"His family and friends remain extremely concerned and anxious for him.

"There hasn't been a positive sighting of Peter since he left the X7 bus in Stonehaven, which is an area that he may not know very well.

"I am appealing for any information in relation to Peter so that his family can find some answers for his disappearance."



Police have ruled out a possible sighting at Christies Bar in Perth on Tuesday evening.


Family/ friends statement: Totally out of character for him. Extremely concerned and anxious. Has never gone missing before. Peter’s friends and family concerned he may have fallen ill after wandering off.

Mervyn Milne, senior pastor of the Perth Christian Fellowship, previously said Mr Edwards’ family were “holding up” despite his disappearance.

“We still include him in our prayers and our thoughts are very much with him,” he had said.

Initial theories/ concerns:

Some concerns he may need medical attention- has a tremor in hand but no other medical info released.


Media involvement: Has had coverage in local and national newspapers, social media and news programmes.


Travel hubs nearby: Various bus stops into and out of Stonehaven. Stonehaven Railway Station giving routes north to Aberdeen and south to Dundee and beyond.


Local points of interest: Dunnotar Castle lies to the south of Stonehaven, popular tourist attraction.


Known crime issues in area:




Questions, leads and theories

X7 Bus: There are 2 x7 buses running through Stonehaven, one run by Stagecoach and the other Strathtay. The former runs between Stonehaven and Aberdeen and the latter Stonehaven and Dundee with various stops in between. The bus stop on Barclay Street suggests the X7 was the south bound Stagecoach bus suggesting Peter was arriving into Stonehaven from further North.

Time: At 15:20 in November darkness would be setting in. It seems an unusual time to arrive in a place not believed to be known to you. This would seem to rule out a day trip for tourist purposes.

Acquaintances: No indication he is known to anyone in Stonehaven.

Hotels: No info regarding hotel bookings etc- given the small size of Stonehaven I imagine police have made enquiries, given the time of the year unlikely to be busy. Did he have access to private accommodation in the town?

Plans: No know plans for Stonehaven. Coming to Stonehaven for a planned evening?

 

[Craggus]

General known info thus far in pdf attached

 

[infinit]

It seems a very specific location to travel to. It's taken 8 hours for him to do the journey, it doesn't take that long to travel from Scone to Stonehaven via Aberdeen so there is a lot of time there unaccounted for. There also seem to be direct trains between Perth and Stonehaven that take 1 hour 15 mins if that was his specific destination.

From the CCTV he seems to have left home with that bag, I wonder what was in it.

 

[Craggus]

It seems a very specific location to travel to. It's taken 8 hours for him to do the journey, it doesn't take that long to travel from Scone to Stonehaven via Aberdeen so there is a lot of time there unaccounted for. There also seem to be direct trains between Perth and Stonehaven that take 1 hour 15 mins if that was his specific destination.

From the CCTV he seems to have left home with that bag, I wonder what was in it.

Absolutely- there are buses and trains to Stonehaven so either he has missed his stop and had to double back or he has gone to Aberdeen for a specific purpose first. It's hard to fathom why someone would travel such a long journey to Stonehaven with no overnight bag- a return that day seems unlikely. I can only imagine he was using free bus pass to travel and opted for the bus. Tourism seems unlikely to arrive somewhere at sunset. Even if he had arranged to meet somewhere there you would think he would have taken a bag with basic necessities.

 

[Craggus]

A good wee video on youtube here from the Missing Mystery channel-

A few things I was unaware of from this:

He left the house saying he was going to work- he worked at a Christian book shop. He didn't go to work and embarked on his journey but he left his keys on the door step.

He frequented a church supported coffee shop in Perth called the Mustard Seed Coffee Shop.

On the Friday before his disappearance he gave a church sermon with the theme of hope.

Affiliated church members in Stonehaven searched over the weeks at both train station and bus station in Stonehaven.

He was originally born in London. The family emigrated to the USA, no year given but seems likely it was in childhood. His sisters also joined him and mum in USA. After their mother died in 2004 his sister Chloe did a worldwide search for their two half brothers using documents found in mums possessions- unclear whether they knew of their existence prior. Both half brothers lived in England, one passed away in September 2020. The sisters have not met the half brothers- no info as to whether Peter had.

Family believe he may have shaved or died hair to change appearance. Sister Chloe believes someone was waiting at the bus stop in Stonehaven for him which would explain no further CCTV sightings or no scent from the tracker dog.

It seems there was certainly intention to leave. Perhaps going via Aberdeen to waste some time before getting picked up or trying to hide tracks. It would also explain no need for overnight bag and an odd arrival time if no thought of returning was there. On the plus side it perhaps offers hope he is alive and gone off by choice and doesn't want to be found. Thoughts?

 

[infinit]

It doesn't seem to me that he had any intention of returning - Leaving the keys and not making up an excuse for work that day.

I also find it highly inprobable that he ends up in Stonehaven and then becomes the victim of some opportunistic assailiant.

I can see based on lack of CCTV and tracker dogs the argument for him being picked up. It's hard to know without an understanding of where functional CCTV was checked for how many paths there were where he could be uncaptured. But he really doesn't seem to have taken much with him. I'm sure he'd have items that had meaning to him, his first ever copy of the Bible etc.

The tremors in his hands makes me wonder if he was developing Parkinson's disease, a symptom of which is depression. I know Christianity and suicide is still a contentious issue, but I could understand him not wanting anyone to know the reality of the situation based on the potential judgement it could cause.

Just my opinion.

 

[CountSnap]

Just found out about this case and came here to find more info.
I wasn't disappointed.
Seems as though the man may have decided on a new way of life.
Says he's going to work but drops the keys and heads off into the wild blue.
Definitely seems planned. Could easily shave his beard and look like an entirely different person in less than ten minutes.
I'm guessing he's in the same area but enjoying life like he didn't think he could before.

 

[hiraethofthestars]

I hadn’t heard of this case before. I hope Peter is safe and well somewhere.

I found a Facebook page for finding him, I hope this is okay to share. If not mods please delete, I’ll alert to this post. Log into Facebook

Here is a missing poster too.