Found Deceased UK - Susan McLean, 61, U.S. tourist, Aberfeldy, Scotland, 17 May 2015

[Missing Susan]

Susan might be attracted to a field of horses but I don't see her climbing a fence just to be among them. she would be very respectful of people's property and livestock. I think she would stay on a beaten path but would not be deterred if that path took her past a bull.

She has a wonderfully cheerful demeanor despite being a serious horsewoman. Horses thrive on a consistent, boring routine provided by a steady caretaker. I think its safe to say that Susan is the center of her family's universe in the most positive sense of that expression. It must have been a huge undertaking to arrange for the farm to be looked after while the whole family visited Scotland.

 

[hippy hippy]

Thank you MSusan
I was actually thinking of Susan following the wall and fence down past the horses but not climbing in to the field. Just to see them, pet them then head left back to lodge
See my sketch. I also add other routes with arrows of how she can access main road back to resort

 

[hippy hippy]

So the orange line is her walk up the road, then she turns right maybe consults the big walker's map on billboard and head across land through a large gap in stone wall.
Yellow spot is horse area. I have out a green dot at the farm/restaurant where the lift-offer man works. The garden centre is circled in yellow

 

[hippy hippy]

So the orange line is her walk up the road, then she turns right maybe consults the big walker's map on billboard and head across land through a large gap in stone wall.
Yellow spot is horse area. I have out a green dot at the farm/restaurant where the lift-offer man works. The garden centre is circled in yellow.

 

[pinklilies]

That's a great informative map, enables us to see roughly where the pathways are and where you've walked too.
Could you mark the spot where the man offered her a lift please? Thanks

 

[hippy hippy]

That's a great informative map, enables us to see roughly where the pathways are and where you've walked too.
Could you mark the spot where the man offered her a lift please? Thanks

From what my neighbour said, she was actually asked twice, so I am presuming the man was nipping into town, then a bit later drove back out again. He would not tell me any more than that because, he said, we have given our statement to the police. However locals are saying that it was in the vicinity of Pitilie Farm, just spoke to a friend whose partner lives on that farm and he said the same thing, and that police and Search terms scoured all over Pitilie and the wooded area at the entrance to the farm track, even using shovels at one point.

 

[hippy hippy]

Here is what you asked for. Farm circled in purple and also the triangular shaped dense wooded area. Behind this are hunting dog kennels so a lot of barking at the slightest provocation

 

[pinklilies]

I just wrote a reply but was timed out and lost it. That is so annoying.
Thanks for adding the sighting. Is the purple area the first offer of a lift and the second shown with an orange dot up by the garden centre? So sorry for all the questions and much appreciate your answers.

She has to be somewhere within the vicinity of that map. Unless of course she left of her own accord but I don't feel it. Although we never know what is going through anyone's mind no matter how happy they appear to be. All just speculation of course.
I'm sure there's been an occasion before today where I may have thought of walking away from people but I could never permanently leave my animals and I don't think SM could.
I just hope she is found.
Does anyone know if she's ever visited Scotland before?

 

[Missing Susan]

Aloysius
I wonder if you are referring to the point that at first the family said she had been last seen at the resort at about 6:30 and then later the CCTV revealed she was still there at 7:45... This has certainly confused me. No one else in the media has mentioned this difference of time, or speculated on it.
Re the police dogs and the scent...is it possible the family did that short trek the day before when it was sunny and dry and so if the police took the dogs there, they may have discounted the scent trail as being from the day before. I don't know how it works, but this may be a possibility. The trail is very beautiful, very close by, and very rewarding at the top with the amazing scenery so I'm sure it's popular with resort visitors.
None of this of course is helped by the witnesses who said they saw her further up the A836. unless.....and this is what I'm thinking. She accessed the Dun from the track that leads off from the garden centre, planning to do a circular walk, and arrive at the resort coming DOWN the track to the resort at the end of her walk. She may have consulted her map before setting out. But

The maps are really helping me understand your descriptions now. Where exactly on Crieff road was she offered a lift and was it definitive that she was heading away from town? Edit: I see your answer above, thanks. Was she also then seen up closer to the nursery?

It doesn't seem logical that Susan would walk up that dangerous road in the first place so maybe we can't assume that she would logically turn back northward at the walker's trailhead past the nursery.

Here's another map showing some of the features in your narrative. Dun, Birks trail, quarry etch

http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/maps/map2_2pt.shtml

http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/perthshire/birks-of-aberfeldy.shtml

 

[hippy hippy]

Hi, no it doesn't seem logical she would walk up that road, but what part of this story is logical? She left the lodge in the evening in a place she doesn't know, left her phone behind, and if she did realise that she had left it behind, she should have returned for it, she was wearing unsuitable footwear and exiting the resort on the dangerous road as opposed to the quiet street at the back. None of it makes any sense, especially in light of the personal information we have received from posters here who know her and rate her as a sensible, outdoorsy person....

 

[hippy hippy]

And yes there was an alleged sighting of her at the nursery area at about 8pm. All this info is in previous posts. I am concentrating my search in this area because of the CCTV image time, which proves she left resort at 7:45 (no disputing that), the sightings on Crieff Road, and the lack of sightings anywhere else
Will do my drawings later, I am going back up to nursery now as the rain has stopped for a bit I hope. Taking two dogs

 

[Zuri]

I hate to write this, but is there a chance of foul play here? Do property owners own firearms? I hate the thought of this, but what if Susan was mistaken for an intruder and someone accidentally shot her and has her buried on their property, too afraid to come forward as she is an American?

Hippy, do you know if the landowners have all been interviewed? And cleared? TIA. Xo

 

[pinklilies]

Well I think anything is a possibility Zuri as she hasn't been seen since the 17th, hasn't returned and hasn't been found. I googled your query and the only one reported (that I found anyway) was in 2000 when a landowner shot at trespassers who were fox hunting on his land but it's not usual.

 

[Ironside]

I hate to write this, but is there a chance of foul play here? Do property owners own firearms? I hate the thought of this, but what if Susan was mistaken for an intruder and someone accidentally shot her and has her buried on their property, too afraid to come forward as she is an American?

Hippy, do you know if the landowners have all been interviewed? And cleared? TIA. Xo

This is highly unlikely as people in the UK have the right to roam. Locals would be used to tourists walking about in Aberfeldy. Some people have shotguns for hunting however they are heavily vetted before getting a license. Since Dunblane Scotland has very strict gun laws.

I could see this scenario happening easily enough in the US but Scots have a totally different mindset.

 

[Zuri]

Well I think anything is a possibility Zuri as she hasn't been seen since the 17th, hasn't returned and hasn't been found. I googled your query and the only one reported (that I found anyway) was in 2000 when a landowner shot at trespassers who were fox hunting on his land but it's not usual.

This is highly unlikely as people in the UK have the right to roam. Locals would be used to tourists walking about in Aberfeldy. Some people have shotguns for hunting however they are heavily vetted before getting a license. Since Dunblane Scotland has very strict gun laws.

I could see this scenario happening easily enough in the US but Scots have a totally different mindset.

I am so glad to hear this. I hated even typing that, and I am trying to rule out all possibilities in my head. I am so thankful that other countries do not have the U.S. gun culture mindset. Thank you for reassuring me.

 

[hippy hippy]

Hi I have tried to be as accurate as possible in drawing on my search routes over the last four weeks. Orange is most recent, yellow is forest road track and then all over woods, Dun hill and forest areas by fields, and purple is the Birks, which is the steep gorge and waterfalls. I have circled in blue the lodge, the farm and the nursery, and finally I put a green asterisk at the location of the walkers map of the area.

 

[hippy hippy]

I hate to write this, but is there a chance of foul play here? Do property owners own firearms? I hate the thought of this, but what if Susan was mistaken for an intruder and someone accidentally shot her and has her buried on their property, too afraid to come forward as she is an American?


Hippy, do you know if the landowners have all been interviewed? And cleared? TIA. Xo

Hi, I just cannot see that happening. The guns are really there for hunting, and we don't have trespassing laws here. Land people, those that work the large estates, and also farmers, are very friendly and well used to encountering walkers and others enjoying the rural areas. If anything, she would have been offered help if she had been spotted wondering close by someone's property.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Hippy Hippy, you are just amazing! I can't believe how much you have searched, the map really brings it home what a big area it is and how much you have done. Thank you.

One thing though - whenever Ive read about your previous searches, I always imagined they were to the east of Crieff Rd, in the woods SE of the garden centre. Do you know if those areas have been searched?

 

[hippy hippy]

Good Morning Covermecagney
I have several reasons for searching West: it is a vehicle track, for forestry trucks, not a narrow path, that leads off Crieff road, with the added bonus of a large map at the start of the track. I had been assuming Susan might want to stick to well defined routes, and do a circular walk that ends back in town. Also it is obvious very early on that it gradually becomes elevated so if she wanted perspective, views, and visibility in bad weather, then heading upward and west would be the more sensible way to walk if one doesn't have gps or paper map....
Just how I would do it as a long time walker

 

[hippy hippy]

However
I am happy to start searching on the other side.
There is no entrance to the woodland East of Crieff Road until you get to a very obvious viewpoint/ picnic area with benches and parking on the Crieff Road about a mile further south. Perhaps if she was such a seasoned strong walker as MS suggests,she may have marched right on up there to the Viewpoint, sat a while then made a decision as to what to do next. We often have overnight campers parked up there, lots of trash left about in the woods behind unfortunately, and it has crossed my mind early on, and others around here, that she may have reached this point and gone off, willingly or not, with someone who was parked up at that spot and could watch her walking up the hill on her approach.