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

[hippy hippy]

I am just on the point of heading out for another foray via the garden centre. I just wanted to address Eqs really briefly then I shall respond this evening to the other posts.
Eqs do you know, or do you have any way of finding out, what time Susan's disappearance was actually reported to police? I think this is crucial and not something that has been touched upon yet. We know the newspaper first stated she had been last seen at 6:30 then the following article showed the CCTV image taken at 7:45. But when did her husband actually call the police? I wonder if we could contact the reporter who wrote the words " last seen at about 6:30 pm" and ask if they got that info directly from police Scotland.
I need to go out now while we have good daylight, but later I could do a little research and find the reporters name.

 

[Eqs]

Aloysius, At this point I'm so baffled by this whole situation that I'm not discounting any theories... no offense taken here. I just want answers. I haven't been in regular contact with her the for a little while, but I did speak to her on the phone right before she went on her trip. I told her I'd see her when she got back from her trip and she said she missed me and that she would see me soon. There was no indication that she was planning on disappearing (either suicide or starting a new life). This absolutely does not seem like her. I know sometimes people suffer in silence and do things you'd never expect, but I just can't imagine her ever doing something like that.
The most likely possibility has seemed to be that she had an accident and just hasn't been discovered... but the longer this drags on the more I wonder about some sort of crime, abduction, or like earlier the speculation discussed earlier- perhaps she got hit by a car.

Queen Bee, I don't know much about how her family is doing, but I know that her husband is completely devastated. I don't think he is really able to cope (how could you be?). I am not sure if they are planning on returning any time soon to search for her, and I'm not sure why he didn't stay longer. My current assumption is that he feels hopeless and doesn't know what else to do.

hippy hippy, I wish I had a way of finding this out. Her husband has asked to given space at this time, and I wouldn't feel comfortable asking him directly. I can't seem to locate the article that said she was seen at 6:30 now. I think for now that contacting the reporter would be the best bet. I also have wondered exactly when she was reported missing, and when the police (or anyone for that matter) started searching for her.

Has anyone looked into the two other women who went missing from that area? Both around the same age as Susan, one I believe in January and the other in March.

 

[Aloysius]

That's interesting about the other two women, do you have a link?

 

[hippy hippy]

Eqs
If you go back to the very beginning of this thread, read the whole Courier article that beaks the news and you will find the 6:30 time stated in the third paragraph I think.
I spoke to my neighbour today...it was the neighbours boss that offered the woman a lift, twice, and both times she did not say a word. My neighbour's boss and my neighbour have both made statements to the police about this, and that was all I was told. I guess because it was an official statement. I have already informed you of my statement to the police re this matter and like my neighbour and the employer, I do not want to make my statement public. On the upside, I have persuaded a friend with two spaniels, one with an excellent nose he informs me, to go back up to the track by the garden centre and let the dogs off leash to investigate the area where I had the experience with my dog. Please PM me if you'd like more details on this

 

[hippy hippy]

Eqs
I forgot to mention, I have written to the reporter who broke the story and have asked him exactly when and where he got the 6:30 pm time from. I do hope he is helpful. The other time I contacted the Courier was when the rumour was going around on another forum that Susan had been found, and I asked the reporter to verify this with police, which she did very promptly but she also must have checked up on me somehow and found I was contributing to this thread and she wrote asking to do a story on my searches. I did not bother to respond to that. Is story is most definitely not about me.

 

[pinklilies]

It's very strange that the lady never vocally responded to the offer of a lift, twice, I wonder if they actually saw her face, made eye contact with her.
Does Eqs believe the lady in the cctv is definitely Susan? I'm not undermining anybody else who agrees that is Susan, the police, family, but as Eqs knows this lady, you would agree that is definitely the lady. She walks very upright to my eye, legs straight, tall and slim from what I can see from the cctv. Although her head is down, probably due to the rain or deep in thought.
I need to look on google about the other two ladies who went missing earlier in the year.

 

[hippy hippy]

Hi Pinklilies
You are right in saying that woman may not have been Susan, however the road that the woman fitting her description was spotted on first closer to the resort then later close to the garden centre about 1.5 miles further south, that road almost never has walkers on it due to it having no verges, many sharp bends and a sixty mph speed limit. In other words, locals who know the road can really get to a good speed on it because we do not expect to encounter a pedestrian. So those people who spotted a woman on that road on that evening in similar clothing are probably correct in coming forward to the police because it was probably her. Of course she may have found her way back into town and THEN disappeared but I need to concentrate for the time being in and around the garden centre and the track that leads eventually downhill back to town, avoiding the road. I understand the police thoroughly checked the whole resort as well as the streets and neighbourhoods round about the resort. Remember there were no sightings we know of in the town or anywhere else but the A826 heading south.

 

[hippy hippy]

Funny that you quote J K Rowling. She has a lovely home here in Aberfeldy, and two days ago when I was sitting at the top of The Dun looking over the town, I spotted her new Hagrids House that she has built in her garden. You can't see it from the road so I never believed she was building it, but now I've seen it from the birds eye view.
It could be one of those hoods that you zip right up the face so to talk she would have had to unzip it? The weather was pretty horrendous so I can imagine having the face covered...the rain was gusting horizontally. I know because I was out that evening walking dogs with my daughter and ex, it was her birthday and we had to rush home because we were getting too wet.

 

[hippy hippy]

Hi Covermecagney
Please read the post I wrote to Pinklilies, I think it answers your question. I just imagine that if she did head back down the hill to the resort, she would have just gone back to the lodge, get dried up, change clothes whatever. I just feel she didn't make it back but intended to

 

[hippy hippy]

That's interesting about the other two women, do you have a link?

Hi Aloysius
I mentioned Elizabeth Stevenson way up thread. Just wanted to show how police, dogs, helicopters, divers, all got it very wrong in looking for this local woman whose body turned up about two miles in the opposite direction from where she was last spotted. Found in woods by a dog walker.
Will reply to your other post re the various options for Susan, after I have had a bite to eat. Did another big hunt today

 

[hippy hippy]

Response just came in from the Courier

My story was written on the back of the original police press release (available online here: https://www.facebook.com/TaysidePol...75148.187446551307751/933051403413925/?type=1 )

I suspect the discrepancy between times is when she was last seen by her family, around 6.30pm, and then her first appearance on CCTV around an hour and a quarter later.

Regards,

Stefan

 

[hippy hippy]

So, these are the options:

1. Susan went for a walk that evening up the main road but at some time went on to a track/path, slipped and has fallen under shrubs or bushes, probably near some stones and a place with a Scottish sounding woman's name in the title, passing away from her injuries/bad weather.

2. Susan never made it out of the lodge alive once she returned from dinner that night. That a decoy was sent out to create a believable timeline and a reason for her to be seen on that road so that when she was found in Loch whatever by some poor fisherman, someday down the line, it could be argued that she accepted a lift from wrong person.

3. Susan did walk off in her summery clothes and a different jacket than the blue jacket she was wearing in the family photo, up the main road, accepted a lift from the wrong person and ended up in Loch whatever/woodland being found by a poor fisherman/hiker.

4. Susan did walk up the road, accepted a lift from the wrong person and is being kept alive somewhere while the family is being blackmailed.

5. Susan did walk off up the road, turning off it at some stage, before deciding to take her own life in the nearest thickest hedge.

As time passes it's looking less likely that Susan just slipped somewhere within easy walking distance of the resort and has remained undetected. I think the police also suspect that she is no longer in the immediate area and why their presence isn't being felt. JMO.

My next thing, if it was me, would be to check which vehicles left the resort that evening/early next morning, and when they returned. I would say that if people left the resort that night or early the next morning in a car (s) *trying to be careful what I say face*, to search for her, then that information will be available via the CCTV.

Though such traffic, it could be argued, would be totally acceptable, indeed would be expected in the circumstances, I would be looking for places within half of the time any of the vehicles were absent from the resort (half the time to get there, the other to get back), as an indicator of where to look for - or expect discovery to be made of - Susan's remains. JMO.

Hi Aloysius
Ok, so the blackmail thing is far fetched , and I do not believe she would harm herself either. If she wanted to end her life in Scotland, why not take an overdose washed down with Dewars finest, but not out in the harsh elements. As for being abducted we cannot rule it out but we have no history of that here. Someone presented the idea that she may have been hit by a car, they certainly do race down that hill, and then she was removed from the road by the driver. And police didn't take dogs up that way for quite a few days because the second witness/witnesses had come forward yet re the garden centre sighting. So her scent would have disappeared specially after all that rain. Maybe? I don't know. The scenario for me is she stomped off highly upset, from the lodge, went let because going right would mean town and seeing people, so she went left to avoid the public, maybe she was really crying or something, and she began heading up the hill. After the first corner, the view opens out and it is truly beautiful. Even in the rain. Remember it is still daylight until about 9:30 pm mid May so perhaps she wanted to walk further and further up to gain perspective on whatever issue she was facing, and peace? I do that myself when I feel down, I go up to see things from a higher viewpoint...

Re CCTV tracking the family's movements while she was gone...I'm sure the police have done that but until the family decide to share with the people on the ground ALL THE DETAILS...which they may never do, then we can't know really how to search properly

 

[pinklilies]

I've found the answer to my own question about whether Eqs felt it was definitely Susan in the cctv. I've just looked at Susan's Facebook for the first time. There is a full body pic of her standing, taken from the back, I feel the body shape and stance is exactly the same as the lady in the cctv.
Susan must be somewhere where HHippy is searching. I do feel she must have had a terrible accident, she just wouldn't have left her husband, sons and those beloved horses of hers. They were clearly her life.
I just hope HHippy finds something. Very soon. I wish I could come and search too!

 

[hippy hippy]

Hi All
I have just emailed Stefan Morkis again of the Courier and said thank you for his reply to my enquiry re when the family last saw Susan. I also wrote: I believe that if we knew where Susan was during that 1 hour 15 minutes, we would have the answer to what happened to her that evening.

I do really think finding out where she was during that time frame would provide a huge clue to the rest of the story. Think about it, she wouldn't wonder around in the town or at the resort in that rain all that time AND THEN head off for a walk, would she. She had to have been somewhere dry, indoors, so what was she doing? Making a plan? Consulting a map?

 

[pinklilies]

Hi HHippy
Maybe Susan was just having a coffee in the Terrace Bar, how would that give the answer to what happened to her if that's what she was doing between 6.30 and 7.45pm?

 

[hippy hippy]

Hi HHippy
Maybe Susan was just having a coffee in the Terrace Bar, how would that give the answer to what happened to her if that's what she was doing between 6.30 and 7.45pm?

Hi Pinklilies
The staff were all questioned...she was not seen in public after 6:30 at the resort and no one from anywhere in town has reported seeing her there either. All the bars, the supermarket, church anything that would be open Sunday, no leads of sightings at any of our public places. That's why I though she might have gone back to her lodge alone if the family had been out together somewhere when she decided to leave them. I cannot think of anywhere else indoors and out of sight that she could have gone to for that long that she could have access to. Hence she would have time and privacy to decide on her next move. I also want to know if she was wearing the same clothes in the CCTV image as the clothes she was wearing at 6:30. If not, that would prove she must have been at the lodge to change.
Someone locally said they thought the family had been out to dinner that evening at our local pizza place, so I shall try to find a staff member who would be willing to speak to me about their meal there, if it's true they were there. I am sure the police have taken statements re her last movements from any members of the public who came into contact with her that day but I shall try to find some answers to pass on to you. Maybe she left the restaurant at 6:30 alone..............?
I need more ideas and suggestions please, and thank you for your help

 

[pinklilies]

Ah, my mistake HHippy, I've not read all the posts and links regarding Susan's disappearance and don't know why I didn't realise all the staff would have been questioned as to whether Susan was seen in the hotel etc, must have had a mental block!
You raise a good point as to whether Susan got changed in between 6.30pm and 7.45pm as early reports stated she had grey sketchers on which after the cctv images came out, seemed to then change to white trainers. Maybe she did go back and change, even if only her footwear.
Thanks for your reply.

 

[gregjrichards]

L

Aloysius, At this point I'm so baffled by this whole situation that I'm not discounting any theories... no offense taken here. I just want answers. I haven't been in regular contact with her the for a little while, but I did speak to her on the phone right before she went on her trip. I told her I'd see her when she got back from her trip and she said she missed me and that she would see me soon. There was no indication that she was planning on disappearing (either suicide or starting a new life). This absolutely does not seem like her. I know sometimes people suffer in silence and do things you'd never expect, but I just can't imagine her ever doing something like that.
The most likely possibility has seemed to be that she had an accident and just hasn't been discovered... but the longer this drags on the more I wonder about some sort of crime, abduction, or like earlier the speculation discussed earlier- perhaps she got hit by a car.

Queen Bee, I don't know much about how her family is doing, but I know that her husband is completely devastated. I don't think he is really able to cope (how could you be?). I am not sure if they are planning on returning any time soon to search for her, and I'm not sure why he didn't stay longer. My current assumption is that he feels hopeless and doesn't know what else to do.

hippy hippy, I wish I had a way of finding this out. Her husband has asked to given space at this time, and I wouldn't feel comfortable asking him directly. I can't seem to locate the article that said she was seen at 6:30 now. I think for now that contacting the reporter would be the best bet. I also have wondered exactly when she was reported missing, and when the police (or anyone for that matter) started searching for her.

Has anyone looked into the two other women who went missing from that area? Both around the same age as Susan, one I believe in January and the other in March.

Eqs I'm so sorry your friend Susan is missing this must be a very difficult time for all of Susan's family and friends. Sorry you have joined us in terrible circumstances.

HippyHippy thanks for your continued efforts in trying to find Susan we are all so grateful.

 

[Zuri]

Aloysius, At this point I'm so baffled by this whole situation that I'm not discounting any theories... no offense taken here. I just want answers. I haven't been in regular contact with her the for a little while, but I did speak to her on the phone right before she went on her trip. I told her I'd see her when she got back from her trip and she said she missed me and that she would see me soon. There was no indication that she was planning on disappearing (either suicide or starting a new life). This absolutely does not seem like her. I know sometimes people suffer in silence and do things you'd never expect, but I just can't imagine her ever doing something like that.
The most likely possibility has seemed to be that she had an accident and just hasn't been discovered... but the longer this drags on the more I wonder about some sort of crime, abduction, or like earlier the speculation discussed earlier- perhaps she got hit by a car.

Queen Bee, I don't know much about how her family is doing, but I know that her husband is completely devastated. I don't think he is really able to cope (how could you be?). I am not sure if they are planning on returning any time soon to search for her, and I'm not sure why he didn't stay longer. My current assumption is that he feels hopeless and doesn't know what else to do.

hippy hippy, I wish I had a way of finding this out. Her husband has asked to given space at this time, and I wouldn't feel comfortable asking him directly. I can't seem to locate the article that said she was seen at 6:30 now. I think for now that contacting the reporter would be the best bet. I also have wondered exactly when she was reported missing, and when the police (or anyone for that matter) started searching for her.

Has anyone looked into the two other women who went missing from that area? Both around the same age as Susan, one I believe in January and the other in March.

Hi Eqs and welcome to WS. Thank you for posting. I was wondering if you or your mutual friends could perhaps get a little more info from Susan's sister or sons that could help hippy hippy with her selfless search? She has devoted so much time and effort to finding Susan and she is an angel on earth.

Forgive me for asking, but is there any reason why so little info has been forthcoming? This forum is no joke and posters here have great minds. I have been posting in the COTH forum, hoping someone could fill in the blanks, to no avail. Thank you for posting here as Susan seems to have been so well liked within the Equestrian community.

 

[Aloysius]

I believe the Gerry Largay case is similar because it's an older women walking in an area with steep ravines. I live in the mountains and the number of people who die by falling vs by murder would be something like 200 to 1. I've taken a couple of tumbles on easy trails and it gives you incredible respect for the power of gravity and how easy it is to put one foot wrong.

I see where you're coming from but would only apply if Susan actually left the main road.

I went and did some reading up on the GL case. I think there are a few anomalies that need addressing in that, but I'm sure LE are keeping an eye open still.

I think that leaving an area early could be seen as confidence that the body isn't going to be found any time soon. JMO.