Man reported missing by partner found days later with his new wife

[bluesneakers]

It doesn't sound like he and the long-term partner were ever married. I don't know whether Scotland recognizes common-law marriages.

Interesting! I assumed he was married to the woman in Scotland (I think I read it as "new wife" vs "old wife" without paying close attention.) Anyway. If he was not married to her it looks like he would be legally allowed to marry the woman in Utah.

Family Matters: Living Together in Scotland

What is a cohabitant?

In this booklet, a cohabitant is either one of a couple who live together (or lived together) as if they were husband and wife or civil partners. Some of the rules that affect cohabiting couples have some extra conditions that have to be met, this is explained in the part of the booklet that deals with each rule.

Common law marriage

It is a common misunderstanding that a couple will have established a "common law marriage" after living together for a period of time. This is not the case. Common law marriage does not exist in Scotland. Even if you have lived with your partner for many years, you do not have the same rights in law as a married person does. There was a type of irregular marriage called "marriage by cohabitation with habit and repute" which could apply to couples who had lived together and were thought to be married. This was rarely used in practice and, except for very particular circumstances, was abolished by the 2006 Act.

 

[MindHunter13]

Interesting! I assumed he was married to the woman in Scotland (I think I read it as "new wife" vs "old wife" without paying close attention.) Anyway. If he was not married to her it looks like he would be legally allowed to marry the woman in Utah.

Family Matters: Living Together in Scotland

What is a cohabitant?

In this booklet, a cohabitant is either one of a couple who live together (or lived together) as if they were husband and wife or civil partners. Some of the rules that affect cohabiting couples have some extra conditions that have to be met, this is explained in the part of the booklet that deals with each rule.

Common law marriage

It is a common misunderstanding that a couple will have established a "common law marriage" after living together for a period of time. This is not the case. Common law marriage does not exist in Scotland. Even if you have lived with your partner for many years, you do not have the same rights in law as a married person does. There was a type of irregular marriage called "marriage by cohabitation with habit and repute" which could apply to couples who had lived together and were thought to be married. This was rarely used in practice and, except for very particular circumstances, was abolished by the 2006 Act.

BlueSneakers,

Your ability to quickly and accurately research material is impressive!

 

[carbuff]

(snipped by cb)

There was a type of irregular marriage called "marriage by cohabitation with habit and repute" which could apply to couples who had lived together and were thought to be married. This was rarely used in practice and, except for very particular circumstances, was abolished by the 2006 Act.

Thus destroying an entire subgenre of romance novels...

 

[rosesfromangels]

I urge everyone to slow down before making such callous and uninformed accusations and assumptions.

We have absolutely no idea what caused this guy to leave. We only know what the MSM is reporting which is never the full (or even accurate) story.

Without the full story, we on this website are supposed to analyze the information that does exist and put forward theories. Not use our own personal opinions and biases to jump to conclusions.

As the popularity of WebSlueths grows, so to does our responsibility to remain diligent and impartial. It is patently obvious that this site has no desire to foster wild conjecture and emotionally charged accusations.

Please, stick to the facts and don't allow you're own bias interfere with your ability to analyze the facts.

I fully support this position.
I find myself being knee-jerk judgy before my brain fully kicks in.
A good reminder to stay impartial and actually do the work to figure out the facts as best we can. Thanks.

 

[Woodland]

It would be comforting to know, imo, what, if any, arrangements he made for his children while he made this drastic change in his life and the life of others.

Even if his children are adults (in the eyes of the law) that doesn't make them able to carry on with plans they may have in the short term.

 

[Rubyreddigger]

38 year old who left his "partner of 27 years"!

 

[Vedder]

38 year old who left his "partner of 27 years"!

I guess that puts the "childhood" in childhood sweethearts!

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

We only know what the MSM is reporting which is never the full (or even accurate) story.

Without the full story, we on this website are supposed to analyze the information that does exist and put forward theories. Not use our own personal opinions and biases to jump to conclusions.

As the popularity of WebSlueths grows, so to does our responsibility to remain diligent and impartial.

rs/bbm

Thank you, mindhunter.


Friendly suggestions to curb bias/rumormongering (for all of us). A little tongue-in-cheek:


1. Stop reading the Daily Mail. It's literal trash. Period. Hard stop. But to say MSM is "never" the full or accurate story is a gross overgeneralization. Respectfully.


2. Throw out that old "Jump to Conclusions" mat. (Any "Office Space" movie fans here?)

3. I'll expand the advice toward strict impartiality. I think it's a fair point, in theory, but there's more to it — and I think you'll agree with me.

First, for example, in journalism school, I was told by j-school professors, "All journalists must strive to be completely objective." Most hear that as: "Journalists must be completely objective."

The latter seems noble and reasonable, yeah? I believed it myself, until a sociology professor convinced me that, as a human, "absolute objectivity" is impossible. Everything becomes subjective, to some degree, the second it's filtered by our human brain. ...

This reality forces me question myself as to both how and why I came to believe what I believe. So yes, we must absolutely be aware of our personal biases and strive to be impartial. So many people can't stand to question their own objectivity, or feel attacked if anyone else questions it, but it's a legitimate concern.

That said, at the same time, if we stick to the more generic term of "impartiality," well, not all suspects are created equally, tbh. Creating a false balance isn't helpful or reasonable in some cases, imo.

Which is another reason why checking our own biases and reasoning might be helpful, too, tbh.


4. Occam's razor: Sometimes, the best answer is the simplest one that shows the direct path from A to B, while making the fewest or no assumptions.


5. Sidebar question for @MindHunter13 : How much has WS's core userbase grown in the last 12-18 months? Just curious. Do you have a source? TIA

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

Thus destroying an entire subgenre of romance novels...

 

[Tugela]

I appreciate your sentiments in that WSer's and others should analyse info before commenting but, in this case, there seems little more to know. Some cases are like that imo.

This guy did not seem to give notice to his long term live-in partner (27 years) and mother of his 2 children that he wanted to leave - why else would she have reported him missing?
Then he turns up married to someone else a short time later in another country no less. The first woman should have known he intended not to return to their shared home - and he is the one to break that news to her.

I don't find myself in need of more info - regardless of what the first relationship was like or what problems might have existed. He caused LE to use resources to find him in order to be sure he was OK.

So yeah, what a jerk.

One reason to report an ex as missing is to cause them embarrassment and hopefully get the new partner in the back of a police cruiser, at least for a while. We only have the partner's word for it that he disappeared. He might well have told her he was leaving and she didn't take kindly to it.

 

[Tugela]

Reading that newspaper article:


"McGregor unashamedly posted wedding photos to Facebook with his new wife in Utah, who has taken his surname.

Cowie was understandably upset.

"It's just awful. It must have been devastating for Cowie to see those pics," a friend said, quoted by The Sun."

In other words, she saw the pictures BEFORE she reported him missing. It does not seem like he was hiding anything if he posted these pictures on Facebook, so why would she be confused about where he was?

 

[MimosaMornings]

Regarding those romance novels.....

Is handfasting legal?

An authentic handfasting ceremony can be performed by a pagan priest or priestess, but is not, in itself, recognised as a legal marriage ceremony.

Scotland is however, an exception to this rule, if the Celebrant is authorised by the Registrar General.

 

[Woodland]

Not sure how one would end up in the back of a police cruiser over this, but there is no confusion on the sequence of events.

... told childhood sweetheart ... he was visiting a relative 55km away. Instead he flew more than 7000km to marry ....

The love rat’s location was discovered when he posed in wedding snaps posted online a few days after cops were alerted to his disappearance ...

Dad vanishes in UK, turns up days later in US with new wife

What a jerk. Jmo.

 

[dalsglen]

I think I'd be booking myself a flight to throttle him!

@EtTuCroquet? Part of your post made me laugh.

1. Stop reading the Daily Mail. It's literal trash. Period. Hard stop. But to say MSM is "never" the full or accurate story is a gross overgeneralization. Respectfully.

Damn but then how are we meant to know how much the house costs? And those sad face photos are always the best!!

An admission, my fave author Stephen Leather years ago used to write for the mail, he used to do a daily stupid mail story on fb. I got into the habit of reading it to spot the stupid. Its so fricking ridiculous but I cant stop myself now lol

 

[Timekeeper65]

So the ad just below this thread - on this page - SEE IF THEY’RE CHEATING ON YOU.

It can’t be there because I’ve searched this topic. Nope.

 

[Tugela]

Not sure how one would end up in the back of a police cruiser over this, but there is no confusion on the sequence of events.

... told childhood sweetheart ... he was visiting a relative 55km away. Instead he flew more than 7000km to marry ....

The love rat’s location was discovered when he posed in wedding snaps posted online a few days after cops were alerted to his disappearance ...

Dad vanishes in UK, turns up days later in US with new wife

What a jerk. Jmo.

You just have her word for that. He may well have told her that he was leaving her, who is to say. If she was POed at him for doing that, she could come up with any number of stories specifically to cast him in a bad light or otherwise make his life uncomfortable. It is not like it is that unusual for someone who was dumped to do something like that.

Did anyone ask him for his version of events?

 

[Woodland]

Actually I only have what LE reported and what others added to it. Romeo had his opportunity to defend himself but don't see any sign of that.

His 15 minutes has extended far to long imo.