UK UK - Alice Byrne, 28, last seen around 2am after beach party, Portobello, Edinburgh, 1 Jan 2022

[JuicyLucy]

I don't mean to insinuate anything about the party. I simply want to understand what her mood was when she left. As far as we know, it was the last place anyone has seen her safe and sound. So it makes me wonder if she was upset in any way when she left.

It may have nothing to do with the party itself. But it is a possibility, in my opinion, that she went to the beach and may have entered the water that morning. I just don't know for sure.

If she had a great time with her friends, was upbeat and excited about the New Year, then I doubt she went for a long swim. But if it was a depressing night and she felt hopeless about her future, for some reason---maybe a bad relationship and some lingering emotional trauma, etc, then New Years morning may have been a time she decided to change her life dramatically.

Just to clarify @katydid23, I wasn't aiming my comments at you - your post landed as I was writing mine. I agree with your points completely, as I hope the second half of my post made clear.

 

[MountainGal33]

What I don't quite get, is what was happening from 2 am until 10 am the next morning? Did she stay up all night and talk with friends at the party? Or were they drinking? Or did she take a nap?

I am trying to get a handle on what kind of 'condition' she was when she left that morning. Was she rested and calm? Just wanting a nice walk on the beach?

Or was she up all night partying and was tired and hungry?

So important and I was thinking same thing - when I was that age leaving a late party - and maybe hungover or not I would want a coffee and food or SLEEP....

 

[Allabouttrial]

Quite a good 4 min news clip from Edinburgh Evening News about Alice. They interview a few locals also.
Can you help find Alice Byrne?

The reporter:

"CCTV released by police, shows she was last seen wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans when she was last seen"

According to her brother this footage wasn't taken from that night. I think it's a bit misleading.

She also said Alice was last seen leaving a friends flat. Although, I assumed this was the case, I can't recall it being confirmed.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

The reporter:

"CCTV released by police, shows she was last seen wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans when she was last seen"

According to her brother this footage wasn't taken from that night. I think it's a bit misleading.

The image that was put out of her was taken from CCTV at her workplace in Musselburgh, and was used as an example to show an example of what she was wearing on night.

<modsnip>
So, yes, I think it is a case of press releases sent out on the wires not fully giving all the facts.

 

[Doughy]

The image that was put out of her was taken from CCTV at her workplace in Musselburgh, and was used as an example to show an example of what she was wearing on night.

<modsnip>

So, yes, I think it is a case of press releases sent out on the wires not fully giving all the facts.

Although they've also said she was wearing ripped jeans & white trainers. Which she isn't in that photo.

I don't think that cctv photo is helpful at all imo

 

[Doughy]

The reporter:

"CCTV released by police, shows she was last seen wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans when she was last seen"

According to her brother this footage wasn't taken from that night. I think it's a bit misleading.

She also said Alice was last seen leaving a friends flat. Although, I assumed this was the case, I can't recall it being confirmed.

They also said Marlborough Road and not Marlborough Street so a pretty confusing video tbh

 

[JuicyLucy]

Although they've also said she was wearing ripped jeans & white trainers. Which she isn't in that photo.

I don't think that cctv photo is helpful at all imo

I don't think so either, but I can see that police have been keen to dismiss the mental image of her in a brightly coloured hoodie now that they know she wasn't wearing it by the morning, especially as the missing poster also features a bright yellow/orange scarf/shawl thing.

Tbh, I think it's very hard to hold on to a mental image of someone you don't personally know to the extent that you would recognise them if you saw them, so the more pictures the better imo, but it could have been made clearer that that particular photo was from a previous occasion.

I hope there's some news of her today.

 

[MintyMerlin]

They also said Marlborough Road and not Marlborough Street so a pretty confusing video tbh

Agreed. It is frustrating when these errors get perpetuated by media, seems always to happen in these cases.

I suppose in the absence of any CCTV from the night, they feel it is worth releasing CCTV showing a similar image in the hopes that someone who saw her in person will *remember* seeing her. But it does cause confusion. It also makes me think they don't have any CCTV yet of the actual morning in question, or they would release that.

Interesting that the police had been to the nursery (according to witness interviewed) asking for CCTV. Could be the nursery on the seafront (from googlemaps). If she walked down Marlborough Street to the sea then on googlemaps it doesn't look like there would be much in the way of cameras to capture that journey.

What *is* interesting is the police presence and search is so big. Do you think that is because of media pressure? Or that they are suspicious about what has happened?

Hopefully someone who knows more can correct me if this is a false assumption but: if someone goes into the sea and is lost, is there any amount of searching that will find them? Or don't you just have to wait?

 

[ApparentlyInDenial]

Absolutely terrible that the police and media don't have their eggs in a row on this. Time is critical <modsnip>. As is clear information going to the right places.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

All seems to have gone very quiet over the last 24 hours.

 

[Kassanddra]

Someone must have seen her somewhere. I can’t understand. It seems such a close knit community and lots of people would have been around at 10am NY day. Not everyone is young and has to have a massive lay in to get over hangovers!

 

[Doughy]

Someone must have seen her somewhere. I can’t understand. It seems such a close knit community and lots of people would have been around at 10am NY day. Not everyone is young and has to have a massive lay in to get over hangovers!

Unless it was 8am rather than 10am when it was much quieter & still dark.

 

[Normal Norm]

Someone must have seen her somewhere. I can’t understand. It seems such a close knit community and lots of people would have been around at 10am NY day. Not everyone is young and has to have a massive lay in to get over hangovers!

The vast majority of those people were probably looking no further than the screen in their hand. I really should try being less cynical, but I have to say that people simply are not seeing things anymore. Either they are on their device or they are focussing on the pavement a yard in front of them so that they don't have to make eye contact with anyone out there in the big, bad world.

It's ironic, and very sad, to think that Alice's last movements may have been captured on someone's mobile phone without that person knowing it at the time.

 

[Kassanddra]

@Normal Norm you make a very good point.
Since being involved in this forum and also other missing people related things I help with (charity) I’ve been more observant of things around me and also taken a few steps to protect myself should something ever happen to me.

 

[RobinCAL]

Search for missing Alice Byrne enters second week

 

[chickenbeakin]

Always hate it when water is near by, sadly I think she has been swept out in the water. Even if she slipped the effects of the water temp would have caused her go into shock very quickly. I would look at the way currents ran and how fast. She will likely be found miles away. I can't seem to find any info on the currents.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

It has now been two weeks since Alice Byrne and Dean Conner were last seen in Edinburgh – here’s everything we know so far.

Police have confirmed that enquiries are continuing to trace both Dean and Alice who were last on December 31, 2021 and January 1, 2022.

When was Alice Byrne last seen?
Alice was last seen leaving a friend’s house in Marlborough Street, Portobello, at 10am on New Year’s Day.

The 28-year-old had been with her family hours earlier, but left them at 2am to go to a beach party for further New Year celebrations.

Police believe Alice may have been heading towards the promenade area when she was last seen on the morning of January 1.

[...]

It's been two week since both Alice Byrne and Dean Conner went missing - here's everything we know so far

 

[MountainGal33]

At 28 if you break your phone you panic - replace it asap or get a temporary one -
What person that age would go without a cell phone? Friend’s contacts? Texts they miss Tiktok Instagram Facebook - it’s endless. Not being able to contact your bff.. etc etc

It was NYE she was headed to another party at 2am - without a cell phone?

It doesn’t make any sense to me.

Then she leaves party between (8 and 10am) to “maybe” head to the beach ..

What state was she in? Did someone leave with her? Did someone from party follow her out? Was it a small gathering? Were people there that she didn’t know and misjudged trusting them? Did someone from the party know she didn’t have a phone? Did someone put something is her drink?

The last people to see here were at that party - in my gut - someone isn’t speaking up ….

 

[jiminy]

If you break your phone on or around NYE, you're not going to be able to replace it for several days, however much you want to. If you're not insured or under contract, affording to replace it at such an expensive time of year isn't necessarily easy either.

 

[bombardier]

I don't think the broken phone is a clue here. I don't think it's even been stated when it was broken. Yes, 20 something's love their phones (I'm also in my 20s), but we don't shrivel up and die when it's out of commission. You can check your socials, access Facebook messenger, etc etc, on a computer. When you're out and about, you can use a friend's phone for essential calls, or bring your laptop and use store's wifi. Also, I don't know her financial situation but I believe she worked as a care aide, which just pays okay. Getting a phone fixed or replaced costs money and many people can't do that on a whim. As Jiminy mentioned, if it broke around the holidays the relevant stores might be closed (or incredibly busy!).