UK UK - Atlantic Ocean near Isle of Iona, Scotland, white female, 45-60, distinctive Meindl boots, 23rd Sep 2025

[hiraethofthestars]

(I didn’t see a thread for this lady - I did search - but if it’s a duplicate I do apologise)

Police Scotland incident number: 1564

Police Scotland have been appealing to find the identity of a woman found in the Atlantic Ocean, around 5 miles west of the Isle of Iona, Scotland, on Tuesday 23rd September 2025.

Details:

• White
• Approx. 6ft tall
• 45-60 years old
• Medium build
• No tattoos or obvious scarring
• In the water for 4-6 weeks
• Death is being treated as unexplained, not thought to be suspicious

Clothes:

• black walking style trousers
• Meindl walking boots, size 8.5 (equivalent EU size 42.5, US women’s size 10), only sold in 2 retailers in the UK and now discontinued

Image of her boot. Source: Police Scotland 2nd appeal, 1st URL in police appeals section below

“Inspector Roddy MacNeill said: “We are still carrying out enquiries into who this woman could be and want to return her to her loved ones. We are now liaising with other countries outside of Europe, including Canada and the Faroe Isles, to see if she could be from these areas.”

Sources (all info above is from these):
Police Scotland 2nd appeal - https://www.scotland.police.uk/what...continue-to-identify-body-recovered-off-iona/

Police Scotland 1st appeal - https://www.scotland.police.uk/what...ntify-woman-whose-body-was-recovered-on-iona/

All free to read news articles repeated the same information as the police appeals from what I can see so I didn’t include those.
I did find one paywalled article which I thought was a good read.
I believe I’m allowed to briefly state what the article discusses so hopefully this is ok (will self report this post to mods just in case it’s not): discusses lack of DNA match in UK/Europe, unlikely to have gone overboard from a ferry, some quotes from locals, and more

Could walking boots hold the key to solving Iona’s tragic mystery?

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Police hope boot clue will solve Iona unidentified body mystery

The woman's remains washed up on the island in September and despite inquiries her identity remains a mystery.

www.bbc.com

BBC

Police hope boot clue will solve Iona unidentified body mystery​

 

[Rikissa]

We are now liaising with other countries outside of Europe, including Canada and the Faroe Isles

As far as I know, the Faoe Isles are still a part of Europe, being a self-governing part of Denmark. Maybe he meant Continental Europe, which is something else.

 

[MarziPanda]

She was quite tall... especially for an older woman. People tend to be taller in certain countries (like the Nordic countries, and The Netherlands). If the shoes were intended for UK sale then it seems likely she's British, though. Or at least bought them here. I wonder if she could have sadly jumped or fallen from a cliff off of Iona, or maybe a different nearby island like Mull. She may have needed the shoes to hike up to that point.

I do wish they would release which two retailers sold the shoe. A retailer that has three shops all in Scotland would be very different to a retailer like Mountain Warehouse that has shops all over the UK, or one that sells a lot online. 8.5 is an interesting size too, I rarely see half sizes but I suppose walking boots need to fit better.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I'd never heard of the brand but just looked and they have an outlet here in Australia.

MEINDL AUSTRALIA - The World's Best Boots!

Perfect for Australia's climate and conditions. Bush walking, hiking, hunting and everyday superior footwear.

meindl.com.au

And yes they do have half sizes

That would have been handy for me to know, I am an in between size.

A bit on the expensive side.

Maybe she bought them online, or secondhand ?

 

[moonglow123]

Sad, based on the attire seems like she must've been hiking and slipped somewhere. Could've been anywhere, other parts of the U.K, or Ireland... if she slipped somewhere on Iona I think someone probably would've recognized or remembered her already, seems like she floated in from elsewhere.

I hope someone ends up stumbling upon this and recognizes the description of her. 6' is very tall, especially for a woman.

 

[hiraethofthestars]

I do wish they would release which two retailers sold the shoe. A retailer that has three shops all in Scotland would be very different to a retailer like Mountain Warehouse that has shops all over the UK, or one that sells a lot online. 8.5 is an interesting size too, I rarely see half sizes but I suppose walking boots need to fit better.

Yes, me too, I’ve been wondering that as well. If it was Mountain Warehouse then that might not give any further info but if it was a more localised retailer, then maybe that would help.

 

[hiraethofthestars]

I have identified the model and colourway of her boot. It doesn’t really get us any further forward I don’t think but it’s info we didn’t have before.

“Meindl Asti Lady GTX” in dark brown/aubergine, model number 5291-46

(Source for image: 5291-46 | Meindl - Shoes For Actives)

I have found old Meindl catalogues which indicate that this model of boot was classed as “new” in winter 2017, and were also listed in the 2018 catalogue (without being noted as ‘new’).

Winter collection summer updates 2017/2018 Meindl catalogue (‘our’ boot on page 8): https://www.adamsport.eu/sub/adamsp...BkCHwnfnDmOBnchInJgomtkhsTR_uyLsGzjCKVjcXnEaB

2018 Meindl catalogue (‘our’ boot on page 42) - https://www.grafika.hunt-fish.eu/katalogi/Meindl-Katalog-lato-2018.pdf?


I should have clocked this earlier but the paywalled article I shared in the original post ( https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/25867831.meindl-boots-solve-mystery-iona-tragedy/ ) went into a bit more detail on the two retailers: one didn’t have records (started keeping digital records recently) and the other has permanently closed. (I’m not 100% if this is ok with the rules around paywalled articles - self reporting)

I searched to see if I could find details of outdoor shops that likely (or did) stock Meindl boots, that have since closed. I found one possibility although I’m sure there’s more; a small independent shop closing somewhere would be harder to track down.

Winfields Outdoors closed in 2025 and it had 7 branches in England. (Outdoor gear retailer in administration after more than 50 years | Out & About Live)

The following is JMO because I can’t find an allowed source, but the 7 branches were located in:

• Sealand, Chester
• Feckenham, Redditch, Worcestershire
• Garforth, Leeds, West Yorkshire
• Haslingden, Lancashire
• Hull, Yorkshire
• Keswick, Lake District
• Oakthorpe, Swadlincote, Derbyshire

Now there’s no proof that this was the closed retailer, like I said before it could easily be a small independent shop where there’s been no news articles mentioning it. But I felt like it was important to share nonetheless.

As for the other shop which is still open but didn’t have digital records going back far enough, I suspect that will be an independent shop too - I’d expect a large chain to have digital records. JMO

I think this covers all my investigating that I did last night. Very proud that I actually tracked down the boot and colourway!

 

[Rikissa]

The Meindl brand is available in Sweden and Finland (and most likely in Norway and Denmark). Meindl have their own webshop in Sweden, but they are also available in many "sports/outdoor" stores, as well as on Swedish Amazon.
The brand is considered as one of the best among walking/trekking shoes in several Swedish consumer advice magazine tests.

 

[MarziPanda]

Great sleuthing @hiraethofthestars ! Winfields Outdoors would make sense, they closed not long before this lady was found so there would probably still be someone there to answer police that they did sell that shoe, but those records of who/where they were sold had likely already been destroyed.

The Meindl brand is available in Sweden and Finland (and most likely in Norway and Denmark). Meindl have their own webshop in Sweden, but they are also available in many "sports/outdoor" stores, as well as on Swedish Amazon.
The brand is considered as one of the best among walking/trekking shoes in several Swedish consumer advice magazine tests.

I wonder if there's any difference between the shoe sold in mainland Europe and in the UK. Sometimes I buy shoes here in the UK that have European sizing only on them, they've not bothered putting UK sizes on. Since only a couple places sold this shoe in the UK, I doubt they changed anything about the shoe. In which case she could very well have bought them outside of the UK. Especially given your info about how popular these shoes are in Europe. I wonder if she could have floated all the way from Iceland or Norway. Hopefully the UK police has contacted other countries to see if they have any matching missing persons.

Wish there was more info on her other clothing (like where it was made) but maybe it didn't have labels.

 

[Rikissa]

I checked the Swedish Meindl site, and it had both the EU and the UK shoe sizes in the 'Size' dropbox, so I'd guess both sizes are marked on the shoes.

Meindl.se | Störst sortiment av kängor och skor från Meindl

Vi har störst sortiment av skor och kängor från Meindl; vandringskängor, jaktkängor, promenadskor, yrkeskängor, vinterkängor samt barnskor.

www.meindl.se

 

[annpats]

I wonder if she is Nordic, or German or Dutch.
They tend to be taller than British people, and 6ft is tall, even for Norwegian, Dutch and German women.

Meindl, the brand of boots she had on, also sounds German. Not that is IS, it just sounds it.

 

[Rikissa]

Meindl, the brand of boots she had on, also sounds German. Not that is IS, it just sounds it.

Meindl is a German brand, an old family-owned business, founded in 1683, now run by the ninth (9)! generation.

 

[annpats]

Meindl is a German brand, an old family-owned business, founded in 1683, now run by the ninth (9)! generation.

Yes, it adds to the likelihood she was German, or possibly Dutch.
I think a Norwegian would likely buy their own Norwegian brand of walking boots, they have many to choose from there.

I think there is likelihood she could've had a hiking accident on a mountain, and ended up in the sea, perhaps by falling and ending in a fast cold river... although not necessarily in Iona.

MOO.

 

[hiraethofthestars]

I get the feeling she was on holiday in the wider area. I don’t know why. Just a feeling. On the fence if she’s come from elsewhere in the UK or further afield. All MOO

I hope she gets her name back soon. Not even sure what to investigate next - I presume she hasn’t been reported missing - but I want to do *something*. I’m not local but I do know the area fairly well so feel connected in that way. All very sad.

 

[moonglow123]

I get the feeling she was on holiday in the wider area. I don’t know why. Just a feeling. On the fence if she’s come from elsewhere in the UK or further afield. All MOO

I hope she gets her name back soon. Not even sure what to investigate next - I presume she hasn’t been reported missing - but I want to do *something*. I’m not local but I do know the area fairly well so feel connected in that way. All very sad.

Yeah. It's so hard when there's no indication of where she floated from. I was surprised they even mentioned Canada - seems so radically far, but I guess it's a possibility?

Sad to think that she may have been alone on vacation and no one may know she's missing. Guess it's possible depending on lodging/living/employment arrangements