UK UK - Neil Skinner, 72, last seen midday, camping close Loch Dochard, Scottish Highlands, 8 May 2022

[stu112]

They are all fenced off to stop the deer from getting in but all have access stiles to get over the deer fences.

Do we know if any searches were carried out in those areas? If he needed the toilet the logical thing may have been to climb the stile to go into the wood and he may have got lost but even then, he would have had to have taken ill whilst lost.

If it's not that then I can't help but think there may be a more sinister side to all of this.

 

[ZeroAlpha]

Do we know if any searches were carried out in those areas? If he needed the toilet the logical thing may have been to climb the stile to go into the wood and he may have got lost but even then, he would have had to have taken ill whilst lost.

If it's not that then I can't help but think there may be a more sinister side to all of this.

I believe the woodland areas were all searched by police, SAR and volunteers. I had a look around the woodlands near Loch Tulla.

If he had taken ill or had an accident he would most likely have been found by now as he would not have gone far from the beaten path.

 

[ZeroAlpha]

Neil could have taken ill or had an accident, but if that were the case I would have expected him to have been located by now.

I don't want to say too much about the other possibilities as the family have spoken about them and the police don't seem to be viewing this as anything other than a missing person case.

 

[seasideForest]

Neil could have taken ill or had an accident, but if that were the case I would have expected him to have been located by now.

RSBMFF
The thing about expecting somebody or someone's body to have been located by a specific time is that time and again bodies are not located until some time or other possibly even years later, despite them being near where expected. I'm not going to do a forum search rn but I'm pretty sure there have been examples of that here on the forum.

MOO JMO

Suicide is sadly possible even when a family denies this possibility. If that were the case, it's equally possible that Neil might have tried to go a bit further afield like to the peat bogs in order to disappear as best possible. My own experience of decades of depression as well as experiencing other people with depression is that others don't know or understand what is going on in the depressive person's head. The depressive person can suddenly feel like a burden and see a 'convenient spot' to end it all. Can. Not must. And obviously also very sadly because friends and most family mbrs aren't going to see the person as a burden.
MOO JMO

 

[stu112]

Suicide is sadly possible even when a family denies this possibility. If that were the case, it's equally possible that Neil might have tried to go a bit further afield like to the peat bogs in order to disappear as best possible. My own experience of decades of depression as well as experiencing other people with depression is that others don't know or understand what is going on in the depressive person's head. The depressive person can suddenly feel like a burden and see a 'convenient spot' to end it all. Can. Not must. And obviously also very sadly because friends and most family mbrs aren't going to see the person as a burden.
MOO JMO

Yep,very valid point. I'm sure the family just want closure and sadly, while the search continues, we can only theorise.

 

[ZeroAlpha]

K9 Outdoor Search Team commented on their YouTube video regarding the case:

The question is simply ‘Do you believe the story’? Because I did at first but came across so many contradictions and variations that warning flags were coming up day by day. For example;

1. What was Neil going to do for 5 days alone at the loch, taking into account his age, he’s known to wander and get lost plus he has health issues?
2. If he’s known to wander then why would anyone leave him alone for 5 days?
3. The two friends have not spoken to anyone except the police, they didn’t turn up for the Hike for Neil Meet, why?
4. Why put posters up showing someone ten years younger of age when the family had recent photographs of Neil?
5. Why say Neil is a regular mountain walker and wild camper when in reality Neil had trouble walking the 5 miles to Loch Dochard?
6. Why state the weather was bad those days when in reality the weather was warm and sunny, it only turned on the day the alarm was raised?
7. Since when have people on a five day hiking/camping break decide to leave their dry tent, walk out into torrential rain, turn back at this first sign of rain, walk uphill in this pouring rain, then conduct a search in really bad weather, walk back to their car, completing an estimated 11 miles over 4 to 5 hours, to raise the alarm BUT bypassing a farm only a mile from Loch Dochard that is clearly sign posted. Then walk by several lodges/houses, again where they could raise the alarm, to arrive at their car at Victoria Bridge Car Park, to then drive to the nearby hotel to finally raise the alarm. It just doesn’t make sense at all.

Trust me there is so much more I could say but I would be writing on here for days

 

[touch]

7. Since when have people on a five day hiking/camping break decide to leave their dry tent, walk out into torrential rain, turn back at this first sign of rain, walk uphill in this pouring rain, then conduct a search in really bad weather, walk back to their car, completing an estimated 11 miles over 4 to 5 hours, to raise the alarm BUT bypassing a farm only a mile from Loch Dochard that is clearly sign posted. Then walk by several lodges/houses, again where they could raise the alarm, to arrive at their car at Victoria Bridge Car Park, to then drive to the nearby hotel to finally raise the alarm. It just doesn’t make sense at all.

It makes a lot of sense to do that if they thought he might be waiting by the car, which seems like a logical assumption to me...

 

[ZeroAlpha]

 

[stu112]

Those points essentially capture what I'm thinking

 

[ZeroAlpha]

I recently had a look around the southern shores of Loch Tulla and the woodland areas at Forest Lodge and to the east of the Inveroran Hotel. I plan to go back and look again around Loch Dochard and maybe think outside the box and try other areas. The K9 search guy and his dogs have had a very good look around the area where Neil camped, as have others. They are sure he is not lying near there.

I have spoken again to a few volunteer searchers and locals.

There would have been shooting on the estate at the time and the stalkers' trails would have been in frequent use.

 

[stu112]

The search shouldn't be at the loch, it should be along the trail they all walked after that. I don't believe he went back and pitched a tent

 

[ZeroAlpha]

The search shouldn't be at the loch, it should be along the trail they all walked after that. I don't believe he went back and pitched a tent

Yep, I agree. The search should be beyond Loch Dochard towards Glen Kinglass.

I have just learned that this area to the west wasn't searched in any detail.

The focus has been on the Loch Dochard area where Neil was supposedly left on his own and back towards Forest Lodge / Victoria Bridge car park.

If I am up that way in the next few weeks I'm going to search from Loch Dochard towards the hydroelectric power station / Glen Kinglass Lodge at the entrance to Glen Kinglass.

I am getting to the point where I don't believe the narrative that we have been told, as are others.

Do we know for certain if he swapped his red jacket with a green one from his travelling companions?

When you say that you don't believe he went back and pitched a tent do you believe that they all encamped at Loch Dochard before moving towards Glen Kinglass the next day? That would make sense due to the late arrival unless the others wanted to push on but Neil was unable to.

 

[Deleted member 350032]

Yep, I agree. The search should be beyond Loch Dochard towards Glen Kinglass.

I have just learned that this area to the west wasn't searched in any detail.

The focus has been on the Loch Dochard area where Neil was supposedly left on his own and back towards Forest Lodge / Victoria Bridge car park.

If I am up that way in the next few weeks I'm going to search from Loch Dochard towards the hydroelectric power station / Glen Kinglass Lodge at the entrance to Glen Kinglass.

I am getting to the point where I don't believe the narrative that we have been told, as are others.

Do we know for certain if he swapped his red jacket with a green one from his travelling companions?

When you say that you don't believe he went back and pitched a tent do you believe that they all encamped at Loch Dochard before moving towards Glen Kinglass the next day? That would make sense due to the late arrival unless the others wanted to push on but Neil was unable to.

I’m the guy that has been searching the Loch Dochard area and beyond with his dogs for the past 18 months, that has been posting regular updates on YouTube

In regards to why people were concentrating their searching to areas near to the loch, the simple answer is the police have a confirmed sighting of Neil camped at the location mentioned on the Sunday, the day after Neil and his friends parted.

This sighting was on the track just south of the loch at around mid day, any other so called sightings have not been confirmed by the police.

The reports of Neil swapping coats, his red for his female friends green coat if true do not really make much sense. Neil was much fuller in size, his female friends thinner hence the female friend could wear Neil’s coat but Neil would never be able to get the female friends coat on, it would be too small

 

[stu112]

I’m the guy that has been searching the Loch Dochard area and beyond with his dogs for the past 18 months, that has been posting regular updates on YouTube

In regards to why people were concentrating their searching to areas near to the loch, the simple answer is the police have a confirmed sighting of Neil camped at the location mentioned on the Sunday, the day after Neil and his friends parted.

This sighting was on the track just south of the loch at around mid day, any other so called sightings have not been confirmed by the police.

The reports of Neil swapping coats, his red for his female friends green coat if true do not really make much sense. Neil was much fuller in size, his female friends thinner hence the female friend could wear Neil’s coat but Neil would never be able to get the female friends coat on, it would be too small

have you logged your routes via GPS that people can view and see where you have searched?

 

[Deleted member 350032]

have you logged your routes via GPS that people can view and see where you have searched?

I will be uploading a video on YouTube in the coming months showing the areas I have covered in 3D so people will get a better perspective of what we have covered
But basically I have searched all areas around Loch Dochard several times pushing right out up to the two valleys to the far north, all plantations from Clashgour Hut up to Loch Dochard, on both sides of the river have been searched, one summer we actually walked up the river from Victoria Bridge to Loch Dochard, the river level was a trickle due to a heat wave. The areas around the three small lochans to the northwest have been searched but the lochans themselves have not. The bogs to the west have been searched both by my dogs and with a drone, nothing was found. The wooded area immediately over the fence to the south of Loch Dochard has been searched, this winter I will put up ‘bump’ lines and search the wooded area completely so as to rule it out once and for all.

The most important item that needs searching is obviously the Loch itself but that’s a job for a specialist team. If and it’s a big if, Neil ended up in the water and somehow sadly drowned which would be strange because you can wade out for a good 100 metres and only then you would still be waste deep, then any body would first be afloat for 24 hours before submerging, then any body would collect in an area at the top north east of the loch near the stepping stones. This area is where any drowned deer etc would collect according to people on the estate, this area was checked when the water levels in the loch were very low during the hot summer of 2023, nothing was found.

For any body to be washed out of the loch it would have to be washed over the large stepping stones on the top eastern side of the loch, this is where the water leaves the loch. It would be very hard for the water to do this but not impossible, the flow rate is very strong at this location, the water levels would have to be very high

Sadly after some two years of searching I have come to the conclusion that Neil took his own life, not by wading out into the loch but simply by walking away from his tent with the aim of getting high up and away. There is evidence that Neil suffered from depression, we know he loved his whiskey, we also know he was on medication, when you look closely at those three combined they don’t make a good mix.

 

[ZeroAlpha]

Neil left his tent and took nothing with him. So he was either not going far or planned on not returning. The high ground to the north of the loch may be key.

 

[Deleted member 350032]

Neil left his tent and took nothing with him. So he was either not going far or planned on not returning. The high ground to the north of the loch may be key.

That’s what I believe happened, he got his tent in order, we don’t know if any note was left in the tent. He didn’t need hiking poles, waterproofs or a head torch because they are all safety items, sadly I believe his frame of mind was ‘where I am going I won’t need them’ . This would explain the reports he swapped coats with the female friend, her coat would have been to small for him, but Neil was a gent, kind to the last, he knew he wouldn’t be needing it. The high ground to the north hardly has any visitors, some places just the stalkers, it has never been searched.

 

[Deleted member 350032]

Neil left his tent and took nothing with him. So he was either not going far or planned on not returning. The high ground to the north of the loch may be key.

The areas circled in red I believe are the most obvious, my friend suggests the area circled in blue. There are ways to get up to them, you will need to push left or right rather than hit them head on, please be careful there are hundreds of leg breaking holes on the slopes, the rocks are extremely slippery when wet, the weather can change very quickly, the northern areas are quite remote.

 

[Deleted member 350032]

Neil left his tent and took nothing with him. So he was either not going far or planned on not returning. The high ground to the north of the loch may be key.

If he indeed is up on the high ground to the north then he will be tucked out of the way, behind a boulder or in some kind of sheltered hollow. Remember two years have passed since Neil went missing, any remains may be partially covered, but in other missing people cases in the Highlands where bodies have been found for up to two years shows the higher up in elevation then the more chance remains have been preserved in the soil.

 

[ZeroAlpha]

That’s what I believe happened, he got his tent in order, we don’t know if any note was left in the tent. He didn’t need hiking poles, waterproofs or a head torch because they are all safety items, sadly I believe his frame of mind was ‘where I am going I won’t need them’ . This would explain the reports he swapped coats with the female friend, her coat would have been to small for him, but Neil was a gent, kind to the last, he knew he wouldn’t be needing it. The high ground to the north hardly has any visitors, some places just the stalkers, it has never been searched.

I agree. Meall 'an Araich is a likely spot.

I have been very sceptical about the narrative that we have been given, but there may be things we don't know fully. He perhaps persuaded his friends to leave him and they feel a bit guilty.

Hopefully Neil will be found soon and his family get closure.