Military experts help in search for bodies near killer's former home

Detectives and military intelligence specialists have carried out a search for the bodies of a mother and son near a former home of their killer.

William MacDowell was found guilty in 2022 of murdering his lover Renee MacRae, 36, and their three-year-old son Andrew in 1976, but he died months later without revealing what happened to them

A number of sites in a field and woodland near Nairnside, south-east of Inverness, were surveyed using drones and LiDAR - laser technology that builds 3D digital images of the Earth's surface.

Police Scotland said the results of the survey would be studied to assess whether further searches were needed.

MacDowell was jailed in September 2022 following a trial and died in hospital less than five months later. He was 81.

The mother and son disappeared on 12 November 1976. Mrs MacRae's car was found that night on fire in a lay-by on the A9 at Dalmagarry, south of Inverness.

MacDowell's trial heard the discovery exposed his affair with Mrs MacRae, and that she had believed they would be meeting up for a weekend away before a planned move to Shetland.

The jury was told how MacDowell, who was living near Nairnside at the time and better known by the name Bill MacDowell, was company secretary at a building firm owned by Mrs MacRae's estranged husband, Gordon.

Detectives and members of the National Centre for Geospatial Intelligence (NCGI) started surveying around Nairnside on Monday.

It is an area of farms and woodland.

NCGI is based at RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire and analysis and interprets satellite imagery, aerial photography, maps and geographic information.

Det Supt Brian Geddes thanked the military personnel for their assistance.

He said: "This case will never be considered resolved until we find Renee and Andrew.

"We owe it to the family and friends to make every effort to recover Renee and Andrew's bodies to provide them with the dignity they deserve."

The senior officer added: "The results of this scoping activity will be studied to assess whether further search activity is required.

"I want to thank our military colleagues who have assisted and provided their expertise to this survey, and also the landowners for their assistance with access through the week."

Another site near Nairnside was previously searched.

Abandoned and flooded Leanach quarry, a fly-tipping hotspot near Culloden Moor, was searched in the 1970s by Italian divers who were in the area to hunt for the Loch Ness Monster.

They were praised by police for carrying out dangerous work in the dirty, rubbish-filled water.

Police revisited the site in 2019.

The quarry was drained of an estimated 13 million litres of water and had more than 100,000 tonnes of earth, silt and other material removed.

More than 50 vehicles were found dumped at the site.

Parts of a pram were also found in the quarry and sent for forensic tests.