Excavation of a quarry in the hunt for missing mum Renee Macrae and her son Andrew – who are presumed murdered – will end this weekend.
More than 100,000 tons of earth, silt and other material has been removed from Leanach Quarry in Culloden, near Inverness, since May.
Police revealed yesterday that 55 vehicles – none linked to the 42-year inquiry – had been dug up during excavation work.
They said the quarry where they believe the bodies of Renee and Andrew may have been dumped remains an “ongoing” focus of the investigation into the murders.
Renee, 36, vanished with three-year-old Andrew on November 12, 1976, after leaving her Inverness home to spend a weekend with her married secret lover, Bill McDowell, in Perth.
But her burned-out BMW was found by the A9, 12 miles south of Inverness, at 10pm the same night. Blood was found in the boot of the car but there was no sign of the mother and son, sparking one of the UK’s longest missing persons investigations.
Yesterday Detective Inspector Brian Geddes said: “We’ve almost completed the excavation process but there remains a vast quantity of material that still requires to be sifted and thoroughly searched.”
He added: “This is likely to take a number of weeks to complete but we are confident that if the remains of Renee and Andrew, or any other key pieces of evidence, were disposed of in the quarry, we will find them.”
