The sister of a man who went missing 27 years ago on Hogmanay has made a dramatic plea to find him.
Joiner Kevin McGuire left his remote cottage in Stronachlachar, near Callander, Hogmanay, on December 31, 1994, and got into his car after an argument with his wife of just five months.
With no trace of the 27-year-old or his metallic green Saab having been found, it remains one of Scotland’s most baffling and longest-running missing person’s cases.
His sister Sharon Garvin remains haunted by “the pain that never goes away” and said she hoped that someone now might come forward to help them find out what happened to her big brother.
Sharon, 48, said: “There is someone out there who knows more than they’re saying about his disappearance.”
Kevin, from Glasgow’s Balilieston, had no money worries or mental health issues and had married Lisa Haney earlier that year in the Seychelles.
Kevin had visited his mum on the day he went missing and drove back to his wife. They had argued over where they should spend their first New Year together as a married couple and Kevin had stormed off.
It was frantic Lisa, then 24, who contacted the police the next day when he failed to return to their Trossachs home.
Sharon, who now lives in Ireland, said: “Things are particularly bad for us at this time of year on the anniversary of his disappearance when all the old memories come flooding back.
“It’s the same pain that does not go away.
“We’re hoping after all this time that someone will come forward with information that will allow the family some closure.
“Kevin may have said something to a friend or colleague at the time and they didn’t think to pass that on to the police.”
Sharon, then 21, spoke to him a few days before he disappeared.
She said: “He was fine and in good spirits and there was nothing in his manner that gave me any cause for concern.”
In the hours and days after police were called, a massive search was launched for Kevin and his car, with the private registration F22 RAC.
Parts of nearby Loch Katrine, Loch Ard and Loch Lomond were searched in case he’d had an accident and driven off the road into the water but that failed to throw up any clues.
He didn’t take his passport or any money with him and his bank accounts haven’t been touched since he went missing. He also left his joinery tools and clothes behind.
Before his disappearance, Kevin had worked throughout Europe, including Germany.
Lisa remained convinced he was still alive and wondered if he had started a new life, joined a cult or had come to harm.
The couple’s home was a tied cottage given to them by Kevin’s employers at the then Strathclyde Regional Council Water Department.
Police Scotland have assured the McGuire family, including his younger brother Paul, 47, that they are still committed to finding Kevin and that his case is subject to regular reviews. Five years ago officers took DNA samples from Sharon and mum Annette, 76, to put on a national missing persons database.
Around the same time they also carried out further loch searches using new sonar technology that can go to depths of 100m.
Sharon, who is married with two children, added: “It was so unlike Kevin just to disappear like that. No matter where he was in the world, he would always ring our mother.
"There were never any sightings of my brother – it’s as if he disappeared into thin air.
“We were also told by the police that, had his car gone into the water, there would have been evidence such as tyre marks or the oil from the engine would have come to the surface.
"I believe that if he had been involved in an accident, he would have been found by now.”
Annette saw Kevin on the day he disappeared after he came to the shop where she worked in Shettleston Road, Glasgow.
She said: “He had already visited his dad. Kevin was heading home and I told him to get back before the snow started. It was just a normal chat between a mum and her son.
“I didn’t detect anything untoward. If there was anything wrong, then I am sure Kevin would have said.”
Sharon told how she misses Kevin every day. If he is alive, he would now be 54.
She said: “Kevin always kept in touch, we were always a close family. That’s why I cannot understand why he didn’t contact my mother, he always told her everything.
“I don’t think the argument was that serious that he would storm out of the house and never be seen again.
“The police have assured us that the case is not closed. It’s just the not knowing that is the hardest.”
In November 2002 Lisa, using her maiden surname Haney, took out an action at Dumbarton Sheriff Court to have Kevin declared legally dead.
Around the same time Kevin’s dad Frank passed away at the age of 59.
Lisa, 51, declined to comment.
Annette said: “The most important thing for all the family is to find out what happened to Kevin.
“He was so laid back and easygoing and a real extrovert. Kevin and I got on so well and we never had an argument. I am sure that if something was concerning him, he would have told me. His disappearance is completely out of character.”
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