The wife of an Edinburgh man who was reported missing 19 years ago has raised an action at court to have him legally declared dead.
Peter Rodgers , a 72-year-old grandfather, left his home in Abbeyhill on 1 February 2000 and failed to return. He didn't tell his wife Bridget, who is now 83, where he was going, and his family haven't heard from him since.
As reported in the Daily Record she has now raised a court action in a bid to have him declared dead.
Under Scots law, loved ones can seek to have an absent person legally declared dead after seven years. When a person has gone missing, and there is no body or medical certificate, the loved one would need to raise an action of declarator of death and satisfy the court that they are presumed to have died.
The solicitors acting on Peter's wife's behalf ask that he be declared dead from 1 February 2007 – seven years to the day from when he went missing.
The Record reports that in a writ submitted to the court the solicitors for Bridget says that Peter, a retired rail guard, suffered from health issues and had battled with depression.
There were times where he would leave the family home and stay elsewhere for periods of up to three days, and whenever he left he would pack clothes and his medication. He would phone Bridget after arriving at his destination to let her know he was safe.
On the day he went missing she found him attempting to leave, but took his bag away after telling him it was too late to set off. However he left later that evening, and hasn't been seen since .
The couple were married in 1956 and have two surviving children, Rose (63) and Peter (58). Their daughter Grace (39) died four years before her dad went missing and son Donald passed away 13 years ago.
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