Renee MacRae

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Renee MacRae and her son Andrew

Renee MacRae (b.1940) is a Scottish woman who is missing, presumed dead. Her disappearance along with her son, is currently Britain's longest running missing person's case, and in Scotland the case is as notorious as Glasgow's Bible John murders.

MacRae lived in Inverness and was married to Gordon MacRae. The couple were separated. She had two sons, 9-year-old Gordon and 3-year-old Andrew. On Friday November 12, 1976, MacRae left her home in Cradlehall with both her sons and dropped her oldest son Gordon at her estranged husband's house and turned south on to the A9 in the direction of Perth to visit her sister. Neither MacRae or her son Andrew have ever been seen again. Later the same night, 12 miles away, a train driver spotted MacRae's burning BMW car in an isolated lay-by. When the police reached the vehicle, it was charred and empty, apart from a blood stained rug with stains matching MacRae's blood type.

The file has never been closed because police are convinced they were murdered and several witnesses came forward to reveal suspect information. Two men claimed to see a man parking a car and climbing the embankment above it shortly before the car fire. They said he was dragging a heavy bundle towards the disused Dalmagarry Quarry. A couple driving nearby also claimed to see a man walking along the A9 wheeling a pushchair.

As police investigated it became apparent that MacRae's personal life was not straightforward. A close friend revealed that MacRae was not visiting her sister that night, but her lover Bill MacDowell who happened to be Andrew's biological father and Gordon MacRae's company secretary. MacDowell admitted their affair but has not spoken about the case again except to deny any involvement.

The police investigation, carried out by the Northern Constabulary, was considered flawed. Detective Sergeant John Cathcart coordinated the search and after eight months he had a breakthrough. While excavating Dalmagarry Quarry he was hit by a stench after removing a layer of topsoil. Convinced it was the stench of corpses, he continued digging however was told by a superior officer to stop as the bulldozer they were using had to go back to the contractors.

The inquiry was wound down two years later, however a 2004 Grampian Television documentary Unsolved, screened throughout Scotland, renewed interest in the case and the investigation was reopened. Since 2004, £250,000 has been spent reinvestigating the case. 30,000 tons of earth from the quarry has been excavated, 2,000 trees have been felled and parts of the A9 could be dug up after a local farmer recently commissioned a private survey of an area of the road. Experts using radar equipment probed the road and detected three objects buried close together around two metres down. It has been revealed that they could be human remains and Andrew's pushchair. Detectives are now examining the findings, and the case remains open.

Northern Constabulary named a suspect in a report to the procurator fiscal in October 2006, however the Crown Office declared there was insufficient evidence to go to court.^[1]