Mother told bones in Fife park may be missing son

A police officer on the scene where human remains were found in Riverside Park, Glenrothes, left, and a poster from the search for Kenneth Jones. Picture: Hemedia

THE mother of a teenager who went missing 17 years ago has been told that skeletal remains found in a park may be his.

Maryanne Jones said she was devastated by a phone call from police after the remains were found on Tuesday in Glenrothes.

Her son Kenneth, then aged 17, has not been seen since November 1998 after he walked out of the family home without any possessions.

She said: “It has been really difficult. Everything that has happening now brings it all back.

“The phone call from the police was devastating. You don’t know if the remains are him or not and it brings it all back.

“If it’s not him it just leads you back to square one and I need to know. I need closure.

“It’s been 17 years and you feel people have forgotten about him because it’s been so long.”

Kenneth’s disappearance on the morning of 3 November 1998 remains a mystery.

Searches provided no evidence of his whereabouts, while images of him appeared on milk cartons in an bid to trigger help from the public.

A computer-generated image was also released in recent years, showing an impression of how he might look today.

The last time his mother saw him was the night before he left as he went upstairs to bed, having just taken the bin out at the request of his father.

An only child, Mrs Jones said her son was a happy boy who stayed out of trouble. Before his disappearance there was nothing to suggest he was suffering from depression or may wish to leave home.