No plans to search city for OAP's body

Published on Wednesday 20 August 2008 10:33

POLICE investigating the disappearance of a pensioner said they have no current plans to carry out searches for her body in Edinburgh following a sighting of her in Princes Street.

CCTV footage of Mary Ferns walking along the city thoroughfare on the day she vanished more than two months ago were discovered by police.

The 88-year-old went missing shortly after leaving her home in Vancouver Avenue in Livingston on June 17.

The pensioner is shown in the security camera tapes walking beside the Balmoral Hotel 90 minutes after she left her West Lothian home.

Officers are yet to determine how Mrs Ferns travelled to Edinburgh as a check of bus drivers working on the day she went missing did not yield any sightings.

Superintendent Chris Griffiths, who is leading the inquiry, said: "This sighting confirms that she arrived safe and well in the city centre of her own volition.

"We would therefore ask Mary to get in contact with police if she has decided to obtain accommodation in the area. The family are extremely concerned about her health."

Supt Griffiths added that no decision had been made on launching a search for her body in central Edinburgh.