Missing woman appeal turns to Beltane crowd

Published on Thursday 30 April 2009 09:41

POLICE are set to appeal to revellers attending tonight's Beltane Fire Festival on Calton Hill in a fresh bid to trace a woman who vanished more than ten months ago.

Samantha Wright was last seen at a Jobcentre in High Riggs in June last year, although she was not reported missing until February, after failing to contact her family over Christmas, or for her birthday on January 5.

The 25-year-old is known to have attended the fire festival previously and officers searching for her hope this year's visitors may be able to provide a breakthrough.

Thousands of leaflets will be handed out to the crowd and a new photograph of Samantha will be displayed on an advertising trailer near the site.

Police will also use the Bluetooth messaging service to deliver a mobile phone appeal to the 12,000 people expected to turn out for the Beltane event.

Revellers are set to climb Calton Hill tonight to watch the fire festival, an annual event on April 30, which celebrates the start of the summer using pre-Christian traditions.

Samantha moved to Edinburgh nearly four years ago after falling in love with the Capital on a family holiday.

She had worked as a waitress in bars and restaurants in the city, but lived a "haphazard" lifestyle, with few friends or established places to visit.

Police hope that she may have befriended other festival attendees during her previous visits, and they may be able to offer help in tracking her down.

Superintendent Ramzan Mohayuddin said: "Samantha has now been off the radar for nearly a year and we are increasingly concerned for her welfare.

"It is imperative that anyone who recognises her description, or has any information as to her whereabouts contacts police.

"Lothian and Borders Police will continue to work with our colleagues in Hertfordshire Constabulary and will not give up this investigation until we have found Samantha.

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Officers carried out door-to-door enquiries near Samantha's home address in Stevenson Drive in February and distributed posters to local businesses in an appeal for information.

She has not drawn unemployment benefit or used her bank account since last summer, and she left behind all her belongings at her rented home in Saughton.

Her mother, Catherine Gibson, who lives with the rest of the family in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, has previously appealed for help in tracing her daughter. In February, the 46-year-old cleaner said she had started "fearing the worse" as the hunt for Samantha continued.

Samantha is white, 5ft 6ins tall, medium build, with long brown wavy hair, dark brown eyes, and a pale complexion.