Caithness body identified as missing Lybster man

A body found on the shoreline in Caithness last week has been identified as a 25-year-old local man who went missing 11 days previously.

Picture: Police Scotland

Stefan Sutherland, from Lybster, was last seen on Friday, 6 September.

Police had been searching the area around Occumster near to where the 25-year-old was last seen.

A body was found last Tuesday on the shoreline and Mr Sutherland’s family were informed.

Police Scotland have now confirmed it is Mr Sutherland.

A spokesman for the force said there is an ongoing inquiry into his death but it is being treated as non suspicious.

His mother Sandra, who lives in Occumster, near her son’s home, said during the search that the family did not understand how he went missing in such a small community.

She said: “We are absolutely devastated. It doesn’t seem possible to me that someone can just vanish into thin air in such a small place.

“It’s totally out character and we are all very, very worried. It is unbelievable that my son could just disappear like this.”