Divers bid to solve riddle of the loch

The family of Steven Cooper travelled from West Yorkshire to see Loch Laggan yesterday, where his car was found a week after he vanished.

The former Territorial Army soldier was last seen leaving his home in Scar Lane in Golcar, Huddersfield, at 3:40am on 21 January 2008.

Mr Cooper – who has a wife and child and has since become a grandfather – left behind his driving licence, passport and bank cards and did not take a change of clothes.

After driving nearly 300 miles up the A1, his car was later found abandoned near the loch, about 20 miles from Fort William. Despite extensive land and air searches involving police, mountain rescue teams, an RAF helicopter and search and rescue dogs, Mr Cooper was not found.

At the time the loch was not searched but campaigning by his family led to the arrival of six divers from West Yorkshire Police yesterday to begin a three-day investigation.

A spokesman for the force said a 100-metre stretch of the west shore close to where the car was found will be searched by divers. The family have also paid for a specialist underwater video company, which normally works in the oil industry, to help the operation using specially built remotely operated machines equipped with cameras and sonar devises.

The divers will work one at a time to search the loch and police have warned the family to prepare themselves for a “raft of emotions” during the operation.

Officers will also try to find Mr Cooper’s car keys and a whisky bottle, which were missing from the car when it was found.

The spokesman said: “We review most of these cases and following consultation with the National Police Improvement Agency it was felt that with advances in technology it was worthwhile to carry out a search of the loch.

“The family obviously want to know what happened to Steven and it is hoped this will be able to move on the investigation and give them some closure or at least to give a better understanding of what happened to him.”

Mr Cooper’s mother Margaret, her partner William Stanger, and another son Christian are attending the search.

Mrs Cooper said: “We can’t think of any reason why Steven should go like he did. It’s as if he got in his car and went for a drive somewhere for whatever reason and just didn’t come back.”

Her daughter Trish added: “This is what we have wanted for so long. It’s the last area we can push for to get an answer.

“The loch wasn’t searched initially. Roughly a 50-mile area around the loch was searched, but not the loch itself.

“To us, as Steve’s family, we need closure on that loch. We need to know if he’s there or not.

“If Steven is found we will deal with that as a family, the way any family would deal with it. If he isn’t found we need to step up our campaign to find where he is.”

Willie Anderson, leader of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, said of the initial search that it was the first time in his 30-year rescue career he had failed to find a missing person in his area.

He said: “We usually find the person we are looking for, even if it takes months. But we have found absolutely no trace of Steven. It’s very unusual and a real mystery.”

Calls to the national Missing People charity have claimed to have seen Mr Cooper in places such as France, Spain and Dewsbury but every lead has ended in frustration for his family.