Family's grief as body of mum is found on beach

THE family of missing mum Elizabeth McVey have spoken of their devastation after her body was found washed up on a beach.

Police have confirmed that the body found in North Berwick on Wednesday was Mrs McVey, a mother-of-two from Musselburgh.

She had not made contact with family or friends since she was last seen in her home on Sunday, 21 March.

Her body was discovered by a member of the public on the beach near to the Renaissance Club in Cowdenhill Drive at about 10:15am on Wednesday.

Police are now set to carry out a full forensic investigation to establish the exact cause and nature of her death, but they said there appeared to be no suspicious circumstances.

Her husband, Michael, and children, Mark and Lynsey, described Mrs McVey, known to friends as Libby, as an "inspiration".

In a statement, they said: "Over the past ten days we have been living in the hope that Libby would be coming home to us and we are absolutely devastated that we will never see her again.

"Since she went missing we have had tremendous support from the local community, whose messages of encouragement have kept us going during what has been an extremely difficult time. We would like to thank everyone for their kindness and support.

"Although she is no longer with us, we are left with fantastic memories of Libby, whose fun-loving nature and zest for life was an inspiration to all of us.

"She was a loving wife and mother, and a great friend to all who knew her. She will be sadly missed."

Mrs McVey was a popular member of staff in the customer services department at East Lothian Council. She was also well-known in the local community and was involved with amateur dramatics and was a volunteer at Our Lady of Loretto church.

Police had launched a massive search after her disappearance, using a helicopter and lifeboat to scour the surrounding area. Her children put up posters around the county and distributed thousands of leaflets.

A police spokesman said: "Our thoughts go out to Elizabeth's family at this difficult time. The family have requested that their privacy is respected so that they can grieve for Elizabeth in peace.

"We are still currently investigating the circumstances surrounding Elizabeth's death and anyone with information that can assist our enquiries should contact police immediately."

Anyone with information can contact Lothian and Borders Police on 0131-311 3131, or Crimestoppers on 0800-555 111.