'My daughter vanished 30 years ago in Himalayas but she's still alive'

IT IS every parent's nightmare for their son or daughter to disappear without trace thousands of miles from home.

• This picture taken in 1996 shows Rev Kenny Macdonald with the last photograph he has of his daughter, Alison Picture: Ken Macpherson

This is the situation that the Rev Kenny Macdonald and his wife Reta faced almost 30 years ago, when their daughter Alison, aged just 19, vanished while on holiday in the Himalayas.

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But yesterday, Mr Macdonald, 76, a retired minister who lives in Golspie, Sutherland, said he truly believed she was still alive. And to help raise awareness of the missing woman and possibly prompt new leads, a record is to be released devoted to her.

The mystery began when Miss Macdonald, from Lewis, and her friend Liz Merry, now a GP, reached the village of Sonamarg, 9,000ft up in the Himalayas in 1981. While Miss Merry went off on a two-day trip to see the Kolahoi glacier, Miss Macdonald stayed behind.

On 17 August she went for a walk, and was last seen buying apples from a trader. Her clothes and rucksack were found in her room, and Miss Macdonald's disappearance was relayed to her family six days later.

Mr Macdonald, who is registered blind and suffers from MS, said his investigations at the time persuaded him his daughter was still alive: "When we first got word that she was missing, I went out there looking for her body. I thought it had been a crime of passion or an accident.

"But after a fortnight searching the place, with a lot of help from others, along with a lot of information and events that just didn't gel together, we came to the conclusion that she's still alive. Nothing has happened to change our mind."

Though many scenarios have been put forward as to what happened, including that she was in an accident or was kidnapped, Mr Macdonald feels she may have been snatched by a local family and forced to marry their eldest son.

He and his family have visited the area many times since the disappearance and have travelled the world following possible leads: "It's something that gives us tremendous peace, that we can do everything we want to do. We've been 17 times out to the Himalayas, we went to Germany, to Wales and to Italy, following leads, and when you can do all you can, it gives you a tremendous peace in your heart. If there were things still outstanding, I would be unhappy."

The single, Keep Hope Alive, was written and recorded by Lewis musician Calum Martin to re-awaken interest in Miss Macdonald's plight and possibly unearth information about her.

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Mr Martin, who is a friend of the Macdonalds, said he believed she was alive: "I was never really convinced that she had an accident, the body's never been found. I know way back a lot of papers said kidnapped, though there's no evidence of that. But I've never got out of my mind the belief that she's out there somewhere.

"The aim is to go worldwide with the single. We hope through music that we can reach somebody - you never know. It's 30 years now and she will almost be 50. Kenny thinks she will have a family of her own and that it might not be possible to reach her because of the political situation, but even if music was used as a means for somebody to come forward and say ‘she's alive but you'll never see her', at least that would be something positive that would come out of it."

Mr Macdonald said of the single: "Any publicity is good publicity, because it brings Alison to the forefront and who knows, maybe somebody saw something and didn't say anything at the time. Also, it helps keep hope alive and we do have hope."

The single will be available as a download from the Bethesda Home and Hospice website, www.bethesdahospice.co.uk, from 10 December. All proceeds will go to the hospice.