Police now treating Suzanne Pilley disappearance as murder investigation

POLICE are now treating the disappearance of Suzanne Pilley as a murder investigation after finding fresh CCTV footage of the bookkeeper directly outside her workplace.

Investigators have identified images of the 38-year-old, who went missing 15 days ago, just outside the office on Thistle Street.

The CCTV identifies Miss Pilley making her way to work as normal at 8.55am on 4 May.

She has not been in contact with her "devastated" family since 8.38am that morning, and has not been seen since.

Detective Chief Inspector Gary Flannigan, who is leading the inquiry, said: "Tracing Suzanne to Thistle Street on the morning she went missing is hugely significant in terms of this inquiry. It further proves this was a routine morning for Suzanne, and she was following her usual patterns – we suspect she may well have made it to her office as normal.

"This development means we are treating this as a murder investigation.

"The quality of the image is such that it needs specialist enhancement but we are satisfied through the clothing, its colour and the time scale in which the image was recorded that it is Suzanne."

Her parents Robert and Sylvia Pilley, today said: "As a family we still live in hope of good news, and would still appeal for people up and down the country to stay vigilant and look out for Suzanne.

"We have, however, been kept informed of the way the police inquiry has been progressing, and deep down we do suspect something more sinister has happened.

"Suzanne would never put us through this kind of worry intentionally, so we can't help but think she has come to some harm.

"Words can't describe just how devastated we are at this time, each day we are overwhelmed by worry, but until we hear otherwise, we will always hope for some positive news."

Miss Pilley is described as being white, 5ft 4ins tall, of slim build and short, light brown hair shaped into a bob.

She was wearing a light blue waterproof jacket, red fleece, light blue trousers or jeans and trainers. Miss Pilley, who is keen on keep fit, was also carrying a shoulder bag and a large water bottle when she was last seen.

More than 100 pieces of CCTV footage, in a variety of formats, has been handed over to officers in the CCTV viewing team.

Anyone with any information about her whereabouts is asked to contact Lothian and Borders Police on 0131 311 3131, or the charity Crimestoppers, in confidence any complete anonymity, on 0800 555 111.