‘Where are U!’ Doorstep note left by missing Arlene Fraser’s son

THE schoolboy son of missing mother Arlene Fraser wrote a note asking “Where are U!” the day she vanished, a jury has heard.

Jamie Fraser, then aged ten, had been representing his school in an anti-litter event and returned home to find no-one in the house.

He went to a friend’s house nearby, where he and his sister were regularly looked after while their mother was at college.

Later, the police were alerted when Mrs Fraser failed to collect the children, and officers and the friend’s father went to the house to investigate.

The father, Graham Higgins, 52, of New Elgin, Moray, told the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday that they found a note on the doorstep. It had been written by Jamie, and it was shown to the court. Jamie had said: “I was home at 7:30. You not in. I am over at Marc’s. Where are U!”

One of the last sightings of Mrs Fraser and possibly her last conversation were also described to the jury.

Neighbour Andrea Pinkerton, 50, said she had been in her garden in New Elgin about 8:15am on Tuesday, 28 April, 1998, when something caught the corner of her eye.

“Arlene was out in her garden. It was like she was checking to see if her washing was dry and she just went back in. It was just a glance,” Mrs Pinkerton said.

Mrs Fraser, 33, went missing that morning and has never been found.

Fraser, 53, denies acting with unknown others to murder his wife, and pleads alibi and incrimination, naming Hector Dick and unknown other or others as the killers, if she was murdered.

The court heard that Mr Dick had been Mrs Fraser’s supplier for cheap “bootleg” alcohol which she sold on to friends.

Margaret Boyce, 68, a clerical assistant at New Elgin Primary School, said Jamie had been chosen to represent the school in an anti-litter initiative which involved going by train to Inverness, and returning home in the evening.

That morning, Mrs Boyce took a call at the school from Mrs Fraser. “She wanted to know what time Jamie would be coming back,” Mrs Boyce said.

She had not known the answer, and went to check with the headteacher. After ten minutes at the most she tried to phone Mrs Fraser. There was no reply, which surprised Mrs Boyce.

The trial continues.