The distraught mother of a Stirling University student who went missing almost two months ago spent Mother’s Day searching for him.
Donna O’Halloran (42), of Kilmaurs, Ayrshire, combed the banks of the River Forth, near Stirling, along with son David’s stepfather, Malcom McDougall, in a bid to trace the 18-year-old who has been missing since January 18.
David was last seen making his way home to the Stirling University campus after a night out with friends.
Mrs O’Halloran believes her son fell into a burn that leads to the River Forth, and she spent the weekend searching for him.
She bought a dinghy and two dry suits and took to the water near Alloa on Saturday. The pair resumed their search near Cornton Vale Prison on Sunday.
Mrs O’Halloran said: “Mother’s Day simply did not exist this year. I have to find it (her son’s body) I simply have to. There is no way I could sit at home, wondering and waiting for the knock on the door, or for something to happen.
“I had to get out here and do something constructive. I just feel so empty inside. My boy isn’t here and I have to find him.”
Thousands of people have joined a Facebook campaign to find the missing student.
David, a maths and secondary education student, left a nightclub in Stirling but got out of a taxi taking him home because he was short of the fare.
Mrs O’Halloran has said her son was then seen jogging along Aithrey Road, towards his halls of residence, but went past the campus and on to a field, where his wallet was found.
He was then spotted at 2am outside the campus entrance but he again walked in the wrong direction and was caught on CCTV at 2.19am in nearby Bridge of Allan.
Anyone with information can phone police on 101.