An Angus woman broke down in tears as she appealed for her missing sister to come home after 20 years.
Dorothy Young, from Arbroath, has not seen her sister Rosie McGregor since she left the county following an argument between the two in 1992.
Despite contacting the police, missing persons agencies, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, the 64-year-old, who works as a cleaner at a local caravan park, has been unable to track down Rosie and the trail has gone cold.
Although two decades have passed since the ”tiff” in Arbroath’s Cairnie Crescent, Dorothy said not a day has gone by when she doesn’t worry about her sister.
”I know she was living in Edinburgh in 1992 and then she was working in a hotel in Pitlochry in 1995 but after that it has gone dead,” Dorothy said. ”We don’t know where she is and we just want to find her and make sure she is keeping fine.
”She will be in her 60s now and she is a very quiet person who keeps things close to her chest and doesn’t speak much. I just want her to get in touch to let us know she is all right.”
Rosie’ ex-husband Lawrence Tait, who still lives in Angus, said he hadn’t seen her for years and last heard she was living in Dunkeld.
Dorothy believes family members may have the key to helping her trace her sister but she claims some are unwilling to pass on information that could help trace her.
Relationships on both sides of the family have been strained over the years and Dorothy said she is now resigned to finding Rosie on her own.
”The police just say they can’t do anything because she is not officially missing but to us she is missing and we don’t know where to turn to find her,” she said.
”It is like she has just vanished. It is so upsetting for me and I speak to my eldest sister about it all the time. I just want to know is she is safe and why she has not got back in touch.”
Dorothy and Rosie are two of four sisters, with siblings Margaret (66) and Kate (54) now living in England. All were born in Angus and the Mearns and are keen to find out why Rosie had gone to ground.
Dorothy’s daughter Rebecca Young, who is assisting her mother with the search, said the family are worried sick.
”The last time we saw her was in Arbroath when I was only about four,” she said. ”She and my mum had a little tiff. She left the house, nobody has seen her since then and we don’t know where she has gone.
”She was quite a shy and timid person and we don’t think she would have the confidence just to disappear like that.”
With police unable to investigate because Rosie is not officially missing, Dorothy has put out a picture of her sister in missing persons pages in London and other areas in the hope that somebody recognises her.
Rebecca said her mother always talks about her sister and won’t be able to rest until she knows she is safe.
”My mum was the last person to see her and talk to her and she doesn’t event know if she is alive or not,” she said. ”We just want to know she is ok.
”If she doesn’t want to see us then that’s fine but we need to know if she is all right. It is totally out of character for someone to just leave their family and never hear from then again.”
Photo by Jim Ratcliffe