The Perthshire family of a missing academic are marking two years since his disappearance.
Fergus McInnes was last seen at Geneva airport, in Switzerland, on September 9 2014 after flying out to attend a conference.
It is assumed he boarded a train to Martingny but the Edinburgh university researcher failed to join colleagues later that evening
His family, who live in Blairgowrie, were notified of his disappearance three days later, on September 12.
They believe he may have gone walking and had an accident in the Alps, but there is no evidence to support the theory.
Fergus’s sister Lorna McInnes said she and her parents, Bennet and Elizabeth, was still struggling to come to terms with the situation.
She said: “It’s hard to live with the uncertainty of what happened to Fergus nearly two years ago and painful to revisit all the possible scenarios.
“He remains very much in our thoughts, although as more time passes it gets harder to believe we’ll ever find out what became of him in September 2014.
“I think we’ll always be hoping that one day we might get some answers, but in the meantime we try to be patient as we continue to look after his affairs to the best of our ability.”
Mr McInnes, 51, was caught by CCTV buying a return train ticket to the Alpine town of Martigny, where he was due to attend a conference at Idiap Research Institute in Martigny starting the next day.
However, he failed to join colleagues for an evening meal or check into his hotel. He did not turn up at the conference and he did not catch his return flight on 11 September.
Concerned colleagues reported him missing the following day. Police in Switzerland mounted a search but were unable to find any trace of him.
Constable Yocksan Bell, Police Scotland’s Edinburgh division co-ordinator for missing people, said: “We continue to maintain links with police officers in Switzerland, who have led the search to find Fergus. We are also continuing to support Fergus’s family through a family liaison officer.
“We would encourage anyone with information about Fergus’s whereabouts to come forward. They can report this to Police Scotland or to Swiss police.”
