Friends and neighbours have spoken of their sadness after a young Mearns woman was found dead at the side of the A90.
The body of Charlotte Tennant (20), from Laurencekirk, was discovered near the busy dual carriageway north of the town at around 8am on Saturday.
It is believed she was hit by a vehicle between 4am and 5am as she walked home from a party in heavy fog.
Police said the driver may not be aware that they hit Charlotte.
One of her neighbours, who asked not to be named, spoke of her sorrow for Charlotte’s family.
She said: ”She was a pleasant young girl and she went to school with my daughter. I’m shocked by it. I can’t believe it. I can’t think of not seeing her coming out the door.”
More than 1300 people have already followed a Facebook page set up in tribute to Charlotte. The tributes continued throughout the weekend as hundreds of people logged on to the site.
The former Mearns Academy pupil worked at Burnside Care Home in Laurencekirk.
Colleague Gillian Robertson wrote: ”I’ve so many memories of you Charlotte and all of them good. I will miss your happy smiling face”always.”
Another friend added: “Such a lovely lassie. Shared a lot of laughs and happy days at college. You were such a sweet girl charlii. And you’ll be missed by a lot of people. RIP sweet angel.”
The tragic discovery was reported to Grampian Police. Officers took immediate steps to secure the area by closing the road in both directions until late on Saturday afternoon.
Police investigators are keen to speak to witnesses as they attempt to piece together Charlotte’s last movements.
Detective Chief Inspector Alex Dowall said: ”A young woman has died as a result of this tragic incident and all of our thoughts are with Charlotte’s family at this sad and extremely difficult time.”
He added: “Her injuries do appear to be consistent with having been struck by a vehicle. We believe Charlotte was walking on the stretch of the A90 between Fordoun and Laurencekirk, which is approximately nine miles north of Stracathro services, between 4 and 5am on Saturday morning.
”I am grateful to the members of the public who have contacted us so far and we have officers following up on those calls today. I would, however, like to renew our appeal for anyone who may have seen Charlotte on this section of the A90 to contact us as soon as possible.
”At the time she was wearing dark jeans, a white T-shirt, a light blue denim shirt and white trainers and anyone with information can contact us on 0845 600 5700.”
Traffic on the northbound carriageway was diverted on to the B966 to Fettercairn while the A90 was closed, and southbound traffic was moved on to the A92 coast road.
The closure resulted in large tailbacks and the SPL match between Dundee United and Aberdeen had to be delayed by 20 minutes as the Aberdeen team bus was caught up in the disruption.
Both sides of the road were reopened by 5.30pm.
Inspector Kevin Wallace, of the road policing department, said: ”We appreciate the closure of the A90 caused significant disruption and we would like to thank the public for their patience and understanding in these difficult and tragic circumstances.”