A Fife family have been rocked by the sudden and unexplained death of a doting young mother.
Single mum Tracey McKenzie, 38, was found dead in her home on Saturday morning as her 11-year-old son Scott prepared to go to play rugby.
Until Tracey was discovered lying on the floor, the schoolboy simply thought he and his mother had slept in when he was roused by his father at the door to pick him up around 8.30am.
Fife Council clerical assistant Tracey, of Cupar, was also a carer for her disabled sister Lorna McKenzie, 36.
The tragedy comes six years after they were struck by the sudden death of their father Gilmour McKenzie, who was known as Gint.
At their home in Ceres, near Cupar, Lorna, mother Sheila, 65, and Scott paid tribute to a “caring” and “family orientated” mother, sister and daughter.
Sheila said: “She was a working woman who doted on her young son. She lived for her son and her work, although Scott was her number one priority.
“When I lost my husband six years ago she was a great support to us all. She was Lorna’s carer along with me.
“We are absolutely devastated. It’s unreal, unfair and unnecessary that a young boy has been left without his mum.”
Sheila said Scott, a pupil at Ceres Primary School and member of Howe of Fife Rugby Football Club, had been very strong in the face of his mother’s death.
Tracey, a former pupil of Bell Baxter High School in Cupar, was brought up in Ceres but lived in Kinloss Park, Cupar, with Scott.
She worked at the council’s Hayfield Road premises before moving to its new offices at Bankhead, near Glenrothes.
Gint, a mechanic who was well known in the area, died suddenly of a rare type of heart infection called endocarditis.
A post-mortem is being carried out to establish the cause of Tracey’s death.
Police have confirmed that officers attended her home on Saturday.
A spokesman said: “Police were called to an address in Cupar on Saturday morning where the body of a 38-year-old woman was found.
“However, there were no suspicious circumstances. The cause of death appears to be medically related.”