A SENIOR detective has told a court how 200 volunteers searched for missing bookkeeper Suzanne Pilley in remote Scots woodland.
Detective Sergeant Stuart Houston, 35, told the High Court in Edinburgh that hundreds of civilians joined the search for the divorcee after she disappeared in May 2010.
Mr Houston told prosecution lawyer Alex Prentice, QC, that police searched forest land in Argyll for Ms Pilley, 38, on six different occasions.
They were unable to find any trace of the office worker, who was last seen in Edinburgh city centre on May 4, 2010.
Mr Houston was giving evidence on the 12th day of the trial of David Gilroy, 49, of Silverknowes, Edinburgh, who denies murdering his former partner on May 4, 2010, at Thistle Street, Edinburgh, or at another location in Scotland by a means unknown to the prosecutor.
The police officer spoke as the jury in the trial were shown stills taken from CCTV cameras of Mr Gilroy travelling to Lochgilphead, Argyll, from Edinburgh.
The images were taken on May 5, 2010 – 24 hours after Ms Pilley was last seen making her way to work.
Mr Houston told how Lothian and Borders Police looked in forest land in Argyll for Ms Pilley in the months after she went missing.
During one search, they used 200 volunteers from mountain rescue teams.
However, he told Mr Prentice they were unable to find Ms Pilley.
The trial, before Lord Bracadale, continues.
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