FRIENDS of a missing Russian student are hoping a fresh appeal two months after she disappeared will help boost their search.
Police investigating the disappearance of Edinburgh University graduate Yulia Solodyankina, 22, made a renewed appeal for information on her whereabouts yesterday, eight weeks after she was last seen in Glasgow.
The plea is being supported by the charity Missing People, which is this week highlighting Yulia's disappearance through a network of digital message boards located across Scotland.
Yulia was last seen on CCTV at Buchanan Bus Station on Friday, June 7. From there, she is believed to have travelled by bus to the north or far west of Scotland, possibly Fort William or Inverness.
There was an unconfirmed sighting on Mull prompting another push for information in the Highlands and Islands.
The new move was welcomed yesterday on the Yulia is Missing Facebook which now has 4990 members.
Friends have never given up hope of finding the popular dancer who disappeared shortly before she was due to graduate.
Her disappearance prompted a huge response across the country and tens of thousands of young people were alerted through universities, colleges and student associations.
A mobile cinema was also taking the appeal to communities in the north of Scotland.
Thousands of posters were put up by students in Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as at bus and train stations and ports by her friends.
One Facebook campaign member, Ronan Docherty, said recently: "I've shared (the poster) with my friends at Ocean Youth Trust Scotland who sail around Largs, Oban, Mull and the Western Isles a lot."
Her parents, Ekaterina and Dmitry, also made an impassioned plea for their only daughter to contact them if she received the message.
Dmitry had expected to meet his daughter on his first trip to Edinburgh but became involved in the search.
He posted pictures of himself and Miss Solodyankina on Facebook so more people would see her image and Russian student networks also distributed her photograph.
Officers from Police Scotland said they have carried out extensive inquiries to trace Yulia.
Chief Inspector Mark Patterson of Police Scotland said: "Our investigation has established that Yulia left Edinburgh of her own accord, and we do not believe there to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding her disappearance.
"Since she was reported missing we have carried out extensive enquiries across Scotland, most recently in the north and far west of the country, where we believe she may have travelled from Buchanan Bus Station on Friday, June 7.
"Unfortunately, we have been unable to establish her destination, and we are relying on new information from the public that can help us to open up new potential lines of inquiry.
"We will not give up in our efforts to trace Yulia."
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