THE mother of missing Stirling student David O'Halloran has vowed he will "live on" through campaigning after a body was discovered by a shepherd.
Donna O'Halloran, 41, pledged to continue her online posts about the dangers of heavy drinking in a bid to save parents the heartbreak of losing their child and to fulfil David's ambitions of becoming a teacher.
Ms O'Halloran described how a call from police around 5pm on Thursday bought the relief of knowing her three-month search was over and renewed her strength to keep David's memory alive.
"David's going to live on. He wanted to be a teacher, he's going to be a teacher," she said. "He's going to be a worldwide teacher if we have our way, because it's not only our country this effects.
"He'll be a teacher by making people aware how to look after yourself a bit more so you do have a safe, long life," she said.
"David's been cut down in his total prime, he was just starting to spread his wings. I don't want to see that happening to other young kids. They need to be aware of that so they don't put their parents through this."
The body of a man was discovered in remote farmland near Bridge of Allan, three months to the day the 18-year-old Stirling University student went missing after a night out with friends.
Police are yet to confirm the identity of the body and will be carrying out tests in the coming days, but Ms O'Halloran said a white T-shirt, checked shirt and black jeans matched what he was wearing on the night he disappeared.
Over the past few months Ms O'Halloran has led an active online campaign to find David, garnering support from 19,000 people via Facebook and raising £2500 from internet donations.
On the night of his disappearance David had drunk more than half-a-bottle of vodka before heading to Dusk nightclub, where he continued to drink.
Ms O'Halloran has criticised the drinking-games culture that exists among students and pledged to continue raising awareness.
"Personally I'll just keep this wee Facebook page going. I'll just publish wee things here and there and hopefully they'll still get feedback. There's a document that's been made up [about David] the police are really keen to use throughout the UK," she said.
"It's the only thing that's worth doing today. I cannot save David. So if I can't save David at least if I can save others. It will be something."
Ms O'Halloran described David as "funny and kind-hearted" and said she was planning the "biggest celebration I have ever had" to honour his life and memory.
"I'm not having a funeral, it's a celebration of his life. [He'll be remembered for] being a happy, caring, loving soul who was having a great life," she said.
Police Scotland confirmed a body had been found.
A spokesman said: "The body of a man was discovered around 3.15pm [on Thursday] afternoon by a member of the public in remote farmland above Bridge of Allan.
Police inquiries are ongoing and no further comment will be made until the body has been formally identified."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article