By Cara Sulieman
THE hunt for missing Edinburgh bookkeeper Suzanne Pilley took a dramatic twist last night after detectives revealed they are hunting a man in connection with her murder and disappearance.
They believe the suspect drove her body to an isolated spot of Argyll and Bute near the Rest and Be Thankful beauty spot, and spent “some time” disposing of the 38-year-old’s body.
Officers are now desperate for any information on the movements of a silver coloured family car in the area on the eve of the General Election, so they can pinpoint the probable dump site.
“Isolated”
Police carried out roadside checks and stopped cars in the area yesterday to try and jog people’s memories as the focus of the operation very quickly switched from Edinburgh to the west coast.
And the man leading the hunt – who earlier in the day spoke to Suzanne’s emotional parents – said it was vital to track down the last movements of the car so they can find her body.
Detective Inspector Gary Flannigan revealed that the vehicle would have been left by its driver on an isolated road or track – and called on anyone who noticed it to get in touch.
He said: “We are concentrating on unclassified roads as many are single track and cars have to stop to reverse back into passing places or lay bys.
“And forest tracks because what will have taken place will have taken place in an isolated area where he thought he would be undisturbed.
“We believe they left the vehicle for some time, that’s the notion that we are trying to put out.”
“Interested”
DCI Flannigan wouldn’t say how the police were led to the vehicle or why they were drawn to the West coast.
He said: “I’m not going to discuss the investigation except that it is a thorough investigation.
“There is a whole range of things that we are looking at. It was a combination of many things that make us interested in the area.
“We are not saying anything more specific than it is a family car.”
He added: “The key is that we are trying to look at people who remember seeing a silver car in the area at the time.
“We don’t imagine people will be able to remember any details, just that they remember seeing a car.
“We need people to come forward and tell is about the sighting and where that sighting took place.
“Then we can focus our investigation can focus on that sighting.
“The scale of the area we are dealing with is huge. It is from the Argyll Forrest to Tyndrum in the north.
“We want anyone who has noticed movement of the vehicle between two areas to come forward.”
“The key”
Police quickly zeroed in on the fact that they are now looking for a lone driver – who DCI Flannigan confirmed was a man – but were unable to say why.
The car was seen in the area between 1pm and 3.30pm on Wednesday 5 May and again between 7pm and 9pm and is now vital to their probe.
A police spokesman said: “We’ve got our own knowledge of this car but can’t say where this knowledge has come from.”
But DCI Flannigan added: “We think that the vehicle holds the key to identifying where Suzanne’s body could be.”
The development comes just 24-hrs after officers worked to enhance a grainy CCTV image of what are thought to be the last known sighting of Suzanne outside her work at 8.55am.
Officers are also continuing to work their way through 300 hours of CCTV footage from Edinburgh city centre and interview other potential witnesses.
