By Melissa Clark
POLICE searching for missing mother-of-two Heather McKay have discovered a body.
Search teams made the discovery today around 1.30pm in dense woodlands between the A89 South of Dechmont and the M8 motorway, Livingston. Lothian and Borders Police have confirmed that there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.
Formal identification will take place following a post mortem examination.
Heather Mckay’s family have been informed. She was last seen, by a friend, at 7.30am on Friday, August 24. When another friend called for her an hour later she had gone, leaving behind her mobile phone.
The 51-year-old had broken up with her partner Gary Winters days before she went missing and was staying with a friend in Dechmont, West Lothian.
Earlier this week Andrea, her brother Kevin Waddell, and Heather’s sister Deidre McKay, made an emotional appeal for the safe return of her mum.
Andrea said: “The night before she went missing we had a discussion. She was really upbeat. She made plans for Friday to start looking for a new house. She said, ‘I’ll see you at lunchtime’.
She added:“Even if she doesn’t want to come home, let us know you’re OK. Me and Kevin are here for you. I love you. Just come home.”
Kevin Waddell, Heather’s son, said: “The last night I saw her she was her usual bubbly self. She is always caring for everyone else, this is so out of character.”
Heather was on annual leave from her job with the NHS when she disappeared.
A commuter, who was driving in the area on the day Heather disappeared, said he believed he saw her at 8.30am.
He said: “She was with a man and a woman outside a bungalow in Dechmont.
“She looked very animated.”
Inspector Neill Whiteside of Lothian and Borders police said that there was nothing suspicious surrounding the disappearance of Heather but that is was extremely “out of character.”
He added: “There has been no suggestion of criminality or foul play.
“It is a high risk missing person, we are concerned for her well-being.”
