Hopes for closure in river search for missing woman

Friends of a woman who was swept away in severe flooding in Aberdeenshire last year are hoping a fresh search of the river can bring her family some closure.

Hazel Nairn, 71, disappeared at the River Don, near Monymusk, in November while out with her dog.

Relatives believe her body may still caught somewhere in the river.

A dive team will be searching the river this weekend in a bid to help with sonar technology.

Beneath the Surface, a voluntary underwater search and recovery dive team based in Lancashire, will work with local divers to scour the area.

Team leader Phil Jones said it would "difficult" to locate Hazel because of the length of time that had passed since her disappearance.

The river continues for 31 miles from her last known location until it reaches the sea, but the search will focus on areas such as bends where a body might be trapped, he told BBC Scotland News.

"The chance that she is still in the river is quite likely," he added. "It is usually in the first few miles that we find people."

Police Scotland said extensive searches were carried out at the time in difficult conditions, but any further information would be acted upon.

The body of Hazel's dog was found in the days after she went missing.

Jane Green who volunteered with Hazel in the thrift shop in Monymusk was one of the last people to see her.

She said: "The day turned upside down so quickly.

"We knew that there was flooding down at the river and people in the village were saying in all the years they had been here they had never seen it so bad.

"But not as bad as what it turned out within three hours. Everything just changed.

"The weather was wild, it was raining.

"We had a cup of tea, it was about two o'clock when she left our house.

"She'd only on really short welly boots so I said 'oh I've got a pair in the garage'.

"So she went and tried them on, did a wee dance in the porch with them and away she went. And that was it."

Hazel was just yards from her home when she was swept into a flooded field. It is thought she was then carried into the river.

Beneath the Surface volunteers will be using a boat equipped with sonar scanning equipment and underwater cameras as well as diving gear.

They will be helped by experienced divers from Aberdeen Diving Services Ltd and Aberdeen Sub Aqua Club, as well as kayakers who regularly use the river.

Jane said she hoped the search provided answers for Hazel's family.

She said: "She was a beautiful lady. Just a friendly, nice person to know. It was just so lovely to see how she treated and loved Georgia, her granddaughter.

"She was so very proud of her family. She was proud of what Anneka, her daughter, had achieved and very proud of Georgia. The little apple of her eye, was Georgia."

Jane added: "There's no closure. It's been really hard. It's been hard for us but incredibly hard and cruel for Anneka and Georgia.

"If we could find something, it would help to get a wee bit of closure. It's just really hard not knowing."

Hazel's daughter Anneka previously told BBC Scotland News she struggled with not knowing what had happened to her mother.

"It is very hard to go about your day, sit at work, go to the park at a weekend, just normal day-to-day things knowing she is most likely still in the river caught somewhere - that is the hardest part," she said in a statement.

"What she would have gone through that day is horrific enough but the fact she was never found and laid to rest or ashes scattered somewhere special is what eats away at you."

She added: "My daughter, aged seven, still talks to my mum as if she was here in the room or sitting at the kitchen table during meals, it's heartbreaking."

Supt David Howieson of Police Scotland said: "Our thoughts remain with the family of Hazel Nairn who have been looking for answers since she went missing.

"She was last seen in the water in the River Don near to Monymusk on Friday 18 November and extensive and detailed searches were carried out using local and national specialist police resources in what was extreme weather conditions.

"This included the dive and marine unit, police dogs and air support, and those of partner agencies.

"Hazel remains a missing person and officers keep her family updated when appropriate. Any further information received by police will be acted upon."