A missing Aberdeen woman may have been spotted just hours before her worried family first made contact with police.
Nusrat Jahan disappeared from her Seaton home on Thursday night after telling a friend she was going for a walk at the beach.
However, the 34-year-old, also known as Nusrat Dow, may have been seen just hours earlier climbing on wooden groynes at Aberdeen beach across from the Inversnecky cafe.
Following numerous appeals for information, a member of the public contacted police to say they had seen a woman matching Nusrat’s appearance.
The potential sighting of the woman, who was dressed in dark clothing, would have been at around 6.15pm, a few hours before Nusrat contacted her friend.
Local Area Commander Kevin Wallace said: “There has been no been trace of Nusrat since she last spoke to her friend at 9.30pm on Thursday night, nor has she been in contact with anyone.
“We know that she left work at Marischal College at around 4pm that day however we are still piecing together where she went and what she did after this time.”
On Monday, Ms Jahan’s husband Colin Dow made an emotional plea for the public to come forward with information, saying it had become “increasingly difficult to come to terms with the fact no one has seen or heard from her”.
He added: “To anyone else who can help us understand what has happened to Nusrat, I would ask you to get in touch with police as soon as possible and tell them what you know.”
Commander Wallace said: “The beach would have been extremely busy last Thursday evening what with the nice weather – especially at the beachfront – and I would urge anyone who thinks they might have seen a woman matching Nusrat’s description to get in touch.
“Likewise if this wasn’t Nusrat and you recognise yourself as being the person who was climbing on the groynes, please let us know. We need to confirm this was our missing person or eliminate the sighting if it was someone else.”
Anyone with information about Ms Jahan’s whereabouts is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101.