It has been eight days since William Ritchie was reported missing from his home in Fraserburgh and specialist officers have been expanding their search in the direction of Sandhaven.
The 90-year-old was reported missing by neighbours on Sunday, January 14 after he had not been seen at his home in West Road since January 12.
A major operation was launched to trace his last movements involving the police helicopter, dog units, divers and specialist officers.
Further searches were carried out at the weekend along with officers handing out leaflets and speaking to the public to keep him fresh in people’s minds.
With Mr Ritchie known to be a keen walker, a team of specialist officers focused on land between Fraserburgh and Sandhaven today as the area to be searched expanded.
Inspector Kevin Goldie, who has been leading the operation, said: “It has been more than a week now since Bill was reported missing to us and I don’t think I need to stress that our concerns for him increase every day. He might have been relatively mobile for a man of his age, however he tended to stick to the routes he knew well and his disappearance is completely out of character.
“I still appeal to anyone with information to contact police on 101 quoting incident no. 2549 of Jan 14.”
Mr Ritchie is described as being around 5ft 7, of a slim build, with short grey hair. It is not known what he is wearing when he went missing, however he usually wears a 3/4 length black jacket or a waterproof jacket with the hood up, and a flat cap.
He regularly shops at Asda, the local Co-op and attends at the post office at Mid Street.