The mum of a missing Aberdeen teenager has revealed her “shock and devastation” more than three days after he was last seen.
Liam Smith went missing on Saturday, prompting a huge police search.
Today, it emerged that the 16-year-old took a bus from the city to Lumphanan and efforts to locate him have centred on the rural village.
Liam’s mum, Alix Smith, has now appealed for information in a statement released through the police.
She said: “It is now been three days since we last saw Liam and we are completely shocked and devastated by his disappearance.
“We are so worried about him and really anxious to find him and take him home.
“If Liam sees this message I don’t want him to be concerned about being in any trouble.
“I just want to find him. I would ask that if anyone has heard from Liam since Saturday or they saw him on the bus he took, or where he went after he got off the bus in Lumphanan, please, please, please phone the police and give them any information you have.
“I would also like to appeal to people in the Lumphanan and surrounding areas to check their sheds and outbuildings as he may have walked on from Lumphanan and be taking shelter somewhere.
“We are desperate to find him and we are becoming increasingly concerned as time goes on.”
Police have confirmed that Liam boarded the 1.11pm 202 Stagecoach bus at the bus station in Aberdeen and disembarked at Lumphanan at 2.44pm on Saturday.
Officers are urging anyone who was on the bus and saw Liam, or who lives in the Lumphanan area and may have seen him, to get in touch with police on 101 using reference number 1302 of 18 November.