The dad of missing Fraserburgh man Shaun Ritchie has urged investigators to launch a new search for his son after The Press and Journal revealed officers were discussing the idea.
Charlie Reid called on Police Scotland to utilise new sonar drone technology currently being tested by Dr Alastair Ruffell – a grave finding expert involved in the original search for Shaun.
Earlier this month Dr Ruffell told The Press and Journal that he believed his new technology could help in a fresh search for the missing 20-year-old who was last seen on Halloween night 2014.
Police Scotland later confirmed that they are now in talks with Dr Ruffell regarding the prospect of a fresh search.
Charlie believes officers should now work with the professor once again – echoing the thoughts of Shaun’s sister, Nicole Shand, who also called on Police Scotland to use the new technology.
‘If they find Shaun, brilliant’
Shaun’s dad said: “I would like to think that that they (Police Scotland) would work with him (Dr Alastair Ruffell) and get it done because at least then we could maybe find Shaun or rule out the possibility of him being in that area.
“If they find Shaun, brilliant, and if they can rule out areas that Shaun is definitely not at then that is brilliant as well because at least we could say that we’re 100% that he’s not in that area, or not in that area.”
Charlie told The Press and Journal that he had not been contacted directly by Police Scotland to tell him discussions were underway with Dr Ruffell about the possibility of launching a new search.
However he knows Dr Ruffell will need a support team to carry out any new search and has asked Police Scotland to fund the idea.
‘The police will need to give him the resources’
“The police will need to give him the resources to help him do it,” said Charlie.
“Obviously he’s going to need support teams if he does find anything, it will need to be checked out by police.
“It’s not just a case of him going out himself, he’ll need to have officers there in case anything is found that needs catalogued.
“I would like to think that the police would work with him, if anything just to rule out any areas that weren’t searched with his equipment last time round.”
Shaun Ritchie was last seen on October 31, 2014, after travelling to the remote farmhouse near Strichen in a van with seven other people.
On the seventh anniversary of his disappearance The Press and Journal released a documentary Missing from The Broch: The Disappearance of Shaun Ritchie which revealed new information about the case.
In the days following its release police received a fresh call regarding the case.
A new search would be seen as a huge step forward by Shaun’s family after such a long period of time with no movement on the case.
Anyone with information on Shaun’s disappearance should contact Police Scotland on 101 or by contacting the Missing People Charity for free on 116 000 or via their website.
Watch our Shaun Ritchie documentary here