The family of a woman swept away by the River Don is organising a fresh search party.
Hazel Nairn was walking home with her dog when she was swept away by the fast-flowing river during stormy weather last November.
Her family has never given up hope of finding the 71-year-old’s body, and are now calling on kayakers and paddleboarders to help them next weekend.
Daughter Anneka Gray – who has been having kayak lessons so she can take part – is urging people to get involved in Saturday’s effort.
‘It’s like she vanished into thin air’
In a post published on the Missing People Scotland Facebook page, Mrs Gray said searchers would be checking all the nooks of the river, searching the debris and low water areas.
Walkers are also being asked to search the riverbanks on foot.
Speaking to The Daily Record, Mrs Gray described the last six months as a “nightmare” and said: “To be six months on and now to have found any trace of my mum is so painful.
“For months we used to walk the banks every day searching for her, then at night, I’d wake up worrying that I’d seen something we might have overlooked.
“My partner and I have been having kayak lessons so we can safely get into the water and search for her. For a long time after my mum disappeared, the river remained high but now water levels have dropped.
“At the very least, we might have expected to find a piece of her jacket on the barbed wire fence of one of the flooded fields she was initially swept across. It’s like she vanished into thin air.”
The group will set off from Monymusk at about 9am on Saturday, and those on the water should be prepared with lifejackets, wet suits and appropriate footwear.
When last seen, Ms Nairn was wearing blue denim leggings, pink hooded jumper, a wine jacket and wellies which were navy and tartan.
Police search stood down
Grandmother Ms Nairn was walking her Westie Ruairidh home when the tragedy unfolded on November 18.
A huge search operation was launched involving police and coastguards, and her beloved dog was found a week later.
Despite land and water searches, the teams found no trace of Ms Nairn and stood down their search in January.
Mrs Gray – who previously told The P&J that her own young daughter was struggling to come to terms with the loss of her precious Nana – continued her own searches and enlisted the help of a local drone pilot too.
She and her brother Greig organised a memorial service at Kintore Parish Church for their mum in March. Donations from the service were put towards the installation of a bench at Monymusk Park – one of Ms Nairn’s favourite spots.
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