Friends and family of a missing north-east man yesterday joined specialist rescue teams searching a remote stretch of countryside.
Shaun Ritchie, known locally as ‘Stonie’, was last seen in the early hours of Saturday morning near Strichen – eight miles from his home town of Fraserburgh.
Police said last night that they were becoming “increasingly concerned” for his safety.
The investigation into Mr Ritchie’s disappearance has now been passed over to CID officers.
The 20-year-old’s disappearance was officially reported a day later and since then a huge search and rescue operation has swept wooded and agricultural land to the north-west of the village.
Dozens of local people helped police officers, mountain rescue teams and dog handlers comb the woods near Hillhead of Auchentumb. Searchers were supported from above by the police helicopter.
Persistent downpours, biting wind and low temperatures made work difficult for the search teams but, dressed in winter clothing, the local people were not deterred.
The operation was co-ordinated from a Police Scotland command vehicle parked near a steading on an unclassified road between the A98 Fochabers to Fraserburgh road and A981 from the town to New Deer.
A police Land Rover Defender ferried officers up a dirt track into nearby woods while members of the public, who also gathered at the steading, proceeded on foot through sheep fields.
The search operation was formally stood down just after 5pm as darkness fell on the remote area.
Last night Inspector Alan Brown, of the community policing team in Fraserburgh, said: “We have carried out extensive searches today to find Shaun and I would urge anyone with information or who may have seen Shaun to contact us.
“Shaun was last seen in the early hours of Saturday morning and we are now becoming increasingly concerned for his wellbeing.”
A police spokeswoman said: “The search for missing Shaun Ritchie continued today with specialist officers being drafted in to assist with the investigation.
“Divisional officers have been assisted by the Police Scotland helicopter, the Police Scotland Mountain Rescue Team, Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue team, specialist searchers and dog handlers from Aberdeen and Inverness.
“In addition to the searches in the area where Shaun was last seen, officers have been clarifying Shaun’s last movements prior to him going missing.”
Last night a Police Scotland spokeswoman confirmed that it was not unusual for CID to take over a missing person case which had stretched into several days.
Police continued their inquiries through the night and a full-scale search is expected to resume this morning.
Mr Ritchie was last seen wearing dark grey skinny jeans, a white T-shirt, a grey hoodie and brown trainers.
Since his disappearance, a huge social media campaign has appealed for information.
A photo of Mr Ritchie has now been shared more than 1,000 times on social networking site Facebook, but so far there have been no confirmed sightings of the missing man.
Anyone with information about Mr Ritchie’s whereabouts has been urged to contact the police immediately.
Mr Ritchie’s family declined to comment last night.