Family make fresh appeal over missing Mary

Jul 29 2010 by Debbie Hall, West Lothian Courier

THE FAMILY of missing pensioner Mary Ferns – who disappeared over two years ago – have made a moving TV appeal for information.

Mary, known to her loved ones as May, was 88-years-old when she went missing on June 17, 2008.

The pensioner left her Livingston home at 9.30am that morning but never came back.

May told her husband Bill (82) that she was just popping out to buy tights from the nearby Livingston Centre – but then disappeared with no trace.

CCTV footage in Edinburgh was discovered shortly after showing May walking along Princess Street, but as yet, there have been no more clues as to her whereabouts.

May’s stepdaughters Anne Foster and Margaret Ross appeared on Lorraine Kelly’s ‘Missing Mums’ show on Monday night to make an emotional appeal for fresh information.

Anne (45) said: “It will be two years since May’s been missing and the police have no more leads since she was last seen on Princes Street, so we are hoping the programme might jog somebody’s memory after she was last seen outside the Balmoral Hotel.

“The police have investigated as far as they can possibly go, there is nowhere else they can go now.

“With another year passing there are always different anniversaries and birthdays so it is a constant reminder that she’s not here.

“We do get on with our lives as best we can but it is something that isn’t going away and we aren’t getting any closure at all.”

Anne, who works as a benefits adviser for Marie Curie Cancer, said her dad copes as best he can without May, but some days are harder than others.

She continued: “All the memories are there for my dad, May’s stuff is still in the house and he doesn’t feel he can get rid of anything because we just don’t know what happened.

“We are realistic enough to appreciate the likelihood of her coming back alive is slim, but it’s the not being sure of what’s happened that’s the worst part.”

Anne said that she hoped Monday’s programme would generate some new information that would help the police find her stepmother.

“The police have been in touch regularly,” said Anne. “But there is nothing new to report on as far as they are concerned.

“But they have said it will be an open case and will be kept open until they have a result.”

May’s disappearance prompted a painstaking search around May’s Howden home by police.

Tracker dogs were used, officers carried out door-to-door enquiries and mounted police searched woodlands and parks.

The nearby Almond River was also searched using sonar technology and helicopters were scrambled.

The family made an appeal for information on the first anniversary of her disappearance last year, but still nothing has been uncovered to explain what has happened to May.

Anyone with information is asked to please contact Lothian and Borders Police on 0131 3113131 or Crimestoppers in confidence and complete anonymity on 0800 555111.