evidence found at the scene it seems there was also a child travelling with her who was not on the bus. The driver is also missing and we can assume the two must be travelling together. Given the temperature overnight dropped as low as -14 Celsius we are extremely concerned about their welfare and are appealing for witnesses.”
Sandy Stirrit raised his hand and was the first to ask a question. “Are there any concerns about this child going missing with the driver?”
Norrie’s reply was brusque “We have been unable to speak to the woman found on board and we do not know her relationship to the child at this time. I can make no further comment on this matter as it is part of an ongoing investigation.”
“And when do you expect to speak to the woman,” Sandy said, “Does she have a name?”
“Naturally she has a name,” he stopped and smiled around the room, “but her details will not be released until such time as we have spoken to her next of kin.”
“What about the driver – do we know much about him?”
“We have been in touch with the coach company and they are co-operating fully in our inquiries. I must stress we are at a very early stage in this investigation and our primary objective is to find the two missing people. There is a lot of snow in that area and we still haven’t been able to fully open up access to the site yet given the conditions. The area is largely cut off and this is causing us problems. If anyone listening to this in the area saw or heard anything they might think is useful please contact us immediately. We need to know if anyone travelling on the bus beforehand remembers seeing the woman and child. We need your help,” he said, looking directly at Sandy’s camera. ‘He’s good,’ Arbogast thought. “This investigation is being handled in Motherwell by DCI Rosalind Ying who is heading up our team there. To my left is DI John Arbogast who will be offering the expertise of the Major Crime squad who have dealt with similar cases in the past. We will be updating the media as and when we have more information and thank you again for your time.”
Norrie stood up, nodded to the room and left with a press officer by his arm furiously scribbling notes and taking instruction. Rosalind Ying was left to deal with the mass of interviews, repeating the same information again and again. It was obvious there was something being left unsaid but this was going to be big news and the fact the satellite broadcasters were there already alongside network correspondents meant it was going national.
45 minutes later Rosalind Ying and Arbogast left the press briefing and rejoined Norrie Smith at his desk. Despite the fact that this was supposed to be a paperless office there were reams of reports and files. A dark wood table which had known many owners over the years formed the focal point.
“Right, sorry for leaving you with all that but I had some information flagged up to me through my blackberry which needed immediate attention,” Chief Constable Smith said by way of apology, “As we know the driver, Stevie Davidson is on the sex offenders register but considered low risk. I’ve called in his social work reports so we should know more about his background shortly. The woman we found on the bus has been identified as Mary Clark. We’ve checked her files and she’s married to a John Clark. They live in Shotts area. More importantly though is that she doesn’t have children, so who was she with?”
Arbogast and Ying looked at each other and then back at the chief.
“I sense there may be something more?”
“Yes Rosalind,” the Chief Constable said, “For the most part Mary Clark seems a model citizen. Interestingly, though, her maiden name was Sanderson,” The revelation drew blank faces all round, “Her police file show that she had made a complaint about her father Eric about 20 years ago. She had claimed he had been sexually abusing both her and a boy on the Sanderson
Stormy Glenn, Joyee Flynn