POLICE were investigating the discovery of a badly-decomposed body last night beside one of Scotland’s most popular tourist routes.
A team of officers and forensics experts descended on an area west of the village of Arrochar after the remains were found by the A83. Police said inquiries are at an early stage.
More than three years ago, 70 volunteers took part in a search of the Argyll Forest in the hunt for missing Edinburgh woman Suzanne Pilley.
Her former lover and colleague David Gilroy was convicted of her murder two years ago, but the 38-year-old’s body has never been found.
Gilroy travelled to Lochgilphead in Argyll in the days following her disappearance, his trial at the High Court in Edinburgh heard. It is not known if the body found on Thursday is that of a man or woman.
A police spokeswoman said: “Police Scotland can confirm human remains were found in a rural location near to Arrochar on Thursday, January 9. Further examination of the remains will take place. The inquiry is at a very early stage and nothing further is available at this time.”
Police and prosecutors believe Gilroy disposed of Ms Pilley’s body in a grave somewhere near the Rest and Be Thankful beauty spot.
Major searches of the vast hillside involving mountain rescue teams and sniffer dogs were carried out after she went missing.
Miss Pilley disappeared after making her usual journey to work in Edinburgh city centre on May 4, 2010.
The young woman, described as a devoted daughter, never arrived at her desk, having been killed by Gilroy at her workplace that morning and hidden on the premises. During his trial, the 49-year-old was described by prosecutors as a “deceitful and controlling individual”.
Police maintain Gilroy embarked on a series of chilling acts to cover up his crime, and later took Miss Pilley’s body in the boot of his car to a secret grave, believed to be in mid-Argyll.
Gilroy was first interviewed by police when it emerged the two had a relationship.
Police phoned him on his mobile the day after she was reported missing and he told them he was in Lochgilphead on business. He returned to Edinburgh late that night and gave a statement to officers.
Their suspicions were raised when they noted cuts on his hands which he had attempted to cover up with a flesh-coloured substance, possibly make-up.
Last year an application by Gilroy to the Scottish courts to take his appeal to the Supreme Court in London was rejected.
But his legal team later launched a bid to bypass the Scottish courts system and appeal directly to the London court.