One of Police Scotland’s largest missing person operations continues with today marking exactly five years since Shaun Ritchie disappeared.
Mr Ritchie was 20 when he went missing after travelling in a van to a farm in the Greenburn area, near Strichen on Friday October 31 2014.
He had been at home that day with his family before visiting a convenience store in his hometown of Fraserburgh and leaving with friends to celebrate Halloween.
The alarm was raised on November 2.
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While items of his clothing, including his shoes and belt, were found, Mr Ritchie has not been seen since.
His devastated family said they all love him and “want nothing more now than answers”, but were too upset to speak at length about the case.
Detective chief inspector Fionnuala McPhail, who oversees the inquiry, said: “We fully appreciate how hard it must be for Shaun’s family with another year passing since his disappearance and my thoughts are with them at this difficult time.
“Our inquiry into Shaun’s disappearance remains one of the largest ever missing person operations in the history of Police Scotland.
“Extensive and detailed searches were conducted with assistance from every specialist air, land and water resource, with more than 200 officers covering more than 22km of ditches, rough terrain and large water areas.
“We were also assisted by the expertise of a forensic soil scientist and geoscientist, while we pursued every potential lead with thorough intelligence-led inquiries.
“The circumstances surrounding Shaun’s disappearance have also been reviewed by the major investigation team based in Glasgow, which included a review of the forensic work carried out in the investigation.
“The search activity has also been reviewed by Police Scotland specialist search advisors and the National Crime Agency lead search advisor.
“These reviews have all concluded that this remains a missing person inquiry and there is no evidence to suggest that Shaun has been the victim of any crime.
“We continue to keep an open mind and will act on any new information that is provided to us.”
Anyone with even the slightest amount of information is urged to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 to remain anonymous.