Many missing person appeals are shared each year across Grampian and the Highlands and islands, with most people usually found within days.
However, several families across Scotland will be hoping 2024 brings fresh answers in their often long search for missing loved ones and friends.
Data compiled by the Missing People charity shows that about 170,000 people are reported missing every year in the UK.
The vast majority are found quickly, with only about 2% of children and 5% of adults going missing for longer than a week.
Across the region, a number of people have been missing long-term, with one case going back more than 40 years.
This list is up-to-date for the month of December 2023. Have you seen them?
If your loved one is missing, or you would like to issue a fresh appeal, contact The Press and Journal via livenews@ajl.co.uk.
Margaret Inczedi
Background: Margaret Inczedi was last seen by a dog walker near the Bettridge Centre in Newtonhill, Aberdeenshire.
Last seen: The 50-year-old was last seen on Berryhill Road in the town at around 6.30am on May 13.
Description: Ms Inczedi is described as being 5ft 3ins, of slim build with dark red hair. It is thought she was wearing a grey hoody and black jogging bottoms when she was last seen.
Harvey Christian
Background: Harvey Christian travelled from his home in Cambridgeshire to climb Ben Nevis.
Last seen: The 42-year-old is believed to have left the Glen Nevis Visitor Centre at around 10.30am on Friday, January 27. His black Vauxhall Crossland X was found parked in a nearby lay-by two days later.
Description: Mr Christian is described as being 6ft 2ins tall and of heavy build with fair hair. It has not been confirmed what he was wearing, but it is likely he had on waterproofs and walking shoes.
Rodrigo Falcon
Last seen: The 33-year-old failed to return home from a night out at The Vault nightclub in the early hours of Sunday, December 11, 2022. CCTV footage shows him walking down Grampian Road just after 3am.
Description: Mr Falcon was last seen wearing a red jumper and baggy jeans with no coat – he left his at the nightclub.
Susan Forde
Last seen: She left the Caladh Hotel in Stornoway on Sunday, October 16, 2022 and took a taxi to the village of Borve.
Description: When last seen, she was wearing an orange top, a dark jacket with white lining, blue trousers or jeans, walking boots, a cream/grey tammy hat, glasses and was carrying a backpack.
Kevin Campbell
Background: Kevin Campbell, 29, from Stonehaven was reported missing after visiting friends in Montrose.
Last seen: He was last seen in Paton’s Lane at around 6.40pm on October 1, 2022.
Description: He is described as white, 5ft 8ins, and of medium build, with short brown hair and a beard.
When he was last seen he was wearing a black short-sleeved T-shirt, black trousers and black trainers.
Martin Kos
Background: Martin Kos, from Edinburgh, is believed to be in Shetland.
Last seen: He was last seen onboard a Northlink ferry heading to Lerwick at around 3.30am on Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Description: The 31-year-old is 6ft 8ins, and was wearing a brown leather jacket and tan shoes when last seen.
James Clacher
Background: Gym owner James Clacher was due to go on trial in 2023 accused of raping two women he met on Tinder, according to The Sun. The 53-year-old is a keen walker and could be in the Argyll area after his car was found in Arrochar.
Last seen: He was last seen at his home in Bellshill, near Glasgow, on May 30, 2022.
Description: Police have urged the public to not approach him. He is described as 5ft 6ins, of athletic build and bald.
Neil Skinner
Background: Neil Skinner, 71, went missing in the Bridge of Orchy area of the Highlands.
Last seen: He was last seen camping close to Loch Dochard on Sunday, May 8, 2022.
Description: He is described as 5ft 8in tall, with short white hair, a white goatee-type beard and wearing glasses, a green jacket and grey walking trousers.
Glyn Smith
Background: Glyn Smith is a 76-year-old from Cambridgeshire who was on a walking tour of the north of Scotland.
Last seen: On Thursday, 28 April, 2022, he was spotted around Benmore Lodge, near Lairg.
Description: Glyn is described as white, 5ft 6ins and of slim build. When he was last seen it is believed he was wearing outdoor type clothing and carrying a rucksack.
Derek Hepburn
Background: 53-year-old Derek Hepburn is from Nairn. His car was found at Loch Mullardoch Dam car park, his planned route is unknown, but he may have intended to walk on Sgurr Na Lapaich or in the surrounding area.
Last seen: He was last seen when he headed out for a Sunday walk on April 24, 2022.
Description: He is described as being 6ft 1ins, of slim build with black hair that is balding. He is normally clean shaven or has light stubble.
Finn Creaney
Last seen: He was last seen at around 2.15pm on Friday, March 25, 2022, having been dropped off at Loch Naver in Sutherland to start his planned walking route around the loch and south to Golspie.
In March, his wife revealed he became a father for the second time two months after his disappearance.
Description: He is described as 5ft 11ins, is of slim build and has long brown hair down to his lower back and a full brown beard. He was wearing a long brown leather jacket, a replica of Aragorn’s from Lord of the Rings.
Richard Woolley
Background: 49-year-old Richard Woolley is believed to have travelled from Nottingham to the Lochinver area. He was believed to be walking in the area, and his car was traced at Stoer Lighthouse.
Last seen: He was last spoken to on Friday, September 4, 2020. He was meant to travel back to Nottingham on the Saturday, but never made it home.
Description: He is 5ft 11ins with a slim build, blue eyes and grey stubble.
James Paton
Last seen: He was last seen driving his silver Dacia Duster at Ruttle Woods, east of his home in Beauly, at around 1.30pm on December 23, 2019.
Description: Known as Jim to his family and friends, he wears glasses and is white, is 5ft 8ins tall with a stocky build and has grey hair and a beard.
William Richie
Last seen: His last known sighting was just before Christmas in 2017, when he was captured on the CCTV of Fraserburgh’s Asda store.
Description: He is described as being around 5ft 7ins and of slim build, with short, grey hair.
Nusrat Jahan
Background: 34-year-old Nusrat Jahan told her friend she was going for a walk on Aberdeen Beach and never returned.
Last seen: Police released a CCTV image of the last known sighting of Ms Jahan in the city’s Marischal College at 4pm on Thursday, July 27, 2017.
Description: She is described as being 5ft 3ins and of slim build, with dark hair.
Sergei Ivanov
Background: Russian-born artist Sergei Ivanov was 55-years-old when he was reported missing from his home address on Papa Westray in Orkney. He moved there ten years before his disappearance and had been running the Papay Gyro Nights festival.
Last seen: He had last been seen walking on a road towards the south of Orkney on April 3, 2017.
Description: He is described as around 5ft 10ins tall and of medium build with long, grey hair.
Peter Edwards
Background: 65-year-old Peter Edwards, from Scone, an associate pastor at the Perth Christian Fellowship. In April 2019, almost 30 months after he was last seen, his sister Chloe Bornstein said she believed he was still alive.
Last seen: He was last seen stepping off the Stagecoach X7 bus on Barclay Street in Stonehaven at 3.20pm on November 1, 2016.
Description: He is described as 5ft 10ins in height and of slim build, with receding hair and a bald head, and has a full white beard.
Goffredo Bondanelli
Last seen: He was seen in Fort William on Tuesday, May 3, 2016.
Description: He was well-equipped for the hike, carrying a green tent and a dark rucksack visible in CCTV footage from before he started.
Shaun Ritchie
Background: The disappearance of 20-year-old Shaun Ritchie from a remote farmhouse several miles from Fraserburgh on Halloween night sparked the biggest missing person search in Police Scotland history at that point.
Last seen: He had travelled in a van to Kersiehill Farm near Strichen with seven other people just after 10pm on October 31, 2014. Mr Ritchie fled into the darkness following a disturbance in the van, just as the group arrived at their destination.
Description: He was wearing a hoodie, belt and trainers on the night out, which were later found in a boggy area. The area was searched, but he was never found.
To mark the seventh anniversary of his disappearance, The Press & Journal released a 40-minute documentary with new information about the case. His sister and father believe that there could be more to his disappearance.
Steven Cooper
Background: Steven Cooper, 46, left his home in Scar Lane, Golcar, near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire and took off in his blue Ford Focus without any of his possessions. A week later, police found his car near Kingussie.
Last seen: He was last seen in the early hours of his 47th birthday on January 21, 2008.
Description: He is described as 6ft 2ins tall with a slim build. His eyes are blue/green and he has short, thinning blond hair and speaks with a Yorkshire accent.
Robert Adaway
Background: The missing person case of Robert Adaway is among the longest-running across Scotland. The day he turned 18, he was spotted by various friends and relatives, but he never made it to a celebratory dinner that evening.
Last seen: On June 9, 1982, when his mother gave him a shaving kit as a birthday present at their home on Princes Street in Thurso.
Description: Described as solitary, but with a few close friends. He would now be 59.
Can you help with these missing people?
Police work with the Missing People Charity – the only charity in the UK which specialises in bringing missing children and adults back together with their families.
They can be contacted via telephone on freephone 116 000 or by visiting the Missing People website and reporting a sighting.
Anyone with information that could assist police with their investigations can also call the non-emergency number 101.
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