Psychic investigators have claimed that murdered housewife Renee MacRae and her young son Andrew are buried in a forest clearing in the Highlands.
Archibald Lawrie and Frances Ryan have called on police to listen to their theory as detectives prepare to launch a fresh appeal to mark the 40th anniversary of the notorious case.
The Inverness housewife and her four-year-old son vanished on November 12, 1976. What was initially a missing persons inquiry became a murder hunt.
Mrs MacRae’s BMW was found in flames in a lay-by beside the A9 and a blood stain was discovered in the boot. The car was 12 miles south of Inverness.
Dalmagarry Quarry between Inverness and Moy was searched twice during the murder hunt.
Northern Constabulary sent a report to the Crown Office 10 years ago, which named a prime suspect, but prosecutors concluded there was insufficient evidence to bring charges.
Now Mr Lawrie, President of the Edinburgh Society for Psychical Research, and Ms Ryan, one of Scotland’s best-known mediums, have urged detectives to dig at the site they have identified.
They believe Mrs MacRae and her son were murdered and are buried in a clearing in woods along the banks of the Allt na Loinne Mor burn, above the old Moy Halt railway station and accessed from the A9 by a rusted metal gate.
Ms Ryan claimed to have experienced a distressing vision that the mother and son were killed with a spade which was then used to dig two shallow graves.
Mr Lawrie said: “I’ve been told there may have been some workmen’s huts here around 1976, which were associated with the major reconstruction of the A9.
“We believe this large pile of stones and concrete rubble was dumped on this spot after the burial had taken place.”
A police spokesman said the murder was “subject to regular and ongoing review” by homicide detectives and the Crown Office cold case unit.
Mrs MacRae had told her estranged husband, millionaire Inverness businessman Gordon MacRae, that she was taking Andrew to visit her sister in Ayrshire.
She had actually arranged to spend the weekend with her married lover, Bill McDowall, who was Mr MacRae’s accountant and also Andrew’s biological father.
Both men have always denied any involvement with the disappearances and were able to provide police with alibis.
