Missing Highland survivalist Finn Creaney became a father for the second time two months after his disappearance, his heartbroken wife has revealed.
Saturday marks one year since Finn was last seen.
His family is still carrying out regular searches across the vast wilderness where he went missing, determined not to give up hope.
Lucy Creaney has spoken for the first time about how she was 31 weeks pregnant at the time of Finn’s disappearance.
Their baby son Bran was born on May 29, 2022.
Lucy kept the news under wraps publicly because she was determined that Finn should meet his son before his arrival was shared widely.
“I wanted Finn to meet his son first,” Lucy said. “I didn’t want anyone else to.
“You had the beauty of this new life, the joy of making a new life with your soulmate.
“But then this weird thing you could never have anticipated happens. And you have to try to deal with that.”
“It was a bittersweet feeling.”
‘This is a fairytale, but two weeks later it changed’
Finn has been missing since embarking on a hike at Loch Naver, Sutherland in March 2022.
An experienced and confident survivalist, he loved being out in nature.
The now 33-year-old was expected to be home, to Hill of Fearn, Easter Ross, on Mother’s Day.
But he never arrived. And the circumstances are as perplexing as they are sad.
The early days of the search for him will be documented in Highland Cops, a new BBC Scotland series due to air on April 2.
Everything seemed to be in its right place for Finn.
His work as a survival instructor at Wildcat Bushcraft was going well. He had married his long-term girlfriend Lucy in 2021 and he doted on their young daughter Luna.
And two weeks earlier, he and Lucy had found out they would be having a baby boy – completing their family unit as they had dreamed.
Lucy said: “Everything was coming together beautifully. We had just got married and life was fantastic.
“When I fell pregnant we were like ‘this is a fairytale’ and when we found out we were having a boy it was ‘wow, you can’t write this’.
“Two weeks later, everything changed.”
Finn’s family stuck in limbo waiting for answers
Until she has any evidence to prove otherwise, Finn’s wife Lucy will never talk about her husband in the past tense.
But that in itself creates a state of limbo for the family.
In the past year, Lucy said she has been through every emotion imaginable thinking about the situation.
She said: “You have a moment when you laugh. But then you remember. It’s always there.
“You’re sad, you’re angry, but you also feel guilt as well.
“With most things in life, like in your work for example, you have a deadline or a time goal.
“With this, you don’t. You’re stuck in limbo and don’t know what the outcome is.
“It’s very important for us to keep going and find the truth. But none of it makes sense.
“And the more you look, the more questions you have.”
Daughter’s questions continue to fuel quest for answers
The support of Lucy’s mum, her close friends Phoebe and Sylvia and the Missing People charity have all been invaluable.
Finn’s dad, Mark Creaney, still searches the hills for his son for three or four days every week and has been a huge support to his daughter-in-law.
But it’s her children, nine-month-old Bran and Luna, five, who fuel Lucy the most.
Her survivalist dad has left a major imprint on Luna, who can already make a fire and catch her own fish.
Her mum has been honest with her and explained the situation as best as she can.
Lucy said: “She asks questions but I answer. She knows just as much as I do.
“She knows Daddy went on one of his walks to do his bushcraft but something happened.
“I tell her I don’t know what that is but I am doing everything I can to get the answers for you.
“And no matter where he is, he loves you very much.”
A year on, Lucy still texts her husband every day.
But those messages have never been delivered.
Finn left his wife a cheery voicemail at 12.52pm on the day he disappeared.
However, his phone was cut off at 1.47pm in Lairg.
Whether it was switched off or broken is not known.
Since he was planning to use his phone to film his adventure for his Youtube channel, this has always been a puzzling detail.
Where have searches taken place so far?
Numerous searches across the north Highlands have been carried out since Finn went missing.
Search and rescue, police divers, friends, family and numerous others have all contributed to the effort.
A map of all of the areas that have been searched so far has been compiled by Finn’s family.
They are also sifting through thousands of drone images of the area.
Not only has Finn never been found, there has never been any trace left behind from his trip.
No clues to offer an insight into what might have happened.
The space left behind by the lack of answers has often been filled online by theories.
That fascination is almost to be expected when the situation is such a mystery.
But at its heart, this case is about a child desperate to see her dad again.
A wife missing her soulmate. And an infant who deserves to grow up knowing and loving his father.
Can you help find Finn?
Finn set off on his trek on March 25 last year, two days before Mother’s Day.
He drove to Golspie Beach car park and left his car there, intending to pick it up at the end of his challenge.
A family member then dropped him off at a caravan park on the B873 in the Loch Naver area.
That was the last definite sighting of him.
Finn is described as 5ft 11ins, with a slim build. He has long, brown hair down to his lower back and a full brown-ginger beard.
A fundraising page has been set up to help continue searches for him.
The Search for Finn Creaney Facebook page also posts regular updates about the case.
Posters about his disappearance are currently available from Tain Post Office and Far Fetched in Inverness.
His family has asked for them to put in as many places as possible.
If you have any information that may assist the search, email searchforfinncreaney@outlook.com.
Alternatively, you can contact Police Scotland, quoting incident number 0192.
Highland Cops
BBC Scotland’s new five-part documentary series, Highland Cops, begins on April 2.
It goes inside the unique police division to find out what it takes to patrol the beat and keep the peace in the most beautiful, and challenging places, in Britain.
The programme is a co-commission for BBC Scotland and BBC Two, produced by Firecrest Films.
Conversation