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Moira Anderson: Police opening Old Monkland Cemetery grave | Moira Anderson: Police opening Old Monkland Cemetery grave |
(35 minutes later) | |
Forensic experts have begun exhuming a family grave in North Lanarkshire in the search for the body of a schoolgirl who disappeared in 1957. | Forensic experts have begun exhuming a family grave in North Lanarkshire in the search for the body of a schoolgirl who disappeared in 1957. |
Moira Anderson vanished aged 11 during a trip to the shops in Coatbridge. | Moira Anderson vanished aged 11 during a trip to the shops in Coatbridge. |
Bus driver and convicted child rapist Alexander Gartshore, who died in 2006, has been linked to her disappearance. | Bus driver and convicted child rapist Alexander Gartshore, who died in 2006, has been linked to her disappearance. |
Moira's family believe she may have been killed and buried at Old Monkland Cemetery in the family plot of Sinclair Upton, an acquaintance of Gartshore. | Moira's family believe she may have been killed and buried at Old Monkland Cemetery in the family plot of Sinclair Upton, an acquaintance of Gartshore. |
The team at the site has begun digging after efforts to pump water from the sodden ground. | |
Family suspicions | Family suspicions |
Moira went missing after getting on a bus as she ran an errand to the Co-op for her family. | Moira went missing after getting on a bus as she ran an errand to the Co-op for her family. |
Her body was never found and Scotland's Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland, ordered cold case detectives to reopen the case as a murder investigation last year. | Her body was never found and Scotland's Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland, ordered cold case detectives to reopen the case as a murder investigation last year. |
Gartshore's daughter, Sandra Brown, has written a book detailing her suspicions that her late father was Moira's killer. | Gartshore's daughter, Sandra Brown, has written a book detailing her suspicions that her late father was Moira's killer. |
She said: "I originally became involved in the investigation because I had a conversation with my father in 1992 just after his mother's death and he linked himself there to Moira for the first time ever. | She said: "I originally became involved in the investigation because I had a conversation with my father in 1992 just after his mother's death and he linked himself there to Moira for the first time ever. |
"He said to me that his own father blamed him for Moira and basically this was said in such a way that he probably thought at this time that I wouldn't remember Moira, because I was only eight when she disappeared. | "He said to me that his own father blamed him for Moira and basically this was said in such a way that he probably thought at this time that I wouldn't remember Moira, because I was only eight when she disappeared. |
"But actually it was really a chilling conversation I had with him and it brought up a lot of echoes and worries for me and eventually it led to me going to the police." | "But actually it was really a chilling conversation I had with him and it brought up a lot of echoes and worries for me and eventually it led to me going to the police." |
Moira's sister, Janet Hart, who lives in Australia, launched a petition to get Mr Upton's grave exhumed, believing that Gartshore may have dumped her body there in the days before Mr Upton was laid to rest. | Moira's sister, Janet Hart, who lives in Australia, launched a petition to get Mr Upton's grave exhumed, believing that Gartshore may have dumped her body there in the days before Mr Upton was laid to rest. |
Last month, a sheriff granted a request from Moira's relatives to open the grave. | Last month, a sheriff granted a request from Moira's relatives to open the grave. |
A radar survey already carried out suggests there may be an extra body there. | A radar survey already carried out suggests there may be an extra body there. |
The exhumation process is expected to take several days and involve specially trained police personnel. | The exhumation process is expected to take several days and involve specially trained police personnel. |