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| Moira Anderson: forensics experts fail to find girl's remains in grave | Moira Anderson: forensics experts fail to find girl's remains in grave |
| (7 days later) | |
| Forensics experts have failed to find the remains of a schoolgirl who disappeared more than 50 years ago after reopening a grave in north Lanarkshire. | Forensics experts have failed to find the remains of a schoolgirl who disappeared more than 50 years ago after reopening a grave in north Lanarkshire. |
| A team lead by the forensic anthropologist Professor Sue Black had exhumed the grave at Coatbridge in the search for Moira Anderson, who was 11 when she vanished after boarding a bus during a heavy snowstorm in 1957. | A team lead by the forensic anthropologist Professor Sue Black had exhumed the grave at Coatbridge in the search for Moira Anderson, who was 11 when she vanished after boarding a bus during a heavy snowstorm in 1957. |
| The disclosure will be a bitter disappointment to Moira's two surviving sisters and the child sex abuse campaigner Sandra Brown, who had made it a personal quest to find the missing girl's remains. | The disclosure will be a bitter disappointment to Moira's two surviving sisters and the child sex abuse campaigner Sandra Brown, who had made it a personal quest to find the missing girl's remains. |
| Brown believed her own father, Alexander Gartshore, a convicted child sex offender and former bus driver who died in 2006, had abducted and killed Moira after she boarded his bus on her way to a nearby Co-op on an errand for her grandmother. She believed Moira's remains were hidden in the open grave of an acquaintance of her father's, Sinclair Upton, who was due to be buried in his family's plot at Old Monklands cemetery, Coatbridge, shortly after Moira disappeared. | Brown believed her own father, Alexander Gartshore, a convicted child sex offender and former bus driver who died in 2006, had abducted and killed Moira after she boarded his bus on her way to a nearby Co-op on an errand for her grandmother. She believed Moira's remains were hidden in the open grave of an acquaintance of her father's, Sinclair Upton, who was due to be buried in his family's plot at Old Monklands cemetery, Coatbridge, shortly after Moira disappeared. |
| The meticulous operation to reopen the grave, which contained seven bodies from the Upton family and dated back more than 100 years, began on Monday. Radar scans of the graves had shown signs which suggested something else might have been buried there. | The meticulous operation to reopen the grave, which contained seven bodies from the Upton family and dated back more than 100 years, began on Monday. Radar scans of the graves had shown signs which suggested something else might have been buried there. |
| But the exhumation disclosed that the anomaly was broken stone, not a child's remains. | But the exhumation disclosed that the anomaly was broken stone, not a child's remains. |
| "About seven feet down there were a lot of bricks and slabs, and they showed up on the radar," Brown said on Wednesday. | "About seven feet down there were a lot of bricks and slabs, and they showed up on the radar," Brown said on Wednesday. |
| "Moira's two sisters now know but I've explained that although the grave is closed, it's not the end of the story and we strongly believe that Moira still wants to be found," Brown said. | "Moira's two sisters now know but I've explained that although the grave is closed, it's not the end of the story and we strongly believe that Moira still wants to be found," Brown said. |
| The decision by Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland to order a full cold case review by the police last year meant Moira's disappearance was elevated from a missing person inquiry to an open murder investigation. | The decision by Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland to order a full cold case review by the police last year meant Moira's disappearance was elevated from a missing person inquiry to an open murder investigation. |
| The operation to exhume the grave, the expenses for Black and her team, who provided their time and expertise for free, and the associated legal costs were funded by Brown, Moira's sisters and two newspapers. | The operation to exhume the grave, the expenses for Black and her team, who provided their time and expertise for free, and the associated legal costs were funded by Brown, Moira's sisters and two newspapers. |
| "We've had experts here working with the police with the highest integrity but the people who did this crime were devious in the extreme and their wickedness knows no bounds," Brown said. "My belief is that Moira is not far from us but she remains concealed by extremely wicked people." | "We've had experts here working with the police with the highest integrity but the people who did this crime were devious in the extreme and their wickedness knows no bounds," Brown said. "My belief is that Moira is not far from us but she remains concealed by extremely wicked people." |
| Brown is convinced her father killed Moira and hid her body, after hinting strongly before his death that he was to blame. | Brown is convinced her father killed Moira and hid her body, after hinting strongly before his death that he was to blame. |
| Brown told BBC Radio Scotland she believed Gartshore was a serial child molester. "My dad was definitely a paedophile – and we're talking about the kind in the same mould as Jimmy Savile," she said. | Brown told BBC Radio Scotland she believed Gartshore was a serial child molester. "My dad was definitely a paedophile – and we're talking about the kind in the same mould as Jimmy Savile," she said. |
| After persuading Upton's surviving relatives, Black and Mulholland, to support the exhumation, permission to open the grave was granted by a sheriff in December. | After persuading Upton's surviving relatives, Black and Mulholland, to support the exhumation, permission to open the grave was granted by a sheriff in December. |
| "Both of Moira's sisters are hugely disappointed. It's been a long time and it's a shame that their hopes are dashed," Brown said. | "Both of Moira's sisters are hugely disappointed. It's been a long time and it's a shame that their hopes are dashed," Brown said. |
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