POLICE investigating the disappearance 10 months ago of a 62-year-old
Busby woman yesterday began a search of a Highland guest house and
grounds where she was last seen.
Mrs Fiona Torbet vanished last July while on a hillwalking holiday in
Wester Ross.
Early yesterday morning about 20 police officers and forensic experts
with metal detectors began a painstaking search of Grianan Guest House
in the picturesque village of Inverinate, where Mrs Torbet always stayed
on Highland hillwalking holidays.
The search continued into the evening and is expected to be resumed
today.
Yesterday's move resulted from a search warrant issued by the
procurator-fiscal in Dingwall, Mr David Hingston.
The search comes a few weeks after police launched a murder-style
investigation following the discovery of some of Mrs Torbet's clothing,
dumped in thick undergrowth just 100 yards from the guest house which is
now at the centre of the inquiry.
Officers confirmed then that they were looking for the body of Mrs
Torbet. They said then that if they identified a specific area of
interest they would call in sophisticated radar equipment similar to
that used to find bodies in the Frederick West investigation in
Gloucester. It is understood that equipment of this kind was used
yesterday.
Officers were seen digging in several areas of the guest house's
extensive garden and clearing undergrowth. They also taped off a large
section of the ground at the front of the house.
As well as the house and grounds, police also carried out a search of
a residential caravan in the garden.
Police interviewed Mrs Jessie MacMillan, the owner of the guest house
overlooking Loch Duich. They also spoke to Mrs MacMillan's son Donald,
believed to be the last person to have seen Mrs Torbet alive.
He has told police previously that he saw Mrs Torbet leave with a
companion in a dark-coloured car parked on the road outside the guest
house driveway. She told him she would return in a couple of days to
collect her VW Golf. She never did and it is now in a police compound at
East Kilbride.
Mr Hingston said the search might take some time and no further
comment would be made until it had been completed.
Mrs Torbet, whose husband is a retired constulant obstetrician at
Glasgow Southern General Hospital, was last seen on July 7 and her
disappearance had baffled police and her family.
But after months of inquiries drew a blank the search restarted in
earnest again when a worker discovered her clothes.
Meantime, exhaustive ground searches were carried out in the tough
terrain by over two dozen policemen and two sniffer dogs working 12-hour
shifts.
The police activity revived unhappy memories for the quiet West
Highland village of Inverinate which only has a couple of dozen houses,
a filling station and a church.
Mrs Torbet's husband, Thomas, plans to sell the family home and has
raised a court action to enable him to do so.
He said last night that he was aware of the latest developments and
added: ''I have never ceased to be in touch with the police. It would be
quite improper to say anything more at this stage.''
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