How she was failed again and again

Many officers involved were not fully aware of guidance contained in Police Scotland’s Missing Person Standard Operating Procedures.

The form used by Police Scotland to record information prevented officers from quickly identifying lines of inquiry that had not been completed.

Officers did not properly record all the information available to them.

Officers failed to obtain initial statements from key witnesses.

Officers failed to properly record information on the missing person inquiry form.

Items of evidence taken by police officers were not properly processed or recorded.

Several days passed before information held on the Vulnerable Persons Database was passed to supervising officers, including that earlier that year she been found in a confused state on a bus bound for Clydebank.

Officers failed to take a statement from a key witness, Mrs McKay’s home carer.

One day after Mrs McKay disappeared, police supervisors failed to respond to a reported sighting of her on the day she had gone missing.

Officers failed to inform a relevant officer or supervisor of significant information about Mrs McKay being seen by another witness on the day she went missing.

Police did not follow up vital information about Mrs McKay boarding a bus given to them three days after she disappeared until six days after she went missing.

Inquiries with local bus companies were not as focused and timely as they should have been.

Briefings given by supervisors to officers were not adequate.

Some police supervisors failed to check that lines of inquiry had been properly completed.