The hunt to find Emma’s killer has been painstaking and laborious.. but we’re at a critical stage now. We may be just weeks away from a major breakthrough
Probe team confident over progress made
The report will mark a major milestone in the murder inquiry, which was reopened in 2015.
The probe has become the biggest single murder investigation in Police Scotland’s five-year history.
A total of 177 persons of interest have been interviewed – with most only emerging in the new inquiry, codenamed Operation Bynum.
The progress has emerged three days before the 13th anniversary of 27- year- old Emma’s disappearance from Glasgow.
A source said: “The inquiry has been painstaking and laborious but is now entering a critical stage.
“There is a belief that a case could be referred to the Crown Office within the next four weeks.
“There will still be a lot of work to be done after that but there is hope.”
The inquiry – reopened by the then Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland in June 2015 – has increased in size and scope.
Officers have looked at 2500 statements.
More than 1000 hours of CCTV from the original inquiry have been reviewed by the new team. They have interviewed more than 2500 witnesses and undertaken 5500 investigative actions. The officer leading the inquiry, Detective Chief Superintendent David McLaren, said: “Despite the passage of time, we remain resolute in our determination to find out what happened to Emma a nd ultimately find who is responsible for her death. My thoughts are with Emma’s mum,
Margaret , and her w ider family and friends.
“Thirteen years have passed since Emma went missing and I can’t imagine how difficult this time of year must be for them.
“Our investigation continues, with a dedicated team committed to finding the person responsible.
“I am confident there are still people out there who have information which would assist our inquiries and I am urging them to get in touch.
“In particular, women who were involved in prostitution in 2005. They may not realise it but the information they have could be crucial to us. I want to reassure them that I am only interested in the information they may have as opposed to prying into their past.”
The Sunday Mail has already revealed a string of major breakthroughs in the new investigation into the death of Emma, f rom Erskine in Renfrewshire.
In June last year, it emerged that women’s clothes found at Roberton, Lanarkshire, as a result of a new search, were undergoing forensic tests.
The previous month, we told how new DNA analysis techniques had identified the profile of a male on samples taken from Emma’s body.
We also reported that police were investigating a series of
serious sex assaults linked to the inquiry, including at least one at Roberton.
Emma was last seen in Glasgow city centre on April 4, 2005, having walked from the hostel where she was staying in the south of the city.
Emma had lost her sister, developed a drug habit and turned to prostitution.
Her body was found just over a month later, on May 8, in an area of woodland near Roberton.
Four men, all Turkish nationals, were arrested in 2007 and released that year. But charges were dropped because of a botched surveillance operation.
In April 2015, around the 10th anniversary of Emma’s disappearance, the Sunday Mail revealed a forgotten suspect, named Iain Packer.
Packer, now 44, from Airdrie, told police during interviews that he had taken Emma to the remote spot where her body was found on six occasions. He was never arrested – despite repeatedly changing his story.
Packer told officers he had taken Emma and other women to the isolated spot several times before.
However, he was released and never interviewed again as senior detectives insisted the inquiry should remain focused on the Turks.
Packer’s father, Leonard, said his son had no involvement and had been clea re d in an investigation.
Following publication of the Sunday Mai l ’s story, pol ice launched an unlawful hunt for our sources.
The new inquiry was ordered by the Crown about six weeks after we published.
Emma’s mum Margaret ’s lawyer Aamer Anwar said: “For Emma’s mother Margaret, the last 13 years has been a long journey full of heartache which, as each day passed, was made even worse to know that Emma’s killer was still on the streets.
“As we appr o a ch the anniversary, we are now finally at a critical stage. Emma’s family have never given up fighting for justice in the hope that one day they will see her brutal killer locked away for life.
“There can never be a time limit on justice and while 13 years ago Emma was betrayed by police who should have incarcerated her killer, the present investigation team have renewed their hope by working day and night for the past two years.”
In an interview given to the Sunday Mail last year, Margaret spoke about her pain.
She said: “The years pass but they don’t pass for me. My world stands still. People talk about moving on and getting closure but they’re just words to me.
“I still feel the way I felt the day Emma disappeared.
I’m confident there are still people out there who have information which would assist our inquiries