Body found in river as search for missing woman comes to an end

Emergency services shut road after car is spotted in River Tay west of Aberfeldy

A body has been recovered from the River Tay as the search for a missing Kenmore woman came to a grim end.

Emergency services had been scouring Highland Perthshire for three days in an effort to trace Wilma Carlin.

The search finished abruptly yesterday as a car was spotted in water, around a mile west of Aberfeldy, shortly after 2pm.

Ms Carlin’s family, who were in the area making their own private searches, were informed a short time later.

The discovery of the car sparked a huge emergency services operation, with units from across Tayside sent into Highland Perthshire.

Specialist water rescue teams were deployed from Perth alongside police, fire units and paramedic crews.

The A827 road between Aberfeldy and Kenmore was closed in both directions.

However, there was little the units could do other than recover the body and car from the river.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “We can confirm that the body of a woman and car have been found near to the Aberfeldy area.

“The family of missing person Wilma Carlin have been informed.”

The day had begun with officers carrying out door-to-door inquiries in Aberfeldy in an effort to gain more information about Ms Carlin’s disappearance.

Ms Carlin, of Kenmore, was first reported missing by her concerned family on Tuesday, having last been seen that morning in the Aberfeldy area.

A CCTV image of the 60-year-old in the town’s Davidson’s chemist shop was released by police on Wednesday in a bid to help trace her.

A helicopter was drafted in by the police on Wednesday to help teams scour the area from the air.

It was in operation again yesterday, helping officers cast an eye over miles of rural roads and landscape.

At the time, Ms Carlin’s silver Citroen DS3 car was seen to be key to the investigation, with the public being urged to look out for it.

She was known to be a keen hillwalker and it had been thought that might have played a part in her disappearance.

The police have not confirmed how the car came to be found.

It is likely she was travelling home from Aberfeldy when the vehicle entered the water, minutes after leaving the town on Tuesday.

Police Scotland said the A827 was likely to remain closed to all traffic for some time while investigations into the cause of the death were carried out.

Picture: Dougie Nicolson. Above: a police road block on the A827, just west of Aberfeldy, on the road to Kenmore.

Top: emergency services at the River Tay after being alerted to a car spotted in the water just west of Aberfeldy. A woman’s body was recovered from the scene. Above: Wilma Carlin had been missing since Tuesday.