M8 closed as police hunt for missing man
The M8 motorway was shut over the weekend to search for a missing West Lothian man.
William McDowell, also known as Billy, from Whitburn, was reported missing in early August.
The police said it is out of character for Billy to not contact his friends or family and stepped up their hunt.
Officers shut the M8 in both directions between junctions 4 and 4a on Saturday and Sunday.
Inspector Myles Marshall said: “It is very unlike Billy to not contact his friends or family and we are urging anyone who may have seen him or has information about his disappearance to let us know.
“Our investigation remains ongoing and as part of our enquiry we’ll have officers searching the area between junctions 4 and 4a of the M8 this weekend.
“Anyone with information should contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting incident number 1621 of 2 August 2020.”
The 58-year-old is described as white, five feet two inches tall, with short grey hair is believed to have last been seen outside the Yang Sing Chinese takeaway on Manse Road, Whitburn, at around 6pm on August 1.
His desperate family put up a £5000 reward last month for help in finding the popular Whitburn man.
They released the following statement through
Police Scotland: “We have not seen or heard from Billy since the last week of July.
“Each day Billy is missing seems to become the worst day of our life. We are a large and loving family. We all feel incomplete without him and are aching for Billy to come home.
“Billy is the last person we think of before we go to bed at night and the first thing we think of when we wake up. Unfortunately we have no clue what has happened to him or where he is.
“Billy is a happy go lucky man who always has a smile for everyone. He has a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone if he could.
“He would stop to chat to anyone but he is vulnerable and some people would take advantage of that.”