Father dies never knowing fate of missing Alison
THE father of a teenager who vanished in Kashmir more than 30 years ago has died never knowing what happened to her.
The Rev Kenneth MacDonald, whose daughter Alison went missing in 1981, passed away on Saturday aged 83.
Yesterday tributes flooded in for the retired Free Church minister, who had suffered from multiple sclerosis for a number of years and had lost his sight.
His grandson James Forsyth, a pastor at McLean Presbyterian Church in WashingLewis, ton DC, said: ‘My grandfather, Kenny MacDonald, went to Heaven yesterday.
‘He fought the good fight and finished the race.’
Miss MacDonald, who was raised on the Isle of Lewis, was a 19-year-old Aberdeen University student when she disappeared on a three-month trip across India and Nepal.
Her father always remained sure he would find her alive.
But despite more than 20 trips to Kashmir and a £20,000 reward for information in 2015, his searches drew a blank.
Miss MacDonald arrived with her friend Liz Merry in Sonamarg – a Kashmiri hill station on the edge of the Himalayas whose name means ‘meadow of gold’ – on August 15, 1981.
The following day, Miss Merry headed off on a two-day pony trek to nearby Kolahoi Glacier while Miss MacDonald remained at their hotel. After leaving a shop that morning, Miss MacDonald walked down the street towards a small bridge and has never been seen again.
Over the years Mr MacDonald and wife Reta followed numerous leads – from a Caucasian- looking child in a Himalayan village to a Kashmiri freedom fighter speaking English with a West Coast of Scotland accent.
Speaking to the Free Church Record in 2015, Mr MacDonald said: ‘We remain convinced Alison is alive.’
Mr MacDonald lived in Back, and worked in HM Revenue and Customs in Stornoway before studying at the then Free Church College in Edinburgh.
Latterly the couple lived in Golspie, Sutherland, and Mr MacDonald died at Migdale Hospital in nearby Bonar Bridge.
Among the tributes on social media Golspie Free Church said: ‘With a great sense of loss we learned of the death of Rev Kenny MacDonald.
‘It came as a great shock and he will be sorely missed, for his contribution and stewardship, for the church and people of Golspie.’
The Stornoway Free Church said: ‘We were very sorry to hear of the death of Rev Kenny MacDonald and offer our sincere condolences to his widow, Reta, and to the family.’
‘Remain convinced Alison is alive’