Murder trial told of mother’s fears for missing daughter

A MOTHER told a murder trial that she reported her daughter missing after being unable to contact her.

Margaret Faulds, 70, was giving evidence at the trial of prison officer Ross Willox who denies murdering 39-year-old Emma at Fairfield Park, Monkton, Ayrshire, on April 28, 2018, by means unknown.

Prosecutors allege 41-year-old Willox dumped Emma’s naked body in Glentool Forest, Dumfriesshire.

Emma was reported missing on April 30, 2109 by her mother and her father, 70-year-old Ian, and a massive police search was undertaken.

Her body was found by a police search team on June 12, 2019.

Mrs Faulds said that Emma had her tea at her parents’ home on April 25, 2019 and told them she was going to see Willox on Sunday. The pair became friends when they both worked at Kilmarnock Prison as warders.

Mrs Faulds said her daughter was going to see a rescue dog Willox had just acquired.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Mrs Faulds told prosecutor Paul Kearney that she became worried after Emma, who she described her as “always having a phone on the end of her hand”, had not been in touch with friends or family for a couple of days.

She said: “We were concerned because it was totally out of character. She was in touch every day. My husband and I knew something was wrong.”

The court heard that on May 10, 2019, Willox appeared in court charged with Emma’s murder – although no body had been found.

Mr Kearney asked Mrs Faulds: “Were you told a body had been found on June 12, 2019?” and she tearfully replied: “Yes. I was.”

She added that she was taken to the site where the body was found and said: “It was very remote. No-one would walk there or drive there. You would have to see it to believe how remote it was.”

Mrs Faulds sobbed as the jury was shown CCTV footage of Emma walking her Westie, Maverick, at 3.32pm on April 26, 2019 and in Home Bargains in Kilmarnock on April 28, 2019 at 4.36pm.

Earlier, Mrs Faulds told the jury that on April 30, 2019 she and her husband were visiting relatives in Brighton when she received a call from her daughter’s employers at Kibble School in Paisley saying she had not turned up for work.

Mrs Faulds said she tried to contact Emma without success and discovered she also had not been in touch with other family or friends.