Please help us finally lay precious Suzanne to rest
Parents of murder victim in emotional plea f ind her body
THE parents of Suzanne Pilley have launched a new appeal to find the body of their murdered daughter.
Ever since the book-keeper vanished on her way to work in Edinburgh in 2010, her mother and father have struggled with their loss.
Even when the missing woman’s former lover was found guilty of her murder, her parents were not able to grieve fully because her body has never been discovered.
Now they are using BBC’s Crimewatch to appeal for help to trace their daughter’s remains so they can give her a proper burial.
Miss Pilley’s mother Sylvia says in the programme, to be shown tomorrow night: ‘Justice had been done but I felt so sad after because we weren’t going to get her back. She is lying somewhere nobody knows, as if nobody loved her.
‘I used to worry about how she would survive without us, but I never thought we would have to survive without her.’
Describing her as ‘ happy-golucky’, Miss Pilley’s father Rob said: ‘I have always said the door is ajar. It’s not closed yet and that’s what I would really like, to have closure on it for myself and my family.’
In a case that shocked Scotland, Miss Pilley, 38, went missing on the morning of May 4, 2010. She was last seen making her usual journey from her flat in the Carrick Knowe area of the capital to work at Infrastructure Managers Limited (IML) in Thistle Street.
Following an appeal for information on her whereabouts and intensive police inquiries, her former lover David Gilroy, 50, was arrested and charged with her murder.
During a case at the High Court in Edinburgh it emerged she had been intercepted on her journey to work by Gilroy, then regional operations manager at IML, with whom Miss Pilley had a turbulent relationship after he split temporarily from his wife Andrea. Miss Pilley followed him to the basement of the building, where he murdered her.
He then hid her body and returned home, under a pretence, to collect his car. Returning to the workplace, he put her body in the boot of his Vauxhall Vectra and went about his business. The following day, when the missing persons inquiry began in earnest, Gilroy travelled more than 100 miles to Argyll, claiming he had business in Lochgilphead.
The jury accepted the prosecution case that Gilroy had travelled to Argyll to dispose of Miss Pilley’s body. The ex-Marine was found guilty by a majority verdict on March 15, 2012, and sentenced to life imprisonment with an order to serve a minimum of 18 years.
Yet despite justice being served, the file cannot be closed. To this day, not a trace of Miss Pilley’s remains has come to light, despite searches covering hundreds of square miles of the Argyll Forest Park, from Honeymoon Bridge to Hell’s Glen.
The evidence used to convict Gilroy included pictures of scratches on his hands, which he had tried to cover up with make–up, and a voicemail message in which he pleaded with her to meet him.
Gilroy also had markings on his chest.
His car had been damaged, which suggested it had been driven off-road. It also emerged that his trip to Lochgilphead had also taken two hours longer than it should have done.
The jury was told he was a deceitful, controlling individual, motivated by jealousy and driven to kill when Miss Pilley told him their relationship was over.
Judge Lord Bracadale told Gilroy, 49, when he was convicted that he hoped he would one day say where he abandoned the victim’s body.
Although the killer has kept a callous silence, her parents hope the public will finally be able to shine a light on where she lies.
Her father said: ‘I was the last one to see her. She said “Bye, Dad” and gave me a wee peck on the cheek.’
Anyone with information can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.