| It emerged the handbag belonging to Carol was almost certainly dumped by someone who was in or around the Aberdeenshire village of Kemnay following her death in 1979.
Officers are keen to trace anyone from the Kemnay area who may have connections to the home city of Carol Lannen and Elizabeth McCabe, whose bodies were found in Dundee’s Templeton Woods.
“We have received a number of calls we will be pursuing in relation to Carol’s handbag, but it will take a little bit of time,” said Detective Sergeant Ally Reid.
“More generally, members of the public are continuing to call the incident room, providing useful and interesting information.
“We would appeal to anyone who has information, however insignificant it may seem, to get in touch.”
A bag similar to Carol’s was seen in the water by two local men who were fishing the River Don near to Ton Burn, a mile or two upstream from Kemnay.
They saw the bag on the Saturday afternoon, four days after Carol’s disappearance.
It could be that the handbag had gone into the river on the night Carol went missing, or any time over the course of the four days that followed.
Police believe that, because of its relatively remote location, whoever dumped Carol’s bag in the river must have had a reason to be in the Kemnay area.
It wasn’t until 11 days after Carol disappeared that a family out river rafting discovered the bag on the banks of the Don downstream from Kemnay at Kintore, 17 miles north of Aberdeen.
Teenage mum Carol was last seen at about 8 pm on March 20, 1979, in Dundee’s Exchange Street, where she entered a red car, similar to a Ford Cortina estate, driven by a man.
The following day, her unclothed, snow-covered corpse was discovered in Templeton Woods.
Less than a year after Carol’s death, the naked body of trainee nursery nurse Elizabeth McCabe was discovered in the same area of woodland. Both women had been strangled.
Elizabeth was last seen alive at Union Street disco Teazer’s early on February 11, 1980, when she told friends she was going home.
Officers have been “really encouraged” by the response to an appeal for information first made a week ago, with calls and text messages continuing to come into the incident room over the weekend.
“Over the past three months we have been conducting a number of inquiries in Kemnay,” added DS Reid. “We will continue to investigate further lines of inquiry in the area.”
Anyone who believes they can assist the investigation is asked to contact Tayside Police on Dundee (01382) 591909 or 223200.
Information can also be emailed to operation.trinity@tayside.pnn.police.uk or sent via text message to 07976 023899. |
