Police yesterday cordoned off two wooded sites in rural Perthshire and today confirmed that an area of ground at Dunning Glen had been disturbed and appeared to be a recently dug grave.

Dunning Glen is located midway between Dunning and Dollar on the B934.

It is understood that the grave has been found at an area of land known as Knowehead.

Meanwhile, specialist officers are continuing to meticulously search a second site at Moneydie, around five miles from Ms Maclean’s home.

Detective Chief Inspector Bruce Kerr described the discovery of a grave as “significant” and said forensic teams had been called in.

“Preliminary examinations of the scene have revealed an area of ground that has been disturbed and all indications are that it is a grave site,” he told the Tele.

“Clearly this is a significant development and we are keeping relatives of missing person Dolina Maclean fully aware of our investigations.”

DCI Kerr stressed that examination of the site would be painstaking and would take a considerable time.

“Having discovered the site, we will begin the process of recovering evidence at the grave and the surrounding area,” he said.

“This will take some time.

“If and when a body is recovered it will be removed safely and taken to the mortuary in Dundee, where further forensic and post mortem examination will be undertaken.

“This too will take time to complete.”

The DCI insisted there was still much work to be done before the case could reach any kind of conclusion.

“There are elements of this investigation which are the subject of court proceedings, so I am not in a position to offer speculation or comment about the full set of circumstances surrounding this inquiry,” DCIKerr added.

“Equally, there is still a significant amount of work to be carried out until the full circumstances are established.”

Yesterday, John Lawrie Lawson (48), of no fixed abode, appeared before a sheriff at Perth.

He was charged with the theft of Ms Maclean’s car from the Tesco car park in Crieff Road, Perth, on May 30.

Lawson made no plea or declaration and was remanded in custody.

Uniformed police and detectives were remain at the two sites today by specialist scenes- of-crime officers, search-trained police teams and experts from the National Policing Improvement Agency.

Detective Chief Inspector Kerr is the senior investigating officer and is being assisted by a national search adviser.

Scientific experts in the fields of pathology, archaeology and forensic biology from the University of Dundee have also been called in, along with a police forensic pathologist.

Detectives spent part of yesterday interviewing her neighbours as the investigation gathered pace.

Police were also standing guard at the well-maintained detached house she shares with her elderly sister.