Copyright inverness-courier
A retired motor mechanic is urging murder detectives to grasp “a last window of opportunity” to dig up the A9 where Renee and Andrew MacRae’s bodies may lie undiscovered. Brian MacGregor (81) made the plea as Scottish Government A9 dualling contractors Balfour Beatty prepare to start roadworks on Monday near to where he paid for a ground penetrating radar survey in 2006. From it, the Irish firm discovered “two anomalies” beneath the road, close to Moy rail bridge where the A9 crosses above the Highland Mainline, claiming they could be linked to the notorious 1976 double murder. Mr MacGregor, approaching the 49th anniversary of Renee and Andrew’s disappearance, fears police will fail to act before it is too late. He is in negotiations with a Devon-based firm to repeat the GPR scan with more advanced technology. Mr MacGregor, of Bogbain Farm, Inverness, said: “This could be the last window of opportunity before dualling is complete. “The work is starting next week and there is no word of the police investigating the site, as they always said they would.” From the initial survey in 2006, geophysicist Brice Le Comte claimed the first anomaly matched “the size of human bodies", while the second "could be related" to Andrew's missing pushchair. A decade later, Dr Alastair Ruffell of Queen's University Belfast said: “There is a trench-like feature with an anomaly in the trench. It could be a body, it could be a utility pipe, or it could be something else entirely." Civil engineering reports, though, show there are no known utilities, or anything else comparable, installed there underneath the A9. Mother and son Renee (36) and Andrew (3) were murdered by her lover William MacDowell - Andrew’s biological father - on November 12, 1976. MacDowell, who pled innocence, was finally convicted of the double killing in September 2022, but took the secret of where he disposed of the bodies to the grave. The Moy rail bridge site, just a short distance from where Renee's burning car was discovered in Dalmagarry lay-by, is of special interest because of later statements by two road workers. Employed in building the ‘new’ A9, they recalled how, on the Saturday morning after Renee’s burnt-out BMW was found, they discovered disturbed ground where they had been working the day before. With reports initially saying Mrs MacRae could have fled the country, they never reported those concerns. They first spoke to Mr MacGregor after he paid for a series of newspaper adverts asking for information on the murders. Mr MacGregor said: “After the fruitless search of Leanach Quarry, Detective Inspector Brian Geddes is on record as saying that when contractors do the dual carriageway work, they will investigate this. “They are starting work next week and there is no word of it happening. “There shouldn’t be anything under that road other than freshly dug sand from the quarry. There shouldn't even have been as much as a beer can in that material. "Anybody could have driven up there, buried what they wanted to bury, and the next day there would have been hundreds of tons of material dumped on top of it. “A professor at Queen’s University Belfast has told me this is very well worth further investigation. “For almost half a century, Renee’s friends and family have suffered, not knowing where their loved ones’ bodies lie. “It’s time we did something. “I’ve contacted an English GPR firm to ask for a quote for a repeat scan and to see if it could be carried out with more advanced technology.” Police Scotland has been approached for comment. In March this year, we revealed that a child’s potty found during dualling works between Tomatin junction and Invereen had been removed by police for examination and then stored as potential evidence in the search for Renee and Andrew’s bodies. Roadworks will begin near Moy Rail Bridge on the A9 on Monday (November 3) with disruption for motorists likely. There will be temporary traffic signals and a 200m-long lane closure at a reduced 30mph speed limit.
