Chris Nelson texted mum before disappearance to say he was 'homesick'

The mother of a Scottish man who has gone missing in Amsterdam has said he texted her an hour before he vanished to say he was very homesick.

Chris Nelson, 24, went for a walk at about 06:00 on 15 November and has not been seen since.

Donna Nelson praised the Dutch police investigation.

However, she told BBC Scotland it was "heart-breaking" her son's fiancee was told to wait 24 hours before reporting him officially missing.

Mrs Nelson had travelled to the Netherlands but has now returned home to Eskbank in Dalkeith as the search for her son continues.

Chris, who lives in Germany, was in Amsterdam with his fiancee Stephanie Kollross to visit their friend.

Mrs Nelson told the BBC Scotland news website: "I got a few texts from Christopher around about five in the morning. They were a bit worrying.

"He has been a bit homesick lately and he was missing his sisters. Him and Steffy are coming back for Christmas, and he was saying how desperate he was to get back home and see us all again.

"The texts concerned me a little because of the time in the morning."

Chris told his fiancee he was going for a walk because he could not get to sleep. His family said he would often do this to "clear his head".

Mrs Nelson said her son and Ms Kollross were planning on flying to Scotland for Christmas.

Chris had planned to tell his sisters Rebecca, 23, and Abbie, 11, that he was going to move back to Scotland in the New Year with his fiancee to try to get work in the oil industry.

'Just vanished'

Mrs Nelson added: "He was incredibly family-orientated and close to his sisters.

"They had made the decision. It was a big secret. They didn't want anybody, apart from us, to know as he wanted to do it as a huge surprise.

"He has just vanished. My girls are really struggling now and I don't know what else I can do in Amsterdam. I have walked the streets for days and nights.

"The police started the water search yesterday and they are doing it again tomorrow. We still have no news. I need to give my girls some time, but I plan to go back to Amsterdam."

Mrs Nelson praised the Dutch people for their help, and said Dutch police were "fantastic" while she was in the country this week to search for her son.

However, she said she was disappointed police did not start looking for her son for 24 hours.

She added: "She (Stephanie) had to wait, seemingly, 24 hours in Amsterdam before she could register Christopher missing with the police. The detective on our case told us this was wrong and they should have registered Christopher straight away.

"It is heart-breaking. The detective that was assigned to our case has said she was really angry about it, and why Steffie was given that information she doesn't know."

Amsterdam Police have been unavailable for comment on the case over the weekend.