Moira Anderson: Forensics expert to lead new search

Moira Anderson was last seen by her family on 23 February 1957

A geoforensics expert has been enlisted to help find the remains of Lanarkshire schoolgirl Moira Anderson who has been missing since 1957.

Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC has instructed Prof Lorna Dawson, a soil expert from the Hutton Institute in Aberdeen, to help in the search.

Moira, 11, was last seen on a bus driven by child abuser Alexander Gartshore. He died in 2006.

Prosecutors believe he murdered Moira, whose body has never been found.

Alexander Gartshore was the last person to see Moira Anderson alive

A Crown Office spokesman said: "Given the public concern about the disappearance of Moira Anderson the Lord Advocate last year took the unprecedented step of naming Alexander Gartshore as the person who would have been indicted for her murder had he been alive today.

"The Lord Advocate also instructed the investigation remain open in the hope that one day her body may be found and her family be given the closure they deserve.

"The Lord Advocate is delighted that Prof Lorna Dawson of the Hutton Institute has agreed to help in the search for Moira's remains."

The spokesman said that the search for Moira's remains was likely to be "difficult and painstaking" given that 57 years had passed since she disappeared.

He added: "The case will remain open until her remains are found."