0:00

Spring is here and you can now

0:02

get almost anything you need for your

0:04

sunny days delivered with Uber Eats. What

0:06

do we mean by almost? Well, you

0:08

can't get a well-groom lawn delivered. But

0:10

you can get a chicken Parmesan delivered.

0:12

A cabana? That's a no. But a

0:14

banana? That's a yes. A nice tan?

0:16

Sorry. Nope. But a box fan? Happily

0:18

yes. A day of sunshine? No. A

0:20

box of fine wines? Yes. UberEats can

0:22

definitely get you that. Get almost, almost

0:24

anything delivered with UberEats. Order now. Alcohol

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and Select Market's product availability may vary

0:28

by Regency app for details. may

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vary by Regency app for Regency app

0:33

for details. This podcast contains

0:35

elements that may be alarming

0:37

to some listeners. The case

0:39

discussed in this episode is

0:41

real and represents the worst

0:43

day in many people's lives. While

0:45

I strive for accuracy, some details

0:48

may vary depending on the

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sources used. Due to the nature of

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the content, listener discretion is

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advised. You are now listening

0:56

to British Murders. A true

0:58

crime podcast hosted by Stuart

1:00

Blues. Hello

1:14

everyone and welcome to

1:16

British Murders with Stuart

1:18

Blues a podcast focusing

1:21

exclusively on listener suggested

1:23

British murder cases. This is the

1:25

sixth episode of season 17 and

1:28

as always we open with two

1:30

opening ice breaker segments the jingles

1:33

of which are voiced by my daughter. The

1:35

first is this. True facts that

1:37

will blow your mind. Did you

1:39

know that flamingos bend their legs

1:41

at the ankle? not the knee.

1:43

The hip and knee lie well

1:45

up inside a flamingo's body

1:47

and what appears to bend

1:50

backwards is actually the bird's

1:52

ankle. The knee is hidden in the

1:54

fatter part of the body. The show's

1:56

final opening icebreaker segment

1:58

is this. Random Quote of

2:01

the week. One of the

2:03

greatest regrets in life is

2:05

being what others would want

2:07

you to be, rather than

2:09

being yourself. That was said

2:11

by Shannon L. Alder. This

2:13

case was requested by Elaine

2:15

Lytham, one of my long-term

2:18

patron members. We're in Dalmer

2:20

Gary this week located way

2:22

up north in the Scottish

2:24

Highlands. I want to take

2:26

this opportunity to apologize ahead

2:28

of time for any mispronunciations

2:30

that may occur throughout the

2:32

episode. I do try my

2:34

best, honestly. Dalma Gary is

2:36

10 miles southeast of Inverness,

2:39

108 miles northwest of Edinburgh,

2:41

and 435 miles northwest of

2:43

London. Here are five quick

2:45

fire facts about Dalma Gary

2:47

and its surrounding area. Number

2:49

one. Dalma Gary is home

2:51

to the Dalma Gary estate,

2:53

known for its traditional highland

2:55

sporting activities, including grouse shooting

2:57

and deer stalking. It's one

3:00

of the few estates where

3:02

outdoor enthusiasts can attempt to

3:04

complete a McNab. A legendary

3:06

highland sporting challenge that involves

3:08

shooting a stag and a

3:10

grouse and catching a salmon

3:12

all in one day. Number

3:14

two, just a stone's throw

3:16

from Dalma Gary is the

3:18

tamatin distillery. One of the

3:21

highest whiskey distiller is in

3:23

Scotland. It's been producing Highland's

3:25

single malt Scotch whiskey since

3:27

1897 and was once one

3:29

of the largest in the

3:31

country. Number three, the river

3:33

Finnhorn which runs close to

3:35

Dalmer Gary is considered one

3:37

of Scotland's most scenic and

3:39

unspoiled rivers. It's popular with

3:42

kayakers and salmon anglers and

3:44

its gorge and dramatic waterfalls

3:46

make it a haven for

3:48

nature lovers and photographers and

3:50

photographers. The nearby city of

3:52

Inverness is often called the

3:54

Gateway to the Highlands. Inverness

3:56

is steeped in history and

3:58

legend, including its proximity. to

4:00

Culloden battlefield where the final

4:03

Jacobite uprising ended in 1746

4:05

changing the course of Scottish

4:07

history. And number five, despite

4:09

its quiet presence, Dalma Garit

4:11

represents a slice of authentic

4:13

Highland life. With limited development

4:15

it offers visitors a glimpse

4:17

into the rural and rugged

4:19

charm of the Scottish Highlands.

4:21

It's ideal for those seeking

4:24

solitude, wildlife and a deep

4:26

connection with nature. Now I

4:28

struggle to find any census

4:30

data for Dalma Garrick as

4:32

it appears to be more

4:34

of a location between other

4:36

more established places than a

4:38

town or city of its

4:40

own. So I went with

4:42

the estimated data for Inverness

4:45

instead. The population of that

4:47

city is just shy of

4:49

47,000. This

4:51

story is one of Scotland's most

4:53

bizarre and haunting mysteries. A case

4:55

that for nearly half a century

4:58

remained unsolved. No arrests, no convictions,

5:00

just two people, a mother and

5:02

a young son who vanished one

5:04

cold November evening in the Scottish

5:07

Highlands and were never seen again.

5:09

I'll be honest I knew nothing

5:11

about this case going in. But

5:13

as I started digging day by

5:16

day through old newspaper archives from

5:18

1976 right up to the present

5:20

day, I found myself completely engrossed,

5:23

desperate to find out what happened

5:25

to the mother and son this

5:27

episode is named after. It was

5:29

like seeing a mystery novel unfold

5:32

in real time. Only this one

5:34

was horrifyingly real. I can't imagine

5:36

what it must have been like

5:38

for the friends and family of

5:41

the two people whose stories I'm

5:43

about to share with you. And

5:45

when I finally uncovered the truth

5:48

behind what had happened, it genuinely

5:50

shocked me. This is the story

5:52

of Renee and Andrew McCray. Before

5:54

I walk you through the... events

5:57

of that fateful night in 1976,

5:59

we need to talk about Renee

6:01

McCray, because to understand the gravity

6:03

of this case and how it

6:06

managed to stay unsolved for nearly

6:08

five decades, we have to start

6:10

at the beginning. Renee wasn't actually

6:13

her birth name. She was born

6:15

Christina Catherine McDonald on February 10th

6:17

1940 at Raghmoor Hospital in Inverness,

6:19

but to her friends and pretty

6:22

much everyone who knew her. She

6:24

was simply Rene. She was raised

6:26

in the small Highland Village of

6:28

Boulay, just west of Inverness, and

6:31

her early life was humble. Working-class

6:33

parents brought up in a prefab

6:35

on a council estate. If you're

6:37

not familiar with the term prefabs,

6:40

they were these flat-packed factory-built homes

6:42

thrown up after the Second World

6:44

War. Temporary housing, technically, but many

6:47

families like Renez ended up living

6:49

in them for years. She went

6:51

to the local village school and

6:53

she was a clever girl, top

6:56

of a class in fact. It

6:58

was there where one source claimed

7:00

she first met Gordon McCray, the

7:02

boy who would one day become

7:05

her husband. Gordon was one of

7:07

a pair of twins, the sons

7:09

of a small-time local builder. Fast

7:12

forward a few years and René's

7:14

working now as a counter assistant

7:16

at Boots and in Vanessa, keeping

7:18

herself to herself. Other sources claim

7:21

she met Gordon while working at

7:23

boots rather than at school, so

7:25

I can't say for sure which

7:27

one is accurate, hence my inclusion

7:30

of both claims. Renee was only

7:32

around five feet tall with blonde

7:34

hair and a fresh natural complexion.

7:37

A quiet woman, she was shy,

7:39

kind-hearted and known for being a

7:41

bit of a home bird. She

7:43

was one of those people who

7:46

gave blood regularly, which I think

7:48

says a lot about her. Thoughtful.

7:50

generous, selfless. The media, much later

7:52

on, would try to paint Renee

7:55

in a very different light. If

7:57

you were to look back at

7:59

old newspaper articles, you might find

8:01

words such as fast living and

8:04

high stepping thrown about, like she

8:06

was some sort of social butterfly.

8:08

But that simply wasn't true. The

8:11

real Renee was an introverted, devoted

8:13

mum who led a fairly quiet

8:15

and predictable life. She didn't like

8:17

going out much, she didn't have

8:20

a big circle of friends. And

8:22

if she did go to something

8:24

social, she'd often leave early. Her

8:27

closest friend described her as frugal,

8:29

tighter, and someone who didn't enjoy

8:32

leaving her kids behind for long.

8:34

She married Gordon McCray on May

8:36

17, 1963, when she was 23

8:38

years old. At first, the marriage

8:40

was a happy one. Gordon had

8:43

done well for himself. He worked

8:45

at and later helped run the

8:47

family business, Hugh McCrayan's sons, one

8:49

of the Highland's biggest construction firms.

8:51

He was also a director at

8:54

Ross County Football Club. The couple

8:56

were what you might describe as

8:58

well off. They certainly weren't short

9:00

of a few Bob. And that

9:02

was a direct result of Gordon's

9:05

years spent grafting, building up the

9:07

family business with his twin brother

9:09

Charles. Rene liked to look after

9:11

herself. She got to keep fit

9:13

classes and enjoyed attending fashion shows.

9:16

It's not that she were flasher,

9:18

she just liked to feel good

9:20

in herself. The couple's

9:22

first son Gordon Jr. was born

9:24

in 1968, followed by their second

9:27

son Andrew, who came along on

9:29

October 9, 1973. The family lived

9:31

in a villa on Drummond Crescent,

9:34

one of the more desirable areas

9:36

in Inverness. But like a lot

9:39

of marriages, things started to unravel

9:41

behind closed doors. Gordon would later

9:43

admit that he knew Rene had

9:46

fallen out of love with him

9:48

years before things officially ended. And

9:50

although sources vary on when exactly

9:53

they separated, some say 1974, other

9:55

suggest it was as late as

9:57

July 1976, their relationship was clear.

10:00

on its last legs for some

10:02

time. In around August 9th in

10:04

76 Renee moved into a bungalow

10:07

at 4 Cradle Hall Park in

10:09

the village of West Hill just

10:11

east of Immanes. It was a

10:14

quiet suburban street, a private estate

10:16

built by her husband's construction firm.

10:18

Her new home was said to

10:21

be worth somewhere between 22 and

10:23

25,000 at the time which when

10:25

adjusted for inflation is around 145

10:28

to 165,000 today. Now here's where

10:30

things start to get complicated. You

10:32

see, Gordon knew Renee had a

10:35

secret lover. He suspected that the

10:37

affair had been going on for

10:39

years, possibly as far back as

10:42

1971 or 1972, but he never

10:44

managed to figure out who this

10:47

other man was. That all changed

10:49

after the events are come on

10:51

to later in this episode. When

10:54

Gordon eventually did learn the truth,

10:56

it completely flawed him because it

10:58

turned out that the man Renee

11:00

had been secretly having an affair

11:03

with for all those years was

11:05

someone Gordon had known very well.

11:07

It was none other than William

11:09

Bill McDowell, the company secretary at

11:11

McCray Builders, Gordon's own employee. McDowell

11:13

was around 34, a similar age

11:15

to Renee, and he was also

11:17

married with young children of his

11:19

own. The affair is believed to

11:22

have begun while he was working

11:24

in Boula, the same village Renee

11:26

had grown up in. The two

11:28

of them had worked out a

11:30

secret phone signal so they could

11:32

meet up without raising suspicion. It

11:34

was all incredibly hush-hush and it

11:36

remained that way for years. Eventually

11:38

after the separation, Gordon moved on

11:41

with someone else, a member of

11:43

staff at the family firm who

11:45

ended up moving in with him.

11:47

But the damage had already been

11:49

done. Renee, meanwhile, focused on

11:51

her boys and tried to rebuild

11:53

a life for herself in her

11:55

new home. She kept in close

11:57

contact with her older sister Mora.

12:00

who lived some almost 200 miles

12:02

away down in Kilmarnock. The two

12:04

of them spoke every Saturday night.

12:06

It was a weekly ritual. It

12:08

was rare that Renee ever travelled

12:10

down to visit though. In fact,

12:12

the last time she'd been to

12:14

Kilmarnock was way back in 1971

12:16

for the christen of Morag's son.

12:18

She'd made the trip with Gordon.

12:20

But that Saturday night catch-up, they

12:22

never missed it. And that's a

12:24

crucial thing to remember as the

12:26

story progresses as the story progresses.

12:29

In July 1976, 1976, just a

12:32

few months before our main timeline,

12:34

Morag had come up to Inverness

12:36

to see Renee. It was a

12:39

trip she made every year. Everything

12:41

had appeared fairly normal, but things

12:43

weren't as they'd seemed. There was

12:46

a secret being kept, and that

12:48

secret would soon spiral into one

12:50

of the longest running missing persons

12:53

investigations in Scottish history. Friday

12:56

November 12th 1976 is where

12:58

our main timeline begins and

13:00

it started just like any

13:02

other for Renee. That morning

13:04

she dropped off her eldest

13:06

son, 8 year old Gordon

13:08

Jr. at home primary school,

13:10

something she did routinely. Afterwards

13:12

she drove to pick up

13:14

her housekeeper, 51 year old

13:16

Margaret Ross from her home

13:18

on Bruce Avenue. As always

13:20

Renee seemed calm, pleasant and

13:22

in good spirits according to

13:24

Margaret. The two women

13:27

then headed to the Skorgui area

13:29

of Inverness to visit a close

13:31

friend of Renee's, Valerie Steventon. Over

13:33

coffee Renee opened up to Val.

13:36

She told her she was planning

13:38

a weekend away with her lover

13:40

McDowell at a lochside hotel in

13:43

West Perthshire. And it wouldn't have

13:45

been the first time the couple

13:47

had slipped away together. But this

13:50

trip, according to McDowell, was only

13:52

ever a tentative plan as far

13:54

as he were concerned. He later

13:56

claimed he hadn't followed through with

13:59

their usual secret signal. A phone

14:01

called you to be made by

14:03

him. to confirm the weekend getaway.

14:06

Following the visit to Val, Renee

14:08

dropped Margaret off at Cradle Hall

14:10

Park, where she carried out her

14:13

usual cleaning duties. At around 1145am,

14:15

Renee gave Margaret a lift down

14:17

to the McCray Construction Company's canteen,

14:20

where the latter worked lunchtime shifts.

14:22

Once there, Renee parked the car

14:24

and asked Margaret to stay with

14:26

three-year-old Andrew while she quickly went

14:29

inside to have a chat with

14:31

Chatway Gordon. During the brief conversation,

14:33

Renee told Gordon that she'd be

14:36

collecting Gordon Jr. from school on

14:38

Monday afternoon. Their eldest son would

14:40

be spending the weekend with his

14:43

dad while Andrew would remain with

14:45

Renee. She added that she was

14:47

heading to visit her sister Morag,

14:49

but that wasn't true. Morag would

14:52

later confirm Renee never mentioned any

14:54

plans to visit. And their last

14:56

phone call a week earlier on

14:59

Saturday the 6 had been completely

15:01

routine. Rene sounded as cheerful as

15:03

ever. After dropping Margaret off, the

15:06

housekeeper wished Rene a happy weekend,

15:08

unaware it would be the last

15:10

time she ever saw her. Later

15:12

that afternoon, at around 4.35 p.m.,

15:15

Rene and Andrew left their home

15:17

at Cradle Hall Park. Rene was

15:19

reportedly dressed in a dark tan

15:22

three-quarter lens sheepskin coat, maroon slacks,

15:24

navy blue wool and cardigan and

15:26

brown knee-high boots. She's also believed

15:29

to have had with her a

15:31

pale grey coat style dress and

15:33

a brown leather handbag. There was

15:36

an unconfirmed sighting of Renee at

15:38

around 4.45 p.m. which was followed

15:40

by another sighting just 15 minutes

15:42

later at the McCray Company headquarters.

15:45

That second report came from a

15:47

junior employee and that 5 p.m.

15:49

citing on November 12th night in

15:52

76 is considered the last official

15:54

one. Hey

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to catch up on

18:32

the latest episodes without

18:34

the ads. On

19:45

Tuesday, November 16th 1976, officers

19:47

from the Northern Constabulary launched

19:49

a full-scale investigation into the

19:52

disappearance of Renee and Andrew.

19:54

At the time, the Northern

19:56

Constabulary was the territorial... police

19:58

force responsible for Northern Scotland,

20:00

including the Highlands, Western Isles,

20:02

Orkner and Shetland. It had

20:04

only recently been formed in

20:06

May 1975 and would later

20:08

be dissolved in 2013 when

20:10

all regional forces merged to

20:12

form what we now know

20:14

as Police Scotland. Forensic experts

20:16

began coming through the charred

20:18

remains of René's BMW. Several

20:20

pieces of debris were recovered

20:22

and sent away for further

20:24

scientific analysis. Meanwhile, detective searched

20:26

nearby fields, woods and moorland

20:28

close to the layby where

20:30

the car was found, but

20:32

their efforts proved fruitless. Even

20:34

tracka dogs failed to pick

20:36

up a cent. Around 20

20:38

officers and detectives were working

20:40

leads, but the case was

20:42

already showing signs of becoming

20:44

one of the most complex

20:47

missing-person cases the Highlands had

20:49

ever seen. By November 18th,

20:51

newspapers reported that Morag feared

20:53

the worst. She told reporters

20:55

that if Renee were alive,

20:57

she would have phoned her

20:59

without fail for their regular

21:01

Saturday chat. But no such

21:03

call had come on November

21:05

13th, the day after Renee

21:07

was last seen. The army

21:09

then joined the search efforts.

21:11

Around 70 soldiers from the

21:13

King's Own Scottish Borderers stationed

21:15

at Fort George were drafted

21:17

in to assist a team

21:19

of police officers, taking the

21:21

total number of people involved

21:23

up to 150. They combed

21:25

a five-mile stretch of moorland

21:27

inch by inch. A helicopter

21:29

were brought in, as was

21:31

a police subacquatine, and a

21:33

detailed sweep of a seven-mile

21:35

stretch of the A-9 was

21:37

carried out. But again, nothing

21:40

came of it. By November

21:42

19th, it was revealed that

21:44

McDowell had already been questioned

21:46

by police. And Gordon, speaking

21:48

publicly for the first time,

21:50

admitted that like Morag, he

21:52

feared Renay and Andrew, were

21:54

dead. That same day

21:56

the chief constable of Northern

21:58

Constabulary Donald Henderson expressed his

22:01

similar concerns, saying, Without any

22:03

information as to their whereabouts,

22:05

despite publicity given to the case

22:07

and with the time that has

22:10

now passed, we fear that Mrs.

22:12

McCrae and her child may be

22:14

dead. McDowell, however, bizarrely claimed

22:16

he believed Renee was still alive,

22:18

stating that he'd heard their secret

22:21

phone signal on November 19th,

22:23

even though they hadn't spoken or

22:25

met since she disappeared. Red

22:27

flag number one. It was also

22:30

made public that McDowell had

22:32

been fired from Gordon's company

22:35

following revelations about his affair

22:37

with Renee. In a press conference,

22:39

Chief Constable Henderson issued an open

22:41

appeal to the public, calling

22:43

for volunteers aged 16 and

22:45

over to help in the search.

22:48

They were instructed to report

22:50

to Inverness Police Headquarters by

22:52

10am on November 20th. On November

22:54

21st, a new and rather outlandish

22:56

theory emerged in the press. that

22:58

Rene and Andrew might have fled to

23:00

the Middle East. For some context,

23:03

earlier that year, Gordon's construction

23:05

firm had secured multi-million pound

23:07

hotel and housing contracts in

23:10

the Persian Gulf, and some speculated

23:12

that Rene had vanished

23:14

voluntarily to perhaps escape

23:16

with McDowell. For straight in late,

23:18

police confirmed they'd not yet been

23:20

able to check airport records to

23:23

see whether Rene had left the

23:25

country. So as unlikely as that theory

23:27

was, the police were unable to

23:30

disprove it. By November 22nd, police

23:32

had made an appeal for two men

23:34

to come forward. One of them had

23:36

been seen in Renee's car a

23:38

week prior on Friday, November 5th,

23:40

and again on Thursday, November 11th,

23:43

the day before she vanished. On

23:45

that Thursday morning, Renee had

23:47

had a hairstyle at Rickson

23:49

Salon in Inverness, acting completely

23:52

normally according to the woman

23:54

she saw. Renee didn't mention any

23:56

special plans when they chattered and

23:58

as a regular custom. of theirs,

24:00

nothing seemed out of the

24:02

ordinary when compared to previous

24:04

visits. The other man of

24:06

interest was the guy seen

24:08

at around 8 o'clock on

24:10

the night Renee disappeared, standing

24:12

in the rain near a

24:15

vehicle on a little-use side

24:17

road, just 200 yards from

24:19

where her car was found

24:21

ablaze. Also on November 22nd,

24:23

detectives arrived at Renee's home

24:25

and began a microscopic search,

24:27

even lifting the floorboards and

24:29

interviewing her neighbours. Gordon offered

24:31

a £1,000 reward for any

24:33

information equivalent to around 6,500

24:35

today. Curiously, police said they

24:37

didn't have viewed four men

24:39

with, quote, Mexican-type mustaches due

24:41

to descriptions of the man

24:43

seen with René. The papers

24:45

described it as, as Zapata,

24:47

a mustache where the two

24:50

ends droop downwards towards the

24:52

jawline, as worn by Mexican

24:54

revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. A photo

24:56

fit of the mustacheod man

24:58

was later released and led

25:00

to several responses but didn't

25:02

go anywhere. All four of

25:04

the main question due to

25:06

their choice of facial hair

25:08

were soon ruled out. On

25:10

November 23rd police announced plans

25:12

to interview all 600 employees

25:14

of Gordon's firm. Truly no

25:16

one was ruled out as

25:18

been potentially involved in this

25:20

most bizarre of disappearances. The

25:23

BBC then announced that it

25:25

would feature a reenactment of

25:27

Renee's last known movements on

25:29

its current account programme, which

25:31

aired on November 26th. Police

25:34

hadn't requested this, but gave

25:36

their blessing regardless. Renee was

25:38

played by her sister-in-law Cynthia,

25:40

who reportedly bought a striking

25:42

resemblance to her. I assume

25:44

she was Charles' wife. Next,

25:46

a top BMW engineer flew

25:48

to Glasgow with car parts

25:50

taken from the wreckage, following

25:52

what was described as a

25:54

vital new lead. Back at

25:57

headquarters, police still hadn't located

25:59

Renee's passport, which they believe

26:01

she had. in a possession.

26:03

On November 27th a new

26:05

witness claimed to have seen

26:07

Renee around midday on the

26:09

12th of November pushing a

26:11

blue silver cross carnival pram

26:13

in Invernestown Centre. A pram

26:15

is what we call a

26:18

stroller or a pushchair. The

26:20

pram's existence was not known

26:22

to detectives and had not

26:24

been recovered from the wreckage.

26:26

Since it was usually stored

26:28

in the car's boot or

26:30

trunk, it suggested that Renee

26:32

and Andrew might have left

26:34

the vehicle alive before it

26:36

was set ablaze. It's worth

26:38

noting that Renee's suitcase was

26:41

also missing. By this point

26:43

police had searched 109 houses,

26:45

interviewed 220 of Gordon's employees,

26:47

taken 373 detailed statements, completed

26:49

11003 questionnaires, made 489 general

26:51

inquiries general inquiries. and receive

26:53

48 calls on their confidential

26:55

line, most of which concern

26:57

the mysterious mustachioed man who

26:59

still hadn't been traced. On

27:01

December 1st, a special team

27:04

of 10 detectives took over

27:06

the case. Dubbed the McCrae

27:08

squad, it was led by

27:10

Inspector Donald MacArthur, formerly of

27:12

the regional crime squad, and

27:14

included two members of the

27:16

Scottish Crime squad. Two

27:18

weeks later, on December 13th,

27:20

Chief Constable Henderson ordered a

27:23

financial probe into all relevant

27:25

parties, including Gordon, McDowell and

27:27

the building firm, in the

27:29

hope that it might uncover

27:31

some new leads. It didn't.

27:33

Then, on December 20th, McDowell

27:35

apparently arrived at the police

27:37

station, with what he called

27:39

significant information. but his wife

27:41

Rosemary spotted his car packed

27:43

outside it and removed him

27:45

from the building before he

27:47

could give a full statement.

27:49

Red flag number 2. On

27:51

January 4th 1997 police revealed

27:53

that traces of human blood

27:56

had been found in the

27:58

boot of Rene's BMW. While

28:00

the blood group was common

28:02

and therefore inconclusive, forensic experts

28:04

believed it hadn't been present

28:06

before Renee vanished. It could

28:08

have belonged to Renee, Andrew

28:10

or even someone else entirely.

28:12

Remember this occurred way before

28:14

DNA testing was a thing.

28:16

All they had to go

28:18

on was the blood group.

28:20

Police admitted the discovery posed

28:22

more questions than answers. It

28:25

also emerged that Renee had

28:27

confided in two close friends

28:29

about arranging removal men to

28:31

come and pack up her

28:33

crockery while she was away,

28:36

suggesting she was planning a

28:38

fresh start in the Shetlands

28:40

with McDowell. On January 18th,

28:42

Chief Constable Henderson laid out

28:44

five theories to potentially explain

28:46

the disappearance of Renee and

28:48

Andrew. One, Renee had deliberately

28:51

absented her home for her

28:53

own reasons. Two. She and

28:55

Andrew had somehow had an

28:57

accident. Three, Renee had taken

28:59

her own life. Four, she

29:01

was murdered by someone she

29:03

knew. Or five, she was

29:06

murdered by a stranger. Chief

29:08

Constable Henderson didn't know it

29:10

at the time, but one

29:12

of those theories was in

29:14

fact correct. But at that

29:16

point, police had no suspects

29:18

and no hard evidence of

29:21

any crime having taken place.

29:23

In April 1977, a two-week

29:25

search of an earthy quarry

29:27

near where the car was

29:29

found turned up nothing. That

29:31

was Delmer Gary Quarry. The

29:33

same happened in June, when

29:36

cadaver dogs scoured nearby Moorland.

29:38

The terrain was too stony

29:40

and rough for reliable results,

29:42

though. In November 1977, a

29:44

TV camera was lowered into

29:46

lean at Quarry and seemed

29:48

to spot a human-shaped object.

29:51

but it turned out to

29:53

be nothing more than a

29:55

sack of garden refuse. Over

29:57

the subsequent years police received

29:59

anonymous letters, searched other quarries,

30:01

even brought in clairvoyance and

30:03

hypnotists. But nothing ever led

30:06

to Renee or Andrew being

30:08

found, and the mystery remained

30:10

just that, a mystery. Police

30:12

continued to receive new information

30:14

over the decades that passed,

30:16

much of which to this

30:18

day remains undisclosed to the

30:21

public. After more than four

30:23

decades of unanswered questions, a

30:25

renewed sense of determination emerged

30:27

in the search for justice

30:29

in 2017. Police Scotland's major

30:31

investigations team began an extensive

30:33

review of the case, and

30:36

by 2018 a full reinvestigation

30:38

was underway. Every piece of

30:40

evidence from the original inquiry

30:42

was re-examined. Detectives assessed thousands

30:44

of documents, re-interviewed witnesses where

30:46

possible, and applied modern forensic

30:48

techniques in the hope of

30:51

finally uncovering the truth. One

30:54

of the most ambitious parts

30:56

of this new investigation came

30:58

in 2019, when Lean at

31:00

Quarry, long believed to be

31:02

a potential burial site, was

31:04

drained and forensically searched. More

31:06

than 100,000 tons of material

31:09

were removed, with specialist offices

31:11

meticulously coming through 5,000 tons

31:13

over a five-month period. No

31:15

evidence was found at the

31:17

Quarry. but it remained a

31:19

significant and necessary line of

31:21

inquiry that had to be

31:23

fully exhausted. The officer who

31:25

would eventually lead the investigation

31:28

to its conclusion was Detective

31:30

Chief Inspector Brian Gettys. Among

31:32

the pivotal elements of the

31:34

case was the testimony of

31:36

the now retired nurse Val

31:38

Steventon, Rene's best friend, who,

31:40

all those years ago, had

31:42

told police that McDowell was

31:45

the other man in Rene's

31:47

life. and that Val feared

31:49

he may have done Renee

31:51

harm. Then, finally, in 2019,

31:53

police arrested a 77-year-old man

31:55

on suspicion of murder at

31:57

his home in Penrith Cumbria.

31:59

arrested man was McDowell. After

32:01

appearing in court he made

32:04

no plea, was committed for

32:06

further examination, and was granted

32:08

bail by Sheriff Margaret Nielsen.

32:10

Then, after years of legal

32:12

delays and complications, the trial

32:14

finally began at the High

32:16

Court in Inverness on September

32:18

12, 2022. McDowell, now in

32:20

declining health, denied all charges

32:23

against him and opted not

32:25

to take the stand in

32:27

his own defence. The jury

32:29

was soon informed by the

32:31

prosecution that the only person

32:33

who stood to benefit from

32:35

the deaths of Renee and

32:37

Andrew was the man now

32:40

on trial. McDowell's legal team

32:42

had lodged special defences of

32:44

incrimination and alibi. However, prosecutor

32:46

Alex Prentis K.C. argued that

32:48

the circumstantial case against him

32:50

was beyond compelling. He laid

32:52

out a clear motive. McDowell's

32:54

affair with Renee threatened to

32:56

unravel his entire life. If

32:59

exposed, he risked losing his

33:01

job, his family and the

33:03

comfortable lifestyle he'd built. Renee

33:05

had become increasingly insistent that

33:07

he leave his wife and

33:09

start a new life with

33:11

her in Shetland, something he'd

33:13

promised but likely never intended

33:15

to follow through with. Evidence

33:18

was presented that just days

33:20

after the disappearance, McDowell had

33:22

urgently sought a replacement for

33:24

the boot floor of his

33:27

car, a section he'd intentionally

33:29

burned. As the trial continued,

33:31

further disturbing details were uncovered.

33:33

The court heard that in

33:35

the years following the alleged

33:37

murders, McDowell and his wife

33:39

relocated to the crook in

33:41

in Peebleshire, where in 1986

33:44

he hired an ex-convict as

33:46

a handyman. Said Handyman later

33:48

told police that he hadn't

33:50

initially known about McDowell's link

33:52

to the case, but when

33:54

asked directly if he'd killed

33:56

Renee, McDowell's reply was rather

33:58

ambiguous. I did and I

34:00

did... he said. Also in

34:03

1987 McDowell publicly admitted for

34:05

the first time that both

34:07

he and Renee knew that

34:09

he was Andrew's real dad.

34:11

This further added to the

34:13

circumstantial evidence against him, giving

34:15

him more of a reason

34:17

to want both mother and

34:20

son out of his life

34:22

for good. Throughout the trial

34:24

a host of witnesses gave

34:26

powerful testimonies. one of which

34:28

was a woman living near

34:30

the Dalma Gary layby where

34:32

Rene's car was found burnt

34:34

out. She recalled hearing a

34:37

quote, blood curdling scream on

34:39

the night of November 12th

34:41

1976. Gordon testified that McDowell

34:43

had been sacked just three

34:45

days after the disappearance when

34:47

their affair came to light

34:49

and Morag spoke of her

34:51

immediate chilling sense that something

34:53

dreadful had happened. A former

34:56

employee of Gordon's testified to

34:58

seeing McDowell scrubbing his work's

35:00

car boot after Renee vanished.

35:02

McDowell's wife also took the

35:04

stand, with police noting her

35:06

agitated and volatile demeanour during

35:08

interviews. In another twist, jurors

35:10

were told that a now

35:13

deceased convicted criminal, Dennis Tyrone,

35:15

had written to police in

35:17

2005, claiming McDowell offered him

35:19

£500, equivalent to around £3,300

35:21

pounds today. to kill Renee

35:23

back in the summer of

35:25

1976. The court was told

35:27

that 123 reported sightings of

35:29

Renee had been made since

35:32

1976, each of which had

35:34

been investigated and eliminated. Forensic

35:36

evidence ultimately played a decisive

35:38

role. Luminol testing revealed further

35:40

blood traces in the boot

35:42

of Renee's BMW which matched

35:44

her DNA. This was acquired

35:46

by samples taken from her

35:49

hairbrush. The volume of

35:51

blood samples also indicated that a

35:53

violent act had taken place in

35:55

the car. Soil analysis further disproved

35:58

McDowell's alibi. He'd insisted he'd not

36:00

travel south of Davia on the

36:03

Knight Renee disappeared, but soil samples

36:05

from his vehicle matched those from

36:07

the Dalma Gary Labai, placing him

36:10

firmly at the scene. In a

36:12

closing speech lasting over an hour,

36:14

Alex Prentis outlined the Crown's case,

36:17

urging jurors to convict McDowell of

36:19

both murders. The defence, led by

36:21

Murray Makara K.C, counted the following

36:24

day by suggesting the case should

36:26

be viewed as a mystery rather

36:29

than murder. On September

36:31

29th the jury returned to the

36:33

court and delivered a majority guilty

36:36

verdict on all three charges two

36:38

being the murders of Renee and

36:40

Andrew McCray and the third attempting

36:43

to pervert the course of justice.

36:45

Judge Lord Ian Armstrong then sentenced

36:47

McDowell to life imprisonment with a

36:50

minimum term of 30 years. He

36:52

said during sentencing You've been convicted

36:54

of the murders on 12th November

36:57

9th 76th of Christina, known as

36:59

Renee, McCray and her young son

37:01

Andrew, and of a related charge

37:04

of attempting to defeat the ends

37:06

of justice. These appear to be,

37:08

in effect, executions. You murdered your

37:11

victims and then disposed of their

37:13

bodies and personal effects, including the

37:15

boy's pushchair, and then took various

37:18

steps to conceal the crimes you'd

37:20

committed and to avoid detection. McDowell,

37:24

a first-time offender, was 80 years

37:26

old when he was sentenced. Less

37:28

than two months after his conviction

37:30

on November 23rd, he was transferred

37:33

from H&P Porterfield in Inverness to

37:35

H&P Glenacille due to his complex

37:37

medical needs. On February 15th, 2023,

37:40

at around 11.05am, officers were informed

37:42

of the death of 81-year-old McDowell

37:44

at Fourth Valley Royal Hospital. His

37:47

death was not treated as suspicious

37:49

and a report was submitted to

37:51

the procurator fiscal. McDowell died less

37:54

than... six months into his sentence

37:56

and without ever disclosing the location

37:58

of Renee and Andrew's bodies. To

38:01

this day, they have never been

38:03

found. And that was the story

38:05

of the murder of Renee and

38:08

Andrew McRae. Did you know that

38:10

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39:26

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39:29

this has been British murders. Thanks

39:31

so much for listening. Until next

39:33

time... Cheerio. Spring

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