Police have found a body in the search for a 96-year-old man who disappeared from his home in the early hours of Tuesday wearing only his pyjamas.
Formal identification is yet to take place but officers in Tayside say the family of missing man Harold Heeley has been informed of the grim discovery close to the River Ericht, near Parkhead Road in Blairgowrie. at around 10.30am, shortly after an appeal to trace the pensioner was first issued. Police have said that there do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.
Heeley disappeared at 5.55am on December 20 dressed in just a navy blue dressing gown, light blue pyjamas and dark blue slippers. He was last seen in the Bankhead area of the Perthshire town and had left his hearing aids behind.
In a statement issued shortly after midday, a Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 10.30am on Monday, 20 December, a body was found at the River Ericht near to Parkhead Road, Blairgowrie.
"Formal identification has yet to take place but the family of Harold Heeley, 96, reported missing earlier in the day, have been informed.
"There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances and a report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal."
Prior to the discovery, police had encouraged members of the public to check sheds and outbuildings for the nonagenarian in case he had sought shelter after leaving home.
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