A detective who nailed two thugs for the brutal abduction and murder of Lynda Spence has spoken of his regret at not finding her body.
The 27-year-old financial advisor was last seen in Glasgow in 2011 and Colin Coats, 52, and Philip Wade, 52 were later jailed for her kidnap, torture and murder but her remains have never been found.
Last year Police Scotland launched a huge search of a remote area near Dunoon, Argyll, but it was ended in July without finding anything of significance.
Detective Superintendent Alan Buchanan, who lead the investigation, has now said the only negative of the case was failing to recover her body. He also blasted the callous pair for their roles in her barbaric death.
Coats was jailed for a minimum of 33 years while Wade will have to serve at least 30 years behind bars.
Senior investigating officer Buchanan said: "The only disappointment was that we didn't have Lynda's body back for her mum and dad to grieve properly and that was always the one negative aspect of the investigation despite our best efforts.
"Coats and Wade would really be the only two people at the time who knew where they had disposed of the body. But they don't care because life is very cheap to them.
"To think that somebody can just go to prison and walk out the door even after 33 years never having given any closure to a family just doesn't compute with me."
Ex-Solicitor General Lesley Thomson KC, who prosecuted Wade and Coats, revealed the horrific case had left a 'scar' on her soul and said she also hopes the body of Spence is eventually found.
Speaking on Channel 5 show The Kidnap and Murder of Lynda Spence, she said: "During your time as a prosecutor some of those cases leave a scar on your soul, there is no doubt about that because it takes you to the depths of what one human being is capable of doing to another human being.
"This case is like that for, it isn't the only case, and the fact Lynda's remains have never been found; for me there are still unanswered questions.
"Every single time there is a news item or a report about remains being found, I hope it's Lynda to give Mr and Mrs Spence that final piece of what happened to their daughter.
"That is not in the sense of what people used to say was closure, victims and families don't get that they get information and they get a process which may allow them to adjust and move on with their lives."
An 11-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow in 2013 heard Coats had taken Spence to the attic of a flat in West Kilbride, Ayrshire, where she was tortured.
She was held at the flat for two weeks, taped to a chair and had her kneecaps smashed, hands branded with an iron and her thumb chopped off.
The thugs abducted her after she had failed to pay back money to Coats he had invested with her.
Before his trial, Coats had boasted to a cellmate that he smothered Spence, cut off her head and burnt her remains in a furnace. The investigation to find her body continues.
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