BODY FOUND IN RIVER IDENTIFIED AS GRANDMOTHER SWEPT AWAY 18 MONTHS AGO
- Hazel Nairn fell into swollen River Don in Aberdeenshire in November 2022
- Police confirmed remains found last month are those of missing pensioner
Police have confirmed that a body found in a Scots river is that of a missing grandmother who was swept away in floods 18 months ago.
Hazel Nairn, 71, disappeared after she lost her footing while out with her dog and fell into the River Don at Monymusk, Aberdeenshire, as heavy rain battered the country in November 2022.
The grandmother’s body was finally discovered last month in the river near Kemnay, just a few miles from where she went in.
Police Scotland yesterday confirmed that the remains recovered from the river on May 7 have now been formally identified as Ms Nairn.
A spokesman added her family has been informed and the death is not suspicious.
Ms Nairn is understood to have parked her car in Monymusk after discovering the Don had burst its banks and blocked the road to her house.
Carrying her West Highland terrier, Rory, to keep him out of the water, she set off on the 10-minute walk home but lost her footing due to the strong current.
Her daughter Anneka Gray spoke to her mother on the phone less than an hour earlier asking her to message her when she got home.
The body of Ms Nairn’s dog was found days later.
Initial police searches covered 30 miles of the Don as well as coastal areas in ‘challenging conditions’ after a month’s rainfall fell in just 24 hours.
Volunteer divers with specialist sonar equipment from Lancashire group Beneath the Surface were later drafted in after police search teams and kayakers failed to find her.
Family members also organised their own searches along the riverbank.
Ms Gray said three weeks after the remains were found that they were ‘waiting anxiously’ for a postmortem and DNA test to be done to confirm if it was her mother.
Police said a report will now be sent to the procurator fiscal.
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