Search for Missing St Andrews Pensioner Continues
The hunt for missing St Andrews pensioner Paul Johnson continues as groups of volunteers aided Police Scotland in an organised search of the town and local area including golf courses, parks, beaches, Craigtoun Park, the Botanic Gardens, and the Tentsmuir Forest, places where Paul is known to spend his time. Many of the volunteers were organised through the Search for Paul Facebook page, and hundreds of missing posters have been put up across the town with informa- tion regarding the missing man. Police enlisted RRI Scotland, a partner search dog agency, to cover West Sands beach and the Air Support Unit conducted an aerial search with a police helicop- ter. On Wednesday, 22 September, police administered road checks and inquiries of local drivers.
They reported later that they had spoken to over 100 people after revisiting the area where he went missing in order to ascertain more information on his whereabouts the night of 15 October. Despite these efforts, however, the 74-year- old’s location is still unknown. Mr Johnson left his home on Hay Fleming Avenue around 10 pm on the evening of Wednesday, 15 September and was last seen on foot at around 10:45 pm on Hepburn Gardens. Despite reviews of CCTV and dashcam footage, police have not confirmed any other sightings of Mr Johnson. Though Mr Johnson is accustomed to taking walks in wide-ranging spaces like local golf courses, Balgrove, Craigtoun Country Park, and the Strathkinnes area, Inspector Murray Gibson noted, “It is completely out of character for Paul to be out of contact with family for as long as this and we are growing increasingly concerned about his wellbeing as time passes.” In a statement through Police Scotland, Paul’s family expressed a similar sentiment while thanking those who volunteered with the search, “We are terribly worried about Paul and just want him to come home safe. We would like to thank the police, the community and all other agencies who have assisted in the search thus far, and we continue to appeal to anyone who believes they may have some information to please come forward and report it to the police.” Inspector Stuart Hay said, “I am keen for people who have not already come forward to check their dash-cam, private or doorbell systems just in case they may have captured footage of Paul. It has been a fortnight now since he was last seen and, as you can imagine, this has been a very distressing time for his family.
Once again, I’d like people to think back to around 10:30 pm to 11 pm on Wednesday 15 September, did you see a man matching his description late on Wednesday evening in the St Andrews area, or have you seen him since?”
Paul is described as being around 5 ft 9 in tall and of slim build with grey hair. He was last known to be wearing a blue rain jacket and mustard-coloured walking trou- sers. He was also wearing walking boots and two hearing aids.
Anyone who may have seen Paul or has any information which could help trace him is asked to call officers on 101, quoting incident number 0266 of 16 September, 2021.