Online appeal over missing Perthshire man

Tayside Police have turned to the internet in a bid to find a man missing from his home in Perthshire since 1999.

Police have launched a MySpace site in a bid to find Adam Alexander - also known as McTavish - who disappeared from his home in Errol on 14 November 1999.

Mr Alexander, who turns 46 today, was trying to sell his motorbike at the time of his disappearance and had arranged to meet the buyer of the bike at his home around 5pm on the day he disappeared but failed to keep the appointment. There have been no confirmed sightings of Adam since that date.

However, Mr Alexander also owned a black Volvo 440 car with the registration number ADM 414A, which was seen by several witnesses on various dates in the week after his disappearance in locations near Perth Royal Infirmary.

Detective Chief Inspector Roddy Ross, the officer in charge of the enquiry, said: "If Adam was driving or using the vehicle then it would appear that he knew someone in the area. We carried out door to door enquiries at the time, but couldn't establish why his car was there."

DCI Ross also said that when the vehicle had showed no signs of having been broken into or stolen.

Police have now established a site at: www.myspace.com/findadamalexander.

The site continues photographs and a profile of Adam, as well as details of his disappearance and a link to Tayside Police.

A recent search was also conducted of Adam's former address in Errol under the supervision of a police search advisor, who was able to use techniques not previously available to investigators.

Adam was a long distance lorry driver and regularly stopped at the Penrith BP Truckstop in Cumbria. A keen motorcyclist, he often rode around Scotland with friends and regularly visited relatives in the Tain area of Scotland, north of Inverness. He is also understood to have spend time in the Lanarkshire area, where he was based when working, and at one time lived in Crieff.

Adam is described as being 5ft 10in in height. When he went missing he was of stocky build, and had a pale complexion, brown eyes and cropped brown hair. Adam has tattoos on both arms, the one on his left arm bearing the name 'Evelyn'.

DCI Ross added: "We are keeping an open mind on the cause of Adam's disappearance and although seven years have elapsed since he was last seen we are doing all we can to try and find an answer to the question, what did happen to Adam?"

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Tayside Police on: 01738 621141 or contact the National Missing Persons Helpline number on: 0500 700 100.

(KMcA/SP)