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Mother of missing man believes he may be in Highlands


By Alan Hendry

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The family of Andrew John Gardiner, known as Andy, say they are desperate for news of his whereabouts.
The family of Andrew John Gardiner, known as Andy, say they are desperate for news of his whereabouts.

An appeal has gone out for information about a missing man from the south of Scotland whose family have not seen him for seven months but who believe he may be in the Highlands.

Andrew John Gardiner (47), known as Andy, worked as a gamekeeper before getting a job as a timber lorry driver.

His mother, Geraldine Grave, of Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway, thinks he may have started a new life in the Highlands because of his love for the area.

She says she is very worried about her son's safety and is desperate for news about him. She has a feeling that "everything got on top of him" before he disappeared.

Andrew is described as 6ft 2in tall and around 15 stone, with brown hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion.

"He drove a timber wagon and on September 7, 2020, he parked up in South Lanarkshire and walked away," Geraldine explained.

"He trained and then worked as a gamekeeper in Dumfries and Galloway but unfortunately lost his job due to foot-and-mouth disease and then drove a wagon extracting timber – mainly around the Inverness area, taking wood to Fort William."

Geraldine recalled that during his gamekeeping days Andrew had friends who worked on an estate "in the Thurso area", although she does not know which one. "His main interests are game-rearing, shooting and all aspects of natural history with a special love of the Highlands," she said.

She and her husband Hedley, Andrew's stepfather, are "desperately worried about him".

Geraldine added: "If anyone knows his whereabouts, please ask him to ring his parents."


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