A mystery brought to court

Arlene's family said she would not leave her children

Nat Fraser has been jailed for life for the murder of his wife Arlene four years ago.

News Online looks back at one of Scotland's most famous missing person inquiries.

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It was 28 April, 1998, and it appeared to be a normal weekday morning in the Fraser household.

From the front door of her home in Elgin, Arlene waved her children Jamie and Natalie off to primary school.

But from that point onwards it was as if the 33-year-old had vanished into thin air.

ARLENE'S DISAPPEARANCE

She is dead, somebody took her life, she certainly didn't take her own life. If she was still out there she would have got in touch with her mum and her children

Michelle Scott
Mrs Fraser's friend

Soon after her disappearance a land and sea search got under way. It involved RAF helicopters, mountain rescue teams, search dogs and police divers.

Arlene's husband Nat helped the police hunt for his petite fair-haired wife by taking part in an appeal at a media conference five weeks after she was reported missing.

"Arlene if you are watching this, please get in touch just to let us know you are safe and well. The children are missing you terribly. If you do not want to come home, just please let us know you are all right," said Mr Fraser.

He also announced at that media conference a reward of £10,000 for information which could lead to his wife's safe return.

But despite the concern he showed in front of reporters, suspicions were growing that Mr Fraser - who had previously been barred from the family home for violently choking his wife - had played a part in the disappearance.

Arlene's family and friends were convinced she would not abandon her young children, then aged five and 10.

Missing person inquiry

Michelle Scott was one of Arlene's best friends and she had no doubt about what had happened to her.

Shortly after the disappearance, Ms Scott said: "She is dead, somebody took her life, she certainly didn't take her own life. If she was still out there she would have got in touch with her mum and her children."

From the earliest days of the mystery the police were worried that this was more than just a missing person inquiry.

Arlene waved her children off to school from their Elgin home

Speaking just two days after her disappearance, Chief Inspector Lawrie Stewart was considering the possibility that something sinister had happened.

He said: "We are very concerned. She appears to be a normal loving mother. She was last seen on Tuesday at 8.50am seeing her children off to school, and she hasn't been seen since.

"It is totally out of character for her to disappear like this and not make any provision for the care of her children. It is this above all else which is giving us the greatest concern."

Arlene's family had always been convinced she had been abducted and murdered.

Inquiry hampered

Her sister Carole Gillies feared it from the start and said "we know who is responsible for the murder of Arlene".

Mr Fraser was a prime suspect - he spent terms in jail for a serious assault on his wife and then for fraudulent legal aid claims.

But he always protested his innocence regarding Arlene's disappearance.

Carol Gillies: "We know who is responsible"

This was the largest investigation Grampian Police has ever carried out but the absence of a body and any forensic evidence hampered the inquiry.

Eventually detectives decided to charge Mr Fraser and his friend Hector Dick with conspiracy to murder, then the pair and another of their associates, Glenn Lucas, were subsequently charged with murder.

Searches of Mr Dick's farm and a Moray scrap yard proved fruitless and hundreds of local lock-ups and garages were turned over, but nothing was uncovered.

The RAF even flew over areas of Elgin with special cameras looking for possible graves.

Dramatic twist

The trial began early in January but in a dramatic twist six days later, Mr Dick and Mr Lucas were freed leaving Fraser alone in the dock.

Mr Dick then became a prosecution witness. He told the court that his former friend had hired a hitman to kill Arlene and then burned her body and ground up the remains.

Fraser denied he killed his wife when he took the witness stand but did admit that the couple had a stormy relationship.

As the trial drew to a close the prosecution decided to drop three charges of attempting to defeat the ends of justice, focusing only on the murder charge.

At just before 1600 GMT on Wednesday, 29 January, A jury found Fraser guilty of murder and he was jailed for a minimum of 25 years.