Allan Burns: Search for Renfrewshire pensioner continues

Allan Burns, a 71-year-old from Kilbarchan, has not been seen since Friday at around 3.15pm, when he was spotted on the village’s cycle path, near his home street of Barrhill Crescent, heading towards Lochwinnoch.

Officers have said Mr Burns, who suffers from dementia, was last seen wearing walking attire and was telling neighbours he was going for a stroll.

Scores of police have been scouring the area for signs of Mr Burns over the past few days, and they were helped out by around 80 villagers on Sunday as they pleaded with the public for assistance.

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But with no evidence of Mr Burns’ whereabouts having emerged by the end of the weekend, a specialist search team was brought in on Monday as efforts to find the villager intensified.

And yesterday, mounted police, the mountain rescue team and the marine unit all came out in force to assist in the hunt.

Officers have said Mr Burns is not known to have gone missing before and have admitted it is ‘totally out of character’ for him to disappear without contacting his family.

Mr Burns’ daughter Jen has thanked everyone for their efforts so far via social media.

She said: “Thanks from all the Burns family to everyone who came out today [Sunday].

“We have been really touched by the kindness that has been shown by our friends, family and others in the community.”

The search for Mr Burns has gone beyond his home village, stretching out to Castle Semple Loch in Lochwinnoch and Howwood so far.

With temperatures dropping to below freezing in Kilbarchan last night, officers have become increasingly concerned for Mr Burns’ health.

But Inspector Jim Cast, based in Johnstone, said his team are remaining positive in their hunt for the much-loved family man.

He said: “There have been no further sightings of Allan, but we are continuing to search the Kilbarchan area, and there is some investigation going on in Lochwinnoch and Howwood.

“What I would ask is that if anyone in the village has private CCTV, please check it.

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“We have had the operational support unit, mounted police and the marine unit out, while the mountain rescue team have been checking spots which are harder to reach for officers on foot.

“As time goes on, we are becoming increasingly concerned for Allan. The cold weather has been a concern for a number of days.

“But I must stress we are remaining positive and, even with the passage of time, I am making no assumptions.

“The final thing I would ask is that if anyone was out on Friday night and had a Go Pro camera on their bike, please check the footage.

“Allan is a walker and he was last seen in walking gear, telling neighbours he was going for a walk. It is totally out of character for Allan to go off the radar.

“If you have any information, please get in touch.”

Villagers have also been asked to scour their garages and any outbuildings for any sign of Mr Burns.

Police were speaking to the family

A CCTV clip was released by police yesterday of the last sighting of Mr Burns, in the hope someone may remember seeing the pensioner heading out on his walk.

He has been described as 5ft 8in tall, with slim build, short grey hair and green eyes.

He was last spotted wearing a khaki green waterproof jacket from Marks and Spencer, which was tartan-lined on the inside, with a grey knitted hat, dark blue jeans, grey walking boots, a maroon and grey striped scarf and large black gloves.

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Area commander Hazel Scott said: “We are still looking for Allan Burns, who has been missing since Friday.

“I would encourage everyone, and this would assist us greatly, to search outbuildings and garages.

“And I would appeal to Allan directly. Please get in touch. Please let your family, friends or police know that you safe.

“If anyone can phone us with any information it would be very much appreciated.”

All the information which has been gathered about Mr Burns so far can be found on the Renfrewshire and Inverclyde Police Facebook page, and posters are being put up around the area.

If you think you can help police with the investigation into Mr Burns’ disappearance, call police on 101 immediately, quoting incident number 4197 of January 18.