POLICE looking for a missing pensioner say they fear she could have drowned.
Mary Ferns, 88, vanished after leaving her family home to walk to the nearby Almondvale Shopping Centre.
Footage from local CCTV cameras have been studied and road blocks have also been set up in the past week, but no clues have been found regardi
ng Mrs Ferns' whereabouts.
Yesterday, a team of six divers began searching the River Almond in an effort to find the elderly woman.
A police spokesman said: "We are searching there to eliminate the possibility that she is in the river, which could be the case.
"We do not know if she is in there at all but we would like to rule out the possibility of a fall or a push."
Deputy divisional commander Chris Griffiths, who was at the scene while the team dredged the West Lothian waterway, added: "We are now also utilising specialist support and we are currently searching the riverbanks of the River Almond from Livingston right through to the Forth.
"Our marine unit has already carried out preliminary searches but we now have the assistance of Central Police's underwater search unit.
"Mrs Ferns' family are very upset and worried. Foul play has not been ruled out."
The full article contains 217 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
