The detective leading the hunt for the remains of murder victim Suzanne Pilley has urged her killer to do the “honourable thing” and reveal where he hid her body.
The 38-year-old bookkeeper vanished on May 4, 2010, after setting off on her usual commute in Edinburgh. Her former lover and colleague David Gilroy was convicted of her murder in 2012 and is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 18 years in jail.
Gilroy is believed to have killed Miss Pilley in the basement of the Edinburgh building where they worked before taking her body in the boot of his car to a secret grave in the forests of Argyll.
The 61-year-old, who insists he is innocent, has refused to disclose the location of Suzanne’s body despite pleas from his victim’s family.
Detective Chief Inspector Bob Williamson, who is leading the investigation, appeared on BBC One’s Crimewatch Live programme today to appeal for information on the case.
He said: “We have caught Suzanne’s killer, David Gilroy, however David refuses to accept that guilt or assist us in any way to find Suzanne’s body.
“His actions after a murder are certainly cold and calculated. He has taken extensive steps to hide Suzanne and prevent her ever being found.
“We are still reassuring Suzanne’s family constantly that we will do anything we can to find Suzanne and we will follow up on any information that comes to us.
“David’s lack of co-operation is very frustrating and I think the honourable thing to do is to bring some closure to Suzanne’s family and bring her home.”
DCI Williamson said finding Suzanne’s body remained a priority for Police Scotland particularly after her father Rob died in 2019 without being able to properly lay her to rest.
He appealed for witnesses who may have seen Gilroy’s silver Vauxhall Vectra travelling off road in a wooded area between Tyndrum and Inverary in Argyll the day after Miss Pilley disappeared.
He said: “That area from Tyndrum to Inverary is a very remote road. There are forest tracks that are accessible to vehicles but it would certainly be a suspicious situation if a vehicle such as a Vauxhall Vectra was driving along.
“There are lots of opportunities along those routes for him to have driven off-road with the purpose of hiding Suzanne. David has not assisted us so we are back asking the public if they can help us think back to that day in May 2010.
“We are asking whether they saw anything unusual in the area. A person walking about that just didn’t seem to fit into the area or that silver Vauxhall Vectra driving on a road that it shouldn’t be on.
“If you did see that and it jumped out to you that day then we need to know where that was to allow us to centre a search on particular areas where Suzanne might be.
“There was also a suggestion that there may have been a red and white umbrella on the back parcel shelf which may have been obvious to someone on the outside of the vehicle.”
He added: “Unfortunately Suzanne’s dad didn’t survive long enough for her to be found and to recover Suzanne is something that has been really important to Police Scotland.
“Since 2010 we have been trying that in repeated appeals just hoping that a member of the public will think ‘Maybe that information I have got is important’ and let us bring Suzanne back to the family.
“They have been so strong for all this time and to be able to bring Suzanne home and give her a proper funeral would be a massive thing for them.” Married Gilroy and Miss Pilley had a “turbulent” relationship which she tried to end just before her disappearance.
The murder trial heard how Gilroy sneaked her body out of the office where he worked after strangling her. Gilroy has exhausted various routes of appeal in his case.
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