Nearly two months since he disappeared, Reece Rodger has still not been found but some more details have emerged since the initial reports. Here's a precis:
On Saturday March 18th, Reece was camping with a group of friends in the vicinity of Killichonan on the northern shore of Loch Rannoch. Wild camping is legal in Scotland and so they were not using an organised campsite. I haven't been able to find out the precise location where they pitched their tents, how many were in the group, when they arrived or how long they intended to stay. At some point the following morning (Sunday 19th) the friends reported Reece missing to the police and stated that they thought he had gone to sleep in his tent at around 23:30.
After the initial publicity, a motorist on the B846 told police that at about 23:30 on Saturday 18th they had seen a man in black clothing, matching Reece's decription, walking along the road between Liarn Farm and Aulich a few miles to the east of where the group had pitched their tents. It hasn't been reported in the media which direction this man was walking or which way the motorist was driving, but they were concerned enough for the welfare of the man walking on this remote and isolated stretch of road so late at night that they stopped and got out of the car to see if they could help him. However, the man had disappeared from view and the motorist eventually got back in the car and drove off. There was no moon that evening and the area is so sparsely populated that it's pitch black around there at night, so unless they used a torch or the vehicle headlights it would have been impossible for the car driver to see where the man had gone. The darkness would also have made it very difficult for Reece to see where he was going without a torch and he is reported to have been wearing wellington boots which are not ideal for walking any great distance.
This week Police Scotland stated that mobile phone location data confirms that the motorist's sighting almost certainly was Reece. On the subject of his mobile phone, his partner told the media that she had spoken with him on the phone several times that day, saying that he told her around 16:00 that he was unhappy and wanted to come home. The media has also reported that the last phone call made by Reece to his partner was at 23:18 - around ten to fifteen minutes before he was spotted by the car driver - and lasted for one minute but they haven't revealed what was said. The phone was apparently switched off immediately after this call.
There have been extensive searches of the land and loch by police, mountain rescue and private groups over the last two months but nothing at all has turned up and no trace has been found of him. The road runs close to and above the loch but is generally seperated from it by thick tree and bush cover. The banks of the loch are shallow, although it is deep in the middle.
This Google Streetview link shows the section of road that Reece was walking along when he was seen by the car driver giving an idea of the sort of terrain and the isolation of the area. Here's an OS map showing the locations:
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There are several questions which occur to me:
- When did the group arrive at their camping location - earlier on the Saturday or before then? How many were in the group and how well did they know each other? They must have travelled there in at least one vehicle, so who did it belong to? Or did Reece have access to his own vehicle there?
- Had the group been camping together previously? Had they visited Killichonan or the Loch Rannoch area before?
- Why did his friends tell the police that they "thought he had gone to bed" at 23:30 when it is now known at that time Reece was around four or five miles away on foot? When was the last time that any of them can positively state they saw him?
- Reece told his partner that he wanted to leave, so what was going on to prompt that? Were people in the group drinking or taking drugs? Were threats of violence made?
- Had Reece been drinking or using other substances that night?
- What was said in the final phone call and why was the phone switched off? Has the phone been turned on since then? Where exactly was the last cell tower ping before it was turned off?
- Did Reece hide when the car driver stopped and got out because he thought it was one of the group come looking for him? Where was the motorist going on such a lonely road at that time of night and has the car been examined for damage?
My current theory is that Reece was trying to get away from the group because of an argument and decided to head for Kinloch Rannoch (around 8 miles to the east) to find somewhere to stay overnight. Perhaps he had the Loch Rannoch Hotel in mind, which you pass on the road soon after you leave the village. I think he vastly underestimated how long it would take to walk, became tired and cold through the effects of exposure and lay down in the trees near the road, succumming to hypothermia. For the record the overnight low temperature that night was 5°C and it was raining.
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