Father of missing Easter Ross man Finn Creaney last seen in Sutherland 'fears worst' after rucksack found
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THE father of an Easter Ross hiker posted missing 18 months ago "fears the worst" after his son's rucksack was found close to a Highland loch.
Finn Creaney was last seen around 2.15pm on Friday, March 25, 2022 at Altnaharra in Sutherland on the B873 road near Loch Naver.
The married father of one, an experienced bushcraft enthusiast, was then posted missing on March 28 after failing to turn up.
Finn, of the Pitcalnie area near Tain, was said by his wife to be the happiest he has ever been at the time of his disappearance leaving loved ones desperately looking for answers.
His dad Mark has been searching for him with friends ever since and well-wishers have maintained a map of areas searched and re-searched ever since he was posted missing.
In an update posted online, Finn's dad said: "As you know Finn went missing 18 months ago on his hike from Loch Naver to Golspie and despite searching the hills for all that time we found no clues to him being there.
"That was up to two weeks ago when a couple of deerstalkers on their way to work at Altnaharra came across Finn's rucksack at the side of Loch Naver and after a close inspection of the rucksack and its belongings and a few other items that we can't really get into we now believe that Finn attempted to swim the loch in order to cut his journey time somewhat to the coast.
"Finn is a really strong swimmer and a good wild swimmer but for some reasons that we don't know about we fear that he may not have made the swim.
"Police divers have been down last week and they searched the area where the rucksack was found and his possible start point and they came up with nothing.
"All this is just a real blow to Finn's family and everyone who cares about Finn. Everybody loves him. And unfortunately we fear the worst."
He adds: "I will keep you updated as things go along. As always we are determined to bring our boy home to us. We need him home. Thank you for all your support and hopefully we will get through these times."
The mystery surrounding his disappearance saw Finn's case raised in a new television series fronted by Dan Walker called Vanished: The Hunt for Britain's Missing People. It was broadcast a year after he was posted missing.
It featured an extensive interview with his wife, Lucy, and comment from a former Met Police chief superintendent and the boss of the Missing People charity.
In a heartfelt interview at her Easter Ross home, Lucy (28) said: "I miss everything about Finn all the time.
"The adventures, the laughs. His whole being and aura. We're a family, you know, we're a unit all together. I still have that hope and belief that he will come through that door one day."
Dan Walker told viewers: "Happily married to Lucy, they have a beautiful daughter, Luna, and when he went missing they had another child on the way.
"It's exactly a year since Finn went for a hike in the mountains and never came back. We don't know what has happened to him. No one does. What makes this more baffling is that Finn was an experienced hiker. He used to film himself quite a bit, a survival expert he knew the mountains well. Since he has been missing Lucy has had their second baby, a little boy called Bran."
She told the show: "It has been a year since Finn went missing and it's kind of perplexing to be honest because we didn't think it would be this long.
"Prior to him going missing we found out we were having a baby boy which was a dream come true for him. The last time I saw him was on the 25th of March at this house. We all had a lovely family hug together and then off her went. 'I'll see you on Sunday.' It was just, you know, normal."
Police Scotland Inspector Chris Murray said at the time: "I would thank the public who have already been in touch and also encourage anyone who thinks they may have seen something, or has any information they feel relevant to make contact with us on 101, quoting reference number 0912 of March 28, 2022.”
