David Wylie: Missing Stevenston man's friends and family join search

After a plea from David's family and friends, they volunteered to help with a widescale search for the 41-year-old, who has been missing since the early hours of Thursday, March 23.

Police have been appealing to the public in an attempt to obtain more information ever since - though friends and family of the well known Three Towns man, pictured below, decided to step up the search with efforts of their own.

The search volunteers gathered at Lidl in Stevenston around 11.30am and began the search at midday.

From the town, they extended their search towards the Rec, Todhill and down to the former ICI Ardeer site.

It is believed the search team also operated drones to help with their bid to trace David.

He was last seen in Stevenston's Hillside Street in the town.

It is understood that it is not out of character for David to leave his home address in this manner but as time passes, his family are becoming concerned.

He is described as white, about 5ft 9in height, of a slim build, and speaks with an Ayrshire accent.

It is thought at the time he was wearing a black 'Eminem' T-shirt with red detailing, brown boots, black joggers and a black beany hat with a grey trim.

In the latest plea by police, Sergeant Sharon Kerr, of Irvine Police Station, said: “David is quite well-known in the local area and is usually seen out walking his collie dog. The dog is still at his family home.

“We don’t believe he has access to a phone or money just now, so that coupled with him not being seen or heard from for almost a week now, is concerning for police and of course his family.

“David tends to keep himself to himself and stays local, so we believe that he may be still in the Stevenston area.

"He has been known to camp at a disused building, the former ICI Plant at Ardeer, but officers have checked there and not seen him.

“We have been checking local and private CCTV and have also been liaising with local bus and taxi companies as well as with colleagues at British Transport Police, but so far there have been no new sightings of him.  

“We would ask people to check their outbuildings or garages and to get in touch if they have seen David or have any information about where he is.

“We’d also ask David to get in touch with police or his family. Our only concern is for his safety and we, along with his family, just want him to come home.”

Anyone with information can call police via 101, quoting reference number 2055 of Friday, March 24, 2023.

A group has been set up on Facebook, with all the latest information on the search. You can find this on Facebook at tinyurl.com/DavidWyllieSearch.