A BODY has been found on a Scottish island during the search for a missing woman who vanished two days ago.
Shanahan MacInnes, 28, was reported missing to police after she vanished in the early hours of Friday morning.
The hairdresser went missing on the Isle of Benbecula, which is an island of the Outer Hebrides.
Shanahan was last seen in the Tindill Road area of Balivanich at around 1.30am.
A frantic search was underway as cops appealed for help from the public to find her over the weekend.
More than 60 members of the public joined the police, coastguard and fire service in the hunt for Shanahan.
She was last seen wearing a burgundy tracksuit and white trainers with a black Nike tick.
It was thought that she had other clothes with her, and may have changed into a black North Face jacket and black trainers with a gold buckle.
However, police have now tragically confirmed that a body was found during their search.
They said the grim discovery was made at around 1.05pm this afternoon in the Aird area of Benbecula.
Her devastated family have since released a statement on social media, paying tribute to their “beautiful darling Shanahan”.
Writing on Facebook, they said: “We as a family are absolutely heartbroken and devastated with the news we have received today.”
The post continues: “Shanahan’s passing was an extremely tragic accident. It was nobody’s fault.”
They added: “We are extremely upset…We would appreciate if we could all be left to grieve our beautiful darling Shanahan.”
Shanahan’s workplace, The Shore Room Hair and Beauty, announced that “due to the current circumstances”, the salon would close until further notice.
They wrote: “We appreciate all the love & support we have received at this time.”
Police added that there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.
Police Scotland‘s Highland and Islands division shared a statement about the tragic find on social media this afternoon.
MISSING IN SCOTLAND
ALMOST 15,000 missing person reports are made to Police Scotland every single year.
Most of these cases involve medium-to-high-risk missing persons, however, many more go unreported.
In 2020-2021, half of these reports related to children, and 40 per cent involved a person who had been missing before.
Tragically, 117 cases over these years had fatal outcomes.
This was more than the number of victims involved in homicide across Scotland, which was 58, according to NCA UK Missing Persons data 2020-2021.
The data also found that most of the harm suffered by missing adults and Scotland is related to problems with mental health.
It read: “Around 1.05pm on Sunday, 24 November 2024, officers were made aware that a body of a woman had been found in the Aird area of Benbecula.
“Formal identification has still to take place.
“However the family of 28-year-old Shanahan MacInnes, who was missing from Balivanich, has been made aware.
“The death is not being treated as suspicious.
“A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”
