Police have confirmed that detectives from the Major Incident Team are involved in the investigation onto the disappearance of three year old Mikaeel Kular and have an open mind as to whether the youngster did leave his house of his own accord.
Speaking at a press conference outside the former headquarters in Fettes Avenue, Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham said: “The purpose of the briefing is to keep media and the public informed about the ongoing efforts and investigations to trace 3-year-old Mikaeel Kular who was reported missing to us by his mum on Thursday morning.
“At this point in time the reason for Mikaeel’s disappearance from home is unknown and he remains missing.
“Given the length of time between him last being seen on Wednesday evening in the family home by his mum and siblings, the lack of any confirmed sightings of Mikaeel and his very young age, we continue to look at every possible reason for his disappearance. It remains possible that he left his home on his own accord.
“It is also a possibility that there could be other factors involved in his disappearance.
“We have at this time nothing to confirm either way why Mikaeel has gone missing and strenuous efforts are ongoing to establish the full circumstances around this.
“Officers from the Police Scotland Major Investigation Team are working alongside local policing officers and detectives from across Scotland and specialist teams from Operational Support. It is normal in inquiries such as this to take a twin track approach aimed at finding the missing person and at the same time investigating and preparing for the possibility of a crime being committed.
“Major Investigation Team detectives are proactively trying to establish the full circumstances around Mikaeel’s disappearance including confirmation or otherwise that he left of his own accord or if a crime has been committed or not.
“The full range of resources available to Police Scotland is being deployed to assist with this inquiry.
Supt Liz McAinsh added: “I would continue to appeal to people in the Drylaw area and surrounding communities to report to us any information – specifically of sightings or with information about his whereabouts – to us.
“The dedicated telephone number 0300 200 0200 remains active and we have had a good response so far – although we have not yet had that vital piece of information which has led us to Mikaeel.
“We are continuing to work towards establishing whether a sighting in West Pilton Gardens was Mikaeel. Members of the public in a vehicle reported seeing a small boy resembling Mikaeel’s description. The boy was wearing a cap or hat. We need to know if that was indeed Mikaeel – or if we can eliminate this sighting from our investigations.
“The area where Mikaeel lives is densely populated. At 8.30am the area would have been busy with people going about their business – dropping kids at school or going to their work. I would ask anyone with information who saw this child to come forward so we can either focus our attention elsewhere or confirm if it was indeed Mikaeel.
“There continues to be huge amounts of support from the local community, with many members of the public helping our searching operations. Staff from partner organisations has also been involved in the search including from Scottish Power and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
“I would thank them for that continued support.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
