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Body found in search for woman stuck in estuary mud

Police Scotland A woman with long hair and dark glasses in a blue denim shirt with a blue T-shirt underneathPolice Scotland
Police said Shona Campbell was visiting the area when she got into difficulties in mud on the Solway estuary

A body has been found in the search for a missing woman who went for a walk on the Solway estuary but phoned to say she was stuck in the mud.

Police Scotland said that although formal identification had not been carried out, the family of Shona Campbell had been informed.

Ms Campbell, 74, was staying at the Moss-Side caravan park in Cummertrees but had not been seen since the alarm was raised at about 17:00 on Monday.

It is understood she made the call to report getting into difficulties herself.

Yellow and blue police van parked on a dirt track behind cars with a hedge on the left. The sky is orange
Emergency services were called out at about 17:00 on Monday
Two people in fluorescent yellow jackets in the distance looking among long grass. There are some trees and green caravans in the far distance
A number of specialist teams were involved in the search

Media reports in the Isle of Man suggest Ms Campbell had been living there.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 17:40 on Tuesday, 10 December, 2024, the body of a woman was located in the Solway Estuary, Cummertrees, Annan.

"Formal identification has still to take place. However, the family of Shona Campbell, 74, who was missing in the area have been informed.

"The death is being treated as unexplained but not believed to be suspicious and a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal."

Temperatures overnight in the area were sub-zero.

Earlier, Insp Amy Ritchie said: "Every effort is being made to find Shona and her family are being supported by officers at this difficult time.

"From our inquiries so far, we know Shona left the caravan park to go for a walk before getting into difficulty and has not returned.

"Local officers and search advisers are being assisted by specialist resources."

An HM Coastguard spokesman said its search and rescue helicopter from Prestwick was called out at about 17:15 on Monday following a report of a woman stuck in mud by the mouth of the River Nith.

He added that Coastguard Rescue Teams were sent from Annan, Burgh-by-Sands and Portling, as well as the Nith Inshore Rescue lifeboat.

Stewart Bryden, senior coastal operations officer with HM Coastguard, said: "There was a report went into Police Scotland last night at about 17:00 - a 999 call that a lady was in difficulty stuck in the mud on the Solway.

"Teams were quickly deployed on to the scene and searched until approximately 23:00 last night with nothing found."

He said the search had resumed in the morning along with members of police, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Nith Inshore Rescue.

"We have got a lot of mud and quicksand out in the Solway, it is a quick tide," he said.

"As we know, mud and quicksand moves so it is unpredictable where they can be and how they get stuck."

Solway estuary with beach/mudlats and an orange sky with grass in the foreground
The Solway has a number of mudflats which are considered to be dangerous, with many areas vulnerable to quicksand

The area off the south of Scotland coast is considered dangerous due to some of the fastest tidal movements in Europe.

Large areas of mudflats surround the estuaries of the River Nith and River Annan, with many areas vulnerable to quicksand.

A pilot scheme is seeing if satellite imagery could help rescuers navigate the waters more quickly to get to people who find themselves in difficulties.