Police searching Dunoon for Lynda Spence remains

Police are set to comb a remote area of Argyll in the hunt for the remains of a woman who was tortured and killed more than 10 years ago.

Lynda Spence, 27, was murdered in 2011 and although her killers were convicted, her remains have never been found.

On Wednesday, Police Scotland said they were assessing a remote area of ground near Dunoon prior to potential search work being undertaken.

Detective Superintendent Suzanne Chow, of the force's Major Investigation Team, said: "This detailed work involves Police Scotland detectives, local policing officers and specialist search teams, supported by forensic scientists and experts from across the United Kingdom.

"The operation is expected to take some considerable time due to the nature of the ground and remote location."

She urged anybody who knows more about the whereabouts of Ms Spence's remains to contact officers.

"Lynda's family have been informed of this development and officers are supporting them during this difficult time," Ms Chow added. "We will keep them updated as the work continues.

"There will be a significant police presence in the area as this operation continues and I would like to thank the local community for their co-operation at this time."

In 2013, Colin Coats and Philip Wade were found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow of abducting, torturing and murdering the accountant.

Prosecutors have been unable to say exactly when or how she was murdered, but Coats boasted to a cellmate that he smothered her, cut off her head and burnt her remains in a furnace.

During the trial, the court heard Ms Spence and Coats were involved in a land deal at Stansted Airport, organised by Ms Spence, in which Coats claimed to have invested all of his money.

She then persuaded a Glasgow printer to produce fake Danish government bonds, which were supposedly worth millions when in fact they were worth nothing at all.

On April 14, 2011, she was lured from her Glasgow flat and driven to a property in West Kilbride, North Ayrshire.

She was taped on to a chair and tortured for two weeks, and almost daily Coats and Wade would visit her.

Inside the flat she was held using a torture kit made up of garden loppers, bandages and surgical tape, which was used on her in a bid to extract financial information.

She was burned with an iron, hit with a golf club, her toes were crushed, her thumb was cut off and one of her fingers severed.

Coats was jailed for a minimum of 33 years while Wade was ordered to spend at least 30 years behind bars.

Lord Pentland said Coats was the "prime mover" behind the kidnapping and he was convinced of his "devious and cruel personality".

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