Penuel Sheriffs

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Police Scotland Lochaber Police (HISTORICAL)

Missing From:

Spean Bridge, Highland, Scotland

Summary:

Penuel Sheriffs, known as Dolly and originally a Lawson of Aboyne, was married with two young sons when she disappeared on October 4, 1958. There appears to be no missing person or case file on Penuel Sheriffs, originally from Aboyne. The search for her went on for 10 days, involving many from the community. She is currently part of a North Yorkshire police cold case review with DNA taken recently from her brother Jim Lawson to see if it matches that of 'The Nude in the Nettles', the body of a woman with some of Dolly's characteristics found on a Yorkshire roadside in 1981.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

David Sheriffs reporting at 8.30pm that his wife had been missing since about 2.30 that afternoon. Her husband David 'Sandy' Sheriffs, a railway signalman, told police he had been on night shift and had gone to bed that afternoon. When he woke up at 3pm he found she had gone. He said he thought she had gone into Fort William on the 2pm bus, as the women of Spean Bridge tended to do on a Saturday afternoon. But witnesses noted she wasn't on the bus that day. Penuel was described as 5ft 2in in height, fair-haired and of slim build, wearing a blue and white striped raincoat, a black skirt, fawn Fair Isle jumper and calf-length wellington boots.

Additional Details:

With a 60-strong search party including forestry workers and employees of Great Glen Cattle Ranch, PC Purves headed for Auchindaul, Torlundy and the Highland Line quarry and searched moorland and burns, railway stacks and buildings until abandoned search at 3am. Thereafter the searches appear to have ceased, and the trail went cold. Jim Lawson from Aboyne, and Archie Moody, living in Inverurie, gave DNA samples to North Yorkshire police in January to run for a match with the body of a woman found on the edge of the North York moors and still unidentified after more than forty years. Jim's older sister Penuel Sheriffs, known as Dolly, disappeared without trace in Spean Bridge in October 1958. DNA taken by North Yorkshire police cold case investigator Max Jowett from relatives of Dolly Sheriffs has proved no match for the mystery murder victim found near the North York moors in 1981. He has asked followers on his Fort William Memories Facebook page if they'd like to see Police Scotland carry out a cold case review.

Case Last Updated:

Jul 30, 2026