The tenth anniversary of Allan Bryant's disappearance saw his family speak at a police press conference of their heartache, and desire to need to know what happened to him.
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00:00 Alan Bryant disappeared on a night out ten years ago. To this day his family have no
00:05 idea what happened to him. Finding the young man from Glenrothes has become the longest
00:10 running missing person search ever staged in Fife. He was just 23 years old when he
00:16 vanished. There was nothing out of the ordinary on the night he disappeared on November 3rd
00:20 2013. He went to an engagement party at Lesley Golf Club and then on to a local nightclub
00:25 with friends. The last known sighting of him was captured on grainy CCTV footage as he
00:31 left the Sticks nightclub around 2am. His family home was barely one mile away but he
00:36 never made it. And nothing has been seen or heard of him since, despite numerous appeals
00:41 and an incredible campaign by his family and friends to keep his name and picture in the
00:46 public eye in the hope that someone may give them the answers that they want.
00:52 I've come along today to support our appeal. I'm Detective Inspector Scott Roxburgh and
00:56 I'm the Senior Investigating Officer for Operation Toner which is the investigation
01:01 into the disappearance of Alan Bryant Jr. We are pleased that Alan's dad, Alan Sr,
01:07 mum Mary and sister Amy have come along today to support our appeal. We would all like to speak.
01:15 Alan, 10 years ago today my son Alan went missing 10 years of party and being unknown what's
01:27 happened or where he, where his remains lie. My family have been through so much in the
01:37 last 10 years. Watching the police divers set up spawn, there was well supplies in the
01:42 woodland and so many other places. Praying each time they would find Alan, the disappointment
01:50 and the heartache when they gone. We knew on Monday the 15th November 2013 that we were
01:58 in need of that call to the police. Something was very, very, very, very, very wrong. It
02:07 was so out of character for Alan not to be in touch with us. We never did, we think,
02:15 we would still be searching for our son Alan 10 years on. All we need is closure, we need
02:23 the truth, we need Alan's back home. Thanks Alan. Mary would you like to go? Yeah. The
02:33 past 10 years have been a living hell. We are still trying to find out what happened
02:38 to our dear son Alan. We want to bring him home and we will never give up until he's
02:43 found. We know in our hearts that Alan is no longer with us and that is so hard to deal
02:52 with. But as worst as that we do not know what happened to him. All we want to know
02:58 is the truth and get Alan home and I know probably means laying him to rest. If you
03:04 know anything please call the police. Alan we miss and love you so much. Thanks Mary.
03:13 Mary would you like to go? Yeah. So it's almost that time of year when we all feel down.
03:20 Christmases and birthdays aren't the same around the house. Tell me when will it get
03:24 better, when will the pain go away? It's been 10 years since you went out with your
03:29 friends and never made it home. When will the pain go? The house will never be the same.
03:35 We all miss you so much. Not being able to shout your name when dinner's ready at 5
03:39 o'clock. We sit around the table, there's an empty spot. You're not with us in person
03:44 but you're with us in our hearts. Tell me when will it get better, when will the pain
03:49 go away? It's been 10 years since you went out with your friends and you never made it
03:54 home. Still can't believe you're gone. Now a drive passed from the place that you were
03:59 last seen, how could anybody bring this to our family? I miss you so much Alan and I
04:04 just hope we're doing the proud everyday. We'll never give up. Thank you. For 10 years
04:11 the aim has been to find Alan. Since he was last seen on Sunday the 3rd of November 2013
04:17 significant inquiries have taken place. Information received from the public has covered a wide
04:22 range of scenarios including that Alan has been harmed in some way. All information has
04:28 been investigated thoroughly, recorded, assessed and acted accordingly. Alan's disappearance
04:34 remains a missing persons inquiry. We want to find answers for Alan's family. We are
04:39 determined to do everything that we can to find out what happened to Alan after he left
04:44 Sticks nightclub in Glen Northwest. If you were in Sticks that night and have not been
04:48 spoken to by the investigation team previously, please get in touch. You may hold vital information
04:54 that can help us find Alan. Alan may have intended to go elsewhere when he left Sticks
05:00 or there's a chance that Alan began looking home and he may have become disorientated.
05:04 If you were in Napier Road or South Park Road area or anywhere else in the local area, when
05:09 Alan went missing, then please think back and let us know if you saw anything that could
05:14 help trace Alan's movements. I urge anyone who has not come forward and who may have
05:19 information that could help with their inquiries to get in touch. No matter how small you think
05:24 that piece of information is, please pass it on. Thank you.
05:29 [Paper rustling]
05:32 Thank you everyone.
05:40 The last known sighting of Alan Bryant was here at Sticks Snooker Club behind me in Glen
05:50 Northwest. He was caught on CCTV cameras leaving the building about 2am after a night out here
05:56 following an engagement party. Police say there was a fancy dress party on that night which
06:00 makes identification of some people very difficult and they've renewed the repair for anyone who
06:04 was here who may have seen him to get in touch 10 years on to finally solve the riddle of
06:09 what happened to him.
06:11 We are investigating all lines of inquiry that come into us and that involves a vast
06:15 amount of scenarios and criminality is one of those. We have done that throughout the
06:20 last 10 years. We've investigated allegations or suspicions that Alan may have been the
06:24 victim of a crime and to date we have not uncovered any evidence to substantiate these
06:29 claims. Any evidence or any information that comes into us we will investigate thoroughly.
06:35 We will record that and assess it and everything that comes into the inquiry room is fully
06:42 investigated. So yeah, there are a number of scenarios or hypotheses that may have happened
06:48 and all of those are still on the table today as they were 10 years ago. The purpose of
06:53 today really is to appeal to the members of the public. If you have any information whatsoever
06:58 please get in touch with us and pass it on. We want to provide Alan's family with the
07:02 answers that they rightly deserve.
07:04 Is that why you believe that the answers lie within the local community?
07:07 Yes, I think they do. Glenrothes is quite a tight knit community. There are various housing
07:15 schemes and estates within Glenrothes and I think that the answer does lie within the
07:19 community and that's why we are appealing to the local community to think back 10 years.
07:24 I know that's a long time. Alan's parents have been through a lot in the last 10 years
07:28 but they need to think back. Is there anything at all, anything they thought maybe I should
07:32 phone the police about that and they've maybe just not done so. I'm now appealing to those
07:35 people, come forward, let us, provide us that information and let us assess that and see
07:42 if that is going to take this inquiry forward.
07:45 I'm just going to ask you a question, just briefly, is there anything significant that's
07:48 come to you recently? I know you might have garbled some of the finer points of that.
07:53 Is there anything that's coming through to you that's taken this forward?
07:57 No, at the moment there is nothing that's taken this inquiry forward recently. We often
08:03 receive information about various sightings of Alan, whether that be elsewhere in Scotland
08:08 or the UK and indeed wider and those inquiries are also fully investigated and unfortunately
08:14 to date none of those investigations have allowed us to find Alan.
08:20 You mentioned today, obviously, people who have not come forward yet. Are there still
08:24 people out there who just haven't picked up the phone possibly?
08:27 Yeah, that is a possibility. We know that on the night Alan disappeared from Sticks
08:31 nightclub on Cascaverne Road, that it was a fancy dress night and I would say that that
08:36 did prove a bit problematic for us in terms of identifying members of the public that
08:40 were in the nightclub. We have spoken to a large number of people that were there but
08:44 I think there are probably some that we have not managed to trace or have not come forward.
08:48 So we appeal to them, please come forward. You might not think that you know anything
08:52 but let us assess that and be the judge of that.
08:56 [No audio]