Skeletal remains found on US mountain identified as missing Scot

Skeletal remains found on a US mountainside 10 months ago have been identified as a missing man from Scotland. The bones of John Gillies, who would have been 69 this year, were discovered near Sweetwater Gap in Fremont County, Wyoming, on 6 September last year. Experts estimate Gillies - who was originally from Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire - died on the Wind River Mountains some time in 2019. Personal effects enabled Sublette County Sheriff's Office to trace Gillies' ex-wife, who lives in the US. She assisted the bid to positively identify him by providing pictures, medical information and biographical details. "I wanted you to know he was more than bones," she told officers. The investigation then led to St Mary's Church in Kirkintilloch, Scotland. On 18 September church officials assisted in locating Gillies' surviving family and helped to facilitate an international death notification. With the help of Interpol and Police Scotland, this involved obtaining DNA samples from Gillies' relatives. The remains were originally recovered by staff from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department near the Sweetwater Gap Guard Station on 6 September last year. A secondary search was then con