The boy who vanished: 50 years on from the disappearance of Sandy Davidson

The boy who vanished: 50 years on from the disappearance of Sandy Davidson13 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJonathan GeddesGlasgow and west reporterPolice ScotlandSandy Davidson was playing in his grandparents' garden before he disappearedOn a warm April day in 1976 three-year-old Sandy Davidson was playing with his sister Donna in the garden of his grandparents house in Irvine, when the family dog bounded out to the street.Sandy chased after the pet while Donna told her grandparents what had happened before also going out onto the street. By then Sandy was gone - and has never been seen since. Over the years there have been several theories about what happened, from falling into the nearby Annick River to being taken away by a man delivering leaflets. Donna has now launched an appeal to mark the 50th anniversary of the disappearance in the hope someone can shed some light on the case.More stories from Glasgow & West ScotlandMore stories from ScotlandIn a statement released through Police Scotland, Donna - who was two at the time her brother disappeared - said it was "beyond heartbreaking" to still not have any answers about what happened on 23 April 1976.In 2017 she told BBC Scotland News she suspected Sandy was no longer alive.She recalled: "We were in the garden playing with the dog and the dog got out of the garden."Sandy followed the dog and I went after them as well. I returned back with the dog and Sandy has never been seen since."It has always been part of my life. It has always been there."A massive police search was launched at the time, while work on homes and a school for the nearby Bourtreehill estate was suspended. Despite those efforts, no sign of the child was ever found. Theories on Sandy Davidson's disappearance Sandy's parents Margaret and Phillip believed that their son had been taken by a lonely man who wanted a child of his own. That theory gained credence over a decade ago when a...