Saima Ahmed: Family of woman found dead near Edinburgh's Gogarburn golf course 'still have no answers'

Brother visits golf course where sister’s remains were found

The brother of a woman whose remains were found near an Edinburgh golf course has returned to the scene on the fifth anniversary of his sister’s disappearance to make a fresh appeal for information.

Mystery still surrounds the death of 36-year-old librarian Saima Ahmed whose skull and bone fragments were discovered on land at Gogar Mount House, close to Gogarburn Golf Club, near Edinburgh Airport, on Wednesday, January 9, 2016.

The grim find was made four months after she was reported missing from her home in Wembley, London.

Saima Ahmed's skull and bone fragments were discovered on land at Gogar Mount House, close to Gogarburn Golf Club, on Wednesday, January 9, 2016.

Saima is believed to have travelled to Edinburgh by train on Sunday, August 30, 2015 but her devastated family still don't know why she would make the journey to a city with which she had “no known links”.

Speaking from the scene, Sadat Ahmed, 37, spoke of his family's torment at not knowing how and why his sister met her death.

He said: “From day one till now, no more progress, no more answers. Time hasn't helped, every time we try to go through it in our heads it still doesn't make any more sense. It’s so out of character for her to come here to Edinburgh on her own.”

Sadat described his sister as an inquisitive person who would have spoken to people while in Edinburgh. He believes someone in the Capital has information about how and why his sister was in the city and wants them to come forward.

Brother Sadat Ahmed, 37, spoke of his family's torment over mystery of his sister's disappearance.

He said: “She was very inquisitive, so she would have asked questions when she was in a city she had never been to, she must have spoken to someone. She was in Edinburgh, so to the people of Edinburgh I say please come forward to help me and my family get some answers.”

He added: “This area is not somewhere you would typically walk on your own, so she must have been in contact with people. Somebody must have interacted with her.”

A train ticket found with Saima’s remains at Gogarburn led detectives to believe she travelled to Edinburgh on Sunday, August 30, 2015. Officers think she may have arrived in the Capital at around 10.15pm.

A dog walker reported a woman matching her description "staring out to sea" on Portobello beach the day after she disappeared but little else is known about Saima’s movements after arriving in Scotland.

Detective Superintendent Martin MacLean asked anyone with information on Saima’s movements between her arrival in Edinburgh and her body being found to come forward and help piece together the puzzle.

To date, the force has said that no suspicious circumstances surrounding Saima's death have been discovered.

Det Supt MacLean said: “The purpose of today is to reinvigorate our appeal for information, to help provide answers for the family, particularly around Saima’s movements after she arrived in Edinburgh.

“We know that she travelled from North London to Edinburgh by train but we still do not know where or how Saima arrived exactly in Edinburgh and where she went when she was in Edinburgh, whom she might have met prior to being found in January 2016.

“If there is somebody out there with whom she met or indeed she travelled to meet please come forward and help us piece together Saima’s final movements in Edinburgh. Help try and provide some closure and answers for Sadat and his family.”

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