MOTHERWELL, Scotland, June 27 (UPI) -- Scottish police said they were searching the garden at the home of a woman who vanished more than 40 years ago, looking for evidence into her disappearance.
Police Superintendent Andy McKay said Ellen Elizabeth Ruffle is still considered a missing person, The Scotsman reported.
"We suspect because of the passage of time and the fact there has been no trace of Ellen since, that she may have been the victim of criminality," McKay said. "Her disappearance was totally out of character, and she had two children she adored."
Ruffle, a former primary school teacher, her husband, Norman, and their two young children were living in Motherwell, a town south of Glasgow, when she was last seen in November 1969. She was 34 at the time.
Norman Ruffle, who moved to South Africa with his children in 1970 and is now living in the Scottish Borders area, has been cooperating with the investigation, McKay said.
The house has changed hands several times over the years. The current owners agreed to move out during the search, which is expected to take several days.
