A WOMAN whose 11-year-old sister disappeared 60 years ago has told how she hopes a new search for her body will end her family’s heartache.

Moira Anderson went missing in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, after going on an errand to shops from her grandmother’s home.

She was never seen again and it is suspected she fell victim to convicted paedophile Alexander Gartshore, the last person to see her in 1957.

Moira’s family have never given up on their search for her final resting place and her sister Janet Hart has returned to Scotland from her home in Australia to mark the 60th anniversary of her sibling’s last known sighting.

Mrs Hart, 72, revealed her hopes a new search for Moira may solve one of the longest-running mysteries in Scottish criminal history.

She also revealed Gartshore attacked her two years after Moira disappeared.

She said police spoke to her after the incident, but nothing more was done.

Recalling that incident, Mrs Hart said she was out during her lunch hour from school when a man called her over to his car.

“He had the bonnet up at the side,” she said.

“He told me to hold his dipstick, and under he went and up – groping me. I dropped the dipstick and ran.”

She said she identified the man as Gartshore but heard nothing more from the police.

The new search is expected to take place over two weeks at a site near Monkland Canal in Coatbridge and will see forensic specialists from across Europe take part.

The team will include Professor Sue Black, from Dundee University, who was previously involved in the exhuming of Old Monkland Cemetery in 2013 when a lair was searched for Moira.

Police were never able to pin Moira’s disappearance on child rapist Gartshore, who died a free man in 2006 aged 85.

But prosecutors believe they have enough evidence to bring a case in court if he was alive.

Speaking at the Moira Anderson Foundation headquarters in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Mrs Hart,who was later joined by Moira’s cousin Janet Fryer, said: “I feel very close to Moira and always have done, but driving to this today in the snow made me think of her all the more because it was exactly the same 60 years ago when she went missing.

“It’s almost like an omen and as if Moira is meant to be found after the snow has cleared and the police begin their investigation. I’m very emotional today and genuinely think we are getting close to finally getting closure. Over the years I’ve not stopped thinking about what may or may not have happened to her that night.

“I think we are very close to finding her and we will never have a better chance with the new technology and with the setting up of the cold case unit that has brought so many specialists together to try and find her.”

The Foundation was set up by Sandra Brown, the daughter of Alexander Gartshore. She previously worked with police to attempt to link Gartshore with the murder and remains convinced he killed her. She said: “This has been a very emotional day for everyone involved and represents a form of closure for Janet.

“If the police investigation finds the wee soul, that will take us further forward again because we will be able to bury her properly.”