By Paul Thornton
FEARS were growing last night for a missing 15-year-old boy who has not been seen in a week.
Jason Black has been missing since last Thursday when he left his home in Ratho, near Edinburgh.
The boy was thought to be heading to the capital on mid-morning but has not been in contact since and police are now appealing for anyone who may have seen him.
Family members are said to be “extremely worried” about Jason, who is six-foot tall, of thin build with short brown hair.
When he was last seen he was wearing a dark coloured jumper and blue jeans and dark Nike trainers with a gold Nike symbol.
Appeal
A police spokeswoman said: “It is now a week since Jason was last seen, and as such we are keen to trace him as quickly as possible.
“It is extremely unusual for him not to make contact with family or friends and as such they area extremely worried about him.
“We would ask for anyone who thinks they may have seen him recently, or who has any information as to his current whereabouts, to contact police urgently.”
Relatives said there had been one possible sighting at a nearby shopping complex, but revealed police had also searched nearby quarries with sniffer dogs filling them with dread.
Phone
The last person to see him was grandmother Christine Black, 63, who lives in the same street.
She had wakened him to get ready for a course he was doing at Stevenson College while his mum Karen, 39, was working at the Government buildings in nearby Sighthill.
And she even insisted the Balerno High pupil pull on a jumper to guard against the cold after he left his jacket at home – with his mobile phone still in its pocket.
Worried Christine said: “We’re all worried. None of his friends have heard from him. We just don’t know what has happened. It’s not like him.
“I got him up out of bed to go to college on Thursday and he was alright – neither up nor down.
“I told him to put a jumper on because it was freezing. I came out to the gate, saw him going down the road, and the was the last.”
She said his older sister Kerry, 17, and mum were beside themselves with worry.
Waiting
She added: “It’s not like him to notify his sister. She is in a real state. We’re all concerned about him. We want to know what it’s all about.
“We don’t know if he has met up with someone and has taken off. We want to know why he has not returned home in a week.
“Is he safe or has something happened? It’s like waiting to see if the police are coming to your door with bad news.”
“He’s a likable boy, a bit of a joker. I think he got on quite well with everybody. And he loves playinga game of football.
“Somebody in the village said he had been seen in the Gyle centre but I don’t know if the police have checked the CCTV yet.
She added: “The whole family is concerned.”
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