The wife of a Dundee FC legend is demanding answers after her husband went missing from a care home.
Lynda Pirie says her husband Billy – who has dementia – was found wandering near the town’s harbour, about a mile away from Seaton Grove Care Home.
An unknown couple are said to have found Billy and alerted Seaton Grove staff on Thursday.
Lynda wants to know how Billy – a goalscoring hero for the Dark Blues in the 1970s – was able to leave the council-run home unseen.
Billy lives with Lynda at their home in Montrose but went to Seaton Grove last week for a fortnight’s respite.
Wife ‘still waiting for answers’ after Dundee FC legend wanders from Arbroath care home
Lynda told The Courier: “I was contacted by the care home on Friday to tell me that Billy had been found down at the harbour.
“This happened on Thursday but no one told me anything about it until the following day when I got a phone call.
“I am still waiting for answers to what actually happened and how Billy could be allowed to wander off unseen and with no one realising.”
Lynda says an unnamed couple found Billy at the harbour and identified him thanks to a wallet in his pocket with details of the care home.
Lynda said: “I have been given two different versions about how he got out, with the care home admitting to me that his absence hadn’t been spotted until the couple got in touch.
“The care home didn’t give me the full story and they haven’t told me who the couple are.”
Lynda drove to Arbroath the following day and took Billy home.
She said: “I am very concerned and want to know what happened. The home has given me excuse after excuse.
“If it hadn’t been for this couple, I have no idea what might have happened to Billy down at the harbour.
“He must have been gone quite some time because it’s a decent walk from there – the home tried to tell me he’s a quick walker.
“I’m just very upset and concerned. It’s very unlikely Billy will be going back there.”
A spokeswoman for Angus Council said: “The Angus Health and Social Care Partnership cannot comment publicly on individual cases, but the concerns raised are being investigated.”
Billy was inducted into the Dundee FC Hall of Fame in 2016.
In four years at Dens Park, he scored 106 goals in 138 appearances.
He scored 44 goals in his first season with the club – a feat yet to be bettered by any player since.
He also turned out for clubs including Aberdeen and Arbroath.
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