Police are continuing to investigate the “unexplained” death of a woman at a Mearns cliffside.
The woman, who has not been named by police, was found dead along with an injured man following an incident on the coast at Kinneff on Friday morning.
The male was taken to hospital but it is understood his injuries are not life-threatening.
A full emergency response was called to the coast at the roadside village, near Inverbervie, at 1.35am.
Police Scotland, the Scottish Ambulance Service, two teams from Aberdeen Coastguard and Stonehaven RNLI were called out following initial reports that there was a missing person in the area.
Crews later discovered a woman had died on the cliffs.
Another person was taken to hospital following the search with the minor injuries, and the lifeboat was stood down at 2.40am.
A spokeswoman said: “Police Scotland can confirm that officers are continuing to investigate the unexplained death of a female in the Whistleberry Castle area of Kinneff.
“Emergency services were alerted at around 1.20am on Friday May 27, 2016.
“A male was also taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary with non-life threatening injuries.
“The investigation is at an early stage and enquiries are ongoing.”
The volunteer crew were paged at 1.22am to assist in the search for a missing person off the cliffs at Kinneff, near Whistleberry Farm.
The boat was launched at 1.35am and its crew assisted the Coastguard by providing light for the search.
A spokesman said: “After an extensive search two casualties were recovered by Coastguards and handed over to awaiting paramedics.
“The boat was stood down at 2.40hrs and return to Stonehaven harbour and refuelled and back on service.
“This rescue was attended by our multi-agencies which included, Police Scotland, Stonehaven Coastguards and Scottish Ambulance Service.”
