The man who killed Margaret Fleming has died in prison without disclosing the location of the teenager’s remains.
Edward Cairney, 82, was jailed in 2019 along with his partner Avril Jones for murdering the vulnerable 19-year-old who disappeared over 20 years ago.
He was being held at HMP Edinburgh and the Scottish Prison Service confirmed he died on Sunday.
The couple were carers for Margaret, who had learning difficulties and lived with them at their home in Inverclyde.
Margaret went to live in Inverkip with the couple – who had been friends of her father – after he died in 1995.
The last confirmed sighting of Margaret was in December 1999 and she is believed to have been killed around that time.
Jones continued to claim £182,000 in benefits until 2016 when it was finally established that Margaret was missing.
Her disappearance was so mysterious that at one point police asked Cairney and Jones if she even existed.
They concocted numerous stories including that Margaret ran off with a traveller, that she then went on to become a gangmaster who travelled around Europe, and that she was a drug dealer with several aliases.
A jury found the pair guilty of murdering Margaret within three weeks of her final sighting on 17 December 1999.
Her body has never been found despite pleas from the police and Margaret’s family to the killers to reveal the location of her remains.
A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: “Edward Cairney, 82, a prisoner at HMP Edinburgh has died on October 15.
“He was convicted at Glasgow High Court in 2019. Police Scotland have been advised and the matter reported to the Procurator Fiscal.”
A Fatal Accident Inquiry is likely to be held, as is standard practice after deaths in custody.