The drive to find my dad will never stop, for as long as I live
Daily Record|September 09, 2024
>>Plans are in place to dig up sites in Syria to find his remains >> She reveals she watched the sick video of his beheading
MARK MCGIVERN
The drive to find my dad will never stop, for as long as I live

THE daughter of Scots aid worker David Haines, who was beheaded by Isis terrorists, is planning a mission to Syria to bring back his remains.

As the 10th anniversary of his murder approaches, Bethany Haines has revealed that she will never admit defeat in the battle to return David to Scotland.

She said: "The drive to find my dad will never stop as long as I live." Her quest is based on detailed witness testimonies and collaborations with other victims' families.

These have led her to identify sites in the Syrian desert which she is prepared to personally excavate.

Bethany, 27, also revealed she is planning a memorial next month in David's home city of Perth to mark the anniversary and celebrate his life.

The mum of one's stance is different to David's brother Michael, who told at the weekend how he has accepted that the remains of the humanitarian worker may never be brought home.

Bethany, who was 17 when her dad's gruesome death was beamed to the world in a sick Isis video, says that watching the video was the worst moment of her life.

But she believes it is powering her resolve to fulfil a debt she believes she owes to her father.

She said: "We are getting closer, and we are getting more and more information and there are very promising leads we can follow.

"It is being checked and verified and we are confident in a couple of places, so it is just about kind of being able to do boots-on-the-ground stuff.

"The aim now is to arrange support in Syria for actual physical searching with spade and shovel if need be, and with the right people to help identify remains, in terms of DNA etcetera." The political landscape has been thrown into chaos by the IsraeliHamas conflict.

This story is from the September 09, 2024 edition of Daily Record.

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This story is from the September 09, 2024 edition of Daily Record.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.