The strange disappearance of the YouTube Survivalist Finn Creaney in the Scottish Highlands
Finn Creaney, disappeared March 25, 2022, near Loch Naver, Scottish Highlands, Scotland
Revised October 2023
32-year-old Finn Creaney from the Tain area set out at around 2.15 pm on Friday, March 25, 2022, for a hike. He was dropped off near Loch Naver, on the B873 public road in Sutherland in Scotland, to start his planned walking route around the Loch and south to Golspie. His hiking route took him around the area between Altnaharra and Golspie.
Finn was a keen outdoorsman and survivalist who started a YouTube channel under the name WildCat Bushcraft in January 2021 to showcase his survival skills in the Scottish Highlands, as well as the beautiful scenery of the area. Several of his videos highlighted his ability to build emergency shelters and survive in sub-zero temperatures.
Despite his survivalist experience, March 25, 2022, was the last day Finn was seen. Despite a large search operation, ten months on, he remains missing, with no clues at all found about his fate. Did he become lost? Did he fall into a bog? Despite all the evidence, has he disappeared intentionally to start a new life?
His wife Lucy said in February 2023, “When my five-year-old daughter cries at night for her father, I repeat what I have told her for almost a year: “Daddy has gone on one of his adventures. I don’t know what’s happened, but I’m doing everything I can to get the answers. I love you, I love Daddy, and I miss him. Every time the phone rings, my heart leaps with the thought: It’s him “. Lucy believes she will still find Finn because “people don’t just vanish off the face of the earth”.
The story has some similarities to the missing YouTuber Kenny Veach, who vanished without a trace in the Sheep Mountains near Las Vegas after trying to find the mysterious M-Cave in November 2014. Read the article at The mysterious M Cave and the strange disappearance of Kenny Veach
The YouTube adventure
The weather was unseasonably hot that weekend in March 2022. Finn planned to go on one of his solo adventures in the wilderness, something he had done many times. An experienced and confident survivalist, he was entirely at home in nature.
His intended destination was the Loch Naver area, about an hour’s drive from his home in the countryside outside Tain in the Scottish Highlands. We said goodbye to his wife, Lucy and four-year-old daughter, Luna, that Friday morning, and Finn drove to Golspie Beach car park, around 17 miles away. He left his car there, intending to collect it at the end of his hike. A family member then dropped him off on the B873 road at 2.15 pm at a caravan park, and this was the last definite sighting of Finn.
He left Lucy a voicemail at 12.52 pm on Friday, March 25, “Hey honey. I love you lots, and I’m really proud of you.” She was launching a business as a florist, and he promised to be home by midday on Sunday to deliver the Mother’s Day flowers her customers had ordered. According to his wife, Finn always kept his promises, and he never arrived home late.
Finn’s phone cut off at 1.47 pm in the village of Lairg, and no messages were sent after this. The cellphone had either been switched off, broken or had run out of battery.
Lucy said she could see the messages she had sent him later that afternoon and evening hadn’t been read, and she thought this was strange, as she knew Finn would be using his phone to film his adventure for YouTube and navigation. She didn’t overthink it then as she thought he would be OK; he always was. But he wasn’t….
The search for Finn Creaney
On Sunday evening, Lucy started panicking that Finn hadn’t shown up by midday, and although this was inconvenient, she assumed his hike had taken longer than expected. By 6.30 pm, however, she was starting to worry. She thought his phone had died and he couldn’t get in touch, but the lack of communication was unsettling.
On Monday morning, Lucy rang the school where Finn worked, teaching bushcraft to children. “I’m Finn Creaney’s wife, and this is going to sound weird, but is Finn there?” They told her he wasn’t, then went and checked the whole school, called back, and confirmed he wasn’t there. She then rang the Police to report Finn missing.
Lucy said, “Even then, I still felt ridiculous. I was sure I was overreacting; all but certain the police would meet him on his walk, and he would laugh, “Are you for real?” He’s like a cat. He always lands on his feet and always comes home. But I also couldn’t help thinking: What if something has happened? Had he had an accident? What else could have gone on? Looking back, I think I probably went into a state of shock, unable to make sense of his absence. “
Finn was described as 5ft 11, slim, with a light complexion and freckles on his arms and nose. He has long brown hair down to his lower back and a full brown beard that is short in length.
He was last seen wearing a black t-shirt, a knee-length brown leather jacket, dark-coloured trousers, brown waterproof boots and was carrying a green rucksack. He was planning to film a YouTube video, so it is presumed he was carrying a camera or several cameras.
Police searched the area between Altnaharra and Golspie in Sutherland with the support of the Air Support Unit and many partner agencies, including mountain rescue and Coastguard. The search lasted 3-4 weeks, but no signs of Finn or his equipment appeared.
What happened to Finn Creaney?
There is no evidence that Finn would ever choose to go missing intentionally, and there were no signs of a mental health crisis. The business he had launched was starting to take off, and he had a strong relationship with his family, having been together with his wife for nine years and had gotten married in 2021.
The family did everything possible to find Finn after the official search finished, including ground searching on many occasions, poster campaigns, social media appeals, online searching and research. But there were no genuine sightings, apart from one by some bikers, who believed they saw Finn at about 3.45 pm, roughly three miles down the road from where he was dropped off, and they said he seemed cheerful. Others have come forward and reported sightings, none of which have matched.
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Further viewing
A Wandering Wildcat: The Tragic Disappearance of Finn Creaney (Missing Person Full Documentary)
Read more strange stories from Scotland
The strange and unexplained death of Nicholas Randall in the Scottish Highlands
The disturbing death of Fiona Torbet in the Scottish highlands
The mysterious case of Netta Fornario on the Scottish Island of Iona
The Eilean Mor Lighthouse Keepers
The strange disappearance of Shaun Ritchie from Scotland on Halloween Night
The Great Mull Air Mystery - The death of Peter Gibbs on the Isle of Mull in Scotland (Member only)
Sources
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082846179113
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11730753/Wife-missing-bushcraft-expert-addresses-Nicola-Bulleys-family.html
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/08/husband-went-walk-never-came-back/
https://www.scotland.police.uk/what-s-happening/missing-persons/finn-creaney/
