Waiting for Answers After Husband Goes Missing on Ben Nevis
The wife of an American climber who has been missing on Ben Nevis for nearly four months described her grief as "on hold" while she awaits information about her husband’s fate.
Kym McGillicuddy last communicated with her husband Brian via text on 17 February, telling him "I love you" just two days before he was reported missing on the UK's highest mountain.
The New Yorker traveled to Scotland to assist with the initial search efforts for Brian, 64, but more than 100 days later, he remains unlocated.
Police Scotland confirmed that Brian is still classified as a missing person and stated that any new information would be thoroughly evaluated.
"Brian had been planning the trip for months and he was super excited about going,"Kym told BBC Scotland News.
It was Brian’s second hiking expedition to Ben Nevis.
"He has been climbing for over 50 years, he started as a kid during summer camp and it just spiralled from there,"she said.
"When he was an adult he got into rock climbing and ice climbing.
He loved to go to Scotland and Italy but Yosemite was one of his favourite places to go.
Brian actually got me into rock climbing too and we used to travel all over together, when I could still take part.
He also loved to go to climb in the Adirondack Mountains which are near where we live."
During Brian’s trip to Scotland, the couple exchanged texts with occasional day-long gaps due to the time difference, so Kym was initially not concerned when contact was lost.
"Brian was there for two weeks, he spent the first week with one group of buddies and the second with another friend from America,"she explained.
"It was a Thursday in February, on his second week of the trip, that he was reported missing.
His climbing partner from the second week of the trip was the one to report him missing, nobody knew my number to phone me.
I found out from a mutual climbing friend who saw the appeal.
She told me he was missing - straight away I knew it was serious because I hadn't heard from him in 30 hours."
It is believed that Brian, an experienced ice climber, may have been attempting the Orion Face Direct route, one of Ben Nevis’s most challenging ice climbing routes, when contact was lost.
Kym and her sister-in-law, Kirsten Swanson McGillicuddy, flew to Scotland to join the search, which was later suspended due to dangerous weather conditions.
Mountain rescue teams, coastguard, drone pilots, and search and rescue dog units participated in the operation amid severe winter weather.
"There was a point the police told us that the search had changed from search and rescue to recovery.
There were no results and the weather was getting worse so we had to return back to America.
Police Scotland told us they would keep looking and be in touch.
This week police said the search will continue, primarily with drones but conditions remain difficult and they are waiting for more snow to recede so they can expand their search."
Living with Uncertainty and Grief
The family continues to endure heartbreak with no new developments.
A celebration of life service was held on 14 March at a church in their hometown of Harrison.
The family expressed that obtaining answers would be profoundly meaningful.
"Now we are assuming the worst. Brian was a wonderful man and we all miss and love him so much,"Kym said.
"Everything is hard enough since we are grieving but without a death certificate it is hard to take the next steps because there is so much red tape.
It still feels like this is happening to somebody else. It's a horrible reality to live in.
I find the morning's most difficult - when I first wake up that's when I realise he is gone all over again."
Brian is described as 6ft 1in (1.85m), slim build, with short grey and white hair.
When last seen, he was wearing a white climbing helmet, a dark blue jacket, white jeans, and blue and red gaiters.
Police previously appealed for information from anyone who could help establish Brian’s intended route and urged anyone who may have seen him in the area during February to come forward.
Volunteers from Lochaber, Glencoe, Oban, Police Scotland, RAF Lossiemouth mountain rescue teams, and the Search and Rescue Dog Association (Scotland) have all contributed to the search efforts.
A coastguard helicopter has also been involved in the rescue operations.
