On Tuesday 28 April 1998, two young children returned from school to an empty house. Their mother, 33-year-old Arlene, had mysteriously vanished without trace.

As the days passed and fears for Arlene increased, the spotlight fell on the quiet town of Elgin in North-East Scotland. Rumour, suspicion and media scrutiny intensified – particularly when the troubled reality of Arlene’s marriage to local businessman Nat Fraser came to light.

Unpicking the controversial investigation and the extraordinary twists in Scotland’s courts, two-part series Murder Case: The Hunt for Arlene Fraser’s Killer highlights a family’s unbreakable determination to uncover the truth – even as answers remain agonisingly out of reach.

The forthcoming new series of Murder Case (2x60) features interviews with those who lived the case from the inside – the detectives, the media and the family. At the heart of the series is Arlene’s sister, Carol Gillies, who pushed for answers and championed reform in Scottish law to stop killers from walking free while they continue to hide the whereabouts of their victim’s remains.

Murder Case: The Hunt for Arlene Fraser’s Killer is a BBC Scotland commission, made by Firecrest Films.

Mick McAvoy, executive producer at Firecrest Films, said: “Arlene Fraser’s case has remained deeply rooted in the Scottish public consciousness since her disappearance in 1998. 

“With support from her loved ones, this series explores the intricacies of Arlene’s case from the moment she went missing in April 1998 right up to the present day, with her family’s fight in the Scottish Parliament to change the parole process for ‘no body’ murderers.”