'My beloved sister was murdered 50 years ago - now I know who killed her'

'My beloved sister was murdered 50 years ago - now I know who killed her' Patricia Black vanished after being walked to the bus stop after a trip to the pub - 50 years later her brother claims his missing sister was killed and has called on people to come forward The brother of a woman who vanished 50 years ago says he believes she was murdered — and he believes he knows who killed her. Patricia Black was last seen walking to a bus stop opposite a local pub where she had spent time on October 9, 1976. The factory worker had spent the day shopping with friends in Irvine, Scotland, before her trip to the pub. Her handbag was recovered from the River Irvine two weeks later weighed down with rocks - but no body was ever found. On the 50th anniversary of her disappearance, her brother Alan Black has claimed he knows who killed Patricia. After leaving the pub that night, four male friends walked Patricia, known as Tricia, to the bus stop before bidding her farewell. Some witnesses later claimed she was seen talking to another man at the bus stop. Alan, from Stevenston, North Ayrshire, claimed the man he suspects had admitted he was with Patricia on the night, and has urged anyone with information to come forward. The grieving brother said: "It is someone she was seen with on the night - who died some years ago. It's a local man. The man I believe killed my sister admitted he saw her. "One police detective later told me they were sure it was this man - they just couldn't get any proof." Alan was just 17 when Patricia disappeared, and has criticised the police investigation in the days following. He said: "There's not a day goes by that I don't think about her. It happened about 10 days before my 18th birthday. "I was the one who took her to Irvine on that Friday night. My mother knew she was staying overnight with a friend but she didn't know who with. Patricia phoned my mum to ask her to put her immersion heater on. But she never came home the next day. That's when mum started getting worried. All day Sunday she was worried and she went to the police on Monday. "The police weren't interested. They said she would be staying with friends. I think she was thrown in the river. If the police had moved their a***e quicker, maybe they would have found her." Soon after Patricia vanished, another missing persons case gripped Scotland. Renee McCrae vanished in November that year alongside her two-year-old son Andrew - both of their bodies have never been found. Alan said: "When that happened, I think the search for Patricia died down." Alan and Patricia's dad, John Black, died two years after the disappearance and Alan said the crime devastated his family. He told the Sun in 2017: "My parents were quiet people and they didn't show their emotions, but the one thing I know they longed for was that Tricia would be found so they could give her a decent burial. "My mother kept her room just the way it was when she went missing for years afterwards. I can't imagine what she was going through. "My father used to sit every day at the window and wait for her coming round the corner - it was so sad to see. He died three years after she disappeared and I personally think it was of a broken heart. We were all devastated." The brother has dismissed recent suggestions that Angus Sinclair, convicted of the World's End murders of Christine Eadie, 17, and Helen Scott, 17, in 1977, could have killed Patricia too. Already a convicted killer and serial rapist, Sinclair was not convicted of the crimes until 2014 and died in prison in 2019. Alan said: "I'm 100 per cent sure it's not the World's End killer Angus Sinclair, who has been in the spotlight in recent times. Sinclair wasn't even mentioned in connection with Patricia until a national newspaper article a few years ago, then the spotlight was on him. I'm sure he's not the man." For years, Alan has pushed anyone with information to come forward. He told The Sun nearly a decade ago: "I would say there are two or three folk who know something and still aren't saying. "Why are they holding back and how would they feel if it was their sister, daughter, or someone they loved? I just wish those people would come forward and be honest."