Shivangi Sinha
In September 2017, when Tony Parsons set out on a charity cycling ride, his family wished him well. His wife, Margaret Parsons, stayed back at home, while their kids, Mike and Victoria Parsons, were aware of the full itinerary and supported their 63-year-old father’s journey. However, the day he left, although he initially sent a few messages, he suddenly stopped responding. His family searched for him and eventually filed a missing person report, but it wasn’t until December 2020 that they received answers, when Caroline Muirhead contacted the police and identified Alexander and Robert McKellar as responsible. In Netflix’s ‘Should I Marry a Murderer?,’ the case and its emotional impact on Parsons’ family are explored with sensitivity.
Tony Parsons’ Family Grew Concerned After They Couldn’t Contact Him
Tony Parsons and his wife, Margaret Parsons, raised their two children, Mike and Victoria Parsons, in the town of Tillicoultry in Scotland’s Clackmannanshire council area. It was their home, where they experienced both challenges and milestones together. By 2017, Tony, a retired Naval officer and cancer survivor, had become involved in advocacy work and remained active and determined. His family was very supportive, so when he decided to undertake a 104-mile charity cycling journey from Fort William back home, they encouraged him. After setting out on September 29, 2017, Tony kept in touch initially and sent Margaret a few text messages along the way. He told her he was set to start his journey.
However, by that night, he was no longer reachable. The following day, after neither Mike, Victoria, nor Margaret had heard from him, their concern grew. Victoria even searched along the A82 highway, where she knew her father would have been cycling, but found no trace of him. Mike later said that when he received the call from his sister, he immediately sensed that something was wrong. After waiting a little longer, the family filed a missing person report on October 2, 2017. What followed was an extensive search involving authorities and members of the community, along with repeated public appeals from the family. It was not until January 12, 2021, that Tony’s remains were discovered at Auch Estate, owned by Alexander and Robert McKellar.
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For Mike and Victoria Parsons, the years that followed were incredibly difficult. Mike has said that in the three years between his father’s disappearance and the discovery of his remains, he had come to accept that he might never see him again. Margaret, however, was more accustomed to long separations due to Tony’s work and held on to the hope that he might return at any moment. For their children, the uncertainty was different. Mike, who had served in the police force for over 13 years, understood that either a miraculous outcome or the worst was possible. Victoria, also a serving officer, shared that grim awareness, and within a week of the search, the siblings realized survival without access to water would have been unlikely.
Still, it was the not knowing that weighed on them the most. Caroline Muirhead’s report to the police brought a sense of closure, and after Tony’s remains were recovered, the family held his funeral in April 2021 in the Stirlingshire Crematorium in Bannockburn, Scotland. They made it clear they were seeking justice and hoped for answers. When Alexander McKellar pleaded guilty in July 2023, the family released a statement: “As you can imagine, not knowing what has happened to someone and then the devastating news that we were provided has taken its toll on all of us as a family.” They added that no sentence could truly match their loss and expressed gratitude to the police and search teams who had supported them since 2017.
In January 2025, the family settled a civil lawsuit against the insurance company that provided coverage for the car that was involved in the incident. They received a six-figure settlement that was privately agreed upon. In the same year, Margaret, Mike, and Victoria appeared in the documentary ‘Murder Case: The Vanishing Cyclist,’ and shared their story publicly for the first time. Despite this, they largely value their privacy and often communicate through a family spokesperson. While Mike has since stepped away from police service and remains an active member of his community, Victoria is believed to still be serving in the force.
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