MISSING PERSON
CASE #: 1969-3
Isabella Skelton
Status:
Open
Date of Last Contact:
Date of Last Contact:
Jurisdiction:
Missing From:
Crumpsall, Greater Manchester, England
Summary:
Isabella Skelton, a 35-year-old woman living in the Crumpsall area of Manchester, disappeared from her home on 5 June 1969. No confirmed sightings or official records of her have emerged since. Her family reported her missing in 2019, leading to a police investigation, and Greater Manchester Police later confirmed that they were treating the case as a murder investigation, and her disappearance was featured on BBC Crimewatch in 2024.
Vital Statistics
Circumstances of Disappearance:
Skelton was last seen in the morning hours of the 6th June 1969 by her daughter at her residence in Crumpsall. Her disappearance occurred two weeks before her daughter's fifteenth birthday, while one of her two sons was in hospital with a broken leg. According to her daughter, their father told the children that Skelton had "gone away for work", offering no further explanation, and they did not see their mother again. Strangely, Isabella wasn't reported missing to the authorities at the time of her disappearance.
Additional Details:
Skelton's daughter married in the early 1970s and began searching for her mother following the birth of her second child in 1975. She and her husband travelled to Scotland to check the electoral roll and went through every McDowall listed in the telephone directory, attempting to trace relatives who might have known her whereabouts. She also undertook genealogical research, but no information about her mother emerged. Skelton's daughter said that their father did not speak about her mother's disappearance and that it became a "taboo subject". She later became estranged from him. There has been no record of Skelton claiming her pension or receiving medical care, and no confirmed sightings of her have been reported since 1969. She started searching for her in 1978 and reported her missing in 2019. Greater Manchester Police started investigating, with the Cold Case Review Unit treating it as a murder inquiry. A man was arrested on suspicion of Ms Skelton's murder in 2019 but no-one was charged. Officers had searched the family's former home in Crumpsall after receiving information about ground being disturbed and excavated both the garden and the cellar for a period of 12 weeks. Linda has auditioned for the ITV show Long Lost Family, worked with the Salvation Army and the charity Missing People in a bid to find her mum. She even sought the help of the Preston branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Linda hoped that Mormons from the church could use a huge family history library and archive known as The Vault stored at their base in Salt Lake City, Utah, to locate her mum.
Case Last Updated:
Timeline of Events
Her disappearance was featured on BBC Crimewatch in 2024.
Specialist officers worked at an address in Crumpsall on Lidiard Street, where Isabella is last known to have lived before she went missing in June 1969.
An age progression image of what Isabella may look like now was released in September 2020.
Lynda, determined to find out what happened that day, walked into the police station with her own daughter and reported her mother missing, setting into motion a brand new investigation into a decades old mystery.
Skelton was last seen at her home in the Crumpsall area of Manchester.
Skelton was last seen in the morning hours of the 6th June 1969 by her daughter at her residence in Crumpsall.
Associated Persons
Lewis S. (Spouse) - Deceased
Linda C. (Child) - Living
Richard S. (Child) - Living
Stephen S. (Child) - Living
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