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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
Sally Hind

50 years after Glasgow mum reported missing detectives release new image of how she'd look today

Police have issued a computer generated picture of a Glasgow mum 50 years after she was reported missing.

Isabella Skelton, formerly Dowell, hasn't been seen since walking out of the family home in 1969.

And now detectives hope the decades old mystery can be solved and give her family some closure.

The new picture of the mum of three -  who moved to Manchester before her disappearance - shows what she'd look like as an 86-year-old, the Daily Record reports.

Better known as Izzy, her daughter Linda Chapman and sons Stephen and Richard have never given up looking for her since June 6, 1969.

The believe she could have returned to Scotland, where the family had links to Glasgow's Castlemilk and Drumchapel as well as Barrhead, Hamilton and Paisley.

She said: "I just want to know, one way or another.

"I don't feel like I can sit on anything, any piece of information. It is keeping me going really.

"The police can't find any hospital records for her and there's no record of her claiming a state pension or anything. There must be a reason she's not doing that.

"I'm piecing a lot of things together now."

Born in January 1934, it is believed Isabella was a pupil at Anderson Cross school, where she had a good friend called Anna Owen.

She later did some work in a florist and also worked for the James Howden engineering company in Glasgow.

Isabella married Lewis Skelton in July 1952 and the couple had three children - Linda, Richard and Stephen.

She moved to Manchester in the early 1960s, first living in Salford then moving to Crumpsall. She worked at the courier company Atlas Express, based in Salford and was employed at Gallagher Cigarettes and Ball Bearings Services at the time of her disappearance.

At the time the family lived in a terraced house on Lidiard Street, in Crumpsall, north Manchester.

Since Isabella's disappearance, her children have had children and grandchildren of their own.

Linda says she just wants to know her mum is safe.

She said previously: "When she went it was awful. Really terrible.

"I think of her every day. And every time June 6 comes around I know. I don't need to write it down - I know how I feel.

"I have never stopped thinking about her.

"She has missed so much - my wedding, all those Christmases, my daughter's wedding, the grandchildren. I have missed her.

"She's really missed by her family.

"And I don't blame her. People say 'how can she walk out on three children?' but we don't know what was going on.

"I just hope she is well and she's found happiness. I would be happy for her if she's had a happy life."

Detective Inspector Claire Moss, of Greater Manchester Police's City of Manchester Division, is urging anyone with information about Isabella to come forward.

She said: "After more than 50 years, Isabella's family are still desperately looking for answers.

"There is no record of Isabella after she left Manchester and there is no record of her death.

"We therefore believe she is still alive and remains classed as a missing person with GMP.

"We appreciate that we are talking about a long time frame, with little information to go on, but we hope that someone may recognise the image we're releasing today.

"We owe it to Isabella's family not to stop looking for her."

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