A woman is trying to piece together the pieces of her family life and solve the mysterious disappearance of her grandmother in 1960.
In a search that has gone viral, Pip O'Neill shared the extraordinary story of her Irish grandmother, Patricia Mary Jones, who left her family in Sussex more than fifty years ago.
At the time of her disappearance, Mrs Jones was married for 15 years and had eight children (seven living) with her husband.
When she left, her youngest child was only a few months old.
O'Neill said: "She (her grandmother) was born on December 9, 1924 in Cork, Ireland. She was around 35 when she left. My grandparents had moved to London in the mid-’50s for better prospects. They lived in Chelsea. When Gatwick Airport was developed they moved to Crawley in Sussex so my grandad could get work."
The following is an image of Patricia - she's the third lady in from the left - while her husband, Denis O’Neill, is also present - he is the man closest to the camera.
When Patricia decided to leave her family in England, she also didn’t get in touch with her siblings or parents back in Cork.
O'Neill adds: "Nobody knows why. After exhausting all options, her parents (my great grandparents) pooled what little money they had into hiring a private investigator to try and find her. This is them in their house in Cork where I think Patsy was born.
"My grandad and all the kids stayed in touch with her side of the family and none of them ever found out what happened to their mum. My mum managed to find her via the Salvation Army in the early 90s but they said that Patsy didn’t want to be found.
Sadly, O'Neill's mother passed away six years ago and Patricia's disappearance "was always very upsetting to her, that she never found out what happened after Patsy left. Looking at the information we have now, some of my cousins and I think that Patsy was probably suffering from postpartum depression" she adds.
The elusive lady from Cork is described as "a beautiful woman, young and glamorous and she loved the bright lights of London."
Those who might be able to provide additional details should know that Patricia also sang briefly in her youth.
O'Neill says: "I’m sure it was a bit of a shock to the system to suddenly find yourself in a small town 30 miles from London with seven kids and no way out.
"As far as we know, she didn’t go back to Ireland, she stayed in London. Patsy’s brother thinks he saw her in Brixton Market in 1963/4 with two small mixed-race children, possibly twins. Another cousin thinks they saw her with the same children in south London a few months later.
"The theory is that she remarried, and couldn’t go home without revealing that she hadn’t divorced her first husband. So did you have a grandmother who fits this description? Or a great-grandma. Was she Irish but wouldn’t talk about it? Did she live in London but seemingly have no contact with any of her family?"
O'Neill notes that she has looked through every birth, marriage and death record for the name of Patricia in all variations, and her birth date.
However, while she can find Patricia's birth certificate and marriage certificate, there's nothing else.
"She is totally off the grid. Does anyone know what happened to Patsy Jones? Was she happy? Did she live a long life? I just want to know. Thank you in advance, fingers crossed someone knows something," asked O'Neill.
If anyone has any pertinent information, you can contact Pip O'Neill via Twitter here.
