Disappearance of Isabella Skelton

Isabella Skelton, known as "Izzy," was born Isabella McDowall on 21 January 1934 in Glasgow, Scotland. Described as petite with black wavy hair and a neat, classic dress style, she married Lewis Skelton in 1952. The couple relocated to Greater Manchester, first living in Salford before settling in the Crumpsall area, and had three children together. During the 1960s, Skelton worked as a typist at several local employers, including Atlas Express, Gallagher Cigarettes, and Ball Bearings Services, the last of which employed her at the time she disappeared.

On 5 June 1969, Skelton was last seen at her home in Crumpsall. Her disappearance came two weeks before her daughter's fifteenth birthday, and coincided with one of her sons being hospitalized with a broken leg. According to her daughter, the children's father told them only that Skelton had "gone away for work," providing no further explanation, and they never saw her again.

Skelton's daughter married in the early 1970s and began actively searching for her mother after the birth of her second child in 1975. She and her husband traveled to Scotland to consult the electoral roll and worked through every McDowall listed in the telephone directory in an attempt to trace relatives who might know of her mother's whereabouts. She also pursued genealogical research, but no information about her mother's location or fate emerged. The daughter has said that their father never discussed the disappearance, describing it as a "taboo subject" within the family, and that she later became estranged from him.

In the decades since 1969, there has been no record of Skelton claiming a pension or receiving medical care, and no confirmed sightings of her have surfaced. She was also notably absent from her brother's wedding.

In 2019, Skelton's family formally reported her missing, prompting a police investigation. In October 2020, a man was interviewed under caution on suspicion of her murder, though no charges were filed. In 2021, police carried out excavation work at the Crumpsall home where Skelton lived at the time of her disappearance, but no human remains were recovered. Greater Manchester Police confirmed in 2023 that the case was being treated as a murder investigation. The disappearance was subsequently featured on BBC Crimewatch in 2024, more than five decades after Skelton was last seen.