Police search Manchester home of woman missing for 50 years

Images of what Isabella Skelton could look like now were previously released by police

The former home of a woman who has been missing for more than 50 years is being searched by police.

Mother-of-three Isabella Skelton was aged 35 when she was reported missing from her family home in Crumpsall, Manchester, in June 1969.

Her family grew up under the belief she had left the city to work away but they never saw her again, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

The force said it was "exhausting every potential line of inquiry".

GMP said they were "maintaining an open mind" and said the search of her former home on Lidiard Street would take about two weeks.

The current occupants of the terraced house, which has been cordoned off, have no links to Mrs Skelton, nee McDowall, the force said.

Glasgow-born Mrs Skelton, who would be aged 86, married in July 1952 and moved to Manchester in the early 1960s.

In September, images of what she could look like now were released by police.

Det Insp Claire Moss said: "I want to reassure the local community that our work in the next few weeks is purely to try and aid our investigation."

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