Investigating officers at Greater Manchester Police have released a fresh age progression image of a woman who went missing more than 50 years ago.
On what would have been her 86th birthday, the age progressed image shows what Isabella Skelton nee McDowall – also known as Izzy – could potentially look like if found today.
She went missing in June 1969 aged 35.
Born in Glasgow on 21st January 1934, it is believed Isabella attended school in Anderson Cross, Scotland and at the time, had a good friend called Anna Owen. She worked in a florist and also for the James Howden engineering company in Glasgow.
She married Lewis Skelton in July 1952, was the mother of three children – Linda, Richard and Stephen – and moved to Manchester in the early 1960.
ADVERTISEMENT
She first lived in Salford, and at the time of her disappearance, was living on Lidiard Street, Crumpsall.
While living in Manchester, Isabella previously worked at Atlas Express in Blackfriars, Salford, and is also believed to have worked at Gallagher Cigarettes and Ball Bearings Services, the latter at the time of her disappearance.
ADVERTISEMENT
Her family grew up under the belief that Isabella had left Manchester to work away for a period, but they never saw her again.
Detective Inspector Claire Moss of Greater Manchester Police’s City of Manchester Division 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, [so] 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 timeframe, with little information to go on, but we hope that someone may recognise the image we’re releasing today.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We owe it to Isabella’s family not to stop looking for her.”
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
News
Manchester Airport issues update for anyone flying today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport has issued an update for anyone catching a flight today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday.
In case you hadn’t heard, hundreds of flights at several major UK airports – including Manchester Airport – were disrupted by a technical fault at air traffic control provider National Air Traffic Services (NATS) yesterday (8 September 2026), with the incident grounding planes and resulting in numerous cancellations.
According to Flightradar24, more than 1,000 flights were cancelled nationwide, and many passengers were told to expect disruption for the rest of the day.
One of the worst-affected airlines was said to be Ryanair, with around 65,000 passengers affected by the cancellations and delays.
Manchester Airport issued its first statement addressing the matter at 3:15pm yesterday, stating: “We are aware of an issue affecting NATS’ air traffic control service at UK airports, which may result in delays to some departing flights from Manchester Airport today.
“Passengers due to travel are advised to check the latest status of their flight with their airline. We will continue to monitor the situation and share further updates as more information becomes available.”
Now, although the issue has been resolved, Manchester Airport has issued further statements informing anyone travelling today what they can expect.
The airport started off by saying that it is ‘operating as normal’ today, but that passengers are advised to ‘check with their airline for the latest information’.
“A full flight schedule is expected to operate [today] but the airport may be busier due to rescheduled flights,” it added.
Passengers were then thanked for their ‘patience and understanding’ over the past 24 hours.
Featured Image – Ivan Shimko (via Unsplash)
News
Hundreds of staff at four Greater Manchester hospitals to strike AGAIN next week
Emily Sergeant
Another round of strikes has been called at a handful of major Greater Manchester hospitals.
Amid ongoing disputes following the first set of strikes at the end of last month, it has now been announced that more than 350 Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust (NCA) employees – including nurses, clinical support workers and housekeepers – who are members of the union UNISON will once again walk out for three days next week.
According to the union, the dispute centres on the NCA’s use of an outside agency called NHS Professionals (NHSP) to manage overtime.
When covering staff shortages, workers are entitled to time-and-a-half pay – however in some cases, staff earn less than they would on a normal shift, and some have even been missing out on more than £80 per shift, the union added.
Operating theatre staff were previously on picket lines in June, and although an option to resolve the row was initially tabled by NCA bosses, this has now fallen through.
Hundreds of staff at four of Greater Manchester’s hospitals are set to strike next week / Credit: Stephen Andrews (via Unsplash)
This means that staff at Salford Royal Hospital, Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary, and Fairfield Hospital in Bury are walking out next week on Monday 14, Tuesday 15, and Thursday 17 September.
The union’s North West regional organiser, Kevin Dolan, said the trust had given ‘no indication’ that it’s willing to re-enter negotiations, adding that operating theatre services were ‘chronically under-staffed’ and staff were choosing to work extra shifts to cover shortages.
Ahead of the August strikes, the trust declared a critical incident to help it secure extra support and keep urgent surgery running, while also announcing that some procedures would have to be postponed.
Understandably, some disruption is expected at each of the hospitals on strike days.
But Gertie Nic Philib, who is the chief people and strategy officer at the Northern Care Alliance, said that the trust will do ‘everything we can to minimise the impact on patients’ and ‘maintain high standards of care and quality at all times.’
“We also have contingency plans in place for emergency situations,” they concluded.
The Manc -
2nd September 2020 
