54 years on, mystery of missing mum is now a murder inquiry

FOR Lynda Chapman it is a precious memory. Aged 12 she went to C&A in Manchester city centre with her mother who bought her a new pinkish red dress with a floral pattern.

- NEAL KEELING

She proudly wore it to carry a flagpole on Whit Walks from her then home in Salford to Manchester Cathedral. She recalls it with joy, tarnished by a deep hurt.

Two years later, on June 5 1969, Lynda's mother, Isabella Skelton, vanished in Crumpsall.

The Manchester Evening News can now reveal that, 54 years on, her disappearance is being investigated as a murder inquiry. One man has been interviewed under caution on suspicion of her murder but no one has been charged.

With black wavy hair, Isabella known as "Izzy", was petite, and always dressed in a neat, classic, way. She left behind three children Lynda, Stephen and Richard - and a husband, Lewis.

In 2019, after years of searching, Lynda went to Bury police station to report her mother officially missing.

Incredibly, between 1969 and 2019 there had been no investigation into Isabella's disappearance.

GMP would go on to conduct a 12-week forensic search of a property in the area. They dug down to the foundations, and excavated the cellar and the backyard after reports it had been concreted over after Isabella disappeared.

But nothing was found Lynda, 69, from Whitefield, visited the house during the search with her husband, Keith, and brother, Stephen. She will not give up her search for the truth.

She had never got the chance to say goodbye. When she got ready for school on that morning in 1969, Lynda recalls her father telling her words to the effect that her mother had gone away for work.