Mystery of wartime disappearance

Sheila vanished on her way home from school

The disappearance of a six-year-old girl remains a mystery - 60 years after she went missing.

Sheila Fox vanished as she walked home from school in Farnworth, Bolton, on 18 August 1944.

The wartime case re-opened in 2001 when the back garden of a house where a convicted rapist used to live was dug up but Sheila's body was not found.

Speaking in 2001, Sheila's sister Rene said: " It was a terrible time... It was as if the earth swallowed her up."

Rapist's house

Officers spent a week excavating the back garden of the house on Barton Road in Farnworth after being tipped off that a man had been seen digging there late at night after Sheila's disappearance.

Richard Ryan, who was a 20-year-old man in 1944 and was later convicted of rape, lived at the house, which was on the route between Sheila's school and home.

But forensic officers conducted a through examination of the soil and concluded the girl had never been buried in the garden.

Police say the case will remain open but their investigation is limited by the time that has passed.

Detectives say any new information will be investigated fully and anyone who thinks they may be able to help should contact Crimestoppers.