Disappearance of Sheila Fox

Fox was last seen leaving her school at 4:00 pm in Farnworth on 18 August 1944, presumably on her way home, to which she never arrived. Companions of Fox claimed to have seen her with a man outside a bakery, where some accounts stated the pair were walking together and others stated she was sitting on the upturned crossbars of a black bicycle he was riding.

On Monday, 21 August 1944, the Manchester Evening News ran an article reporting Fox as missing. They reported that she was sitting on the crossbars of an unidentified man's bicycle. When queried, she told her friends, "I am going with him."{{cite news |title=Vain Hunt for Lost Girl of Six |work=Manchester Evening Press |publisher=British Newspaper Archive |date=21 August 1944}} Fox's parents reported that she was shy, so she must have known him "very well".{{cite web |last1=Manchester Evening News |title=Garden dig for 'girl in green mac' |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/garden-dig-for-girl-in-green-mac-1186195 |website=Manchester Evening News |access-date=1 January 2025 |ref=22 January 2013}} The 1944 article reporting her missing status described Fox as, "The girl has fair hair tied with a pink ribbon and was wearing a blue-flowered frock, green coat, brown stockings, and black shoes."

The man seen with Fox was described as a well-dressed, clean-shaven male of slim build between the ages of 25 and 30 years.{{cite book|last1=Fielding|first1=Steve|title=More Murderous Bolton|date=2009|publisher=Amberly Publishing|location=The Hill, Stroud, Gloucestire|isbn=9781848683099|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lXqIAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT88|accessdate=1 January 2025|language=English|chapter=14}} The police note for the case also included the following information regarding the man's description: 5 ft 8in, "long face, sharp features, fresh complexion, clean-shaven, believed dark hair, pointed chin, believed dressed in dark black suit, collar, and tie." On Wednesday, 23 August 1944, the Manchester Evening Post reported that the man was "wearing a navy blue suit and blue and red tie".{{cite news |title=Home Guard Hunts for Little Girl |website=British Newspaper Archive |publisher=Manchester Evening Press |ref=Wednesday, 23 August 1944}}

While many of the initial leads were unhelpful, one person reported that they saw a girl matching Fox's description with a man matching the released description heading from "Four Lane Ends, down Newbrook Road, towards Atherton."

Fox's sister, Betty, recalled that there was a couple from London or the south of England, who - about three months prior to her disappearance - had commented that Sheila was "a lovely child", and "they would have liked to take her with them".{{cite web |last1=Historic Bolton |title=Sheila Fox |url=https://historicbolton.yolasite.com/sheila-fox.php |publisher=Historic Bolton |access-date=1 January 2025}} Fox's parents stated that Sheila may have been attempting to meet with friends in London.{{cite web|title=Case File 732DFUK|url=http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/732dfuk.html|website=doenetwork.org|publisher=The Doe Network|accessdate=20 March 2016}} Family members, greatly affected by the event, long hoped that she was still alive, as police were unable to find her body.{{cite news|last1=Carter|first1=Helen|title=Search for girl's body after 57 years|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jun/06/helencarter|accessdate=20 March 2016|work=The Guardian|publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited|date=5 June 2001}} Neighbours of the Fox family stated that their hopes later changed to speculations that the girl had been murdered.

On the night of her disappearance, and over the following days, extensive searches for Fox were conducted in the area by both members of the police force and volunteers.{{cite book|last1=Fielding|first1=Steve|title=More Murderous Bolton|date=2009|publisher=Amberly Publishing|location=The Hill, Stroud, Gloucestire|isbn=9781848683099|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lXqIAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT88|accessdate=20 March 2016|language=English|chapter=14}} Despite their efforts, police were unable to find any evidence, including the clothing she was wearing, of where she and the man had gone.{{cite news|title=Dig for wartime girl's body resumed|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1370907.stm|accessdate=20 March 2016|work=BBC News|publisher=MMIII|date=6 June 2001}}{{cite news|last1=Penny|first1=Thomas|title=Garden dig by police for 1944 missing girl|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1311558/Garden-dig-by-police-for-1944-missing-girl.html|accessdate=20 March 2016|work=The Telegraph|publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited|date=6 June 2001}} Newspapers covered the story though it was soon overshadowed by the events of World War II. On Wednesday 6 September 1944, the Manchester Evening Post reported that the police were eager to speak to a man who had been spotted riding his bike with a girl on the cross bars who was wearing "a green dress and ribbons in her hair" on New Brook Road, Atherton, at the day and time that Fox went missing. According to the police, the man was seen in the vicinity of Atherton Parish Church and rode in the direction of Leigh.{{cite news |title=Leigh "Clue" in Missing Girl Riddle |work=Manchester Evening Press |publisher=British Newspaper Archive |date=6 September 1944}}

An attempt was made in 1948 to link her disappearance with a "tall, thin man" wanted for stabbing two other children.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12429065/tall_thin_man_is_sought_by_british/|title=Tall, Thin Man Is Sought By British Police|date=13 April 1948|publisher=The Lethbridge Herald|location=Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada|page=12|accessdate=17 July 2017|via=newspapers.com}}

Searches for Fox were expanded in 2001, after police were notified by an individual claiming to have witnessed a 20-year-old resident, Richard Ryan, digging late at night in the area around the time she had vanished, and had long suspected foul play was involved. This tip led to the case being reopened by investigators. The location was fairly close to where she lived. Residents expressed doubts that anything would be found, as earlier maintenance of the city sewers in the area had not unearthed any remains.

Ryan (1924-1989) was living at the property at the time of the disappearance. Ryan was convicted of rape in 1950, six years after the disappearance, and was convicted of the sexual assault of a child in 1965. This site was later excavated manually by authorities in hopes of finding Fox's remains.{{cite news|title=Dig for missing girl extended|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1374545.stm|accessdate=20 March 2016|work=BBC News|agency=BBC|publisher=MMIII|date=7 June 2001}} The procedure, which began on 5 June 2001 and lasted a few days, was unsuccessful, as nothing of evidentiary value was discovered. Ryan's son stated he had no knowledge of any circumstances requiring a police search.{{cite news|title=Garden Dig for 'Girl in Green Mac'|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/garden-dig-for-girl-in-green-mac-1186195|accessdate=13 August 2020|work=Manchester Evening News|date=22 January 2013}}

• List of people who disappeared

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.historicbolton.yolasite.com/sheila-fox.php Disappearance of Sheila Fox] at historicbolton.com
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1370907.stm Contemporary BBC news article] pertaining to the 2001 search of a Farnworth property for the body of Sheila Fox
• {{Doe Network|732dfuk.html|Sheila Fox}}

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Category:1930s births

Category:1940s missing person cases

Category:August 1944 in the United Kingdom

Category:Child safety

Category:Incidents of violence against girls

Category:Kidnapped English children

Category:Kidnapping in the 1940s

Category:Missing English children

Category:Missing person cases in England

Category:People from Farnworth

Category:Possibly living people