Girl who vanished in 1972 found alive 52 years later
“We're absolutely delighted to have found Sheila after more than five decades,” says detective
January 01, 2025
In a surprising incident, a woman who mysteriously vanished in 1972 from West Midlands in the United Kingdom has finally been found alive.
Sheila Fox mysteriously disappeared from Coventry city centre when she was just 16 amid suspicions she may have been in a relationship with an older man, Mail Online reported.
The police reported at the time that the girl had been living with her parents and kept an “open mind” with regard to her whereabouts.
The police authorities hoped for a long time that Fox may have simply moved out of the area and not told anyone.
However, the authorities launched a re-appeal last week after finding no trace for decades.
It took just a single photo dug out by police for Fox to finally be found after all this time. Officials confirmed today that Fox, now 68, had been located and spoken to in another part of the country.
“We are delighted to announce the conclusion of one of West Midlands Police's longest-running missing person investigations,” said a spokesperson of the police.
“We recently published a renewed appeal to help find Sheila Fox, who went missing from Coventry in 1972. A single photo of Sheila from around the time of her disappearance was found by officers investigating and published on our website and social media.”
The spokespersons said that within hours of the appeal, members of the public got in touch with information which led the police to her.
“Sheila was confirmed to be safe and well and living in another part of the country, finally resolving one of the longest-running missing person cases we have investigated.”
Detective Sergeant Jenna Shaw, from the force's Cold Case Investigation Team, added: “We're absolutely delighted to have found Sheila after more than five decades.”
“We searched through every piece of evidence we could find and managed to locate a photo of Sheila. We are a small team of officers and I'd like to recognise the work of DC Shaun Reeve, who managed to resolve this case with help from the public,” said the detective.
