Isabella Skelton’s family still think of her every January when they should be celebrating her birthday.

Last weekend, Isabella, who was known as Izzy, should have gathered with her three children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren to ring in her 89th year.

Instead, her eldest child Linda Chapman spent the day continuing her nearly 54-year search to find the beloved mother who vanished from her home on June 6, 1969.

Izzy had moved from her home in Carnoustie Street to Crumpsall, Manchester alongside her husband and three children just four years earlier.

The trained typist worked at Atlas Express and spent her free time devoted to her children, often taking part in “girly” activities with her only daughter, Linda.

Glasgow Times:

Linda as a young girl with mum Linda

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Therefore, it came as a shock to the then 14-year-old when she awoke one day to find her mother had gone.

Linda’s father explained she had received a job abroad and would be going away for a while. She was never seen or heard from again.

At the time of her disappearance, Isabella was 35 years old and it was thought she may have travelled back to her home in Anderston.

Now, Linda is hoping Glaswegians may hold the key to the decades-long mystery.

“She never really wanted to move down here,” Linda explained.

“She always loved it in Glasgow and she loved when her family came down here to visit.

“Most of them, apart from her brother Alec who moved down here to be with us a while later, stayed up there so, it was thought she might’ve gone there.”

Part of a large family, Isabella’s siblings were scattered all over the city from Drumchapel to Penilee, and one even went as far as Ireland.

Linda has left her home in Manchester to visit Glasgow in a bid to find information relating to her mum’s whereabouts, sifting through electoral rolls and census information to no avail.

Glasgow Times:

Linda and her husband Kieth

It wasn’t until 2019 that Linda, who is now a grandmother herself, contacted the police who informed her that her mother was never officially reported missing, but they agreed to carry out enquiries.

In 2021, Linda and her family were invited back to their home on Lidiard Street – where Isabella was last seen – in a bid to jog their memories.

Officers relocated the family who was living in the home for an extensive search which was due to take around two weeks but lasted six months.

They scoured the garden and basement, but nothing was found.

Linda told the Glasgow Times: “People have said ‘oh, how could she leave her kids?’ but she was a good mother. We had a happy childhood with her.

“My youngest brother was in hospital at the time with a broken leg and I just can’t imagine she would leave him.

“I’m not living in cuckoo land, I realise she’s probably dead but it’s just the not knowing. It’s so hard.”

She added: “It takes its toll. You can’t just put it away, it’s just always there.

“Hopefully someone can pass some information on – good or bad – because we just want to know.

Glasgow Times:

Images show how Isabella may look today

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“I hope to God she’s gone on to have a good life and, I’d wish her well, I’d just like her to know that we did want to see her.”

Greater Manchester Police is continuing its search for the mother of three but, with little information to go on, officers are in desperate need of public assistance.

It’s understood Isabella attended school in Anderston Cross and had a good friend named Anna Owen.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101.