DETECTIVES investigating the disappearance of a Bolton schoolgirl 57 years ago, have conducted a trans-Atlantic inquiry as part of the police probe.

Sheila Fox, aged six, vanished without trace in 1944 as she walked home from St James' Primary School in New Bury.

Last month forensic experts completed a fruitless search of a Bolton back garden after receiving information that she may have been buried there.

Police called off the search on June 11, after police and forensic anthropologists, had excavated the entire back at the Barton Road property.

Memories

Days after the search began former New Bury resident, Marian Standring who now lives in Alberta, Canada, e-mailed the BEN with her memories of her schoolmate.

Mrs Standring revealed she had spotted the little girl speaking to a mystery cyclist as she walked home from lessons on August 18, 1944.

A cyclist was mentioned by other witnesses when Sheila first disappeared.

The Evening News passed on Mrs Standring's e-mails to Det Chief Insp Paul Buchanan, who had led last month's bid to solve the mystery.

And now Mrs Standring has confirmed that Bolton detectives have contacted her about her recollections, to see if they could help in their investigation.

In a message to the BEN, Mrs Standring wrote: "I have received two e-mails from Det Con John Norris, Farnworth CID and have e-mailed him in return to answer his questions as accurately as I can remember."

Her local newspaper in Canada, the Calgary Sun, has also interviewed her about the search for Sheila, after the excavation hit the headlines.

Mrs Standring, 63, was a classmate of the missing girl and has admitted Sheila's disappearance had a traumatic effect on children in the area.

The excavation came after an eye-witness contacted the police claiming that, as a boy, he had seen a man digging in the garden at midnight at around the time of Sheila's disappearance.

A Bolton police spokesman has previously stressed that officers will continue to consider any new evidence passed.