RUMOURS circulated quickly on the New Bury estate after Sheila Fox disappeared.

Annie Worthington, who still lives in Barton Road, said that Sheila's parents were called to a local gypsy camp on four or five occasions.

She said: "They went up there each time a girl was reported with the gypsies who didn't look like a gypsy, but, each time, they came back disappointed with nothing. I think it broke their hearts.

"If the police were to find the body in the back garden of that house, it would be ironic when you consider that Sheila's mum and dad travelled all over the place trying to find her and she was only a few hundred yards away all that time."

Another resident, Elizabeth Wilson, who lived in Barton Road at the time, said that Sheila's parents had even gone to see a clairvoyant in a desperate bid to find their lost daughter.

On one occasion they also travelled to London, but were again forced to come back empty-handed.