A fresh appeal has been launched for Britain's longest missing person, Mary Flanagan, 67 years after she vanished. The sugar refinery worker was just 16 when she disappeared on New Year's Eve in 1959.
New Age-Progression Image Released
Missing People has released an age-progressed image showing what Mary, now 83, might look like today. The picture depicts the East Londoner with short grey curly hair, mirroring the haircut she had when she went missing.
The Disappearance
Mary vanished on December 31, 1959, the day she was due to attend her employers' New Year's Eve party at the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery in Silvertown, London. The last sighting of her was near West Ham tube station after she left her family home.
Her disappearance left investigators and loved ones baffled. She has since been labeled the longest missing persons case in the nation.
Possible Leads
In 2013, when the case was reopened, Mary's family suggested she may have eloped with a man named Tom McGinty, an Irish labourer she had been seen with frequently in the weeks before her disappearance. They also believed she may have been pregnant, which could have caused her to run away.
Acting on limited information, the Metropolitan Police were never able to track down McGinty, and even his real name remains a mystery. Mary's loved ones noted that telling Catholic parents at 16 about a pregnancy out of marriage would have been a major ordeal.
Renewed Appeal
The appeal was launched after what would have been Mary's 83rd birthday on June 9. A spokesperson for Missing People said: "It is Mary Flanagan's birthday this week. Mary, aged 16, went missing on 31 December 1959 from Newham, London. The image on the left is an age progression of what Mary may look like age 83. Mary we are here for you whenever you are ready; we can listen, talk you through what help you need, pass a message for you and help you to be safe."
