UK UK - Margaret Moody, 31, Motherwell, Scotland, 1977

[Al Ka]

Margaret Moody

Published 26 JUL 2010
Son hopes new TV show can help solve 33-year-old mystery of his missing mum

Taxi driver Robert Moody spends every day of his life looking for the missing mother he last saw when he was just eight years old.

But now a new TV show, Scotland's Missing Mums, hosted by Lorraine Kelly, is giving the dad-of-two fresh hope that the mystery of Margaret's disappearance will be solved, after 33 heartbreaking years.

He believes tonight's TV appeal is a chance to get answers to questions that have haunted him since his mum walked out and he prays it will finally set his family free from decades of searching.
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Robert's mum, Margaret Moody, was 31 when she vanished from her home in Clapperhow Road, Motherwell, in 1977.

Her family have not heard anything from her since but are desperate to discover what made their mum walk out on seven young children.

Robert's youngest sister Pamela, 36, was just two and has no memories of her mum. His eldest brother Jim lost his fight with leukaemia aged 28 and died without knowing what happened to his mother.

But Robert and his brothers John, 45, Archie, 44, and Richard, 40, and sisters Pearl, 38, and Pamela, 36, are today still searching for Margaret.

Robert said: "She loved us to bits and was absolutely beautiful.
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"She was a great mum and has been missed like you wouldn't believe. Her children were her world. That's why I still lie in bed every night wondering what happened. I don't feel angry. I would just give anything for the chance to say how much I love her or talk with her for a wee while."

Margaret, who was 5ft 8ins with distinctive shoulder-length red hair, would be 64 now if she is still alive. As Robert cuddles his own children, Alanah, four, and Rhys, two, his eyes fill with tears as he explains everything his mum has missed out on.
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She has 19 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren who have only ever known Margaret through two faded photographs.

Margaret had gone away in the past for a few days at a time but always returned with sweets for the kids and promising she'd never leave again.

But one night in 1977, after a furious row with her husband David, she walked out while her family slept.

Robert said: "We were sent to our bedrooms during that argument and I remember she later kissed me goodnight like she always did.

"She wasn't there when we got up the next morning. We had no idea we were not going to see her again.

"In the days that followed we asked where mum was but there was nothing. We want to know if she's alive and why she left. It's the not knowing that's eating away at all of us."

Margaret's husband tried his best to bring up the seven children on his own but life was tough and the children grew up with mixed emotions towards their mum.
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A police investigation revealed that Margaret has never used her National Insurance number since disappearing and there are no medical or dental records of her since 1977.

The fear that his mum came to some harm still wakes Robert up in the night.
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"If police have found no trace of her then it's not looking good. If she's reading this I want to know that she's all right. Even a letter saying she's OK would be fine.

"It would at least give me and my family a bit of closure. Until that happens I can't put this to bed.

Son hopes new TV show can help solve 33-year-old mystery of his missing mum

 

[Al Ka]

July 2010
Was the mystery woman at our brother’s funeral really Mum who vanished 33 years ago?

PRETTY mum Margaret Moody tucked up her children in bed, said goodnight — then walked out on them forever.

That night in 1977 was the last time any of her seven kids saw her.

At some point during the night, Margaret left the family home in Motherwell, leaving them distraught.
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Thirty-three years on, Margaret’s children — who appear on Lorraine Kelly’s new STV series on missing mums tonight — still cling to the hope that they’ll one day see their beloved mother again.
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Margaret — 31 at the time — had gone missing from home before but only for a few days and she always returned.

The night she left for good, she had argued with her second husband David Moody, now 64.

Her children thought it would be the same as before and she would be back.
They didn’t report her missing at the time — thinking she would return one day.
But she never came back. And they have been left haunted by strange moments of hope.
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When Margaret’s son Jim died of leukaemia 16 years ago, there were sightings of a mystery woman with red hair at at his funeral.

An unexplained black-and-white photo of a woman with a boy turned up in Jim’s open casket — and then disappeared.
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Dad-of-six Robert, 41, admits he’s spent every day since the funeral looking for his mum. He even looked out his birth certificate and discovered she had an unusual maiden name — Polland Bell.

He said: “I tried putting it into internet search engines but found nothing. “I have eight years of memories of her. I don’t know whether she’s alive or dead.
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“I need to know if she’s interested in us as a family. “I’m not angry. She’s obviously had her own reasons for what she’s done but to leave it this long, that’s where the question marks come in.

“If I just got one phone call, at least I would know something, anything.”

He added: “A photo of a boy and a woman turned up in Jim’s coffin before the funeral, which came as a shock to us. “There’s a lot of talk about that photo.

“Where did it come from? How did it get there? I never saw it. It disappeared again.
“Did Mum turn up because she knew none of us would be about?

“Then there’s the woman at the funeral. We didn’t know she was there but people said they saw a red-haired woman, much the same description as my mum. “But she was only there a few minutes and disappeared again.

“It could have been someone else. We don’t know.”
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Wishaw CID have an open file on Margaret after the family finally reported her missing in March this year.

Robert, who lives in Blantyre, Lanarkshire, said: “In that day and age, adults ruled over you. I didn’t even know where my mum’s mum stayed, or her brother. We don’t know why she wasn’t reported missing.

“To be honest, it’s surprising because it’s still your kid who went missing.”

The years have been particularly tough for Pamela, who, as the youngest, has no mental picture of her mum to cherish.

She said: “When I think about her now, I don’t have any anger at all. I think that no matter how scary things are, there is always a way back, there’s always a way to fix things and if we do find my mum, I’m sure we’ll fix things.”

Taxi driver Robert admits he keeps a daily vigil for his missing mother. He said: “Any time I’m in the car and I see somebody with lovely long red hair, the first thing I think of is my mum.

Was the mystery woman at our brother’s funeral really Mum who vanished 33 years ago?

 

[Al Ka]

6 JUL 2017
Missing persons cases from 50 years ago still being investigated

Another historical case police reopen every year was of a Motherwell woman who vanished in 1976.

However, with limited background, police have found it difficult to find new evidence in the case of Margaret Poland Bell/Docherty/Moody.

Margaret was 30 when she went missing and would be 71 years of age now.

Missing persons cases from 50 years ago still being investigated

December 2012
TV star Lorraine Kelly leads Christmas appeal to bring missing Scots home

 

[Al Ka]

(published yesterday)

When a person becomes a missing person that person seems to loose there rights as a brittish citizen A person who is missing long term the police take away that persons right they become forgotten . After a number of months not even years . As the son of a missing mother of 42 years I'm being told by Aberdeen police my mother means nothing to them as there is no such thing as a missing person unit in there station . After telling them this is police Scotland they must have someone who deals with missing people . I was told leave or be arrested for causing a public breach of police . To this I said im in police station no public involved . I was removed by them . Anyway what i learned was that someone who is missing long term they become a nuisance to police I'm really sorry if folk read this and think i have grievance against them are wrong my mother went missing in 1977 the police today do not care about her as if they did they would investigate her case as MURDER AS THE TIME FOR LOOKING HAS PASSED

Missing People Scotland

 

[Al Ka]

Margaret is not listed (yet) on Missing People org site.

 

[bluebird69]

This is my home town but moved away prior to this. One of my family kept disappearing but returning days later. As an adult I realise mental health was involved but as a child it was just a way of life. I really feel for this family

 

[Al Ka]

Very similar case is case of missing Ellen Ruffle who disappeared from the same city of Motherwell few years prior to Margaret. In both cases their sons are searching for them to this day. It seems Ellen's case got a bit more help from local police and they even did ground search of house in recent years. This have not been done for Margaret yet.

Ellen Ruffle thread here - UK - UK - Ellen 'Evelyn' Ruffle, 34, Motherwell, Scotland, 1969

 

[msphilosopher]

Did husband try to look for her? Did he contact her family? Why did her son find her maiden name on birth certificate? He never asked his dad? He didn’t know where his mom’s side of the family lived?

Strange

 

[MarziPanda]

Lots of possibilities here... a new life, suicide, murdered, a new life but passed from natural causes/an accident, or murdered by someone close to her. She wasn't reported missing, which I find kind of suspicious even for the 70s, especially when she didn't come back as she usually did. She left after an argument, too. But I'm leaning more towards possible suicide, I think.

 

[Al Ka]

I think it is one of the "usual" cases where woman disappears just after fight with partner/husband and it leads to only one outcome... (not suicide)

Case definitely needs some push by media and MP to put pressure on police to at least revisit the information and the case. Its never too late to get some answers.

 

[CastlesBurning]

Heartbroken Scot vows to never stop searching for mum who vanished in 1977

 

[elframo]

" Left after row" hmmm...

 

[dotr]

Suggested in article on this thread..

UK - UK - North Yorks, 'Sutton Bank Jane Doe', WhtFem 35-40, Sz 4 shoe, mild upper spine malformation, Aug'81

You asked – we answer Our appeal for this cold case mystery has had an excellent response. People seemed really interested in the investigation and many of you left questions in the comments section. So we decided to share the most common questions with our Cold Case Investigation Team...

www.websleuths.com