UK UK - Mary Flanagan, 16, Newham, East London, 31 Dec 1959

[Richard]

50 years ago...

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Mary Flanagan
Missing since December 31, 1959 from Newham, East London, England, United Kingdom
Classification: Missing


Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: circa 1943
Age at Time of Disappearance: 16 years old
Distinguishing Characteristics: Brown wavy hair; hazel eyes. Olive complexion.

Circumstances of Disappearance

Flanagan was last seen in Newham, East London, England, United Kingdom on December 31, 1959.

In 1959 Mary was living with her family in Newham, East London. She was working as an assistant for a local firm. On the day she disappeared, Mary over slept but said she would go to work that afternoon. She left home at lunchtime. This was the last time she was seen. When Mary’s family contacted her employer, they found out she had not been to work for two weeks, despite leaving the house each morning as normal.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Missing People
0500 700 700 (from the UK)
+44 (0)20 8392 4545 (outside the UK)

Email: seensomeone@missingpeople.org.uk

Agency Case Number: dsid=298

Source Information:

Missing People
The Doe Network: Case File 1140DFUK

 

[Debbie Miller]

That is interesting, so she was still living at the parents home and for those last two weeks acting as if she was going to work?

Sounds as if she may have run off with a boyfriend or something.

 

[CastlesBurning]

I agree with Debbie -- because of the two weeks, I'd lean toward Mary's planning something herself. For that reason, I'm hopeful that she's still alive somewhere, just chose not to contact her family for whatever reason. Maybe she's afraid too much time has passed at this point.

 

[theforgotten]

I agree with Debbie -- because of the two weeks, I'd lean toward Mary's planning something herself. For that reason, I'm hopeful that she's still alive somewhere, just chose not to contact her family for whatever reason. Maybe she's afraid too much time has passed at this point.

Yes, I also agree. I wonder if she was having personal issues at the time or maybe she was under a lot of stress and she felt the best solution was to run. Do we know if she had a boyfriend at the time? I really hope she is still alive and healthy.:twocents:

 

[Laura_Bean]

What a flashback! This is the very first case I ever tried to work on. It went no where. I did searches, for everything I could think that did pertain or might have pertained, researched her name her family, etc. Found nothing. I still wonder what happened to Mary. I was thinking several things, perhaps she ran away with a man to get married? Perhaps she fell in love with an American and came to America with him that night? perhaps she was murdered by someone she was secretly seeing instead of going to work? And maybe she had decided she made more money doing something else than what she was doing, like if she became a prostitute and someone did something to her? I just don't know. It's a very odd thing. One thing I find suprising about this case also, is the fact that her employer never fired her nor did he come to her house when she did not show up for work? Which makes me think he may have had something to do with her disappearance... Like maybe the 2 were having an affair and she got pregnant? Or perhaps she demanded he leave his wife, or threatened to tell his wife? Etc? Back than I think it was pretty common for an employer to either call if the family had a phone or if not drop by and find out why his worker never showed up to work? He doesn't and he does not say welp she was fired and thats why she wasn't in. If he didn't lay her off or fire her for something, why didn't he investigate when she didn't even show up to work? Just some thoughts and some things I have been wondering about. I also talked to a fam. member at the time that told there was another fam. member who was crazy at the time, and that the fam. suspected he may have harmed her and hid her body, but it could never be proven and because he was fam. they never called the police to search for a body near his home. She refused to elaborate on who the family member was or why they suspected him. Anyways, I have some more in my folder of this case, and I would be more than willing to dust it off and see what I can find.

 

[Laura_Bean]

Oh and I did come to a final conclusion, but I say it went nowhere because I tried to email several different places of my findings and none of them were valid emails, even the one on doenetwork.org. So, I had no place to turn to to show what I had come up with. Here is what I think became of her body.

Case File 316UFUK

Reconstruction of Victim

Unidentified Female


The victim was discovered in May 2006 in West Midlands, United Kingdom
Estimated Date of Death: Many years ago, possibly during the 1950s
Skull only


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Vital Statistics


Estimated age: 17-21 years old
Distinguishing Characteristics: The skull indicates that this person's face shape may have been slightly unusual, with her most prominent feature being protruding teeth.


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Case History
The victim was located in West Midlands, UK in May 2006.



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Investigators
If you have any information about this case please contact:
National Missing Persons Helpline
0500 700 700
Email
You may remain anonymous when submitting information.

Agency Case Number:
06-006687
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
National Missing Persons Helpline


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Return to the Unidentified Victims' Index

 

[Boyz_Mum]

Laura_Bean did you do searches on ancestry/genealogy sites also? (I'm sure you were very thorough, I'm just curious if you may have found relatives, etc...)

Your theory about the boss is interesting. This is the first I've read about the case. Thanks for your input.

 

[Laura_Bean]

No that's okay. At the time I was just starting out to help on cases, so if anyone can help me to find a valid email address to send information to, I would more than welcome. I feel I didn't give Mary the amount of help her case deserved, but I guess you need to start somewhere, and learn from any mistakes made.

 

[ctaylor]

A new appeal for Mary...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22727274

31 May 2013 Last updated at 13:25
Mary Flanagan: Appeal in Met's oldest missing persons case

The Metropolitan Police force is appealing for help in tracing a teenage girl who disappeared more than 53 years ago - its oldest missing persons case.

Mary Flanagan was aged 16 when she went missing in 1959 in east London.

She had left her home in Wallace Road, West Ham, to go to a New Year's Eve party but never returned.

Police are keen to speak to a man called Tom McGinty, who is thought to have been the teenager's boyfriend at the time she went missing.

...

 

[mikkismom]

London woman missing since 1959 'still alive', sister believes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-22815202

 

[wfgodot]

Met Police: 1959 missing person appeal (met.police.uk)

Incident Date
31/12/1959

Description
Officers from the Metropolitan Police are appealing for information to help solve their oldest missing persons case.

On 31 December 1959, 16-year-old Mary Flanagan left her home in Wallace Road, West Ham, East London to go to a New Year's Eve party. She never returned.

Mary is described as a bright and friendly girl from an Irish Catholic family, who worked part-time at the Tate & Lyle sugar factory and also at Haymes Optical Frame shop in Stratford. She attended Holbrook Road Secondary School and sometimes volunteered with the Blind Association. Mary may have had a boyfriend called Tom McGinty, who was Irish and was believed to have been in the Merchant Navy.

Mary's younger siblings Brenda, Eileen and Kevin have never stopped looking for her and are desperate to find out what happened to their sister.

Despite extensive investigative work over the years, the story of what happened to Mary has never been discovered. This June, Mary would be 70 and the Metropolitan Police Service would like to take the opportunity to issue an anniversary appeal for any information.

Mary is 5ft 2inches tall and of medium build with hazel eyes. When she was last seen, she had dark, wavy hair and a tanned complexion.

The disappearance of Mary Flanagan is the Met's oldest missing person case. The investigation is being completely reviewed and new enquiries undertaken, under the supervision of Detective Chief Inspector Dave Rock at Newham Police.

DCI Rock said:

"It is now over 50 years since Mary disappeared and her family have never given up hope of finding her.

"We know Mary may have had a boyfriend called Tom McGinty at the time of her disappearance - I think it is key that we trace this man as he may be able to shed light on the events around New Year in 1960.

"If Tom McGinty is still alive, I would appeal directly to him to make contact with me with any information he may have about Mary. I would also ask anyone who knew of Tom McGinty, or knows of his whereabouts now, to call our appeal number."

If anyone has any information about Mary or her whereabouts, please call the Newham Police Missing Persons Unit on 0208 217 5728. Alternatively you can call the charity Missing People on 116 000.

 

[Robin Hood]

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/worl...1959-believe-she-may-still-be-alive-1.1413849


McEntee or McGinty
However Mary’s siblings are not sure if his surname was McGinty or something akin to that such as McEntee or McGuinness – the merchant navy has no record of his name and there is no record of a man of that name on the birth register in the UK.
“We understand her father introduced him to her, so he did exist, it’s just his surname that’s a problem. We believe he was in his early twenties. I spoke to her brother and he is pretty sure the relationship was a genuine one. He was boyfriend or fiance.”

 

[mikkismom]

Do you know her? How girl missing for over 53 years would look now

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/lond...for-over-53-years-would-look-now-8708942.html

 

[PFF]

In reagrd to message posted 12-30-2009
Have left a message on Doe network guestbook asking if both cases are related

 

[newham]

We are still very much working on Mary's case here at Newham Police. If anyone has any information, or leads, or believes they can help us in any way then please get in touch! We have managed to rule out several lines of enquiry but are keen to hear from anyone with any ideas.

Thanks

PC Stephanie Gentile
Metropolitan Police

 

[Richard]

We are still very much working on Mary's case here at Newham Police. If anyone has any information, or leads, or believes they can help us in any way then please get in touch! We have managed to rule out several lines of enquiry but are keen to hear from anyone with any ideas.

Thanks

PC Stephanie Gentile
Metropolitan Police

Thank you for your post and welcome to Websleuths. This case is 54 years old now, but it could still be solved.

 

[meanmaryjean]

It's good to know they are, at least, still interested in this case!

 

[Veidt]

In reagrd to message posted 12-30-2009
Have left a message on Doe network guestbook asking if both cases are related

I've found the contact info for the Newham Police Station (which the user 'newham' brings up): http://content.met.police.uk/Borough/Newham/Contact and there's an option to send them an e-mail.

I hope this helps.

 

[newham]

Or you can contact me directly at p229254@met.police.uk if you have any ideas or information from your own enquiries. I have recently managed to rule out the possibility of her going into the Thames, either by accident, murder or suicide, and we are still looking at a few lines of enquiry. Please do get in touch if you have any leads!

PC Stephanie Gentile
Metropolitan Police

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Waiting 56 years for my sister

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35121320

On the morning of New Year's Eve 1959, Mary kissed her family goodbye, telling them she would go straight from work to the staff party that night. They never saw her again.

"Next morning mum woke up and realised Mary didn't come home so my parents went down to the firm to check she was alright," explains Brenda. "When they got there they got the shock of their lives. She hadn't been to work for two weeks. Here we are 56 years later and we still have no idea what happened to her."

In Mary's case the police were called and searches made near the family home, just a stone's throw from West Ham station in east London.

Her mother went to the local papers to drum up publicity but there was little interest in what many suspected was a typical teenage runaway.

"I remember my parents going through hell at that time," says Brenda. "In the end dad just wouldn't talk about it. He didn't want his mother to know Mary was missing because it would have broken her heart.