A woman who disappeared more than five decades ago has finally been found alive after a single blurry photograph of her was released by police 52 years after she went missing.
West Midlands Police said finding Sheila Fox after she vanished from Coventry in 1972 solves one of its longest-running missing person investigations.
At the end of December, the force published a renewed appeal to help find Ms Fox, which included one grainy picture of her from around the time she vanished that was recently found by officers.
Within hours of its release, members of the public got in touch with information that led to finding Ms Fox.
Officers who spoke with her confirmed Ms Fox is alive, safe and well, and now living in another part of the country.
The announcement on Wednesday marks the resolution of one of the longest running missing person cases that the force has investigated.
Detective Sergeant Jenna Shaw, from the Cold Case Investigation Team, said: “We're absolutely delighted to have found Sheila after more than five decades.
“We searched through every piece of evidence we could find and managed to locate a photo of Sheila.
“We are a small team of officers and I’d like to recognise the work of DC Shaun Reeve, who managed to resolve this case with help from the public.
“Every missing person has a story, and their families and friends deserve to know what happened to them and, hopefully, be reunited with them.”
Police added that forensic and technological advances enable the team to pursue fresh leads on cases that have remained unresolved for a long time.
