The West Midlands Police in the UK has finally cracked a case of a woman who went missing 52 years ago after a blurry picture of her was released. The woman, Sheila Fox, disappeared from Coventry in 1972 when she was only 16 years old as authorities failed to trace her for decades, making it one of the longest-running missing persons cases in the country, according to a report in BBC.

Notably, at the time when Ms Fox went missing, she was living with her parents. There were speculations that she might have been involved in a relationship with an older man. However, no definitive evidence supported such a theory which made her disappearance an even bigger mystery.

The breakthrough came when the police reopened the cold case and issued an appeal for information, featuring a single blurry photograph of Ms Fox from the time of her disappearance. This appeal was distributed across the police’s website and social media platforms, leading to an immediate response from the public.

Within hours, crucial tips were provided that directed the authorities to Ms Fox’s current location. After conducting a probe, the police confirmed Ms Fox to be safe and well. She is currently living in another part of the country.

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‘Every missing person has a story’

Detective Sargeant Jenna Shaw from the cold case investigation team said her colleagues were absolutely delighted to fix Mx Fox after half a century and having cracked a true head-scratcher of a case. As per Ms Shaw, her team had to search through every piece of evidence to find the photo of MS Fox that led to the breakthrough.

“Every missing person has a story, and their families and friends deserve to know what happened to them and, hopefully, be reunited with them,” she added.

Notably, the cold case team is tasked with reviewing and investigating the “longest, most complex, and protracted missing episodes that have remained unsolved”. With advances in forensics and technology, the team is able to pursue leads that weren’t necessarily available at the time these cases were first reported.