Police continue search for girl's body, 57 years on

At the time Richard Ryan, a 20-year-old man who was later to be convicted of rape, lived at the property in Barton Road in the Farnworth area, between Sheila’s home in Macdonald Avenue and St James’ Primary School.

Police began the search after being tipped off that a man was seen digging in the garden after midnight around the time Sheila disappeared.

The digging had been witnessed by a neighbour now in his 70s and it preyed on his mind.

Det Chief Insp Paul Buchanan said it had "been on his mind for years" but that he had not wanted to lead police on a "wild goose chase".

Mr Buchanan, who expects the dig to last several days, added: "The disappearance of Sheila has remained a mystery for over 50 years and this is the first piece of information we have received in that time relating to her whereabouts.

"It is very early days for this line of inquiry and at this stage I don’t want to speculate whether or not we will be successful in our search for Sheila."

He continued: "We have a duty to the family to find out what happened. The whereabouts of this little girl are still not known.

"The family are still clearly traumatised by her disappearance."

A massive hunt was launched when Sheila disappeared.

Air raid wardens, special constables and neighbours scoured fields and searched nearby waterways and ponds after fears were raised that she had drowned.

Her seven-year-old friend said she last saw Sheila, described in newspaper reports as being "fresh complexioned and above average height for her age", riding on the crossbar of a man’s bicycle.

When asked where she was going, Sheila is said to have replied: "I am going with this man."

Sheila’s older sister Rene, 69, who was told about the lead last month, said: "I’ve hardly been able to sleep properly after I found out about it. I hope to God she is there so I will at least know where she is then."

She said: "I will be so glad if they do find her because it was so sudden. It left us all feeling so empty.

"It was a terrible time. We never even found her shoes or a ribbon. It was just as if the earth had swallowed her up.

"It would be such a comfort if she could have a Christian burial. I would like her to go with my mum and dad, they would be able to rest properly then."

She added that their parents, Miriam and George, never recovered from Sheila’s disappearance, and died without knowing what had happened to her.

Their mother never truly believed that Sheila was dead and always kept the front door unlocked just in case she came back.

Annie Worthington, 86, who has lived in the area for the past 60 years, said the community was deeply shocked at the time.

She said: "There was a massive search, the police came to every house. They wanted to talk to all the men and for some reason wanted to see their ties and to see if they used any face cream because they were looking for somebody with bad skin.

"They asked us all to look in our shelters because it was the war at the time.

"Ours was down in the back garden, nobody ever used it because it just had frogs and things in, but we went and looked anyway."

Neighbour Ann Howarth, 54, said her aunt, Linda Neary, who died when in her eighties, lived next door to Sheila Fox’s family.

She said: "They always said at the time that Sheila was killed by someone she knew. She was so timid and soft she would not have gone with a stranger.

"After her disappearance her dad was given a really hard time about it by police."

Mr Ryan, a miner, died 12 years ago.

He moved from the house in 1948, then in 1950, six years after Sheila’s disappearance, he was convicted of rape. In 1965 he was charged with indecently assaulting a child.

Throughout yesterday buckets of soil were taken from the back garden by scenes of crime officers and forensic experts. The current owner of the brick semi-detached home, who moved to the street only in recent years, remained indoors after declining the offer of staying in a hotel.