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Daily News, Friday, 20^th December 1963, p.5

Heartbreak Christmas for lost girl’s mother By Staff Reporter Donald Smart

Mrs Ruth Hawkin is not buying a Christmas present for her daughter, Alison, this year. But Alison’s stepfather, Philip, has filled the missing girl’s room with gaily wrapped parcels containing records, books, clothes and make-up.

Mrs Hawkin, 34-year-old mother of Alison, cannot face Christmas shopping for her daughter. Nine days ago, she waved goodbye to her daughter as she set out from the family home in the tiny Derbyshire hamlet of Scardale to walk her pet sheepdog.

She has not seen her 13-year-old daughter since.

A relative said, ’If Alison is not found, it will be a very unhappy Christmas for everyone in Scardale.

‘We are a very close-knit community and it has hit us very hard. Everybody is baffled by Alison’s disappearance. She’s a lovely girl and no one can think of any reason why she might have run away.’

Police have questioned thousands of people, combed remote dales and moorland and dragged rivers and reservoirs in vain in the hunt for the pretty blonde schoolgirl.

Two other families will also have a gap at the Christmas table. A month ago, John Kilbride, aged 12, of Smallshaw Lane, Ashton-u-Lyne, disappeared. He was last seen on Ashton Market. Five months ago, 17-year-old Pauline Reade left her home in Wiles-street, Gorton, Manchester, to attend a local dance. Neither has been seen again.