'I started clearing round through the muck and found a hand and then an arm'

The discovery of a mummified woman wrapped in newspapers found in a cellar has baffled police for decades.

The grisly discovery was made by Jack Baxendale in a semi-detached house on Bromwich Street, Bolton, on December 14, 1982. Mr Baxendale, who was an unemployed painter and decorator at the time, was the house's new tenant and was clearing the cellar accompanied by his Alsatian dogs Rebel and Sheba when a cardboard box gave way to reveal a human skull.

Following the discovery, he told the Manchester Evening News: "I picked it up thinking it was a dummy but then realised that the teeth were false. I started clearing 'round through the muck and found a hand and then an arm."

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He also found rosary beads, traces of a bra, a woollen cardigan and trousers. After placing the skull in a bag, Mr Baxendale took the remains to Castle Street police station. At the time, the street was part of town's 'bedsit land', and authorities believe the property may have been used by homeless people.

Forensics found the body was of a small woman aged around 40-years old. Nicknamed Mary Ellen, her partially-mummified remains were discovered on a makeshift bed of newspapers and cardboard hidden behind furniture.

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Investigators believe 'Mary Ellen' had been sleeping rough in the house and could have been there since around 1966 due to the date on the newspapers she was wrapped in. With no luck in finding 'Mary Ellen's' identity, police turned to experts on Egyptian mummies who were asked to create a facial