How one email helped reunite son and mum after 50 years

When a BBC presenter received an email after the release of her true crime podcast, it was the beginning of a chain of events which led to a mother and son's reunion after 50 years. Matthew, a listener to the Forgotten Dead series about an unidentified woman who had been found dead in a Bolton cellar in 1982, wrote to Jane Wilkinson to say it might be his missing mum. While it was not his mother, Matthew went on to discover his real mum was still alive after she disappeared to escape an abusive relationship. In a new episode of the BBC Radio Manchester podcast, Matthew revealed details of the life-changing moment he spoke to his mum for the first time. The podcast examines the case of a woman's body being discovered in the cellar at a house on Bromwich Street in Bolton in 1982. Despite appeals, Greater Manchester Police never learned her name, so they called her Mary Ellen. Over the last few years, a BBC investigation into the woman's real identity has become an obsession and inspired the podcast: The Forgotten Dead. Could Mary Ellen be his mum, who had disappeared 50 years ago, leaving behind her three young sons? "I've been told that my mother had mental health issues and that sh

Mar 17, 2026 → Mar 17, 2026