Grief-stricken: Angelina Jolie stars as Christine Collins in Clint Eastwood's new film Changeling. In 1928,son went missing and was never seen again

By GLENYS ROBERTS...She was a devoted mother, hard-working, determined and tough. Then, one spring morning, Christine Collins kissed her little child goodbye (leaving him under the eye of neighbours), before returning in the evening to an empty house. Her beloved son had vanished without a trace.
A continent-wide hunt was launched and a shocked nation was kept agog by a string of leads - only for their hopes to be cruelly dashed as each clue led to a dead end.
The child was never seen again, the mother was heartbroken and the community was left divided by suspicion and mistrust. It is all the more powerful because it is based on a horrific true story.