Mum of missing Ben Needham urges police to keep searching like in Madeleine McCann case

Mum of missing Ben Needham urges police to keep searching like in Madeleine McCann case

EXCLUSIVE: Kerry Needham says she feels like her son Ben has been forgotten because South Yorkshire Police have not requested any cash to pursue his disappearance case since 2016

By Lucy Thornton

   21:55, 18 OCT 2020

The anguished mother of missing Ben Needham has implored police to keep searching for him like they are for Madeleine McCann.

Ben was 21 months old when he vanished while playing near the family’s house on the Greek island of Kos in 1991.

South Yorkshire Police have not requested any cash to pursue the case since 2016 and in total have had just over £1million for the investigation.

Ben’s mum Kerry was angry to learn the Met team probing Maddie’s 2007 disappearance just got another £350,000, taking its total case funds to £12million.

She said: “I feel like Ben has been forgotten. I am pleased for the McCann family that their loss is taken seriously. But I feel hurt they don’t think my son is worth hunting for.”

Kerry, 48, wants a forensic search of a compound that used to belong to island builder Konstantinos “Dino” Barkas, who police believe killed Ben in a digger accident.

The Met’s latest Maddie cash comes despite German police now having suspect Christian Brueckner, who they believe killed her.

Kerry said: “Police tell us Ben was killed in an accident and it feels as if that’s the end of it. But it can’t be.

“The German police think Madeleine has died but more funding has been given. How can that be fair?”

Police think Ben’s body was hidden and maybe moved twice. The Mirror can reveal that in the last search in 2016, locals told of possible dumping sites.

But officers never traced the digger or searched the compound where Dino, who died in 2015, kept his gear.

In 2016, the Mirror found the site, now owned by his son.

One worker said of Ben’s fate: “It could have been an accident, to be honest they do happen.”

Kerry, of Sheffield, South Yorks, said: “There are locations that need to be ruled out.

"My child is buried somewhere and without finances we’ll never find him. That’s unfair and heartbreaking.”

Ben vanished outside the house grandad Eddie was renovating after the family moved to Greece earlier in 1991.

South Yorkshire Police confirmed “no new funding requests” have been made since 2016.

The force reiterated its belief Ben died in accident, adding: “Should any new lines come to light, we may explore the need to apply for funding.”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mum-missing-ben-needham-urges-22866919
...................

Be careful what you wish for madame.  Sometimes the truth has a horrible habit of revealing the truth - think about it.

What are you suggesting about the ‘truth’ in this case?

Very sad for the family they may never find their son or answers Kerry should write a book about her son Ben and about the case

She already has, Rosa.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ben-Kerry-Needham/dp/0091950880

Exclusive: Mum of missing toddler Ben Needham demands cops return to island and speak to key witness

Kerry Needham wants officers here and on the Greek island of Kos to prove their claim her son Ben, who disappeared in 1991, died in an accident. The mum is still clinging to hopes he is alive

ByLucy ThorntonNews Reporter

21:01, 23 Jul 2023Updated07:56, 24 Jul 2023

The mum of missing toddler Ben Needham has urged British police to return to Kos to speak to a crucial witness before he dies.

And Kerry Needham wants officers here and on the Greek island to prove their claim her son died in an accident.

Tomorrow marks the 32nd anniversary of Ben’s disappearance in 1991 when he was nearly two but Kerry is still clinging to hopes he is alive.

UK detectives believe he was killed by a digger near the home his family were staying in after a witness came forward. A dig at the site in 2016 found blood on a toy car but DNA did not match Ben’s.

The witness then refused to sign a statement and has since said he will not speak to British officers again.

Kerry, from Sheffield, said: “They think Ben died in an accident but they have to prove that. Prove to me that Ben died.



“I want them to go back to Kos. That witness needs speaking to, before he dies. Why did he stop speaking to the police? Has someone tried to shut him up? In the ­beginning he said, ‘The mother deserves to know the truth.’

“If he really wanted to help me, why did he refuse to sign a statement?

“They need to go back and speak to the Greek police and find out what they have been doing in the last seven years. The case has still not moved on.”

Dino Barkas, the digger driver who police fear killed Ben, is already dead.

Speaking of the anniversary of Ben’s disappearance, Kerry added: “It is 32 years of not knowing, ­frustration and anger. It doesn’t get easier as the years go on, it gets harder. Someone knows where Ben is and what happened to him.”

But the desperate mum told how she still dreams of a reunion with her son after a string of false alarms. Recently a man came forward claiming to be Ben with similar ­birthmarks to him. But DNA taken by South Yorkshire Police did not match his.

Kerry said: “He honestly thought he was Ben. But the things he was telling me he could have read about. He had mental health issues. We always live in hope that one day we will get that phone call from Ben himself.

“We still get emails daily from people.

“I have a lot of respect for South ­Yorkshire Police but is anyone still investigating Ben’s ­disappearance? I don’t know.”

Kerry is also critical of the £1million funding police received from No10 to help look for her son, compared with the £13million UK officers have been given in the hunt for Madeleine McCann.

She said: “It infuriates me. Why don’t we get the same help as this? Is Ben not important enough?”

South Yorkshire Police refused to comment on returning to Kos and are sticking to the belief Ben was killed.

But it added: “Should any new viable line of inquiry come to light, we would seek to work with the Greek authorities to support them in their investigations.”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mum-missing-toddler-calls-cops-30534419