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'I will never stop in search for Ben'
On July 24, 1991 Sheffield toddler Ben Needham vanished from outside a derelict farmhouse in the Greek island of Kos. Today his mum Kerry Needham talks about the pain of dealing with the disappearance on a day when she should be with her son on his 18th birthday. Richard Heath reports.
KERRY Needham should be celebrating today. She should be celebrating the 18th birthday of her son Ben, surrounded by family and friends.
But there will be no presents, no balloons and no party.
Instead, she will endure a quiet day of reflection, marking 16 years of heartache following her boy’s mysterious disappearance.
The toddler was aged just two when he vanished from outside a farmhouse in Kos which was being renovated by his granddad.
The case shocked the nation and, even in a time when the media had a far shorter reach than nowadays, gained huge coverage in the UK and abroad.
But despite numerous sightings, the blond-haired, blue-eyed boy has never been found.
“Every birthday, Christmas and anniversary is tough but this will be worse because it is his 18th. If I were staying in Sheffield I probably wouldn’t bother even getting out of bed,” said Kerry, from Ecclesfield, Sheffield.
“But I have decided to spend it with my parents in Cyprus. We won’t be going out to celebrate or anything like that, we will just spend a quiet day together and be strong for each other,” she added.
Looking back at the aftermath of the disappearance, Kerry feels that things may have turned out differently if Ben’s case had had the media exposure the parents of Madeleine McCann have utilised.
She said: “Back then there were no 24-hour news channels, there was no internet and no mobile phones. I think we got as much coverage as we could have expected at the time, but I think having the attention the McCanns have received would have helped.”
Over the years Kerry and her family have employed numerous people, including private detectives, to find Ben and have visited dozens of towns, villages and gypsy campsites and analysed scores of photos containing images of boys like Ben.
But despite the family’s best efforts, they are no nearer to finding him.
“It is my belief that for whatever reason, probably because they didn’t think I was a suitable mother, someone took Ben. I was a 19-year-old unmarried woman with a young son, and this wouldn’t have sat well with people in Greece. It just didn’t fit in to the Greek culture.
“Child selling and abducting has been prevalent in Greece and Ben was probably picked because he was a blond-haired and blue-eyed boy.
“I think it is highly likely that he is no longer in Greece, but we can’t say for sure.”
Over the last few weeks the Greek authorities have showed a change of heart, and for the first time are launching a nationwide hunt to find Ben.
Speaking from Athens, the Needhams’ Greek press spokesperson Mariana Faithful told The Star: “It is true that the Greeks are about to launch a poster campaign across the country.
“The Greek Prime Minister is a caring person and I think he is sensitive to this case because he has two small children of his own. I think this has caused the renewed interest in the case.”
For Kerry, this is the most significant development for years, and has given her new hope that one day she may find her son.
She said: “I think that many years ago when this all happened people in Greece just thought I would eventually shut up and go away.
“That was a mistake. I have never gone way, never stopped trying to find Ben and I never will. I still firmly believe that Ben is out there somewhere and perhaps there is someone asking themselves a few questions about their own life and where they have come from. The only time I will go away is when Ben is found.”
n Visit www.findben needham.com for more on Ben.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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