Ben Needham: Family say police have 'zero proof' missing Sheffield boy is dead

He was just 18 months old when a holiday on the Greek island of Kos turned into a three decade ongoing nightmare for his family when he disappeared.

The toddler, from Sheffield, was playing outside a farmhouse his grandfather was renovating when he vanished.

Ben's mum Kerry, had taken him to visit his grandparents, Eddie and Christine Needham, after they moved to Kos for a new life in the sun. Kerry was also considering moving there but instead her life was shattered when her beloved son could not be found.

Various theories have been investigated over the years, including abduction; and numerous possible sightings have been reported and looked into but Ben simply vanished without a trace on July 24, 1991.

In 2016, detectives from South Yorkshire Police made the announcement that they believed Ben had died in an incident involving a digger on the day he disappeared.

Excavation work was carried out by the police around the farmhouse where Ben was last seen, and on neighbouring land which was being cleared the day he went missing.

A site elsewhere on the island where the cleared land was dumped was also sifted through.

Ben's remains were never found but an item believed to have been in his possession the day he vanished was reported to have been discovered.

Detectives said they had also spoken to a witness who claimed the digger driver had confessed to having been involved in an accident the day Ben disappeared. The digger driver has since died.

But Ben's family has never given up hope that police may have got it wrong and he may one day be found.

On a Facebook page run by Kerry and her family, their latest post reads: "The month of October. The month Ben Needham was born. By Ben's second birthday he was gone. How can a 21-month-old child just disappear without a trace?

"We are becoming more aware of the child trafficking business worldwide. Especially Greece in the 80s and 90s. Children were easy to register with fake papers.

"There is zero proof Ben died at the farmhouse, zero proof of a deathbed confession and zero DNA link to the previous items found at the farmhouse.

"Somebody, somewhere knows. Even if you previously sent in information over the years, please send in again so we can double check these leads were followed to the best of our ability.

"If you think you could be Ben, questioning your parentage, childhood not adding up, please contact us. We will not disrupt your life."