Family of Ben Needham issue statement after man claims to be Ben on social media
The family of Sheffielder Ben Needham, missing since 1991, have issued a statement following social media claims from a man who claims to be Ben.
Ben went missing on the Greek island of Kos, in July 1991, with a search having so far failed to trace him. He was just 21-months-old when he went missing.
Now the family have shared a statement on the Facebook page they set up, in response to social media posts originating from a 33-year-old man who believes he may have been adopted, and suggests he has a number of reasons to believe he ‘is Ben’.
In the posts, the man claims he first began questioning his identity around two years ago, following flashbacks to a traumatic event ‘which made no sense at all’.
The reasons cited by the man include the fact he has the same birthmarks as Ben, although they have faded over time; that DNA tests have shown that he has no matches for anyone he knows to be family and a registery office he has checked with has no record of his birth certificate on file.
The man also claims he has made contact with Ben Needham’s family with a request for DNA tests to be carried out at his expense, but says they have been refused.
In the statement issued by Ben’s family, they say they are ‘deeply saddened’ by the suggestion they have refused a DNA test.
In the statement, Ben’s family have confirmed the man approached the ‘Help Find Ben’ page two years ago believing he could be Ben.
The statement continues: “Given certain similarities in his story, Ben’s mum, Kerry, responded to him directly.
“Regarding the discussions about Ben’s blood type, we want to clarify that neither the family nor Operation Ben knows what Ben’s blood type is.
“We believe the connection being made is incorrect and likely originates from a newspaper article about the German boy found in the river, whose blood type was tested in relation to Ben.
“A DNA test was conducted by South Yorkshire Police, despite claims to the contrary, and the results confirmed that he is not a match.
“Additionally, Ben’s full-blood sister, Leigh-Anna, has her DNA registered on multiple platforms for cross-matching. These have also been checked and yielded no match.
“We have no reason to doubt the integrity of any of these platforms whether operated by the police or global databases.
“We are deeply saddened by the allegations being made against our family, suggesting that we are denying a DNA test.
“This is simply not true. We are also hurt by some of the comments he is making.
“As a family, we feel this is unnecessary at this time, and we have no further reason to believe that he is/could be Ben.”
Ben’s family say they have offered their condolences to the man directly and ‘sincerely hope he finds the peace and answers he is searching for’.