Ben Needham: Anniversary of disappearance approaches as family says 'anything is still possible'

Ben Needham was 21 months old when he vanished on the Greek island of Kos in July 1991.

He and his mum, Kerry, were visiting the island to spend time with her parents, who had moved to the sunshine isle.

Kerry was also considering moving there with Ben to begin a new life in the sun.

On the day Ben vanished he was playing outside a farmhouse his grandfather was renovating.

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Three decades on and Ben’s disappearance still remains a mystery.

Initially it was feared that Ben had been abducted.

But then, years later, the focus of the investigation changed when police received information that Ben may have been hit by a digger which was clearing land near to where the toddler had been playing on the day he disappeared.

In 2016, a team of officers from South Yorkshire Police spent three weeks ecavating land where the digger had been operating, and recovered two items which were believed to have belonged to Ben - a piece of leather which may have been from Ben's sandal and a toy car that Ben had on the day he vanished.

Detective Inspector Jon Cousins, who led that part of the missing person probe, then issued a statement in which he said he believed Ben died “as a result of an accident”.

“It is my professional belief that Ben Needham died as a result of an accident near to the farmhouse in Iraklis where he was last seen playing,” he said.

However, Ben’s family has never given up hope that the police may be wrong.

In a statement issued on the Find Ben Needham page on Facebook earlier this month, the family posted: “It seems people are still posting about the digger driver theory.

“Just to clarify a few things. The digger driver theory came after an anonymous tip came in, saying Ben had been involved in an accident that day and the accident had been covered up.

“This resulted in South Yorkshire Police conducting the dig for Ben's remains. On the dig, two items of interest were found. A piece of leather that could be from Ben's sandal and also a toy car that Ben had in his possession the day he went missing.

“The toy car was found at site 2.. This is where the digger driver used to dump his rubble on jobs.

“On one of the items recovered, decomposed blood was found. This was when we thought this was it, we are going to finally find out what happened. However, imagine the confusion and emotion when after DNA testing, the blood didn't belong to Ben or anyone in the Needham family!

“So, we carry on the search for Ben, we are not discounting anything found by South Yorkshire Police but there is still a chance Ben could be out there. No remains have ever been found. No trace of Ben has ever been found. We will never give up!

“There is NO PROOF to say Ben died that day. That means ANYTHING is still possible.”