Ben Needham: 35th anniversary of disappearance approaches as family releases new theory
The 35th anniversary of a Sheffield toddler’s disappearance is approaching, marking nearly three and a half decades since the child vanished without a trace.
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.
The toddler was in the care of his grandparents, while his mum worked at a nearby pub.
The trauma for the family began at 2.30pm that day, when they realised he was missing.
Initially, it was feared that Ben had been abducted.
Multiple potential sightings of Ben were reported over the years but to no avail.
South Yorkshire Police later told Kerry that detectives believed Ben had been accidentally killed by a digger driver working in an adjacent field on the day he vanished.
Excavation work was carried out and police told Kerry they had found a small yellow Dinky toy car that was in Ben’s possession on the day he disappeared.
They concluded that Ben died as a result of an accident near to the farmhouse in Iraklis.
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.
DNA testing was done on the toy car and the piece of leather, thought to be a strap from a sandal, but it was not a match to Ben or the Needham family.
Back in January, Kerry posted to the ‘Help Find Ben Needham’ Facebook page, and reiterated that she did not believe the digger theory.
Instead, she suspects that her son may have fallen victim to a traveller trafficking gang that sold him into an illegal adoption racket.
She said: “There are too many discrepancies in the witness statements, timelines and FACTS in the digger driver theory.
“Our belief is Ben was taken and illegally adopted.
“No trace of Ben has EVER been found from the digger theory.
“We have lots of information supporting illegal adoption around Ben's case.”
Speaking to The Sun about new leads, back in January, Kerry said she had received an email from a woman who believes her boyfriend may be her long lost son.
She said there were a "lot of coincidences", and added that "a lot of things don't add up from his past", but has not thrown her entire weight behind the claims due to "very little information" about the man in question.