Family of missing Sheffield boy Ben Needham call for support as they plan to bring in private investigator
“I cannot follow this path alone”
The mum of a boy who has been missing for more than three decades is seeking help from private investigators.
Ben Needham went missing in 1991 at only 21 months old, and his mum Kerry said that “not a single day has passed where I haven’t thought about him.”
Over the course of those 35 years, she has been working proactively with police in an effort to find out what truly happened to her son.
He vanished during a trip with his mum to the Greek island of Kos.
She believes that Ben was taken and illegally adopted, and says she feels let down by South Yorkshire Police who recently told the family that the matter was the responsibility of Greek authorities.
She has leads she wants to follow up.
In response, Kerry is looking to employ a private investigator - and is asking for the public’s help in raising funds.
On the Help Find Ben Needham page on Facebook, she wrote: “For the first time in a long time, I feel a real sense of hope - but I cannot follow this path alone and with the latest news of UK police stepping back from Ben's case I have decided to take the next step and hire my own person investigator.
“We need help to investigate these leads properly. This means I need to raise funds for possible travel to other countries, working with legal experts, investigators, and carrying out essential DNA testing - whatever it takes to find the truth about what happened to my son.
“As a mum, I have never given up on Ben. I never will. But I need your help now more than ever to keep this search going.”
Ben was only a toddler when he vanished in July 1991.
On the day Ben disappeared, he was playing outside a farmhouse his grandfather was renovating while his mum worked at a nearby hotel.
At the time, Kerry was planning to move with her son to the Greek island, however at around 2.30pm on July 24 it was discovered that Ben was missing.
Over the course of the investigation into his disappearance, a number of people have falsely come forward claiming to be Ben, while an investigation into whether Ben died from a digger accident uncovered blood samples that were later discovered to not match the young boy’s DNA profile.
Controversy surrounded South Yorkshire Police (SYP) recently after Kerry claimed they had dropped her son’s case.
However, the force responded to clarify that the “resource allocation” hasn’t changed and that Greek authorities are leading the investigation.
A spokesperson for SYP said: “The role of South Yorkshire Police, as it always has been, is to be a conduit for information sharing between the UK authorities, Interpol, and the Greek authorities as we seek to support Ben’s family in the continued search for answers. The investigation itself is led by the Greek authorities.
“As we approach the 35 year anniversary of the disappearance of Ben, we have reviewed our processes to ensure these remain fit-for-purpose and can withstand any increase in information flow.
“Our resource allocation has not changed, as we continue to have a designated family liaison officer and detective inspector as the points of contacts for all of the relevant agencies and Ben’s family. The Greek investigation is open and we believe it will remain open until a conclusion is reached. Our involvement in support of the investigation has not changed.
“We’re deeply sorry for any confusion this review may have caused but wish to reassure all involved that this has not resulted in a change to our approach, it only sought to confirm we had the right approach to provide the best possible support within our jurisdiction.”
Nevertheless, she has remained critical of the police and government’s response, saying that resources are not fairly allocated to all cases.
In an interview with ITV on Tuesday (May 19), Kerry said: "It's not right that we've had to sit back and just accept scraps of help from the government. My son's investigation in 35 years has had £1.3 million.
"[Madeleine McCann's] case has had nearly £14 million. How's that fair? It's just not, and I won't be silent anymore. I am not being critical to the McCanns at all. This is not personal. This is against the government and the authorities - the British government and the authorities.
"I'm not going to be quiet about this. I want the same resources putting into my son's investigation that's put into other people's. It's downright disgusting."