THE UNITED KINGDOM’S Home Office has pledged £700,000 to help the search in Greece for Ben Needham who went missing as a toddler 23 years ago.
The little boy was just 21-months-old when he disappeared in 1991 on the Greek Island of Kos where he was holidaying with parents. He was playing outside a farmhouse his family was renovating when it is thought he was snatched.
Since then, there have been more than 300 reported sightings of the boy, who would be in his twenties now. Private investigators hired by the family in 1995 linked Ben’s disappearance to a Roma camp in Salonika, Greece, but no evidence was found that a blonde boy living in the camp was the British child.
The boy’s mother Kerry has been working tirelessly since he went missing to highlight his case and today South Yorkshire police announced they secured funding from the Home Office to allow them to support Greek authorities in the search. They will now begin establishing an investigation team with a view to starting the inquiry this April.
“Ben’s mum, Kerry, has spent more than 23 years searching for her son. I fully support South Yorkshire Police in their ongoing pursuit of the facts,” commented police commissioner Dr Alan Billings. “They have worked hard in facilitating the Greek authorities investigation into Ben’s disappearance but there is still more work to do. This will be made easier with this additional funding, which will allow further lines of inquiry to be explored.”
The boy’s family thanked people for their support over the years:
Speaking to ITV today, she said the announcement was “bittersweet” as the delay in receiving funding may have stopped the family from finding the boy.
“It’s been a long time coming – I was starting to get to the point where I didn’t think it was going to be authorised,” she said.
“I believe that one way or another they will find out what happened to him or they will find him at the end of it.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say