Greece BEN NEEDHAM: Missing from Kos, Greece - 24 July 1991 - Age 21 months

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Toddler, Ben Needham, went missing on the Greek island of Kos. His mother Kerry, from Sheffield, has always maintained he was abducted.


Media - http://crimewatchers.net/index.php?...s-greece-since-24-july-1991-age-21-months.91/
 
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...- ... ddler.html

Greek police hunting missing Ben Needham are probing eight theories about what happened to the British toddler

Toddler Ben Needham went missing 24 years ago on Greek island of Kos
His mother Kerry, from Sheffield, has always maintained he was abducted
Documents reveal Greek investigators are probing eight different theories
Lack of clarity 'damaging to the credibility' of the Greek investigation, new papers have claimed

By JULIAN ROBINSON FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 06:01 EST, 9 August 2015 | UPDATED: 06:29 EST, 9 August 2015


Greek police hunting missing Ben Needham are probing eight different theories about what happened to the British toddler, it has emerged.

Ben was just 21 months old when he went missing while on a family holiday on the Greek island of Kos in July, 1991.


Now it has been claimed that Greek detectives examining the disappearance are looking at possible explanations ranging from 'serious crime to accidental death'.

But the lack of clarity has been 'damaging to the credibility' of the investigation in Greece, according to documents obtained by the Sunday People.

Specific details of the hypotheses have been blacked out in the papers, Jonathan Corke reports.

News of the theories emerged after a Freedom of Information request following a British review which took place earlier this year.


Ben's family have always said they believe he was abducted after he disappeared from outside a farmhouse they were helping to renovate.

Earlier this year, South Yorkshire Police was granted £700,000 in Home Office funding to support the Greek authorities in continuing inquiries to find Ben.

A review was launched in February by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to see how South Yorkshire officers would use the cash.

Papers from the review said enquiries had been made 'across the world from Germany to Australia'.

According to the Sunday People, the report adds: 'The fact that after more than 20 years we are no clearer about the reasons for Ben’s disappearance is... damaging to the credibility of the Greek police investigation and indirectly South Yorkshire Police.

'The Special Grant Funding will enable SYP to identify and address outstanding investigative opportunities, possibly resolve the case and if not at least give the Needham family some reassurance that all reasonable lines of enquiry have been pursued.'

Last month, it emerged that officers from South Yorkshire Police had questioned a Roma gipsy family in connection with the toddler's abduction.

The Mirror reported how Ben's mother Kerry, 43, from Sheffield, who has campaigned for years to find her son and believes he is still alive, was 'relieved they have finally been challenged'.

The paper reported how Ms Needham begged police to visit the 'strange little town' where the gipsies lived for years after being told of numerous sightings of a child matching Ben's description with the family.

Detective Inspector Jon Cousins said this was 'significant' to the investigation.


In May Ms Needham travelled to Athens with South Yorkshire Police to appear on a missing persons programme and appeal for information.

There was excitement soon after when a man called the show saying he was Ben. But detectives ruled him out after discovering the caller had been DNA-tested several years ago and found not to be the missing boy from Sheffield.

Police were also given the name of another man who had been previously ruled out, but said in May they were analysing a photograph sent to them of a third man. They were also chasing seven new leads at the time.

Detectives from South Yorkshire Police received 30 calls during the three-hour programme, as Ben’s heartbroken mother vowed to ‘never, ever stop looking for him’.

After the broadcast, she said: ‘I believe he is out there and I don’t think it’s going to be long. It’s just a feeling I have inside myself.

'It feels like he is saying, “Come on, I’m here just come and get me.”

'That keeps me going. I want him to know that I love him just as much today as when he was born.’

A spokesman for the Foreign Office previously said: 'We have the deepest sympathies with Ben Needham's family and continue to offer them consular support.

'We are following this case closely and will fully assist South Yorkshire Police wherever possible.'

Ben vanished after travelling to Kos with his mother and grandparents, who were renovating a farmhouse in the village of Iraklise.

In 2013, a DNA test carried out on a man in Cyprus proved he was not Ben.
 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...- ... ddler.html


TIMELINE: THE 24-YEAR SEARCH FOR MISSING TODDLER BEN NEEDHAM



July 24, 1991: At around 2.30pm Ben disappears while on a family holiday to the Greek island of Kos with his mother and grandparents. The Needhams had been renovating a farmhouse in the village of Iraklise.

July 25: Police and the Needhams search a hillside close to where Ben went missing but there is no trace of him.

September: Due to illness, the family have to return to England because they can no longer live and work on the island.

1992: Various sightings of children matching Ben's description are reported to police but nothing comes of the leads.

1993: Ben's mother Kerry flies back out to Kos to get an update on the police investigation but nothing is forthcoming from Greek officers.

1994: Grandparents Christine and Eddie meet with a prisoner serving time in the Greek city of Larissa. He named a gipsy family who he claimed were involved in hiding Ben but it fails to produce a positive sighting.

2003: The charity Missing People and the Met Police issue a computer-generated photo of what Ben would look like at age 12–14.

July 2011: South Yorkshire Police launch a cold case review. Officers are sent from Athens to Kos in an attempt to kick-start the investigation.

November 2011: DNA obtained from a Guthrie heel-prick test when Ben was born can be used by police, it is ruled by the High Court.

May 2012: A digger driver claims he was excavating in the area at the time of Ben's disappearance. Land was excavated but no trace of Ben was found.

2013: Another artist's impression is released of what Ben would look like as an adult.

2014: A DNA test on a young man featured in video footage shot in Cyprus proved negative.

May 2015: A man came forward claiming to be Ben after the Needhams made an emotional appeal for information on Greek TV. The man proves to be an impostor but detectives say they are pursuing new leads following the TV appeal.

July 2015: Police reveal they have questioned a Roma gipsy family in connection with Ben's abduction.
 
This is the house Ben's grandfather was doing construction on the day Ben disappeared. Ben's grandmother took Ben to the house that day. Very few people would have known this. The house is in an isolated area of the island. Ben was in the house with his grandparents and the man his grandfather worked for. Ben went outside and vanished.


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Twenty-one years later, the British government showed up on Kos to dig in the field next to where Ben was last seen.


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Having read Kerry's book, I can only think of a few things that could have happened to Ben.

- Someone in the Needham family sold him to traffickers.
- The man working with Kerry's father alerted traffickers that Ben was at the remote location.
- Someone in the surrounding houses alerted traffickers that Ben was in the driveway.
- Kerry's mother could have told someone where she was taking Ben for the day.
- It's unlikely, but possible, that kidnappers drove past the driveway where Ben was playing.
 
Ben Needham 'snatched and taken away on black speedboat to man called Nikos'

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news ... ay-7941488

Missing Ben Needham was abducted and taken away from the Greek island of Kos on a black speedboat, it is sensationally claimed.

Cold case detectives are also looking into tip-offs that the toddler was looked after by a man called Nikos, who changed the toddler’s name to Andreas.

Ben, from Sheffield, was just 21 months old when he vanished without a trace on July 24, 1991, while living in Kos with his mum and grandparents.

It has now emerged an unidentified source told devastated gran Christine how the boy was whisked away by sea.

A friend of the Needhams said: “Christine was told Ben was kidnapped and taken away on a black speedboat as they frantically searched the island.

“They have always believed he was abducted . There have been many theories that little Ben was stolen by a trafficking gang or even a paedophile network.
 
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sout ... e-36289780


Ben Needham search: Senior officer to retain control of investigation after 'booze probe'


13 May 2016

From the sectionSheffield & South Yorkshire


The officer leading the search for missing Ben Needham will remain in charge despite reports members of his team went on an eight-hour drinking session, South Yorkshire Police say.


The force met with Det Supt Matt Fenwick after The Sun claimed officers went drinking after launching a new appeal for information in Greece.

Ben, from Sheffield, was 21 months old when he disappeared on 24 July 1991.

A force spokesman said the decision was "in line" with Ben's family's wishes.

He said: "The senior officer responsible for Operation Ben has now met with the Deputy Chief Constable to explain recent events on Kos.

"He has been advised about the high professional standards that are required.

"We have been in regular contact with the Needham family throughout the last couple of days and it is a clear that they have full confidence in the investigative team."

In a letter to South Yorkshire Police the solicitor acting for Ben's mother, Kerry, said she "trusts" the officers involved in the investigation and "believes they are working to the highest standard" and urged the force not to recall Mr Fenwick.

Earlier this year, the force secured £450,000 from the Home Office to help in the search on top of the £700,000 it secured in 2015.

Officers travelled to Kos on Sunday to carry out "house-to-house visits" and distribute leaflets and posters.

A DNA test was carried out on a man in Cyprus in an attempt to establish if he could be Ben, but it proved negative in 2013.

In 2012, a police operation focused on a mound of earth and rubble close to where the toddler was last seen, but no trace of him was found.
 

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