The Mystery of Ben Needham

What would really be helpful I think (and if I was the Greek/Kos authorities right now) I would release all the first statements of those at/close to the farmhouse that day.

Things said 5,10,25 years later do change for various reasons.

The discrepancies are astounding.

What was the exact time Ben's disappearance was logged with the Kos police again?

From the police records and not from the Needhams.

TheTruthWillOut wrote:What would really be helpful I think (and if I was the Greek/Kos authorities right now) I would release all the first statements of those at/close to the farmhouse that day.

Things said 5,10,25 years later do change for various reasons.

Yes, it would certainly be very interesting to read through all those initial statements now.

TheTruthWillOut wrote:What would really be helpful I think (and if I was the Greek/Kos authorities right now) I would release all the first statements of those at/close to the farmhouse that day.

Things said 5,10,25 years later do change for various reasons.

Can't see any reason why they should do this.

Would you expect UK police to release witness statements from an unsolved crime ?

Just going to park this up. It's an article from 2012.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ben-needham-mum-tells-of-new-845618

froggy wrote:

TheTruthWillOut wrote:What would really be helpful I think (and if I was the Greek/Kos authorities right now) I would release all the first statements of those at/close to the farmhouse that day.

Things said 5,10,25 years later do change for various reasons.

Can't see any reason why they should do this.

Would you expect UK police to release witness statements from an unsolved crime ?

Usually no. But in this case it is beyond being prosecuted so don't see it as a problem now.

It might be against Greek law.

An old article with Ben's dad.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/08/14/ben-needham-s-dad-has-regression-therapy-to-try-to-find-missing-son_n_7363792.html

Andrew wrote:An old article with Ben's dad.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/08/14/ben-needham-s-dad-has-regression-therapy-to-try-to-find-missing-son_n_7363792.html

Why was Simon Ward included in the regression therapy? He wasn't there on 24th July.

"Two days of questioning with South Yorkshire officers were conducted under caution at a station in another force area."

Under caution. I'm not up on what that means. Can anyone tell?

seahorse wrote:

TheTruthWillOut wrote:

froggy wrote:

TheTruthWillOut wrote:What would really be helpful I think (and if I was the Greek/Kos authorities right now) I would release all the first statements of those at/close to the farmhouse that day.

Things said 5,10,25 years later do change for various reasons.

Can't see any reason why they should do this.

Would you expect UK police to release witness statements from an unsolved crime ?

Usually no. But in this case it is beyond being prosecuted so don't see it as a problem now.

It might be against Greek law.

I appreciate that I'm just saying instead of trying to figure things out from ever changing stories/memories over 25 years why not show the freshest info from the time?

DI Cousins even talked about "myths" and "legends" about the case so why not dispel some of this?

seahorse wrote:

Andrew wrote:An old article with Ben's dad.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/08/14/ben-needham-s-dad-has-regression-therapy-to-try-to-find-missing-son_n_7363792.html

Why was Simon Ward included in the regression therapy? He wasn't there on 24th July.

"Two days of questioning with South Yorkshire officers were conducted under caution at a station in another force area."

Under caution. I'm not up on what that means. Can anyone tell?

Weird isn't it.

I presume under caution is after he's been arrested and when they're interviewing him. But arrested for what and 2 days of questioning is a lot for someone who supposedly wasn't even there....

Interviews under caution

"Once police have grounds to suspect someone of an offence, the person must be cautioned before being asked any further questions. Unless this is done, the suspect's answers, or silence, cannot be used in court. The interview should take place at a police station unless delay in bringing a suspect there would be damaging. A person cautioned is told: "You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

Andrew wrote:An old article with Ben's dad.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/08/14/ben-needham-s-dad-has-regression-therapy-to-try-to-find-missing-son_n_7363792.html

The Mirror with a similar article:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ben-needham-missing-boys-dad-2020220

Another article about Ben's dad that not seen before. This was from 2013:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/missing-ben-needham-dad-simon-1514006

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2312250/Ben-Needham-Sister-Leighanna-explains-impact-disappearance-brother-life.html

From 2013.

I wish I hadn`t started the interest in this saga - nothing seems to corroborate and is all quite vague. The more I read, the more perplexed I become. I may be wrong but Kerry`s life appeared quite complex before Ben went missing.

I can`t work out whether she was still with Ben`s Dad, Simon Ward, when she went out there. From what I`ve gathered so far, her Mum and Dad went out there and bought a caravan to live in - don`t know if they bought the land as well. I assume they took Stephen and Danny with them and they went to school in Kos. Sometime later Kerry and Ben joined them. Kerry got a job in a hotel as a waitress and had her own flat nearby.

Now, did Simon Ward, Ben`s Dad, go out there at the same time as Kerry or did she leave him behind in Sheffield, because he says he went out there in April 1991, 3 months before Ben disappeared and left 2 days before. In the article below he says he spent time with Ben on the beach but doesn`t indicate whether he was living with Kerry in her flat.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ben-needham-missing-boys-dad-2020220

The article says " The interviews confirmed he left Kos two days before Ben vanished. He flew to Sheffield to wait for his son’s return."

There is also this photo of Kerry with a fellow called Martin in the bar at the hotel where she was working. I can`t post the photo on it`s own. I wonder if she had left Simon, gone to Kos to get away from him and then he followed her out there.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/heartbreaking-photo-missing-ben-needhams-7928295

I didn't know until about 5 mins ago that Kerry is a grandmother herself. Not really relevant to all this but just something I didn't know.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/missing-ben-needhams-mum-reveals-4890768

An article from 2012 that's quite interesting.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ben-needham-may-be-buried-at-a-building-site-845614

Cant get that link to work Andrew....goes to forbidden!!! .. just how did you get it?

Bampots wrote:Cant get that link to work Andrew....goes to forbidden!!! ..  just how did you get it?

That's odd. Just tried the link and it's fine for me.

Since posting the above, I`ve found out that Kerry and Simon went out to Kos together and Simon went back to Sheffield because work ran out in Kos.  Somewhere I`ve read that they split up after Ben disappeared, yet in the video below its said that Kerry and Simon had Leigh-Anna 2 years later, so I assume they didn`t split up.  More confusion.

P.S. Oh dear, Simon went to jail for 5 years for burglary.

In the book it says that Kerry arrived on 21st April.
Simon arrived on the 12th June.

Eddie got him a job somewhere, but he argued with his employers and lost the job. This happened again a few weeks later.

Simon left on 22nd July.

Kerry said she would join him in the UK if he'd find a job with prospects, a proper home etc.

Thanks seahorse.

I wonder if it`s been proved that Simon did actually leave on the 22nd.  Sounds as if he left under a bit of a cloud.

I agree with the summing up at the end of this video at about 14:30.  That Ben was taken from the backdoor and that whoever took him, also took his green shorts from the tree and the 2 cars.  Ben could easily have been outside for longer than has been reported before Christine said Ben had gone quiet. Time passes quicker than people realise.  They just say "After a few minutes" or "After a while" - it could have been 20 mins, half an hour etc. when you`re eating and talking.

I get the impression the Needham family themselves are decent people and wish they could at least have a conclusion - what an awful life for them.

Just one other thing.  The father was at the dig in 2012 incognito :-

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/missing-ben-needham-dad-simon-1514006

"It was then I decided to wear what looked like the police uniforms being used, so I could watch the dig in disguise.

"I wore a black sweat top, black combat trousers and black boots.

“Most people had no idea who I was. There was no distraction for them and it made it much easier for me as well.

"It was a really, really strange experience for me to be there at the site all alone.

"I have never before thought about the case as intensely as I did for that week.

“I was watching every step of the way, every scoop of that digger, and it was weird because I wanted to be there, but at the same time there were heart-stopping moments when I thought they had made some kind of discovery.

“I would be sitting on the bank having a drink and they would all rush across to the same spot and I thought, ‘Oh no, they have found something’. ".

When Ben disappeared Simon says he found out "3 days after I arrived back in England" which I suppose would have been the 25th, so the Needhams must have phoned him at home the next day.