Re: The Mystery of Ben Needham

unreorganised Wed 21 Sep 2016, 5:23 pm

Freedom wrote:Somewhat ironic that the Mirror points out that less publicity has been given to the Needhams over the years - suggesting that the class difference might be part of the reason - when it is the media itself which has made the coverage of the McCann case so unique and the real reason for it has still yet to be established; there's certainly more to it than class difference.

I was never even aware of the Ben Needham situation at the time - I only really know anything about it now because of tangential references to the McCanns.

**Freedom** Wed 21 Sep 2016, 10:21 pm

Had you never heard of Ben after he disappeared and prior to May 2007?

I vaguely remember hearing about him at the time though inevitably, as with all non-McCann cases, the coverage soon stopped.

I do remember thinking when I first heard about Madeleine whether she would be another one like Ben who was never found.

Andrew Thu 22 Sep 2016, 11:14 am

http://www.policeprofessional.com/news.aspx?id=27212

A 25-year search for missing toddler Ben Needham will take a dramatic new turn next week.

Digging begins on Monday (September 26) on the Greek island of Kos after the family of Ben have been told “prepare for the worst” as new evidence suggests the child may have been crushed to death.

South Yorkshire Police (SYP) has confirmed that forensic investigators will return to the idyllic Mediterranean beauty spot to excavate two former farmland sites close to where the 21-month old vanished on July 24, 1991.

The force said it expected the first excavation to take ten to 12 days and that "any unusual items recovered" would undergo forensic testing.

A decision on whether to start digging at the second site will not be made until work has finished at the first, a force spokesperson said.

In a statement SYP said it was "entirely expected that the team will regularly come across bones in the ground as the site is former farmland".

A spokesperson for the Campaign To Find Ben Needham said they were supporting his family as "much as we can".

The decision to return to Kos comes after a new witness claimed that a construction worker called Konstantinos Barkas may have accidentally caused and covered up Ben’s death.

Detective Superintendent Matt Fenwick said: “We continue to keep an open mind and have updated Ben’s family about certain lines of inquiry we’re currently exploring.”

Ben disappeared while playing outside at his grandparents’ house in the village of Iraklise.

Despite several large-scale international searches, no evidence as to what happened to him has ever been found.

Several people have come forward over the years professing to be Ben, but all were disproved by DNA testing.

However, following a witness appeal on Greek TV, a friend of Mr Barkas has told police that the construction worker accidentally killed Ben while clearing land close to where the toddler was last seen.

Officers conducted a dig at the site in 2012, but after no evidence was found, the decision was made to continue the investigation as a missing persons case.

Mr Barkas was interviewed several times over his alleged involvement with the case, but failed to tell officers that he had been working on the two sites that will now be searched before his death last year.

The Daily Mirror reports that before he died, Mr Barkas admitted that “people were misled in thinking [Ben] was abducted”.

Mr Barkas’s widow Varvara reportedly strongly dismissed any suggestions her late husband had killed Ben in an accident.

She said: "My husband was a good man and I know he had nothing to do with Ben’s disappearance."

She admitted they had never spoken about what happened on the day Ben disappeared.

Mrs Barkas said: "He never talked to me about what he was doing. It was never discussed.

"He never once spoke to me about Ben. The only thing he ever said was that he saw a car that day. Even when he was dying, he never mentioned Ben."

Earlier this year, SYP secured funding form the Home Office to send ten officers to Kos to carry out further investigations.

TIMELINE ON BEN NEEDHAM'S DISAPPEARANCE
July 24, 1991: Ben Needham vanishes after travelling to Kos with his mother and grandparents;
September 24, 1991: Ben's family returns to England due to illness, but his mother Kerry Needham continues to campaign for her son to be found;
February 24, 2011: Prime Minister David Cameron responds to Mrs Needham, offering to support South Yorkshire Police and to press the Greek authorities;
May 24, 2011: BBC airs a programme called 'Missing 2011' which includes a segment on Ben;
September 24, 2011: Greek police on Kos reopen Ben's case;
October 24, 2012: A police operation focusing on a mound of earth and rubble close to where Ben was last seen finds no trace of him;
October 24, 2013: Police say a DNA test carried out on a man in Cyprus proves he is not Ben Needham;
March 24, 2015: Another DNA test on another man in Greece proves negative;
January 24, 2015: South Yorkshire Police gets £700,000 from the Home Office to continue the investigation;
March 24, 2016: The force secures a further £450,000 in funding;
May 24, 2016: A team of ten South Yorkshire Police officers visits Kos to carry out house-to-house visits; and
September 2016: Police say two locations on the island will be excavated.

Andrew Sun 25 Sep 2016, 6:34 pm

The digs start tomorrow...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-3806550/Ben-Needham-police-begin-new-dig-Kos.html

It says the driver (Dino) reportedly died last year.....

Did he or didn't he...... scratch

Châtelaine Sun 25 Sep 2016, 7:00 pm

I'm in limbo here ...

**Freedom** Mon 26 Sep 2016, 8:19 am

I'm not quite sure why you're in limbo, Chatelaine!

In my opinion, absolutely nothing will be found in this dig. I just don't feel that this is the answer to the mystery.

Guest Mon 26 Sep 2016, 9:30 am

I assume they'll be taking the cadaver dogs.

Andrew Mon 26 Sep 2016, 9:39 am

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ben-needham-search-team-expect-8914721

Police expect to find "hundreds of bones" in a field when they start digging for missing toddler Ben Needham.

This morning surveying equipment was brought onto the land, which has been used by farmers to keep pigs chickens and sheep.

A team of 19 people are involved in the dig in Kos - some British and some Greek.

Detective inspector Jon Cousins said they were planning on "gridding out" the area preparing for the dig.

Andrew Mon 26 Sep 2016, 9:47 am

I just cant understand why this area of land was not meticulously searched at the time. I really can't.

Toddler goes missing. Land was being cleared and excavated next door to where he was last seen. scratch

Andrew Mon 26 Sep 2016, 10:26 am

purple ronnie wrote:I assume they'll be taking the cadaver dogs.

They took them in 2012:

In October 2012 a team including Greek Mountain Rescue volunteers, cadaver dogs and their handlers , an anthropologist and operators of ground-penetrating radar, searched land around the farmhouse, but nothing was found.

You'd think they would take them again though.

Andrew Mon 26 Sep 2016, 11:11 am

I wonder what's in the box and why the person in red seems to be carrying a tambourine....

The Mystery of Ben Needham - Page 15 Proxy10

**Freedom** Mon 26 Sep 2016, 11:13 am

It must be a sieve for separating bits of bone (or whatever) from the earth.

costello Mon 26 Sep 2016, 11:20 am

Freedom wrote:It must be a sieve for separating bits of bone (or whatever) from the earth.

Yes Freedom I'm sure it is or was used to be known as a 'riddle'.

Bampots Mon 26 Sep 2016, 11:37 am

So sad! The sieve is a chilling reminder of why these people are there and the grim task they have to perform!!

costello Mon 26 Sep 2016, 1:19 pm

http://news.sky.com/story/ben-needham-police-to-begin-new-dig-on-kos-10593675

Andrew Mon 26 Sep 2016, 1:34 pm

Quite a few pictures in this updated Mirror article..

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ben-needham-search-team-expect-8914721

Andrew Mon 26 Sep 2016, 3:07 pm

I still can't understand why, now 25 years later on, that they are searching literally round the back of the house. scratch

Was this area never ever properly searched in all that time...... scratch

The Mystery of Ben Needham - Page 15 Ctqy0510

bluebell Mon 26 Sep 2016, 3:50 pm

I still have a hope that Ben was abducted. Quite irrational I suppose as I have never felt that about Madeleine.

froggy Mon 26 Sep 2016, 4:14 pm

Andrew wrote:I still can't understand why, now 25 years later on, that they are searching literally round the back of the house.

Was this area never ever properly searched in all that time......

It probably was, but new information requires a new search, if only to satisfy the Yorkshire police.

dogs don't lie Mon 26 Sep 2016, 5:36 pm

I thought there were two specific areas of land that Dino was working on but wasn't thoroughly searched?

froggy Mon 26 Sep 2016, 5:56 pm

How thorough is thorough? Modern imaging techniques might matters more precise compared with decades ago.

Satsuma Mon 26 Sep 2016, 9:26 pm

Andrew wrote:I just cant understand why this area of land was not meticulously searched at the time. I really can't.

Toddler goes missing. Land was being cleared and excavated next door to where he was last seen.

Because those who were working on the site didn't indicate that anything untoward had happened there, and instead suggested a possible abduction based upon the alleged sighting of a getaway car. I explained back in May why this was most unlikely. It should have taken no more than a few days to have eliminated that theory and for the area around the farmhouse to become the main area of inquiry. The fact that this didn't happen raises a number of questions

Satsuma Mon 26 Sep 2016, 9:51 pm

The building site was at the top of this photo - they were building the villa that you can see

The farmhouse is the horizontal building near the bottom of the photo

Today they were searching the land between the two

The Mystery of Ben Needham - Page 15 Villa_10

The Mystery of Ben Needham - Page 15 Villa_10

Andrew Mon 26 Sep 2016, 10:40 pm

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/ben-needhams-mum-im-nervous-8919569

Satsuma Mon 26 Sep 2016, 10:45 pm

Do I think that Dino is involved? Not if they find the body parts there

if they do, there are some big surprises on the way

Solve this conundrum

Who might have removed his shorts from the place where they were drying, to make it look as if he'd been abducted?

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The Mystery of Ben Needham