The Mystery of Ben Needham

seahorse wrote:

Andrew wrote:A Yoga mat for 20 plus pounds... Didn't realise they used to flog all that sort of stuff then.

From Media exclusives, TV appearances, Books sales, Merchandise, Donations, Appeals etc etc, then I would be intrigued to know how much they've actually made out of it.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds at a conservative guess. Probably around the half a mill mark.

IMO etc.

I doubt they sold much of that stuff. I think it was something offered to them by Cafepress. The merchandise didn't exist until someone ordered it, after which Cafepress printed the photo on their blank available items. Cafepress probably set the ridiculous high prices, and the Needham added a little bit for their Find Ben campaign.  

I doubt we will ever find out how much the Needhams raised. There is no transparency at all.

No we won't but financially I believe they've probably done alright out of it.

Just my opinion, but I think Kerry had a terrible time after Ben disappeared.  She made a few suicide attempts, turned to drugs, went a bit wild (from what I have read) and frankly I find all that understandable.

All these years until recently there has been a pretty general public feeling that no help was given to searching for Ben, no money was available.

She has never had a Press Officer, government acknowledgement, lawyers for numerous litigious cases here and abroad.
It's only since MM that money has entered into the discussion in a big way imo because there is now a comparison and a sense of unfairness.

I very much doubt the family have made money from Ben's disappearance.  Unlike the parents of another little child that disappeared on a holiday with her parents and siblings who have 'managed' their loss most publicly and appear to have a sense of entitlement and have 'made' millions ££££  while doing bu**er all to find her..  

Only my opinion of course and I respect the opinions of others.

Agree with Bluebell.Andrew I think you are way off the charts here. Maybe brought in thousands. Maybe we should get back to the details of his disappearance.

Agree - it was a good post by Bluebell.

I'm not asking anyone to agree with me. I'm just voicing my own personal beliefs on it, Hope.

Which have changed a lot very recently.

I wouldn't say way off though....

IMO, some member or members of the family know exactly what happened. And they've made a few quid out of it.

Not on the scale of the Mc's but certainly followed suit in the aftermath.

I wish i could say the Needhams are all innocent and it was a genuine abduction. But I can't and I won't.

Just my thoughts. (On phone otherwise would say a bit more)

On Textusa blog....a comment.....doh!!!

Anonymous4 Nov 2016, 18:49:00
A digger is only used to dig a hole!! It stays in one place to dig, it doesn't go backwards and forwards on a road, the dumped takes the rubble away.

No way did that digger go back and forwards to a tip to dump each bucket load. It would be in one spot digging, turning and dumping into a dumper.

A digger is already on site to begin work the next day and will remain there until its job is done. It's not like a company car you go home in each night, it's a work tool.

The first 2 pictures that you have showing the aerial view of the farmhouse shows that the bulldozer used by SYP in their searches was parked on site. So would be a digger bigger than that bulldozer.

Kerry in her book says that work for the day had ended. Just for that day so digger would have been in the property or not there at all if it had finished its business there

Yep - the digger theory is rubbish.

Question is - why SYP love it and the Needhams are against it.

Got my thoughts on that one.

Why are the Needham family having a period of 'reflection' according to their Lawyer? Why did he need to tell us all that?
OK, so they may have been traumatised by recent digs and news that Ben may be dead - but still I dont know why they need a period of reflection -some time
to come to terms with Ben being dead would be reasonable... But saying that they are taking time to reflect on things almost indicates that they are having a conference to decide
how to play things ... maybe I'm over analysing his choice of words!
It it was one of the family that was involved in an accident with Ben then surely it would have to be an uncle. If it were anyone else then they surely would not have let Steve go through the
trauma of thinking it was him and being hypnotized etc. I think it highly unlikely and really do not believe he was abducted

OMG, the Madeleine case is frustrating enough without going through it again for poor Ben

Reflection = Game up. Imo.

Sort stories etc.

Just my unpopular opinion.

That coat of mine has really gone.

After the hell of being told your son was dead,, expecting his remains to be found, then to be shown a car by SYP that they say shows he is dead. Kerry is in hell that much is obvious so I see nothing wrong with a period of reflection

OT I had another bad fall on the right shoulder, rotator cuff, awaiting scan and its affecting my hands and fingers, so no more, or v little,left handed posting from me for a while. xxx to all

What other reaction are you going to see...

The reaction I see is different.

Sorry. But it's good to have differing opinions.

Hope wrote:After the hell of being told your son was dead,, expecting his remains to be found, then to be shown a car by SYP that they say shows he is dead. Kerry is in hell that much is obvious so I see nothing wrong with a period of reflection

OT I had another bad fall on the right shoulder, rotator cuff, awaiting scan and its affecting my hands and fingers, so no more, or v little,left handed posting from me for a while.  xxx to all

Quite right, Hope. So why did SYP effectively (possibly explicitly in the private meetings with Kerry for all we know?) tell the Needhams this without having rock solid proof if not a body? They just would not do this and tell the world too.

Why did SYP suddenly stop the dig as soon as they found a car?

I ain't ready to second guess what SYP are up to here except to say I don't think they would be playing around like this for someone that is dead. The only people left still alive from that day that were in/around that farmhouse are who?

Absolutley TTWO and also Hope....ive said as much myself further back. When textusa fell silent on this and the Macs i was bamboozled. I posted a news story on the breaking thread and she links both with this comment at the end which i find pertinant.....

And the fact that Ben is dead, so say South Yorkshire police, doesn't in any way determine what would be, for the McCanns, Maddie's fate.

Their silence about Ben is very important, in our opinion......

Why would that be? Are both cases so similar as to outcome. Are SYP waiting to flush some truth from those still alive? And do others think a similar outcome is in line for the resolution of Madeleines tragic story???

I'm not quite sure what Textusa is alluding to, Bampots. I could have a guess, but right now I don't feel comfortable guessing.

It feels like things are really brewing in both cases and don't know if it is a good or bad feeling. Or both!

IMO, they will conclude around the same time.

2 meals for the price of 1. Or the starter (Needham) before the main (McCann).

2 dodgy birds with 1 stone anyway.

Preparing the public for the the truth. The whole truth and nothing but.

Andrew wrote:IMO, they will conclude around the same time.

2 meals for the price of 1. Or the starter (Needham) before the main (McCann).

2 dodgy birds with 1 stone anyway.

Preparing the public for the the truth. The whole truth and nothing but.

Or, alternatively, anything but the truth