For most Greeks, the name Ben Needham stirs memories of a nationwide search to find a lost toddler that was snatched from the isle of Kos. His heartbroken mum, Kerry, now aged 41, is still continuing the search for her son who vanished 23 years ago and used the occasion of his 25th birthday to appeal to the UK Government for cash needed to continue the police missing person investigation.
She urged British Prime Minister David Cameron to agree to the money for the search, reminding that the British Government has already spent over £7 million for Madeleine McCann when she went missing at Praia de Luz in Portugal in 2007.
The South Yorkshire Police have asked for the funds from the British Home Office to continue the investigation. A police spokeswoman said: “This is not our investigation however should funding be made available we would seek to work with the Greek Authorities in pursuit of progressing their investigation.”
Ben Needham went missing after the boy’s grandparents moved to the Greek island of Kos in 1990. The young boy’s grandfather got work as a builder renovating a farmhouse at the end of an unmarked road on a vast expanse of land. It was a dead-end area without much traffic. On July 24, 1991, Kerry went to work at a nearby bar while Ben was playing at around lunchtime.
Here is a quote from Kerry Needham’s book:
Mum said, ‘Ben’s gone quiet.’
Dad laughed. ‘He can’t be up to any good.’
‘I’d better go and check. He’s probably cuddling a stray cat to death.’
Mum left the others and walked casually through the house. She didn’t call Ben, not at first. She expected to see him crouched down with his bucket and spade and mound of ants or a pile of sand. Things like that could hold his attention for ages. It was perfectly normal he’d go quiet.
Ben wasn’t where Mum expected. Where is the little bugger? She could see where he’d been so she didn’t panic. He can’t have got far.
Mum got her bearings and scanned the horizon. Everywhere she looked was mostly fields. She could see for miles in most directions and either it was so wide open that she would have been able to spot Ben in an instant or it was too overgrown for him to have dared to venture. That only left the lane. She walked to the top of the driveway, checking the hedges along the way. At the end she looked both ways, with no sign of him.
Well, obviously he went round the house while I came through it.
That was the only plausible explanation.
She trudged back up the driveway and walked the opposite way around the dilapidated building. Dad, Michaelis and Danny were exactly where she’d left them.
‘Has Ben been back in?’ Mum asked.
‘No.’
That was when she felt her stomach clench for the first time. This was the only place he could have been. If Ben wasn’t with Eddie and Danny …
She forced out the words she didn’t want to have to say. ‘He’s not here.’
‘What do you mean he’s not here?’
‘He’s not outside.’
‘Have you checked the driveway?’
‘Yes.’
‘Have you looked in the fields?’
‘Yes, yes!’ Mum was getting annoyed now. More out of worry than anger. ‘I’ve looked inside and out. If he’s not with you, then I don’t know where he is.’
