Mother’s
frustration
over rubble
search for
lost Ben

The mother of Ben Needham, who went missing in Greece 21 years ago, has urged South Yorkshire and Greek police officers to push ahead with a stalled search in a pile of rubble where it is feared the toddler could be buried.
By The Newsroom
Published 23rd Aug 2012, 07:00 BST

Greek police have asked for
specialist equipment from Britain to be sent to the holiday island
of Kos, where Ben disappeared aged 21 months in 1991, to help them investigate a new theory that he may have been buried by accident near to a farmhouse where he was on holiday with his parents.

Detectives have discovered that on the day Ben vanished, earth was being piled near to the farmhouse from a site where a new house was to be built.

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JCB driver Konstantinos Barkas has given a statement to police in Greece confirming he was excavating earth the day Ben disappeared, and has suggested the youngster may have been buried rather than abducted.

But despite months of discussions between Greek officers and their South Yorkshire Police counterparts, a further search of the area is yet to get under way.

Yesterday, Ben’s mother Kerry Grist told the Yorkshire Post of her frustration and called upon the Home Office to help kickstart the search.

“These discussions have been going on for months now,” said Mrs Grist, of Ecclesfield, Sheffield.

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“Still nothing has been confirmed but they are still in talks about it.

“Whether it is going to go ahead or not is a different matter.

“It is very frustrating.”

A South Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said yesterday: “Discussions are ongoing as to a further search in the area where Ben went missing.”

In December 2011, the Help Find Ben Needham Campaign won permission from a High Court judge to obtain his DNA from Boston Hospital in Lincolnshire, where he was born, to check against databases around the world.

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It means detectives will be able to compare Ben’s DNA profile with any samples which are provided by the Greek authorities or other sources.

South Yorkshire Police had to apply in court to obtain the permission because DNA material belonging to someone aged 18 or over cannot be passed on without that person’s consent.

It is believed to be the first time that such permission has been granted by a judge to help a police inquiry and took up to seven months to complete.