Dying woman’s plea to Moors murderer over son’s body

Winnie Johnson, 77, who has been diagnosed with cancer, has recorded a DVD in which she appeals to Ian Brady to reveal the whereabouts of Keith’s body to her before she dies. Keith was lured into a car by Brady’s accomplice and lover, Myra Hindley, near his grandmother’s home in Longsight, Manchester, four days after his 12th birthday in June 1964.

While the remains of their four other victims were recovered, Keith has never been found.

Now, Mrs Johnson is pinning her hopes on a last appeal to Brady, who is held at the high-security Ashworth Hospital in Merseyside. Speaking directly to her son’s killer on the DVD, she says: “Brady, I’m wanting you to tell me where Keith is before anything happens to me.

“I’ve got cancer and if you’ve got any decency and respect for yourself and for me, you would tell me where Keith is, because that is the last thing I want to happen before I die.”

Mrs Johnson, who is about to begin radiotherapy after being diagnosed with cancer of the womb, said of her appeal: “If Brady can help me, if he has one shred of compassion, then all I can ask is ‘Please let me know’.

“He knows where Keith is, but I think he enjoys having that last bit of power and if I find Keith he’ll have nothing left.

“I want to let him know that this is the last straw for me and if he’d tell me about Keith, I would be grateful. He might even feel sorry for me, though I doubt it.

“This might be my last chance to find my son and give him a proper burial. I want to give Keith a proper funeral before something happens.

“The most important thing is to find Keith before the cancer beats me.”

Mrs Johnson has written numerous letters to Brady pleading with him to say where Keith is buried.

Brady and Hindley - who died in prison aged 60 in 2002 - were jailed for life in 1966 for murdering John Kilbride, 12, Lesley Anne Downey, 10, and Edward Evans, 17, who they buried on Saddleworth Moor.

In 1987, they were taken back to the moor after confessing to the murders of Keith and Pauline Reade, 16, whose body was recovered. Police abandoned the search for Keith in 2009.