Police have dropped the active investigation into the disappearance of a British toddler who vanished on a Greek island nearly 35 years ago, leaving his mother heartbroken and feeling abandoned.
Ben Needham's Disappearance
Sheffield-born Ben Needham was just 21 months old when he went missing on the Greek island of Kos in July 1991. He was staying in a farmhouse with his grandparents at the time. His mother, Kerry Needham, was working at a hotel on the island and has been searching for answers ever since.
Initial inquiries failed to locate Ben, and he was believed to have been kidnapped. In 2012, South Yorkshire Police (SYP) received £700,000 from the Home Office to reopen the investigation after the family complained the matter had never been properly probed. They excavated land on Kos where Ben is thought to have disappeared, but no DNA evidence was found.
End of Active Investigation
Ms Needham says she was told by SYP's major crimes unit that it is now the responsibility of Greek police to undertake any future inquiries, as reported by The Mirror. She learned the news during a video call with her family liaison officer, describing herself as “heartbroken and sobbing”.
“This is devastating news,” she told The Mirror. “The case will now fall solely to the Greek authorities. If this happens, I feel like I may as well give up the search for Ben because the Greek police have only ever wanted this case to go away.”
Ms Needham described the development as a “devastating step backwards” as she believes there are “still avenues to explore”. She added: “South Yorkshire are the only ones I can rely on to make sure that information goes to the right place. It will stop me from getting to the truth. I may as well give up looking now, if South Yorkshire Police are not there to make sure all leads are followed up.”
“I do everything in my power. If my police are taken away from me what am I going to do with that information? All of my blood, sweat and tears would have been for nothing. I feel abandoned.”
Police Response
SYP told The Independent that Greek authorities “have full primacy over the investigation” but it continues “to allocate resource to Ben’s case, in the form of a Family Liaison Officer and a detective acting as a single point of contact”.
A SYP spokesperson said: “We continue to allocate resource to Ben’s case, in the form of a Family Liaison Officer and a detective acting as a single point of contact for potential lines of enquiry. This bolsters our ability to ensure any information received is appropriately routed into the authorities that are charged to investigate.
“The Greek authorities have full primacy over the investigation due to the fact Ben went missing on Kos. Our role here in South Yorkshire is to act as a conduit between the UK, Greece and any other law enforcement agencies in a bid to secure answers.
“We have written to Kerry Needham to explain this position and offered a meeting to address any concern.”
Mother's Plea
Ms Needham is now asking people to contact SYP and Sir Keir Starmer to ask for the case to remain actively investigated. She said: “No parent should ever have to stop searching for their child and I never will.”
Detectives from SYP returned to Kos for a three-week search in 2016, but no trace of Ben has ever been found despite numerous investigations by both British and Greek police.
