The mother of Ben Needham, the British toddler who vanished on a Greek island over three decades ago, has forcefully rejected the long-held theory about his fate and outlined a chilling new belief.
A Mother's Unwavering Conviction
Kerry Needham has never accepted the prevailing explanation that her 21-month-old son was accidentally killed by a digger driver and secretly buried on July 24, 1991. The incident occurred while Ben was playing outside his grandparents' farmhouse on the holiday island of Kos.
Instead, speaking from her home in Antalya, Turkey, she has advanced her own theory. Needham is now convinced her son was the victim of a kidnapping by a trafficking gang, who may have sold him into an illegal adoption racket.
A New Lead and Upcoming DNA Test
Her conviction has been bolstered by recent contact from a woman who believes her boyfriend could be the missing Ben. Needham told The Sun there were "a lot of coincidences" and discrepancies in the man's past, though she remains cautious due to having "very little information".
South Yorkshire Police, who are leading the UK side of the investigation, have confirmed they are pursuing this new report. A police statement said: "We recently received a report of a woman who believes her partner to be missing person Ben Needham. Enquiries are ongoing into the report."
Officers confirmed that a DNA test on the man in question is now being arranged, a potential breakthrough in one of Britain's most enduring missing person cases.
From Local Help to Trafficking Plot
Kerry Needham revealed that her family's initial thoughts were far from abduction. In the blistering 90-degree heat of that July day, they hoped locals had simply found the boy, given him a drink, and would soon return him or take him to authorities.
"We thought someone must have found him," she explained, clinging to logical hopes in the immediate aftermath. Her perspective shifted dramatically after speaking with a man who claimed to have been trafficked from Greece to New York, cementing her belief in a sinister plot.
The heartbroken mother has forwarded all new information to the police, who have vowed to continue supporting the family's quest for answers. South Yorkshire Police stated they are committed to helping them "discover the truth of what happened" on that fateful summer day.
