Fresh hope in hunt for missing Ben Needham as mum shares heartbreaking update

30 December 2023 , 22:38

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Kerry Needham (Image: MDM)

The mum of missing Ben Needham says Alex Batty’s reappearance gives her fresh hope of seeing her son again.

Kerry Needham has been searching for her boy since he vanished aged two in 1991. And she has been heartened by the shock discovery in France of British teen Alex, who disappeared six years ago.

Kerry said the 17-year-old’s return to his grandma in Oldham, Greater Manchester, made her more determined than ever to bring Ben home. The anguished mum, 51, said: “It shows miracles do happen and missing children do turn up even after several years. Although the circumstances are very different, it gives me hope. I will never give up on the fact there’s always a chance my son could turn up too.”

Ben was 21 months old when he vanished while staying with his grandparents on the Greek island of Kos. His body has never been found and police fear he died in a tragic accident involving a digger.

Toddler Ben Needham (Press Association)

An impression of how Ben might look today (Daily Mirror)

But Kerry believes he could still be alive and has launched an appeal to translate Ben’s missing posters into all 7,000 world languages.

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Kerry, who lives in Sheffield and also has a daughter, Leighanna, 29, said: “It would be incredible if we could have the poster translated into every single language, as you never know who might see it and come forward with information. If anyone can help, I would be so grateful. It might lead to finally finding out what happened to Ben.”

The new push began after a member of the public offered to translate the poster into German. Kerry added: “It was a great idea and of course we said yes. I don’t know why we didn’t think of it sooner. There has always been a Greek poster, but no others as far as I know.”

Formerly missing teen Alex Batty

Volunteers have made flyers – featuring snaps of Ben as a child and how he might look now, aged 35 – in Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Korean and Turkish. The family is offering a £7,500 reward for information leading to Ben’s discovery.

After the tot disappeared while playing outside a farmhouse his grandad Eddie was renovating in the village of Iraklis, South Yorkshire Police concluded Ben was likely dead.

Two excavations proved fruitless, then DNA tests on a blood-stained toy car in 2018 and on the body of a boy recovered from a German river were not a match for Ben.

Police are still probing what happened to Alex Batty, who had not been seen since a family holiday to Spain in 2017. He was picked up by a roadside in the French Pyrenees and later said he’d fallen out with mum Melanie, who detectives are trying to trace.

• If you can help with translations, please email [email protected]

Saskia Rowlands