Many of you will beware, Ben Needham was a British toddler who disappeared on the Greek island of Kos around lunchtime on the 24th July 1991. At that time he was just 21 months old. I have been involved in the Ben’s case since 2003. At that time neither the Kos or British Police, were doing anything to resolve this mysterious case. I was shocked that Ben’s family had not put up even a basic website to try and reach out to Ben, or to anyone who had any relevant information to progress his case.
I set up a website www.benneedhamstillmissing.info I knew publicity would be crucial and heighten the profile of this case. I visited Uri Geller at his home and he kindly offered support for my search.
Latterly Michael Jackson also expressed his support. I secured interviews for Kerry (Ben’s Mother) on various TV shows including Trisha and also Richard & Judy, and many radio stations. I was very happy to offer my expertise and time. I also traveled to Kos with Danny Ben’s uncle. I had several meetings with the Kos Police. At this time I developed a good working relationship with the family liaison officer assigned to Ben’s case at South Yorkshire Police.
As my website was the only place appealing for information, I used to get frequent reports of sightings from people who believed they had spotted Ben. I must have received hundreds of snap shots during the early years of my investigation. These sightings usually increased during the summer months with many British tourists travelling to Greece it’s Islands and nearby Turkey.
Around 2007/2008 I received an email from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Force. They had received a tip off that a person who could be Ben Needham was living in their community. The Detective asked me if I wanted him to see if the young man, would voluntarily provide a DNA sample. It could then be sent to me so I could arrange testing in the UK. The young man was happy to provide it, and the Detective dispatched it to me.
On the 4th July 2008 a warrant was executed at my home. The warrant had been obtained by a Licensing officer working for the Vale of Glamorgan Council. She had been harassing me for 12 months. Bizarrely the Licensing officer removed several files on Ben Needham from my office. The DNA sample from Canada was in one of the files. The Licensing officer of course had no authority under the warrant, to remove such property, but that didn’t stop her. When my property was returned the following year in February 2009 the DNA had been lost. So there was never an opportunity for me to arrange testing to see if it matched Ben’s DNA profile. We lost a significant opportunity to attempt to advance this case.
Here is a link to a feature published in the Mail on Sunday 24th January 2016.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article/Ben-Needham
In 2018 I am planning to instigate a fresh approach, to advancing this case. Look out for my posts and also follow me on twitter.