The mum of missing Ben Needham is facing yet another agonising wait for DNA results after a Danish man came forward claiming he is her son.
Ben was just 21 months old when he vanished while staying at his grandparents’ farmhouse on the Greek island of Kos on July 24, 1991.
Police have said they believe he died in an accident involving ‘heavy machinery’ but Kerry Needham believes her son is still alive.
She is now waiting to find out whether a stranger could be Ben – the third time she has found herself in this position this year alone.
The man, from Denmark, claims his grandparents told him he was taken from Kos – something his parents have refused to deny.
He says he was hidden away in a caravan for years and has a memory from 25 years ago of being in a market where someone called out ‘Ben’ to him.
Speaking to the Mirror, Kerry said South Yorkshire Police are now in touch with Interpol to try and get a sample of the man’s DNA to compare it with one taken from Ben when he was born.
She said: ‘We’ve had DNA taken from people in Greece, Turkey, Germany and one in Florida and Australia. But at least South Yorkshire Police are trying to get me answers and I can’t praise them enough.’
Detectives with the force believe Ben may have died in an accident involving a digger after a witness came forward.
But blood detected at the scene gave no match to Ben and the witness now refuses to speak.
Kerry told the Mirror ‘you can’t end an investigation with nothing to go on and a man’s claim who now won’t talk’.
She also said her ‘heart is completely with’ the family of Jay Slater, whose search for their missing son ended in tragedy last week when his body was discovered in Tenerife.
‘All I can say to give them a little comfort is that it’s better to know because living year by year, not knowing is torture,’ she said. ‘I feel their pain.’
Earlier this week, a Spanish court confirmed that Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, had died in Tenerife and said his multiple injuries were consistent with a fall in a rocky area.
In a statement issued through a GoFundMe page which has topped £60,000, his Debbie Duncan thanked people for their support and encouraged them to donate to help with the funeral costs and repatriating his body.
She said: ‘We want to give our boy the send-off he deserves so please do continue to share and support our fundraiser however you can.’
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