Excavations began today in the search for the remains of Ben Needham following information that he accidentally was crushed by a digger and buried at a building site on the Greek island of Kos 25 years ago.
Investigators on the Greek island already have told Ben’s mother, Kerry Needham, to “prepare for the worst” as work begins in what may well be a long and painstaking search.
The theory is that Ben was crushed to death by a digger and buried near a farmhouse his grandparents were renovating in July 1991.
Konstantinos Barkas was clearing land with an digger close to where Ben was playing and inadvertently may have caused his death.
This information came from a friend of the builder following a TV appeal in May 2016, but the digger driver died last year before detectives from South Yorkshire police could interview him.
Kerry Needham, from Sheffield, told the Daily Mirror, “Not even in my worst nightmares has Ben ever been dead ... until now. I’ve been waking up and finding my pillow wet with tears,” adding that she was angry when police told her about the tip-off and now lives in fear of the “worst news possible.
South Yorkshire Police’s team, led by Detective Superintendent Matt Fenwick, begin their task today, September 26th with first part of the dig expected to last 12 days following initial tests on soil samples and aerial surveying with drones.
Fenwick said there will be activity at two sites on Kos that have been identified as areas of interest, “We continue to keep an open mind and have updated Ben’s family about certain lines of inquiry we’re currently exploring.”
Barkas’s widow, Varvara, refutes any suggestions that her late husband accidentally had killed Ben.
