Author Topic: 30th anniversary and five new witnesses  (Read 5259 times)

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Offline Brietta

30th anniversary and five new witnesses
« on: July 31, 2021, 12:59:09 PM »
Five Brit witnesses think they saw missing Ben Needham on Corfu after he vanished
EXCLUSIVE On the 30th anniversary of his disappearance, one person has come forward to say they saw Ben on a beach where a Greek couple with a blonde-haired boy fled when they heard people speaking English
ByLucy Thornton
20:12, 29 Jul 2021 - UPDATED09:43, 30 Jul 2021

Five new British witnesses have come forward to say they are convinced they saw little Ben Needham on the Greek island of Corfu after he vanished.

One sighting was on a beach where a Greek couple with a blonde-haired boy fled when they heard people speaking English.

Ben’s mum Kerry has been struggling to cope with the 30th anniversary of her lad disappearing from the island of Kos aged 21 months.

She has been “shaking every day” since hearing Greek police are investigating a new lead on Corfu – 600 miles from where Ben vanished in July 1991.

We revealed on Saturday that officers are investigating claims from three Greek witnesses who say a campsite worker in Corfu found a blond-haired toddler abandoned by gypsies and may have raised Ben as her own.

Two couples have now spoken to the Daily Mirror, saying they believe they saw Ben months later just 25 minutes from the campsite.

The fifth new witness contacted us to say she spotted a blond boy she is convinced was Ben in the next resort.

The first couple – Sally and husband Richard, who asked us not to use their surnames – said they went on holiday to Agios Georgios in the summer of 1992.

Sally, who works on major crimes in a UK police force, said she saw a Greek lady in her 50s or 60s pushing a blond-haired toddler in an old fashioned pushchair.

She said: “I remember saying to my husband ‘That looks like that little Ben Needham’.

“It was bizarre – I remember being taken aback because this child did not go with that lady. He was about two or three.”

She reported it to police twice, adding: “When I read about the new information I thought ‘bloody hell, that was not far away’.

“I asked my husband if he remembered anything on that holiday and he said ‘yes... that lady with that baby’.

“I’ve worked on 36 murders and this image is ingrained in my brain. I remember it vividly.”

A few months after this sighting, Jan Crawley, 69, of Stevenage, Herts, went on holiday to the same village with husband Mal, 72.

Jan, who recalled it was September 1992, told the Mirror: “We walked to an area of the beach where it was much quieter. A Greek couple drove up, parked their car then came on the beach with this blond child.

“When they heard us speak English, they bundled the towels away and picked up the boy and ran to the car. They were there no more than 10 minutes.

“It was so strange. I always felt this was Ben. It looked so much like him.” She reported the sighting to British police in 2015 after seeing a media appeal but added: “I’m so sorry I left it so late.”

The fifth witness, Diane, who does not want us to publish her surname, said she is convinced she saw Ben in June or July 1992.

It was during a holiday in Paleo Kastritsa, half an hour from the campsite and 12 miles from the resort where the couples stayed.

Diane, 77, a retired human resources manager from North Wales, said: “The child I saw was with a Greek family eating in our hotel. We were all fascinated by this little boy who was completely blond and white. I didn’t know at that time about Ben.

“But after finding out about Ben’s case. It’s been bothering me ever since. I am convinced it was Ben.”

The Mirror this week travelled to Corfu to meet the Greek witnesses who claim Ben may have been taken in by a local after being found abandoned.

Panos, who has asked us to use his first name only, said the campsite where they saw the blond boy was in Roda in north Corfu.

Panos was about 13 years old, visiting family when he saw the child who was taken to the site by a worker who found him on the beach.

Panos said: “He was saying ‘yes’ and ‘no’ in English when asked if he was thirsty. This child looked just like Ben.”

He added the campsite worker told him she had kept the boy. Panos’ cousin, a mum who does not want to be named, said: “I believe it was 1991 and I was about nine. The worker had him in her arms. He was very scared.”

She said a couple of years later she overheard adults saying the boy had grown up in a nearby village and was no longer speaking English.

Panos and his cousin believe police have not taken their reports seriously because they were so young.

Ben vanished after Kerry and her family left Britain for a new life in Kos. South Yorkshire police think Ben died in a digger accident.

His mum is appealing to people in Corfu to share a new age progression image of Ben.

Kerry, 49, of Sheffield, said: “Somebody on the island might recognise him and end my agony. The sightings in Corfu have really shaken me. It’s 30 years and it’s traumatic every day.”


The Hellenic Ministry of Citizen Protection said it is investigating information from British authorities.

South Yorkshire police said it will work with the Greeks if “any new viable line of inquiry comes to light”.



https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/five-brit-witnesses-think-saw-24648113
« Last Edit: July 31, 2021, 01:48:49 PM by Brietta »
"All I'm going to say is that we've conducted a very serious investigation and there's no indication that Madeleine McCann's parents are connected to her disappearance. On the other hand, we have a lot of evidence pointing out that Christian killed her," Wolter told the "Friday at 9"....

Offline Wonderfulspam

Re: 30th anniversary and five new witnesses
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2021, 02:08:46 PM »

She was convinced she might have seen Ben in 1992.
So she reported it to the police..... in 2015!

Brilliant!
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