Investigators working on a dig on the site where missing toddler Ben Needham was last seen 25 years ago have uncovered evidence of decomposition.
Earlier this week, pieces of light coloured fabric were recovered from an olive grove near the house on the Greek island of Kos where the Sheffield toddler disappeared.
Police have sent the items, described by Detective Inspector Jon Cousins as being ‘of slight interest’, for forensic testing. The two-year-old had been wearing a white T-shirt and brown sandals when he was last seen.
Now police are said to be focusing the dig on the area surrounding a fig tree that was planted in the land after the child vanished in 1991. Soil and samples of decomposed matter taken from a cess pit have been sent for testing
“There were signs of some decomposition,” Detective Inspector Jon Cousins told journalists.
“One area of decomposition has not been ruled out yet and that is what we are working on.
“There are nutrients in the soil that are consistent with the decomposition of something. The scientists have been unable to determine what it is.”
On the day of his disappearance, July 24, 1991, two-year-old Ben had been left in the care of his grandparents while his mother went to work at a local hotel.
Ben had been coming in and out of the house when, at approximately 2.30pm, the adults realised he had vanished.
Ben’s heartbroken mother, Kerry, has never given up hope that her son was alive. However, now investigators on the island of Kos have told her to “prepare for the worst,” that Ben may, in fact, have died 25 years ago.
Kerry has revealed that detectives believe the 21-month-old may have tragically been crushed to death by a digger. A forensic team have been combing two sites close to the home of Kerry’s parents.
The breakthrough in the case came when a friend of the workman believed to be responsible, who has since died, came forward and revealed his information.
