Grandchild joy for mum of missing Ben
Kerry Needham’s daughter has baby
THE family of missing Ben Needham finally have some good news, after his sister gave birth to a baby girl yesterday.
Leighanna Needham, 24, told of her “pure joy” after welcoming Aurora, named after the Disney princess from Sleeping Beauty.
Ben was 21 months old when he vanished on the Greek island of Kos in 1991. Police suspect he was killed in a digger accident by a local man and his body was hidden.
His mum Kerry Needham, 45, said of Aurora: “We are totally delighted with the birth of the new addition to our family.
“We have something to make us smile again.” And Leighanna, of Sheffield, said: “This pregnancy seems to have been the longest in the world but the minute she arrived the world just stopped.”
Aurora is Leighanna’s second child with partner Craig Rooney, 28. Their first is Hermione, aged four.
The proud mum added: “I have two princesses now and Hermione adores her. She walked through the door and said, ‘Where is she?’ “I was hiding her in my T-shirt. She just said, ‘She’s so cute’ and now wants to hold her all the time.” Kerry said the family had “been through hell and back” over the past couple of years as police renewed the search for her son’s remains. Ben vanished near a farmhouse that was being renovated by grandparents Christine and Eddie. Experts in the US are trying to extract DNA from a child’s sandal and a toy car found near the site. Kerry added: “I don’t hold much hope but they are obviously doing a thorough job. “All we do is sit and wait and deal with the outcome. “It is stressful, but right now we have a little bundle of joy in our lives. We are going through a magical time but we never forget Ben.”