The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Clue found in search for Ben
Investigation: Police look for toddler who disappeared 25 years ago
Police searching for missing toddler Ben Needham on the holiday island ofKos have found information of “slight interest” – including fabric – following an initial excavation of a site close to where he was last seen.
A 19- strong team of South Yorkshire Police officers, forensic specialists and an archaeologist have been scouring an arid stretch of farmland where 21- month- old Ben was playing a quarter of a century ago.
Digger teams were brought in on Monday afternoon to break up the clay-like ground.
It was the first day of a fresh excavation at the site following new evidence that the Sheffield toddler may have been killed and buried there, yards from where he vanished while his grandfather was renovating a property.
Detective Inspector Jon Cousins, from South Yorkshire Police, said the team – joined by local search and rescue volunteers – had made good progress in recovering potential evidence.
He said: “We found, as expected, a vast number of bones yesterday. Each one was examined immediately, and each one was discounted there and then as being an animal bone.
“There are some other items that are of slight interest– theoddpiece of fabric. That is being analysed and looked at, but there is slight interest.
“Everything is being carefully looked at.”
He added: “We want to make sure: do they or do they not relate to any of the items Ben was wearing on that day?”
The toddler was wearing awhite and green shirt and a pair of leather sandals on the day he went missing, July 24, 1991.
The items have been forensically collected and photographs sent to colleagues back in the UK before a decision is made on whether they require further examination and testing.
Mr Cousins, the senior investigating officer, said: “We got ahead of time which meant we got digging a little bit earlier than I expected.
“So far it is going better than to plan, which I’m pleased about.”
Searches of the site, around two miles east of the Greek island’s historic town centre, are expected to last for at least a week.
Ben's mother, Kerry Needham, who is not on the island, had been warned to “prepare for the worst” following new evidence that her son may have been killed by a digger driver on the 2.5acre site.