I did not take Ben
We find worker in Corfu tot riddle
A HOTEL worker at the centre of claims Ben Needham was seen alive in Corfu has said: “I didn’t take the child.”
We tracked down the mum to ask her about claims from three Greek witnesses who say they saw a woman with a “distressed” boy they are sure was missing Ben.
Police are probing the claims. The witnesses claim the woman – then a waitress at the Roda campsite – told them she found the child abandoned on a beach. Much later, it was claimed, she said she had kept the tot.
Ben was 21 months when he vanished on Kos, 600 miles away, on July 24, 1991.
But the woman – now 47 and named Maria – told the Mirror: “This did not happen. This witness should come here and say this in front of me, that I had this child. Even had I taken the child, the child would have to be registered. And how could I bring up the boy as my own? I have a 23-year-old daughter. I don’t have a son. Ask anyone that knows me.
“My village is really small – of course it would be already known, but the next village would know too. I wish I could help. It really hurts how this mother is feeling because I’m a mother as well. It makes me feel sad for the mum and her loss but this is not right. This never happened.”
Five Brits came forward with possible sightings on Corfu after the Mirror revealed the new probe. Ben’s mum Kerry, 49, from Sheffield, was coping with the 30th anniversary of her son’s disappearance when the sightings were revealed.
She had earlier contacted Maria through Instagram and says: “I am concerned about her memory.
“I am hoping the police are going to take it seriously.”
This didn’t happen. It hurts how this mum is feeling... I’m a mum too HOTEL WORKER MARIA DENYING CLAIMS OVER TOT