MISSING toddler Ben Needham’s mum faces a frantic wait for DNA results on a man claiming to be her son amid fresh hope.
Kerry Needham was contacted earlier this year by a woman who said her boyfriend believes he could be the tot, who vanished almost 35 years ago on the Greek island of Kos.
She told The Sun how she’d received an email out of the blue in January, and flagged it to South Yorkshire Police, who have been leading the investigation on the British side since 21-month-old Ben went missing on July 24 1991.
Mum-of-two, 53, from Sheffield, admitted she was keeping a “very very open mind”, with cops preparing to do DNA testing.
However, she has now admitted her frustrations after losing touch with the couple.
In a Facebook post, Kerry – who now lives in Antalya, Turkey – said: “Over the past few weeks we unfortunately lost contact with the person who requested the DNA test, which was understandably concerning for everyone involved.
“We’re very relieved to say that the situation has now been resolved and contact has been re-established.”
She went on to say, the “next step” is to hopefully obtain a DNA sample through a request via Interpol.
Kerry explained: “This process can take time, but we are grateful that things are now moving forward again and that there is still a path toward getting the answers we’ve all been hoping for.”
She said out of respect for the man’s privacy she would not be sharing any details about who he is at this stage.
“What matters most is making sure he feels supported and protected throughout this process,” she continued.
“We want him to know that he is not alone in this. We will continue to do everything we can to support him and help guide this process in the most respectful and careful way possible.”
Speaking to the Sun in January, Kerry had first revealed hours earlier she’d received the email.
“When I got that email last night, I didn’t jump for joy and think this could be him, because I’ve got no photograph, I’ve got very little information,” she explained.
“The woman just said there are a lot of coincidences, a lot of things don’t add up from his past.
“It’s a case of getting more information out of that person without being too cold but without being too involved either,” Kerry said of the similar tip-offs over the years.
In summer 1991, she had relocated with Ben to the Greek island to start a new life with her parents, who were already settled there, when the tragedy happened.
Toddler Ben had been left with his grandparents, Eddie and Christine, at a farmhouse they were renovating while Kerry, 19 at the time, went to work at an island hotel.
The tot had been coming in and out of the house, but at 2.30pm it was found he’d vanished, seemingly without a trace.
Initially, after a two-hour search, the family assumed Ben had gone off with his teenage uncle Stephen, who had been helping his dad with work at the property before heading home on his moped.
But this was not the case, and on later finding Stephen alone at the family’s apartment, panic suddenly set in. Where was Ben?
For the next 35 years the family has been desperate for answers – with Kerry convinced Ben is still alive and was likely snatched by child traffickers.
In 2012, the digger theory emerged, which suggested Ben had been killed when a digger accidentally crushed him in an olive grove behind the farmhouse.
Digger driver Konstantinos ‘Dino’ Barkas was working nearby and an anonymous tipster claimed in 2015 he then told him on his death bed he had been responsible and had buried Ben’s remains.
However, multiple excavations, including at all sites he was permitted to dump rubble and waste on the island, have failed to find any trace of the toddler.
Kerry said: “If there had been an accident, there would have been something… They dug so deep in that area that they found an ancient burial ground.
“So I’m sure they can find one fragment of a child or a drop of blood, anything. They found nothing.”
Kerry moved to Antalya a couple of years ago and says it’s helped her to remain focused.
She said: “I live a simple life, I’ve got a partner here. I’m doing basically what I would be doing in the UK, being a housewife and doing whatever I’m doing with Ben’s campaign and following up information.
“The same but a very warm and beautiful country.
“I’ve got a good network of support around me,” she said of her move to Turkey.
“If I’m having a bad day I can take myself off down the beach, sit on the beach and listen to the sea, it’s a calming effect. I don’t seem to be as stressed.”
A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson told The Sun previously: “We recently received a report of a woman who believes her partner to be missing person Ben Needham.
“Enquiries are ongoing into the report. Ben’s family are aware of this report, and we will continue to keep them up to date with our enquiries.
“We will continue to support them in their endeavour to discover the truth of what happened on 24 July 1991.”
