The 33-year-old agony of Britain’s most iconic missing child case exploded with fresh pain yesterday, as Kerry Needham, the fiercely determined mother of Ben Needham, received the crushing news that DNA tests have definitively ruled out a man claiming to be her vanished son.
In a statement that broke the hearts of a nation, Kerry Needham, 51, vowed that this latest devastating blow will not stop her hunt for the toddler who disappeared from the Greek island of Kos in 1991.
“I will never give up for as long as I live,” a tearful Kerry told The Mirror yesterday, moments after receiving the “disappointing” news from South Yorkshire Police.
The False Hope That Shattered Her Heart
Kerry had spent the anniversary of Ben’s 21-month-old disappearance—33 long years ago—waiting for the results of a DNA sample provided by a Danish man who claimed his grandparents had told him he was snatched from Kos and hidden away for years.
It was the third time this year alone that Kerry had faced such a moment of terrifying, dizzying hope.
“I knew in my heart of hearts it wasn’t him but there’s always that hope, there’s always that chance,” the Sheffield mother confessed. “It could be someone you least expect, it’s always possible. So this is disappointing, obviously.”
The DNA comparison was made possible only by a piece of vital evidence fought for in court: a Guthrie heel-prick blood sample taken from Ben at birth at Boston Hospital in Lincolnshire—what Kerry heartbreakingly refers to as “a little bit of Ben that is still alive.”
The Dream That Turned Into A Nightmare
Ben vanished in 1991 after his family sought a ‘dream lifestyle’ under the Greek sun. The toddler was last seen playing with toy cars outside a derelict farmhouse his grandparents were tirelessly renovating. Since that fateful summer day, Kerry has been convinced her innocent son was snatched, sparking a global search that has drawn enormous public support.
Despite the emotional exhaustion of “rebuilding my strength and hope again” after this latest false lead, Kerry’s resolve remains steel-hard.
She issued a powerful, urgent plea to the public: “We won’t let this deter us from appealing to other people to come forward, if they think they could be Ben. We will always take any information confidentially. Always willing to do a DNA test on anybody. The search goes on.”
For a mother who has searched for over three decades, the message is clear: The pain of false hope will never outweigh the love and determination driving her tireless quest. She is waiting for the day she can finally say: “Let’s bring you home, son.”
