Ben Needham: New leads in case of missing toddler after TV appeal

Ben Needham (inset, in 1991) and his mother Kerry (right). Photo / Supplied, Getty Images

The mother of missing Ben Needham has suffered needless heartache after a man who responded to a TV appeal claiming to be her long lost son proved to be an impostor.

Hoping to find new information in the search for her son - who went missing on the Greek island of Kos during a family holiday 24 years ago - Kerry Needham appeared on a Greek TV programme on Friday.

In tears as she spoke about the boy she had last seen when he was 21 months old, she said: 'Please end the pain that my family is suffering. I know he's out there somewhere.'

There was excitement soon after when a man called the show saying he was Ben. But detectives ruled him out after discovering the caller had been DNA-tested several years ago and found not to be the missing boy from Sheffield.

Police were also given the name of another man who had been previously ruled out, but are analysing a photograph sent to them of a third man. They are also chasing seven new leads.

Detectives from South Yorkshire Police received 30 calls during the three-hour programme, as Ben's heartbroken mother vowed to 'never, ever stop looking for him'.

Photo / Supplied

After the broadcast, she said: 'I believe he is out there and I don't think it's going to be long. It's just a feeling I have inside myself. It feels like he is saying, "Come on, I'm here just come and get me." That keeps me going. I want him to know that I love him just as much today as when he was born.'

A police spokesman confirmed that two individuals who had already been proved not to be Ben were put forward on Friday, as well as a photograph of a third man.

But detectives are believed to be more keen to follow-up the other leads, including several callers who are said to have mentioned a family long-suspected by the Needhams of being connected to Ben's disappearance.

Other callers named two cities in northern Greece - Larissa and Veria - where previous sightings of a boy matching Ben's description have been reported but never confirmed.

The toddler went missing on July 24, 1991, while on holiday with his mother Kerry, father Simon and his grandparents. He was last seen playing outside an old farmhouse his grandparents were renovating in the village of Iraklise.

There have since been several unconfirmed sightings, and in 2012 detectives excavated land near the farmhouse but found nothing.

The latest appeal came after South Yorkshire police received £700,000 from the Home Office to reinvestigate the case.

- Daily Mail