His tragic disappearance happened nearly 24 years ago when he was just a 21-month old baby
British police searching for missing Ben Needham, who vanished during a family holiday in Greece nearly 24 years ago, have been given a dramatic new lead.
It came after a businessman gave the name of a Roma gypsy family he claimed boasted that they had snatched and sold Ben, who was aged 21 months at the time.
Now South Yorkshire Police are probing the claims after they were given £700,000 by the government to step up the search.
The new lead features claims that Ben was stolen and spirited away under boxes of fruit.
The name of the family was given to the Greek equivalent of TV’s Crimewatch - Alpha’s Light at the End of the Tunnel - which ran a half hour item about Ben on Friday.
The programme tries to reunite missing families and is broadcast live for three hours across the country and its islands.
They asked for help from producer Mark Witty from Yorkshire TV’s ‘Calendar’ programme, who has been involved with the case since Ben’s disappearance from the island of Kos in July 1991.
Via a website link he answered questions about the investigation and asked for anyone with information to come forward.
Ben’s mum Kerry, from Sheffield, was also shown in an interview via the internet which was played to millions of viewers .
During the programme a Greek businessman, based abroad, contacted the show to tell researchers he knew the name of the family allegedly involved in Ben’s abduction.
He was passed the name in prison while he was in custody on financial charges relating to his business.
In an email to the Greek show he says the family he names were selling fruit in Kos and “stole the boy and covered him under boxes of fruit. That’s how they were able to leave the island.”
The caller said he had been affected by the recent death of a relative, and knew the pain the Needhams were feeling at the loss of Ben.
Presenter Angeliki Nikolouli featured the case three times during the programme. After the first appearance in July 2011, a retired gynaecologist came forward, saying he had met a young boy at his hospital in Larissa in 1992 who spoke to him and said “hello - my name is Ben”.
The boy, who was described as a blond “tourist boy” was with a woman that the doctor knew could not have children.
