ben needham

[dottypotter]

Good to see it in the news again? Don't know why Greece has the law that you cant be prosecuted for a crime if 25 years has passed. Why not? You still did it?

Do you think this will ever be solved?

[ChicRock]

I'd love this to be solved, but I don't think it ever will .

[Iflyaway]

Can you provide the link?

Such a sad and mysterious thing....

[Campbell2016]

It would be lovely for it to be solved, but I think half a million pounds of funding for this latest investigation could be better spent.

[ShmooBooMoo]

Awww...that little photograph of him they use in news reports, I find it haunting. It must be agonizing to not have any answers after all these years.

[YellowShockedFace]

But Madeline Mcanns disappearance has cost £10 million plus?
Some children go missing and no one really cares sadly.

[WannaBe]

I don't see how it could ever be solved after 25 years. A child disappeared without a trace, there was no evidence as to what might have happened to him. What do they hope to find now?

I can't imagine what it must be like as a parent to never know though, But I'm not sure that justifies an investigation which is inevitably never going to reach a conclusion. .

[WannaBe]

Also, it's possible that if he's alive, he may in fact not want to be found. If, as was suggested many years ago, he was taken for the illegal adoption trade, he may have been raised by loving parents who desperately wanted a child. It goes without saying that buying a child on the black market puts a question mark over one's integrity, but if apart from that they brought him up in a loving home then that will be all he remembers and knows and loved, and he will be a part of their family now and not Ben Needham any more - iyswim.

I think it's unlikely that people are going to remember that day accurately 25 years on, But I do think that police and media have been back to the island enough times in the past that if he is there he may in fact already know, and may be choosing not to be found.

[dottypotter]

he deserve to know who he is if he has been taken and is alive>
it was on breakfast news no link. They spoke to his mum.

[LineyReborn]

It's not about half a million or ten million per child, though, I don't think. These are investigations that are attempting to tap into criminal conspiracies that potentially affect hundreds of children and families, that tie into kidnapping, possibly child abuse, and possibly child murders.

[Iflyaway]

If, as was suggested many years ago, he was taken for the illegal adoption trade, he may have been raised by loving parents

Illegal adoption trade. It sends a chill through me. As does this : kidnapping, possibly child abuse, and possibly child murders

I wonder what "loving parents" would even consider going through an illegal adoption trade....

[WannaBe]

I agree there's often a bigger picture in the equation. Although the Madeleine McCann search has revealed nothing at all. I read somewhere that the investigation into her disappearance is about to be closed.

I do genuinely wonder though when these investigations are re-opened, whether the police really do believe that they will actually find out anything or whether it's more a case of them wanting to just go out there and have a look round iyswim. What leads them to suddenly decide that they'll go out to Greece for a couple of weeks and do a bit of asking around.

[SocialDisaster]

I hope the both find the truth.

[WannaBe]

"I wonder what "loving parents" would even consider going through an illegal adoption trade...." it may be that they were unaware that it was illegal per se. I don't know enough about it to know for certain but I do know for instance that many children who were e.g. Adopted from Cambodia for instance were taken illegally from families but the adopters believed that they were adopting orphans whereas the parents who lived in abject poverty were bribed into giving up their children.

So as a parent who is desperate to have a child you may pay a private adoption agency who could spin you God knows what story about the origins of the child they have placed with you.

[dottypotter]

as said they have highlighted ben again because nobody can be charged as 25 years has passed. Greek law.

[Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost]

It's not inconceivable that he's actually following the story. After all he'll have no idea. They're refering to him. After all he was just a little baby. He'll have no memory of his life as Ben. He probably doesn't even know he's missing. Just like Madeleine McCann.
I just sincerely hope their parents find answers and peace. I mean if you child passes. There's nothing worse, but you can grieve, but being left in limbo. I don't know Is that worse. I remember Kate McCann saying. She'd rather know Madeleine was dead, than spend the rest of her life wondering, which. I'm sure anyone can understand.

[IPityThePontipines]

Katrice Lee is another similar case, she went missing from the NAAFI in Germany in 1981.

I think it must be a parent's worst nightmare. To not know where your child is is unimaginable.

[WannaBe]

Well that would depend largely on what kind of life he grew up in. I.e. Whether he was aware that he was adopted for instance.....

This isn't the first time the story has been covered on news etc, every time there has been a supposed sighting police have gone over to the island, there was an article recently of an Australian man who put himself forward for testing after seeing a programme about the case somewhere.

If he doesn't actually know that he's missing then this would be hugely traumatic for him if he were to find out. But if he doesn't know he's adopted then he wouldn't come forward anyway. If he does know he's adopted he might choose not to.

And that's assuming he's actually alive which is probably unlikely tbh.

[Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost]

If I'd have gone missing as child. There's no way I'd have been recognisable as a teen./adult.
Looking at photographs ive completely altered, so who's to say that has not happened with Ben Needham./Madeleine McCann but I suppose their mums would know them instinctively

[Wishfulmakeupping]

My heart aches when I see the sadness in Kerry's poor woman is tormented every moment if her life- I want her to have peace.

[wizzywig]

I hope he is safe and has grown up in a loving home. There are people like natasha kampuch and others who have escaped after being held captive for years. I can understand why the mum keeps the pressure on. What parent wouldnt?

[notamummy10]

I do hope he (and Maddie) are still alive somewhere, but I don't think they'll ever be found if I'm honest! They were both so young when they disappeared so they may not even know they're missing and have gone on to live their lives!

[Wishfulmakeupping]

I still hold out hope for some kind of resolution to both cases it could well be that they both discover the truth for themselves like Carlina White- in these social media age the world is small enough for them to see the missing campaigns if they are still alive.

[Artandco]

I always wonder about the search locations on these cases. For example with Madeleine they always say they had clues from say Peru or Malaysia. Surely it would darn silly for a kidnapper to try and hide a blonde hair blue eyed European looking child in those locations? If living as adopted they would stand out straight away. Surely it's more likely a remote location in Scandinavia/ Iceland or somewhere?

[CordeliaFrost]

Also, it's possible that if he's alive, he may in fact not want to be found.

In her book Ben, which is one of the most moving books I've read, Kerry wrote towards the end that she accepts that if he is alive, he has his own life now. He may even have children of his own. If he is ever found, he may not want to reconnect with his 'old' life. Kerry said she would be fine with that. She would be happy just knowing that he is alive, safe and well.

Incredible woman.

[MilkTooth]

The Carlina White case always fascinated me, especially the probable predictable messiness of her reunion with her biological parents. (For those who don't remember, CW was abducted as a baby from a NY city hospital by a woman dressed as a nurse, who brought her up as her daughter. CW got suspicious when her 'mother' couldn't get her social security number etc, tried to forge her a birth cert, and eventually solved her own case as an adult by going on a missing children database and seeing resemblances between her own daughter and baby photos of Carlina White).

Her biological parents had won a multi-million dollar settlement from the hospital, but had spent most of it before CW was 'found', and apparently the trust fund they had set up for her would have needed to be claimed before she turned 21. They seem to have fallen out over the money, and CW ended up testifying on behalf of the woman she had grown up thinking was her mother at her trial.

Can you imagine discovering that the woman you thought was your mother was in fact your kidnapper?