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AIBU?

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Original poster

to think this a major 'breakthrough' in the Ben Needham case?

185 replies

AliaTheEvilLeaper · 18/10/2013 23:19

A 4 year old girl living in a Roma Camp has been found not related to the camp and parents.
Ben Needham's family apparently had a line of enquiry years back about being linked back to Larissa,
Which is where the area this girl was found.
If there's so many children out there with a chance of maybe being Ben or other stolen, shouldn't we be checking this out?
It's a possibility and a plausible one at that.
Girl found with no DNA matching to parents
www.enetenglish.gr/?i=news.en.home&id=1553
Lots of other children out there in those camps.No idea whether they're biologically related or not.
Is it not worth the enquiry? For the peace of mind?
It hasn't been investigated. It should be. Just to make SURE.
Especially as this little girl has been discovered in the exact same place as Ben was purpoted to have been.

OP posts:
Original poster
AliaTheEvilLeaper · 19/10/2013 09:00

What a racist thread to wake up to.

Don't you dare call me racist, I'm most certainly not in any way, shape or form.
Where on earth did I say the gypsies must have kidnapped Ben? Confused
I said as one little girl without the same DNA as her parents has been found, is there not a slight possibility that Ben COULD (not is) be there? Especially as it has happened in the same area there was a tip off about Ben years back?
Is it not worth investigating, just in case?
Or are people not going to bother as they'll get people like yourself crying "racist, racist!" for daring to question?
As he's never going to be found with that kind of attitude.

OP posts:
filee777 · 19/10/2013 09:11

Of course it's worth investigating, of course it's not racist.

It it were a large Portuguese family who'd been found with a possibly snatched child there would be lots of people would be in uproar that no one was searching for Maddie.

ZangelbertBingeldac · 19/10/2013 09:12

I'm not sure this thread is racist?

I think what the OP is saying, is that if a child can 'disappear' into a community (any community?) in the way that this child has, with no one alerting the authorities about her presence, then should we look more closely at the community?

osospecial · 19/10/2013 09:14

YANBU Alia, I agree it should be investigated if there is such a link with Ben, it's irrelevant if its a Roma camp or not IMO, if it turns out this girl found has been abducted of course they should investigate the other children there too, or have I missed the point?

AmberLeaf · 19/10/2013 09:20

Of course this thread isn't racist.

YANBU OP.

Given there was reason to believe this is what had happened with Ben Needham years ago, it is an important development.

Looks like you got an arsey reply and that set the tone.

AmberLeaf · 19/10/2013 09:21

Could someone link the other thread about this please?

edam · 19/10/2013 09:26

BBC story.

These people have been found living with a child who is not their own with no good explanation. The woman heading the 'family' claimed to have given birth to six children in a 10 month period. Clearly this is not true. It's definitely a lead that should be and must be followed up - not just in relation to Ben Needham but to find the parents of those six children.

ohmymimi · 19/10/2013 09:52

filed - I'll be hanging around on the pedant naughty step until further notice.

filee777 · 19/10/2013 09:54

Or even hanging around on the pedant pendant!

Iamsparklyknickers · 19/10/2013 10:06

Why's it racist? People who aren't gypsys kidnap children so why would a certain group be excluded from suspicion if there is a reason (i.e. 6 children in 10 months, children who bare no resemblance at all to their family) that would raise eyebrows in any community.

It's unfortunate it plays up to a stereotype and myth, but it's still something that people from all walks of life have done for a variety of reasons that aren't exclusive to which community they belong to.

ohmymimi · 19/10/2013 10:37

filee Smile

sashh · 19/10/2013 10:44

Why's it racist? People who aren't gypsys kidnap children so why would a certain group be excluded from suspicion if there is a reason

But that has not been said. It has all been about Gypsies / Roma. Tia Sharpe and the girls from Soham were abducted by white men, but no one is putting that forward as a link to a disappearance.

I'm not saying one group should be excluded, but this thread is all about one racial group being kidnappers.

Don't you dare call me racist

You might not be, but the thread, as I read it this morning was. All I had to go on was the thread because I could not follow your link. Thanks to others for posting.

Having now read the links, it seems the 'parents' have registered a large number of children, between 5 and 10 born in 10 months (different numbers for different reports) but there is nothing about them being DNA tested.

Especially as this little girl has been discovered in the exact same place as Ben was purpoted to have been.

Er............. no about 900Km from Kos, that's further than the distance from Glasgow to London.

So lets put this in perspective. If a small boy went missing on a Scottish Island and 20 years later a girl who doesn't look like a gypsy is found on a site in London all travelers /Roma /gypsies in London should be, in your words, 'investigated', to see if they are linked to the disappearance in Scotland?

Lets stop it being Gypsies, and blond haired blue eyed children are quite common in Scotland so lets make the children black as they are not as common.

A 2 year old black boy goes missing on a Scottish Island, 20 years later a 4 year old black girl is found living with white people in Cornwall (another place black people are still quite rare), the child is not genetically related to the 'parents'. Do we assume all white Cornish people are child abductors?

Does that sound at all reasonable?

Original poster
AliaTheEvilLeaper · 19/10/2013 10:50

Er............. no about 900Km from Kos, that's further than the distance from Glasgow to London.

I didn't say the same distance from Kos, did I? If you read my OP again, you'll see I actually said "girl found in Larissa." Which is the exact same area the Needhams said they had a tip off for years ago, but nobody bothered to investigate it properly.
After the light of this case, why is THAT not being picked up on?

OP posts:
cranberryorange · 19/10/2013 10:56

Ben was reported to be in Larissa (where this little has been found) back in 1996, over 4 years after he disappeared. The sighting was not thoroughly investigated and needs to be done urgently now.

FlapJackOLantern · 19/10/2013 10:59

Tia Sharpe and the girls from Soham were abducted by white men, but no one is putting that forward as a link to a disappearance.

Ummmmmm - possibly because they were in the same areas that the other children disappeared Hmm

FlapJackOLantern · 19/10/2013 11:00

weren't ....not were! doh!

Original poster
AliaTheEvilLeaper · 19/10/2013 11:01

Ben was reported to be in Larissa (where this little has been found) back in 1996, over 4 years after he disappeared. The sighting was not thoroughly investigated and needs to be done urgently now.

Exactly this. Thank you, cranberryorange.

OP posts:
ZZZenagain · 19/10/2013 11:05

According to the various news reports I have read, apart from this little girl only 3 of the other children which this couple registered as their own were found at the settlement. Where the other 10 are, no one seems to know. The girl who did not look as if she could belong was DNA tested and found not to be their dc. The other 3 dc found with them are being tested but the results are not back yet, however these dc bear facial resemblances to the parents so could well be their dc. Out of the total of 14 dc, it seems likely that more than this one girl - Maria is not theirs. Obviously if they could register 6 dc born to them in the space of 10 months, there are other dc in that number at least who have other parentage but it is not known where they are, at least they were not there when the settlement was searched on a drugs raid.

cranberryorange · 19/10/2013 11:11

They need to find all of those DC registered to these people and hopefully the media coverage will make them come forward.

This is a massive potential lead to recovering and returning DC to their parents or blowing open a child trafficking operation that needs to be stopped.

Mumsyblouse · 19/10/2013 11:12

It might be extremely horrifying to contemplate, but some trade in children, especially amongst (and I mean them as victims) Roma populations is not unheard of in Eastern Europe, as they are the poorest and in many countries there is no welfare state to pick up the pieces- so for example if a woman gets pregnant in the country my husband is from, there's no welfare state and the landlord will simply evict them (as once they have the baby on the premises, they are not allowed to do so)- many of these women then either try to get the child in an orphanage (if this is possible) or, in some cases, sell or give away the child to others as they are simply unable to care for it themselves. Everyone is supposing that the child is 'stolen' from non-Roma families, but blond blue-eyed children are not that rare in these countries and it may be they have simply picked up/paid for/collected a 'spare' child from someone who willingly gave the child to them as they could not or would not be able to care for it themselves.

This is what no welfare state looks like.

ZZZenagain · 19/10/2013 11:17

possibly some of these dc are now grown up and married which is one reason why they may not have been living with this couple but obviously this would not explain the 6 births registered in 10 months. I can't think of any reasonable explanation for that which does not involve dc trafficking of some kind. Hopefully the Greek police are able to track the dc. This couple may not be involved in a wider child trafficking ring but it is certainly necessary that the police investigate it in order to rule it out. It affects a much maligned group here but nevertheless I don't see that the investigation is racially motivated at all, the evidence that something is wrong is there and the explanations given by the couple are conflicting.

bigkidsdidit · 19/10/2013 11:21

What hugely odd responses you've got to this thread Confused

filee777 · 19/10/2013 11:22

Well given that 2 Roma men have been found guilty in France of child trafficking, I think it would be silly to assume this was not going on.

I feel so awful for Ben Needleman's parents.

ZZZenagain · 19/10/2013 11:25

Why would they pick up/pay for/collect 'spare' dc mousy, if they are amongst the poorest themselves?

Yes, I can see that a mother who is desperately poor, has no claim to any sort of benefit and cannot look after her dc might feel driven to give the dc away or even sell the baby but I don't see what motivation poor people would have in taking more dc on themselves unless as a commodity to be sold on at a profit. If they are so desperately poor themselves, I don't think they could do this as an act of charity. I realise there are some very wealthy Roma families for whom this might be a possibility.

WildThongsHeartString · 19/10/2013 11:25

I didn't think there was anything rascist about your post op. Yanbu at all. Personally, if I had a child that was missing, I would want any lead followed up no matter where and no matter which 'community'. Good and bad people are everywhere, it just so happens in this case it is gypsies and it should be investigated as far as possible.