Police have officially concluded an excavation of the farmland surrounding a Greek holiday home where British toddler Ben Needham went missing more than 25 years ago.
The search on the island of Kos was declared over on Sunday morning, 21 days after it began, with crew on the dig applauding and posing for photographs.
Forensic experts were sifting through the last of the debris collected from the site and police were expected to hold a press conference on Monday when they will reveal what, if anything, they have learned.
Digging on another site in the immediate vicinity of the farmhouse had been declared finished the previous day.
South Yorkshire police and Greek search and rescue teams began excavations in late September after receiving information suggesting the toddler could have been accidentally crushed by a digger. The boy went missing on 24 July 1991.
A friend of local man Konstantinos Barkas came forward in May claiming that the recently deceased builder could have accidentally killed Needham while clearing land around the farmhouse, which was being refurbished by the toddler’s parents. Barkas’s widow Varvara has denied he could have killed the boy.
Needham’s mother, Kerry, has previously said she had not thought her son could be dead, and the tipoff had left her fearing for the “worst possible news” each day.
Needham, from Sheffield, told the Daily Mirror: “Not even in my worst nightmares has Ben ever been dead … until now. I’ve been waking up and finding my pillow wet with tears.”
The dig has taken longer than anticipated. Investigators have dug through tonnes of soil at the two sites, which are about a quarter of a mile apart. More than 70 items have been sent for analysis, including some fabric, which police said was of “slight interest”.
South Yorkshire police confirmed that digging had been completed, and said Monday’s press conference would cover “the work that has been conducted so far and will give additional details about this particular phase of Operation Ben”.
