Boy found in German river is NOT missing Ben Needham, DNA tests reveal
- The two-year-old’s family have been informed of the development, police said
The little boy found in a German river is not missing British toddler Ben Needham, DNA tests have revealed.
More than 30 years after he went missing on the Greek island of Kos, British police last week confirmed they were looking into whether an unidentified child found in the River Danube might be Ben.
Hopes were raised in the search for answers when Interpol announced that the remains, found in May 2022, likely belonged to a child from outside the country.
But Ben’s family has now been told that the child’s DNA does not match his, which had been sent for comparison.
The development is bound to be devastating for Ben’s mother Kerry, who has been searching for her son since he vanished while playing at his grandparents’ farmhouse in July 1991.
Ben Needham went missing more than 30 years ago on the Greek island of Kos
In a statement, police said: ‘South Yorkshire Police, supported by Interpol, has received confirmation that a DNA sample of the body found in the River Danube in Germany does not match that of Ben Needham.
‘Ben’s family has been informed and are being supported. Our thoughts remain with the young boy who is yet to be identified and, of course, the Needham family who continue in their search for answers.’
The boy police recovered from the Danube is believed to have been aged five or six.
He was found wrapped in foil and weighed down with a flagstone slab. It is not known how long the body was in the water.
In the Interpol Black Notice, the organisation said it was ‘seeking the public’s help in identifying a deceased boy and to determine the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.’
Interpol also published a graphic reconstruction of the boy’s head.
Ben’s heartbroken mother Kerry has been searching for her son, who was just 21 months old, ever since he vanished while playing at his grandparents’ farmhouse in July 1991
The blue-eyed boy staring out of the photo is described as between five and six years old.
The description went on: ‘The boy is thought to be aged between five and six. He was approximately 110 cm (43.3 in) tall and 15 kg (2.36 st), with brown hair and blood type 0.’
The discovery of the unidentified body came more than three decades after Ms Needham’s son vanished in Greece on July 24, 1991.
When a picture showing how Ben would look aged 31 was released on July 23, 2021 Ms Needham revealed that she did not believe the police theory that he was killed by a digger.
Interpol released a reconstruction of the boy found in the River Danube near Grossmehring in Bavaria on May 19, 2022
The image was created by National Crime Agency listed forensic artist Tim Widden.
Ms Needham said ‘we must keep searching’ ahead of the 30th anniversary of his disappearance on July 24, 1991.
Police believe Ben died on the day he went missing as a result of an accident involving ‘heavy machinery’ as he played outside his grandparent’s house, but his mother believes her son could still be alive.
She told the Daily Mirror in 2021: ‘I still have that hope that South Yorkshire Police are wrong.
‘And while there is no evidence to show me, I have to believe he is still alive. There’s not a single thread of evidence to say otherwise.’
