Fresh hope for Kerry after PM’s promise

Fresh hope for Kerry after PM’s promise
Kerry Needham with a picture of missing Ben when he was 18 months old.


Published on Tuesday 17 May 2011 19:33


formatPubDate("Tue May 17 08:33:26 BST 2011");



The loving Sheffield mum of missing Ben Needham, who disappeared 20 years ago, is hoping the personal appeal by Madeleine McCann’s parents to David Cameron will help reunite her with her son.

Ben vanished in 1991 from the Greek holiday island of Kos when he was just a toddler but mum Kerry Grist is convinced he is still alive.
She has twice contacted the Prime Minister but has only ever received formal acknowledgments without any offers of help from Scotland Yard.
Kerry, of Ecclesfield, welcomed Mr Cameron’s intervention in the McCann case and is hoping any inquiries by Scotland Yard could help locate Ben, whose 21st birthday was last October.
Kerry, aged 36, said : “I am happy to see the government’s involvement with reviewing missing people’s cases abroad.
“I am pleased for the McCann family and look forward to the government offering the same support to all families with loved ones missing.”
Kerry’s 17-year-old daughter Leighanna said: “Mum was really upset when she heard the news that David Cameron has asked Scotland Yard to help find Madeleine.
“She is delighted for the McCann family and she hopes this will help find their daughter. But she is upset because she wrote to Mr Cameron last year asking him for help finding Ben.
“We did get a reply but it was just a formal one. We’re just hoping now that the new publicity and Mr Cameron’s involvement with the McCanns will help in some way to find Ben.”
Kerry has criticised police for never sending officers over when Ben disappeared to liaise with local police.
She added: “A precedent was set when Madeleine McCann went missing. That never happened for Ben and the same should have been done for my son.
“The police on Kos were so inexperienced, they just did not know how to handle Ben’s disappearance.
“Because it was classed as a Greek investigation, Britain never sent any police officers across at the start and, to this day not one officer has ever gone across.
“They say the case has never been closed but I want the British police to launch their own investigation, reviewing everything the Greek authorities have done and starting afresh.”
Ben was just 21 months old when he disappeared in 1991, minutes after going out to play at a farmhouse, which his grandfather was renovating in the village of Iraklise. Kerry was working as a waitress on the island at the time.
Investigators suspect the blonde-haired child was abducted by a gypsy gang and sold to a childless couple.
Over the years there have been dozens of sightings around the world of a child and later a teenager answering to Ben’s description.
A South Yorkshire police spokesman said: “Primacy for the investigation will always lie with the Greek authorities. We have explained the situation to Ben’s family and continue to support the Greek police in their investigation providing them with any new information on potential sightings of Ben that may assist.
“We continue to keep Ben’s family updated with the case and our sympathies remain with them.”
http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/fresh_hope_for_kerry_after_pm_s_promise_1_3386043

Hi Rosa

Kerry's letter to David Cameron dated 16 May 2011 - very dignified I thought in light of the situation - http://www.helpfindben.co.uk/letter-to-pm.html

I looked at Kerry's website yesterday and couldn't help but compare it with that of the McCanns:

No paypal button, no online shop, no book to buy.... oh, and a substantial reward is offered for information leading to the finding of Ben!

I look forward to the reply from David Cameron following Kerry's latest request.

Belle wrote:Hi Rosa

Kerry's letter to David Cameron dated 16 May 2011 - very dignified I thought in light of the situation - http://www.helpfindben.co.uk/letter-to-pm.html

I looked at Kerry's website yesterday and couldn't help but compare it with that of the McCanns:

No paypal button, no online shop, no book to buy.... oh, and a substantial reward is offered for information leading to the finding of Ben!

I look forward to the reply from David Cameron following Kerry's latest request.

Hi Belle,

Welcome to the forum

Hi Candyfloss (and everyone)

Thank you for the welcome,

Belle

Belle wrote:Hi Rosa

Kerry's letter to David Cameron dated 16 May 2011 - very dignified I thought in light of the situation - http://www.helpfindben.co.uk/letter-to-pm.html

I looked at Kerry's website yesterday and couldn't help but compare it with that of the McCanns:

No paypal button, no online shop, no book to buy.... oh, and a substantial reward is offered for information leading to the finding of Ben!

I look forward to the reply from David Cameron following Kerry's latest request.

Hi Belle
Thankyou for the link and welcome to the forum you are right Belle the McCanns just want income generation and hope for more
Kerry just wants hope
:flower:

The sad thing is though that there is no fresh hope, or did I miss the part of the 30 Met officers with the £3.5 million will also take a look Ben Needham case.

ETA Hi Belle

Why are the two apparently similar cases of Maddie and Ben treated differently?

I think the answer might be found in these three words: "government protected paedophiles".

And those three words not having any relevance to Bens disappearance.

Firstly,
Hello to everyone on the Forum, I´ve been here for a couple of days and have been following the circus more or less from the outset in 2007 and now to my question, I´ve searched the Internet and also spent time on the postings here but I haven´t been able to find the open letter from the Mccann´s to David Cameron, can or does anyone have a copy and can post it here?

The McCanns' website was mentioned in a previous posting so please excuse my going off at a bit of a tangent. I'm of the generation which used to communicate with chalk and slates so computers are still a bit of a mystery to me. I'm sure there's someone technically minded who can explain why the McCanns' online shop has the copyright date of 2007 on its home page but on all the linked pages it's 2006, before Madeleine disappeared of course. If someone had inputted 2006 as simple human error, would not the computer correct it to the right year?

I cant get on to their site at the minute. Its saying cannot find server....anyone else having probs with it now?

Thanks

Wow, just got on and saw it. Sorry i have no explanation as to why this is, but am definately curious.

Could it be a template from somewhere else that they used on their site maybe?? I dunno.

Hope some one else with more knowledge has a better explanation.

Cheshire Cat wrote:Why are the two apparently similar cases of Maddie and Ben treated differently?

I think the answer might be found in these three words: "government protected paedophiles".

And those three words not having any relevance to Bens disappearance.

Sensationalism and libelism all in one sentence.

Marian wrote:The McCanns' website was mentioned in a previous posting so please excuse my going off at a bit of a tangent. I'm of the generation which used to communicate with chalk and slates so computers are still a bit of a mystery to me. I'm sure there's someone technically minded who can explain why the McCanns' online shop has the copyright date of 2007 on its home page but on all the linked pages it's 2006, before Madeleine disappeared of course. If someone had inputted 2006 as simple human error, would not the computer correct it to the right year?

Just asked my hubby,

He said this would have been inputed manually and the computer would not autmatically fix it. He said its probably a typo..............................BUT i would have to say, would you not notice this if yor child had gone missing and correct it. I mean, for me, i would never get the date out of my head. .......................but who knows

I was just looking at their online shop.................................What with the millions in donations etc, you would think they would give these things away free to help everyone "LOOK for Madeleine"

Why the heck, would they be charging people for these things???? Just a thought..............of course, i know its to get more money!!!!!!

Invinoveritas wrote:Firstly,
Hello to everyone on the Forum, I´ve been here for a couple of days and have been following the circus more or less from the outset in 2007 and now to my question, I´ve searched the Internet and also spent time on the postings here but I haven´t been able to find the open letter from the Mccann´s to David Cameron, can or does anyone have a copy and can post it here?

Hi in vino, that's a truth!

I will look for it later but you can already look at the McCann files: http://www.mccannfiles.com/ or Joanna's blog http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/ or Pamalan's site.

It contains a nauseating piece of emotional blackmail.

RBxHN wrote:

Cheshire Cat wrote:Why are the two apparently similar cases of Maddie and Ben treated differently?

I think the answer might be found in these three words: "government protected paedophiles".

And those three words not having any relevance to Bens disappearance.

Sensationalism and libelism all in one sentence.

Why is Hollie Grieg treated differently? Scottish Government Protected Paedophiles.

Ij,
I´ve already surfed both forums before you replied (thanks ) and I also agree with nauseating, I am not a conspirator but I very find it striking that the Mccanns´ compare their "loss" to the death of David Camerons´ young boy, This is somehow a confirmation of what happened in May 2007

Thanks for the replies so far about the copyright date on the website. There is probably an innocent explanation (gosh I'm sounding like Clarence!) as I admit that I'm computer illiterate but it will be reassuring to have it confirmed by someone who knows about these things.

lj wrote:

Invinoveritas wrote:Firstly,
Hello to everyone on the Forum, I´ve been here for a couple of days and have been following the circus more or less from the outset in 2007 and now to my question, I´ve searched the Internet and also spent time on the postings here but I haven´t been able to find the open letter from the Mccann´s to David Cameron, can or does anyone have a copy and can post it here?

Hi in vino, that's a truth!

I will look for it later but you can already look at the McCann files: http://www.mccannfiles.com/ or Joanna's blog http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/ or Pamalan's site.

It contains a nauseating piece of emotional blackmail.

From Pamalan's site: http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/

Our Letter to David Cameron, 11 May, 2011
Dear Prime Minister,
As a devoted father and family man, you know the importance of children. Our beloved eldest child, Madeleine, was abducted from Praia da Luz, Portugal, four years ago. Since then, we have devoted all our energies to ensuring her safe return.
Today we are asking you - and the British and Portuguese governments - to help find Madeleine and bring her back to her loving family.
We live in hope that Madeleine will be found alive and returned to us. One call might be all that is needed to lead to Madeleine and her abductor.
To this end, we are seeking a joint INDEPENDENT, TRANSPARENT and COMPREHENSIVE review of ALL information held in relation to Madeleine's disappearance. Thus far, there has been NO formal review of the material held by the police authorities - which is routine practice in most major unsolved crimes.
It is not right that a young vulnerable British citizen has essentially been given up on. This remains an unsolved case of a missing child. Children are our most precious gift.
Please don't give up on Madeleine.
Kate & Gerry McCann

Cameron's response is there too

We live in hope that Madeleine will be found alive and returned to us. One call might be all that is needed to lead to Madeleine and her abductor.

---

Kay wrote:Has anyone else noticed that whilst the official Madeleine site has a generic reference regarding missing children and links to various sites - there is not as reciprocal banner linking their site to Ben Needham, in fact as far as I can tell there is no mention of Ben in any of their blur on the site. Yet Kerry's site has a banner at the top of their links page linking to the Madeleine site. Seems the McCanns don't even want to give their traffic to Kerry. Please correct me if I have got this wrong.

True... that's because it's all about "them" - they don't need the "competition". But Kerry isn't going to give up on her child either and whatever the PM's response to her letter is she will get some well deserved publicity for Ben's case following the recent developments. Oh dear.... the Mc's won't like that - stealing the spotlight from them... that's not very "helpful" is it!

Most fair-minded people will think that Kerry deserves the same help and resources as the McCanns, and if she isn't offered that, will be angry at the injustice and unfairness (I certainly will be). If that happens, maybe Kerry should start her own fund!