Family of murdered Muriel McKay say police "owe them" one last search for her body

The McKay family are now seeking a search warrant for the property she is said to buried at

Author: Zoe Head-ThomasPublished 5th Jan 2024

The family of Muriel McKay, who was murdered and buried at a farm in Hertfordshire, are seeking further support from police to find her body.

Muriel McKay was kidnapped in 1969 by Nizamodeen Hosein, after being mistaken for Rupert Murdoch's wife for which the kidnappers demanded a £1 million ransom.

Three weeks ago, one of her kidnapper, who was deported to Trinidad after serving a life sentence for murder in the UK, signed an affidavit to the family revealing the exact location of Muriel McKay's body.

This new piece of information gave Muriel's daughter, Dianne McKay, and Grandson, Mark Dyer, a new lease of life, after 54 years searching for answers.

"...we think that we are owed by the police a proper search of that backyard."

In late December, Mark Dyer took the case to a judge seeking advice for a warrant to search the property.

Since then, the family has been in regular talks with the Metropolitan Police, who had been assisting them in the investigation and who conducted a search to the property in Hertfordshire in 2022.

Although new developments are bringing hopes for the family to finally retrieve Muriel McKay's body, they told Greatest Hits Radio the police should be doing more to allow one final dig at the property.

Mr Dyer said: "We know we can go back, and into a very expensive process, which we are happy to do if we have to, but we think that we are owed by the police a proper search of that backyard."

"With all respects to the police, they just don't seem to put this at the top of their list."

"...we would ideally like to get a search warrant."

On New Year's Day, the McKay family got in contact with Rupert Murdoch, a former business associate of Muriel's husband, whose wife was the initial target of the 1969 kidnap, to put pressure on the Home Office to lift Hosein's deportation order.

Mr Dyer said: "We're hoping they put pressure on the police, whether they be Hertfordshire Police or the Met Police, and we would ideally like to get a search warrant."

"We've been given the form for a search warrant."

Mr Dyer believes obtaining a search warrant for one final dig and flying Hosein back into the country to assist with the search would put an end to it all.

A spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police said: "An extensive search for Muriel’s remains was conducted in March 2022 at a site in Hertfordshire, unfortunately it concluded unsuccessfully."

"We have been engaging with some members of Muriel’s family to keep them updated on an ongoing review."

"We will consider and assess any new information, keeping an open mind to all available options."

Muriel McKay's family believe the March 2022 search to have been too short and limited.

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