Police 'overwhelmed' by volunteers wanting to help find Ben Needham
Police searching for missing Sheffield toddler Ben Needham on Kos say they're ‘overwhelmed’ by the number of volunteers wanting to help.
Police searching for missing Sheffield toddler Ben Needham on Kos say they're ‘overwhelmed’ by the number of volunteers wanting to help.
They're starting a third day of digging on an olive grove near to where the 21-month-old disappeared in 1991.
Inspector Pete Dedes has been drafted onto the Greek island from Northumbria Police because he can speak fluent Greek – he told Hallam the response locally has been amazing:
“It is quite intense at the minute. We’re actually having to stage our approach with volunteers because the help from the island has been so great that we’re using people at various stages of the investigation.
“We’ve got professionals, doctors, teachers, farmers. They give up their free time and come to help us because they want an answer.
“They want to assist the family. But also it’s their island and it’s a matter of Greek pride. They want to find a solution for the family and for the world and for the island of Kos.”
A team of South Yorkshire Police officers, forensic specialists and archaeologists have been scouring a stretch of farmland.
Digger teams were brought in on Monday afternoon to break up the ground.
Yesterday Detective Inspector Jon Cousins said the team - joined by local search and rescue volunteers - had made good progress in recovering potential evidence. As expected they found a vast number of animal bones, as well as some pieces of fabric which remain of ‘slight interest’.
“We’ve got manpower from South Yorkshire and from the other agencies that are supporting us from the UK,” DI Cousins told Hallam.
“I’m also very grateful to the search and rescue team that are providing people voluntarily on a daily basis which is allowing us to get up to speed and move through this as quickly as possible.
“The support of the public back home in the UK means a great deal to us and everybody that’s working with us, but it does mean an immense to amount to Kerry and the family.”
Searches of the site, around two miles (3.2km) east of the historic town centre, are expected to last for at least a week.