Ben Needham’s mum blasts Kos digger driver who ‘took secret to grave’ as she says she wants to tear up the whole island to find her son
Heartbroken Kerry, 43, hit out as the police search for her 21-month-old toddler son ended
BEN Needham's heartbroken mum says she hopes the digger driver suspected of killing her son is "burning in hell".
Devastated Kerry, 43, broke down in tears as she said she wanted to "tear up" the whole of Kos where her son vanished 25 years ago.
She hit out as the police search for the 21-month-old toddler ended.
Kerry told the "I’d tear up the whole island to find him.
"I can’t say goodbye until I know where he is.”
Police believe the toddler was killed by a mechanical digger driven by Konstantinos “Dino” Barkas, who has since died of cancer.
Ben's body is thought to have been transported from the farmhouse to a fly-tipping site.
Kerry, of Sheffield, added: “People who live in the area have been coming day by day and have confirmed that the number two area was where Dino was always bringing things from Iraklis just after Ben went missing.
“It can’t have been from another job because he was only working on that site.
“One man has taken a secret to his grave. Police believe that.
“They know enough information to know that happened. Someone else has come forward who was a teenager working for Dino.
“He learnt about Ben and asked Dino a few times and he kept saying, ‘No not possible’ but then in 2012 this person asked Dino about it again and he admitted to him in 2012: ‘I don’t know for sure but yes it’s possible.’
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"Dino knew. Of course he knew.
"I hope he’s burning in hell.”
Hugging her parents Christine and Eddie Needham, Kerry thanked South Yorkshire Police for trying to find Ben.
She said: "
“They know he’s dead but just can’t find him.
“Police said it’s time we ended our 25-year search. They are right but I can’t say goodbye knowing he’s still on that island somewhere. I feel physically sick. I can’t feel any worse than I do.
“He didn’t leave Kos, he didn’t walk away...somebody didn’t take him, so he’s here somewhere.
"They believe he is there but they can’t dig in everyone’s gardens or homes that have been built over the years. I want to tear up the whole island to find him.
"Someone knows where he is. For God’s sake help me find him. We know he’s dead but we need to find him. When someone dies you find a special place.
He’s not where I left him. Somebody knows where he is.
“Somebody knows where he is. Somebody else put him there and I can’t say goodbye until I know exactly where he is.
"Please let me say goodbye to my son. I can’t leave him there on that island. I need to find him.
"I need to take him somewhere he can be at peace and I can be at peace and grieve for him and somewhere I can remember him.
“I will find a special place, somewhere private where I can go and remember him. I’m still in limbo.
"But I know in my heart and talking to the police. If they believe it, I have to believe it. They have enough information.”
Digging began after a new line of inquiry suggested 21-month-old Ben may have been crushed to death by a digger near a farmhouse his grandparents were renovating in July 1991.
Konstantinos Barkas, who has since died of stomach cancer, was clearing land near where Ben was playing on the day he vanished.
A pal of the builder reportedly told police what happened and how Barkas may be responsible for the child’s death.
At the outset police said they were "optimistic" a new excavation would provide answers.
Ben's mum Kerry Needham had been told to prepare for the worst.
An emotional Kerry told Good Morning Britain last week: “We need those answers whether they are good or bad.
“Unfortunately, it looks like we are going to get a bad one.”
When asked if that answer would give her a sense of closure, Kerry said: “In a way yes because then we’ll know.
"You know 25 years living and not knowing where your child is, is torment.
"I don’t like to say it but then at least we would know and it would be closure and he can be laid to rest and we can remember him as he was.”
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