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Topics: News, Parenting, UK News, World News
Lucy Devine
The mom of a boy who went missing 33 years ago has spoken out after a man who believes he could be her son has taken a DNA test.
British toddler Ben Needham disappeared over three decades ago at the age of 21 months, while being looked after by his grandparents on the Greek island of Kos.
Grandparents Eddie and Christine had been minding Ben while his mom, Kerry Needham, was at work, after the family moved to the island for a fresh start.
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Ben was playing outside the property when his grandfather first noticed he was missing.
Local police were alerted to Ben's disappearance and a huge search was launched, but the toddler was never found.
Over the years, there have been a number of theories, including police suspecting Ben's own family, leading to the farmhouse where Ben disappeared being excavated for clues.
Meanwhile in 2016, South Yorkshire Police, in the UK, questioned whether Ben had been involved in an accident with a digger, but the driver's family claimed he had nothing to do with it.
Kerry has always held on to hope, and is now awaiting the results of a DNA test taken by a Danish man.
The man says that his grandparents informed him that he had been taken from the island and that his parents have never denied the claims.
He also says that he once visited a market and heard someone shouting 'Ben'. Apparently, the incident resulted in him being kept in a caravan for years.
This is the third person who has believed they are Ben, so Kerry is cautious over the claims.
She says that, over the years, there have been hundreds of alleged sightings, but she's grateful to South Yorkshire Police for doing everything they can.
"This man is looking for his real family and he has given Danish police a sample of his DNA, which South Yorkshire Police are trying to get hold of via Interpol to do a comparison with Ben's," she told the Mirror.
"In 33 years we’ve had hundreds of alleged sightings, the majority of them we have followed up ourselves in the earlier years. We’ve had DNA taken from people in Greece, Turkey, Germany and one in Florida and Australia.
"But at least South Yorkshire Police are trying to get me answers and I can’t praise them enough."
The man's DNA will be compared to blood taken from when Ben was born, at Boston Hospital in Lincolnshire.