Boy missing since 1991 "died in accident"

Image caption Ben Needham vanished on the Greek island of Kos in July 1991 when he was 21 months old

Toddler Ben Needham "most likely" died in an accident near to where he disappeared in 1991, police have said.

Ben, from Sheffield, was 21 months old when he disappeared on the Greek island of Kos.

A fresh search of two sites on Kos was prompted by new information suggesting Ben might have been accidentally killed by a digger driver.

South Yorkshire Police said that line of inquiry was the most probable cause for the boy"s disappearance.

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Det Insp Jon Cousins, who is leading the inquiry, said: "During the course of the inquiries we have made over the last 19 months, we have closed off a large number of theories about what happened to Ben, many of which have been open for over 20 years.

"My team and I know that machinery, including a large digger, was used to clear an area of land on 24 July 1991, behind the farmhouse that was being renovated by the Needhams.

"It is my professional belief that Ben Needham died as a result of an accident near to the farmhouse in Iraklis where he was last seen playing."

The information that prompted the fresh searches was revealed to police following television appeals in May.

A friend of a digger driver, who was clearing land with an excavator on the day the toddler went missing, said the man may have been responsible for Ben"s death.

The driver, Konstantinos Barkas, died of cancer in 2015.

Image caption The searches concentrated on two sites on Kos and have now concluded

A team of 19 South Yorkshire Police officers, forensic specialists, an archaeologist and search and rescue personnel have spent 21 days digging near the farmhouse and a second site 750m away.

Det Insp Cousins said an item, found on Saturday close to an item dated to 1991, had been shown to the Needham family.

"It is our initial understanding that this item was in Ben"s possession around the time he went missing," he said.

"The recovery of this item, and its location, further adds to my belief that material was removed from the farmhouse on or shortly after the day that Ben disappeared."

The Needham family, who have long believed Ben may have been abducted, have been fully informed of the force"s findings.

Det Insp Cousins said: "Our thoughts are with the family as they are given time to digest this and they have our full and continued support.

"Our drive has always been the family, and their welfare."

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Boy missing since 1991 "died in accident"
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