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Ben Needham

Missing since July 24, 1991 from Kos Island, Greece

Personal information Birthdate: 29-oct-1989 Age at disappearance: 21 months (almost 2 years old) Hair: blonde Eyes: blue Extra information: Ben has a strawberry type birthmark on the nape of his neck and another birthmark about two inches above his right knee WAT case #: grM001 Date added: 27-jun-03

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Circumstances of disappearance

Ben, together with his mother and grandparents, moved from the United Kingdom to live on the island of Kos, Greece in 1991. Ben disappeared on July 24th of the same year. He was last seen playing outside, very near the doorway of his grandparents' farmhouse. The exact time of Ben’s disappearance is not known, but he was gone at 2:30 pm (14:30). The police were not notified straight away as no one suspected he had been taken; after searching the area and calling out to him for over an hour, Ben's grandmother returned to the family's caravan. Ben's grandfather also looked for him in his automobile, with no positive results. After a search, the grandparents assumed that Stephen, Ben's uncle, had taken the child with him. They drove to his apartment only to find out that Stephen had no knowledge as of Ben's whereabouts.
Police were informed later and another search was started. Ben's mother was informed of the incident at 10:30 pm, she also helped with the searches. According to Ben's family, police seemed very cold. An officer told Stephen and Ben's grandfather to meet them at the docks to check on the passenger cars heading to Athens in the 3 am ferry. The police officer never showed up. This was the first of many unprofessional, disappointing, and unethical policing Ben's family received from the Greek police. Airports and Docks were not informed of Ben’s disappearance until 3 days later.
A sighting of a child similar to Ben was reported July 27th. He had been seen by a member of staff with an older boy at a shop counter. This happened in the evening of the day Ben went missing; the boy has never been traced and it's unknown if he is indeed Ben. There have been over 300 reported sightings of children matching Ben’s description, particularly during 1991 and 1992. A reward is being offered for Ben's recovery.

If you have ANY information on this person's whereabouts, no matter how trivial, please contact:

Ben Needham's family
mum@benneedham.info

or

South Yorkshire Police Department
(+44) (0) 114 2523341

or

Police National Missing Persons Bureau
Free call from the UK 0808 100 8777

The information you provide could be vital in solving this case. You may remain anonymous when submitting information to most agencies

Sources:
Ben Needham
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children