South Yorkshire Police has told Ben Needham's mum it will no longer be investigating her son's disappearance, and it will now be entirely down to the Greek Police - but now she is urging the PM to step in.16:59, 18 May 2026Updated 17:00, 18 May 2026Ben Needham’s mother urges government to help continue investigation into son’s disappearanceThe mum of Ben Needham is so desperate for help she's written to the Prime Minister urging him to step in - saying her missing son's case needs "more funding, not less".‌Kerry Needham, 51, was left devastated after South Yorkshire Police recently dropped the bombshell news it would no longer be investigating her son’s disappearance. She was told by the major crimes unit at South Yorkshire Police, that Ben's case would fall to the Greek police, who would undertake any future inquiries.‌In an exclusive interview, Kerry told the Mirror she's hoping to meet the PM and says they need more help to find her son, not less: "I am hoping the prime minister will take my letter seriously and act on this matter as quickly as possible and I would ask him if he could possibly find the time to meet me to discuss this matter in person. Ben’s investigation needs more funding and resources - not less!"‌Ben went missing while he was playing with toy cars outside a farmhouse his grandparents were renovating on the afternoon of July 24 1991. Kerry was at work in a nearby hotel and Ben’s gran Christine was babysitting.Kerry starts: “I am writing to you not only as the mother of Ben Needham, but as a mother who has spent more than three decades fighting for answers while watching support for my son’s case steadily diminish."She tells him: "I am asking for your direct intervention to ensure that Ben’s case receives the same seriousness, commitment, and determination that has rightly been afforded to other high-profile missing children investigations. There may still be witnesses who have never spoken, evidence still undiscovered, or vital information waiting to come to light. Opportunities for answers should not be lost because attention and resources have been allowed to drift elsewhere...‌READ MORE: Missing Ben Needham's shocked mum told UK police will no longer investigate toddler's disappearanceREAD MORE: Police officer found dead on beach in Northern Ireland as locals told 'avoid area'"Whilst I understand this remains a Greek inquiry as the crime was committed in Greece but the fact is I have never been able to rely solely upon them. South Yorkshire police are the only police force I can rely on to make sure any information I receive regarding my son gets acted on and sent to the appropriate authorities, and now it seems this is being taken away from me."I am profoundly angry and deeply disappointed by the apparent withdrawal and reduction of police commitment towards Ben’s investigation. After all these years, I should not still be battling to keep my son’s case alive in the minds of the authorities and Government. Ben was a little boy who disappeared without a trace. His life mattered then, and it matters just as much today."‌Kerry points out recently the Met Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann were approved for an extra £108,000 taking up the total cost of the investigation, so far to more than £13million. The three-year-old girl vanished from her bed while on holiday in Portugal in 2007. Operation Grange, led by the Metropolitan Police, will reach its 15th year since the task force took on the case in 2011.While South Yorkshire Police, over the span of nearly double the amount of time, have received less than £2million. In her letter to under-fire Keir Starmer. Her letter points out both herself and the Madeleine McCann's family have suffered "unimaginable suffering".She writes: "What is impossible to ignore, however, is the stark difference in treatment between Ben’s case and the case of Madeleine McCann. Both are missing British children. Both families have endured unimaginable suffering. Yet the level of continued investigative support, media attention, Government backing, and financial resources provided to Madeleine McCann’s case has been vastly different to what has been afforded to Ben.‌"I do not begrudge any missing child receiving support or resources. Every missing child deserves that commitment. What I cannot accept is the clear inequality in how these cases have been treated. My son should not be forgotten because he disappeared decades ago, because his case is difficult, or because there is less political or media attention surrounding it."For years, my family has lived with unanswered questions, heartbreak, and the torment of uncertainty. Despite this, we have continued to fight because we believed the authorities were equally committed to uncovering the truth. The decision to reduce support now sends a devastating message: that some missing children remain a national priority while others are quietly allowed to fade into history.‌"That is unacceptable. I am also deeply concerned by any suggestion that responsibility for Ben’s investigation should simply be handed back entirely to the Greek authorities. With the greatest respect, after 35 years without resolution, I have little confidence that this would lead to meaningful progress. Throughout the years, my family has often felt that there has been neither the urgency nor determination required to properly pursue the truth about what happened to Ben."To step away now and leave the investigation solely in the hands of the Greek police would, in my view, be a huge detriment to the case and could risk losing what little momentum and hope remains. Ben is a British child, and I firmly believe the British authorities still have both a moral responsibility and an obligation to continue actively supporting efforts to find answers."No parent should ever feel they must beg for their child to matter. No family should feel abandoned by the very institutions that are supposed to protect and support them. The passage of time does not reduce the responsibility of the authorities to pursue the truth, nor should it reduce the Government’s obligation to ensure investigations remain active and properly resourced.‌She continues: "I refuse to accept silence, indifference, or the suggestion that we should simply move on. As Ben’s mother, I will continue fighting for answers for the rest of my life. I am demanding that the Government and the authorities demonstrate that they are willing to do the same."This issue goes beyond my own family’s pain. It speaks to whether all missing children in this country are treated equally, regardless of publicity, politics, or the passing of time. Ben Needham deserves the same commitment to truth and justice as any other missing child. "I urge you to act before more time, more opportunities, and more hope are lost forever. Yours sincerely, Kerry Needham."Kerry told how she fears Ben will be forgotten if left to the Greek Police: “I will never get to know anything if the Greek police are in charge of it, because they won’t do anything. They won’t organise DNA tests, they’ll just put it in a file and move on. I’m gobsmacked. It would be much easier for them if I just went away and everyone forgot about Ben."‌She had been hoping South Yorkshire Police would be by her side when she returned to Kos with them this year to speak to the Greek prosecutors. She had been told the new Senior Investigating Officer in her son's case would like to work closely with his Greek colleagues in a bid to reinvestigate witnesses and police officers who helped search for Ben.British officers told Kerry about discrepancies in some statements 10 years ago as they carried out searches in 2016 on the island of Kos where Ben went missing. And recently she was told of plans to speak to these witnesses again.“South Yorkshire are the only ones I can rely on to make sure that information goes to the right place. It will stop me from getting to the truth. I may as well give up looking now, if South Yorkshire Police are not there to make sure all leads are followed up," Kerry said from her home in Turkey.‌“I do everything in my power. If my police are taken away from me what am I going to do with that information? All of my blood sweat and tears would have been for nothing. I feel abandoned.The news was broken to Kerry during a video call by her family liaison officer, she explained. South Yorkshire Police told The Mirror: "We remain ready to support Greek authorities should any new evidence come to light, and we remain committed to supporting Kerry. However after 35 years, we must ensure all of the appropriate routes are in place and remain fit for purpose."But Kerry told us: "For nearly 35 years, we have fought every single day to keep Ben's case alive, to search for answers, and to make sure he is never forgotten. We believe there are still avenues to explore. This feels like a devastating step backwards."‌‘Conspiracy of silence’ on Kos since Ben Needham's disappearanceKerry said she has little faith in the Greek Police who failed to lock down the island of Kos when Ben vanished. The ferries still operated with no intensive 24/7 checks and there were attempts to discredit the family. British Police later discovered a witness who claimed he had been coerced by officers into giving a statement to smear Kerry’s name.And a Mirror investigation in 2016 uncovered claims there had been a ‘cover up’ to hide the ‘huge mistakes’ police made after the toddler vanished. We tracked down a former police officer after the second dig finished and he told us of a witness who came forward to him claiming he saw people in a strange foreign car snatch Ben from the lane.‌But he said his colleagues ignored this report, fearing they would take the blame as they had not shut the island down and blocked the ferries after they were told a child had gone missing. The witness told us he feared for his life for speaking to us as he revealed they were ‘under pressure to close the case’.He told us: “The witness said the child was playing outside and someone stepped out of the car and took him. My friend does not lie. I went back but once he knew the child was still missing he didn't want to speak. He said ‘Don’t ask me more, I'm scared'." He told us that witness had since died but his son was still alive.The former cop told us: “I’m in danger for what I'm saying.” Asked why the police would cover it up, he added: “If the child left Kos, all the police officers sitting on chairs would have a problem.”‌Kerry recalls how the police treated them as an unfit family after Ben went missing, suggesting they were travellers as they lived in a caravan at the time. This narrative was further reinforced by fake claims Kerry had been with a man the night Ben vanished. But when British police contacted this witness he also admitted it was a lie and claimed he was coerced into signing the statement by officers to smear her name.“I had a child and I went to work and that was kind of frowned upon at the time. They would talk to my dad but not me. I was 19 and young so I was not important in their eyes," she said. “But these officers told someone to make a false statement regarding me, so they were trying to blacken my name.‌“How can I trust them now? They basically tried to make out whatever had happened to Ben, he was probably better off anyway. I personally don't think that their mentality has changed at all. I know that they were not very cooperative with South Yorkshire Police in 2016 when they wanted to do forensic tests on a car."But Kerry has vowed she will never go away and is urging the public to contact South Yorkshire Police and the PM to demand Ben's case is still investigated by British police. She said: "No parent should ever have to stop searching for their child and I never will."The gran-of-two, who has a daughter called Leigh-Anna, said: “I’m heartbroken because they are my lifeline, the only people I can trust and go to with the information I get. This was not the decision of my senior investigating officer (SOI), I feel sorry for him too. He had some brilliant plans.”‌When they told her investigations would stop, she said: “I was horrified and in total shock and didn’t know what to say.I sat there with my hand over my mouth shaking my head and saying ‘this is so wrong’. It was sheer and utter shock. Then it was devastation, I ranted, I cried. I just couldn't hold myself together, I was shaking. I just cried and cried and cried; ‘this can’t happen; why is this happening to me?’"Ben was a little boy who disappeared without a trace. His life mattered then, and it matters just as much today. What is impossible to ignore, however, is the stark difference in treatment between Ben’s case and the case of Madeleine McCann.‌“Both are missing British children. Both families have endured unimaginable suffering. Yet the level of continued investigative support, media attention, Government backing, and financial resources provided to Madeleine McCann’s case has been vastly different to what has been afforded to Ben.“I do not begrudge any missing child receiving support or resources. Every missing child deserves that commitment. What I cannot accept is the clear inequality in how these cases have been treated. My son should not be forgotten because he disappeared decades ago, because his case is difficult, or because there is less political or media attention surrounding it.“For years, my family has lived with unanswered questions, heartbreak, and the torment of uncertainty. Despite this, we have continued to fight because we believed the authorities were equally committed to uncovering the truth. The decision to reduce support now sends a devastating message: that some missing children remain a national priority while others are quietly allowed to fade into history.”‌About the funding received by police looking into the disappearance of Madeleine, Kerry says: “I honestly try not to compare it but it makes me feel like I’m not worthy and my son is not worthy of any resources, time or effort spent on him. It’s like he is a second class citizen. "It reminds Kerry of how she felt more than three decades ago when Ben vanished. “I just felt like I wasn’t important. The police didn’t even look at me as a responsible mother. I was 19 and working. I had a child and I went to work, it was very frowned upon at the time, they were very much men’s men. The women were not important. They dismissed the family and me as unfit. That was so wrong but I am scared not much will have changed in their attitudes.“‌A statement from South Yorkshire Police said: "We remain ready to support Greek authorities should any new evidence come to light, and we remain committed to supporting Kerry. However after 35 years, we must ensure all of the appropriate routes are in place and remain fit for purpose.“This has included ensuring we reconfirm the route into Interpol for any information as they are the link between forces internationally and as such they are the most appropriate agency to disseminate information between countries. If someone comes forward with information in England, we will continue to gather relevant evidence and share this with Greece via Interpol. “It said it continued to “allocate resource” to Ben’s case in the form of a family liaison officer and a detective acting as a ‘single point of contact for potential lines of enquiry’. The force added: “This bolsters our ability to ensure any information received is appropriately routed into the authorities that are charged to investigate.Article continues below"The Greek authorities have full primacy over the investigation due to the fact Ben went missing on Kos. Our role here in South Yorkshire is to act as a conduit between the UK, Greece and any other law enforcement agencies in a bid to secure answers. We have written to Kerry Needham to explain this position and offered a meeting to address any concern."