Is Missing Child Ben Needham in Cyprus?
By Anastasios Papapostolou on October 26, 2013 in Cyprus, News
The file of Ben Needham’s case has been reopened because of new evidence that shows a young man who resembles Ben to be in a Roma-populated area of Limassol, Cyprus, according to the newspaper Dimokratiki tis Rodou.
An anonymous source submitted evidence – including a video – to the president of the Lawyers Association of Kos Island, Panayiotis Avrithis. The video shows a young man (top photo) between 20 to 25 years-old among four Roma, at a church in Limassol, Cyprus. According to Mr. Avrithis, this man bears a great resemblance to 21-year-old Ben, as he is portrayed in the drawing by Scotland Yard (top photo).
The young man who has blond hair and blue eyes came to Cyprus with a Roma family a few years ago to avoid the mandatory military service in Greece and now lives at a nearby area heavily populated by Roma, according to the same source.
“The District Attorney of Kos island, Mrs. Alexandra Moussoura was presented with the evidence by Mr. Panayiotis Avrithis. The local prosecutor was notified and the new evidence has been added to Ben’s file,” said the director of the newspaper Dimokratiki tis Rodou, Damianos Athanasiou to Greek Reporter.
“The prosecutor has notified Interpol and we are expecting the Cypriot authorities to start investigating the case and locate this young man,” he added.
A Cypriot high-ranking police official with knowledge of the matter said that Cyprus police received but the investigation is at a very early stage.
“We will start searching in Limassol and if necessary we will look into other areas too,” said the official.
Ben Needham had been holidaying with his parents on Kos island in the village of Iraklise when he went missing on July 24, 1991. There is no evidence – apart from the latest source- that Ben was abducted by Roma.
On the day of his disappearance Ben had been left in the care of his grandparents while his mother went to work at a local hotel. He was playing outside the family farmhouse that was under renovations when, at approximately two thirty in the afternoon, the adults realized he had disappeared.
His parents have never stopped searching for their child, who they believe is still alive and might not know his real identity.
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/10 ... in-cyprus/