When did Ben Needham disappear, who is his mum Kerry and what’s the latest in the search for the missing toddler?

BEN Needham vanished on the Greek island of Kos in 1991 but despite numerous investigations and an array of reported sightings he has never been found.

His mum Kerry never stopped looking for her little boy - ignoring reports that he may have been crushed by a digger on the day he disappeared. Here is the full story.

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Who is Ben Needham?

Ben Needham was born 29 October 1989 in Sheffield, but disappeared at the tender age of 21-months on 24 July 1991.

He had been on holiday with his family on the Greek Island of Kos.

On the day of his disappearance, little Ben was being looked after by his grandparents while mum Kerry went to work at a local hotel.

Ben had been coming in and out of the home (a farmhouse that was being renovated by the family) when, at around 2.30pm, when it was discovered he was gone.

At first, the family began to search nearby for the tot, assuming that he had wandered off, or that Kerry’s teenage brother Stephen had taken him out for a ride on his moped.

But there was no sign of Ben so eventually the search was widened.

What theories are there around Ben Needham’s disappearance?

The day after Ben's disappearance, builders including Konstantinos Barkas, also known as Dino, claimed they had spotted a white car occupied by three people parking nearby before he vanished.

However, nine years later this car was traced to Xanthippi Agrelli, the family's translator, who said she had visited that day. The family denied this and urged officers to re-investigate.

In 1996, a Greek prisoner named a gypsy family he claimed were holding Ben.

Det Insp Jon Cousins described the family as “significant” to the investigation.

He said they had been identified by numerous people over 20 years as being involved with Ben's disappearance.

However, South Yorkshire detectives finally ruled out any link in 2015.

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Another lead came when, in 1997, a taxi driver came forward claiming he had spotted the boy in his taxi with the family, while others also made the same allegations.

In 2012, a previous dig was carried out in the search for Ben’s body on Kos – but found nothing.

Kerry told: “The first dig was carried out not because they believed Ben was there.

“In their mind’s eye it was to prove there hadn’t been an ­accident and he was a genuine missing person.

“Once it had been proved there had not been an accident they could then take it forward as a missing person’s inquiry.

"Now I think they are doing it to prove there was an accident. To prove Ben is dead.”

In 2015, a young man who believed he could be Ben contacted police, but tests revealed he was not him.

Earlier this year, it was claimed that Ben was snatched by a man and then spirited across the ocean in a black speedboat.

The claims were revealed as investigators revisited a mysterious phone call to the British Missing People Charity in 1993, where the caller claimed that Ben was living under the new name ‘Andreas’ and was in mainland Greece being cared for by a man named ‘Nikos.’

Police have also received numerous reports that there have been sightings of Ben across the globe – with sightings reaching as far as Germany and Australia.

His mum Kerry made a fresh appeal to find the tot’s body ahead of the 26-year anniversary of his disappearance.

She told those who knew of his whereabouts that it is “never too late” to speak up.

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Who is Konstantinos Barkas?

In October 2016, cops told Ben’s mum he was dead after digging up one of his Matchbox cars near the farmhouse where his family was staying.

Cops are now sure Ben was accidentally hit by a digger driven by builder Konstantinos “Dino” Barkas, who died last year.

It came after a witness said Barkas may have been responsible for the death.

They said Ben was secretly buried elsewhere - or taken to a nearby fly-tipping site.

Devastated Kerry said she hoped Barkas is "burning in hell" after taking the alleged secret to his grave.

Kerry said: "He could have ended this 25 years ago. I could have grieved, had my daughter.

"You never forget your child but at least I would have known where he was. I could have done something with my life.

"Instead I've had a life on hold without being able to do anything or focus on anything.

"I'm living this nightmare - but it could have been ended 25 years ago. I could have probably forgiven that person back then. But now, no."

But the digger driver's widow Varvara insisted her husband had nothing to do with Ben’s disappearance — and claimed he never even mentioned the missing boy.

She told the : “My husband was a good man and I know he had nothing to do with Ben’s disappearance.”