Police want to knock down farmhouse extension built after toddler Ben Needham disappeared
POLICE searching for Ben Needham want to knock down a farmhouse extension built months after the toddler disappeared on Kos.
British cops have asked for permission to demolish one room of a building, as a specialist team begins a second week of detailed excavations close to where the 21-month-old went missing in 1991.
Ben vanished 25 years ago while on holiday with his family - and according to a new witness, may have been buried by a digger driver following an accident.
Police believe Ben may have been crushed to death by a digger after its operator Konstantinos Barkas, who has since died of stomach cancer, told a man from Kos that Ben died in an accident and he covered the body up.
Detective Inspector Jon Cousins told reporters he was negotiating with the family who own a farmhouse at the site.
He said: "I'm in negotiation with the family that own the farmhouse.
"There is reason for me to consider removing a small part of this farmhouse in order so that I can be sure that I have not missed any opportunity to find the answers that I need to."
Fresh excavation work began on September 26 - but was delayed after the site’s landowner threatened legal action over the discovery of an ancient burial site.
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However, the search restarted on Friday, with police and volunteers sifting through masses of soil in an attempt to find traces of the missing toddler.
Cops have also been looking for fragments of clothes Ben could have been wearing that day and analysing a picture of a fig tree planted after his disappearance.
Investigators have even had replicas of Ben's leather sandals made by a local cobbler, which they hope will help search teams.
Ben’s heartbroken mum, Kerry Needham, 43, has told how her life has been on hold since her son went missing in 1991.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, she said: “He could have ended this 25 years ago. I could have grieved.
“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.”
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