Detectives working on the case now believe the youngster may have died shortly after he vanished from Greek island Kos in 1991.
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The driver of the digger is said to be Konstantinos Barkas, who was known as Dino before he died past year from stomach cancer.
“They said a new witness had told them there were two areas of land that building waste had been dumped at which had not been searched”.
Officers from South Yorkshire police went to the island after getting 200 calls following an appeal on Greek television.
Specialist units from the United Kingdom will head to the Greek island to carry out the grim search.
She was sat down with her mum and daughter to be told cops now believe her young son is dead.
She told the Mirror: ‘They [South Yorkshire Police] don’t have an X marks the spot but they are confident of this information. How do I cope with that?
His mother told the paper: “This feels different now”. What if I’ve been wrong all this time?’ They think my Ben could be dead and buried.
She added: “It was the worst news any detective can put to a mother”.
Fresh testimony from a witness has opened a new line of inquiry into the 1991 disappearance of British toddler Ben Needham on the Greek island of Kos, the UK’s Mirror reported on Friday.
Ms Needham had been hoping she would be reunited with her son, but said her worst fears appeared to have been confirmed following a visit by police officers.
Previous year the Kate and Gerry McCann deleted their Find Madeleine Twitter account after claiming to have been bombarded with online abuse from supporters of Ben Needham’s family.
Kerry said the new witness had claimed his late friend had an accident with a JCB he was driving.
The unnamed witness is believed to have told police he saw Mr Barkas “sweating and shaking” after coming back from a police station the day after the disappearance.
“I was absolutely shellshocked and just sat there numb”.
Experts have tested soil in the area and drone images have been taken ahead of the dig.
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After spending 25 years tirelessly searching for her son Ms Needham said she fears dying of “shock and heartbreak” should Ben’s remains be found.
