Search for Moors murder victim Keith Bennett continues for fourth day: Forensic teams sift through earth in Saddleworth Moor dig as police confirm no human remains have yet been found
- Forensics teams have been at an isolated spot on Saddleworth Moor since Friday
- Last night police said they were going to search the spot for the ‘foreseeable’
- Keith, 12, is the only victim out of Moors murders who has not been located yet
- The schoolboy’s body was never found following his disappearance in 1964
The search for Moors murder victim Keith Bennett is continuing into its fourth day, with forensic teams sifting through earth in Saddleworth Moor as police confirm that no human remains have yet been found.
Police investigating the death of the 12-year-old Moors Murders victim deployed a drone yesterday as they continue probing the reported discovery of a human skull.
Keith was one of five victims of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, with three of them later found buried on Saddleworth Moor.
But the schoolboy’s body was never found following his disappearance in 1964 and 48 years later his mother, Winnie Johnson, died aged 78 without fulfilling her wish to give him a proper Christian burial.
The search for Moors murder victim Keith Bennett is continuing into its fourth day
Forensic teams are sifting through earth in Saddleworth Moor as police confirm that no human remains have yet been found
Officers from Greater Manchester Police continue a search on Saddleworth Moor
Fresh hopes were raised on Friday when the Daily Mail revealed that crime author Russell Edwards believes he has located the youngster’s makeshift grave following ‘extensive soil analysis’ which indicated the presence of human remains.
It is said Mr Edwards commenced his own dig – close to where the other Moors Murders victims were found – and discovered what experts believe is a child’s upper jaw.
Yesterday Senior Investigating Officer Cheryl Hughes said: ‘Following information received which indicated that potential human remains had been found on the Moors, specialist officers from GMP have again resumed excavation of a site identified to the force.
‘We have not found any identifiable human remains but work to excavate the site is continuing and will do so for the foreseeable time.’
Keith Bennett was snatched by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in 1964. He is their only victim who has never been found
Between July 1963 and October 1965 Myra Hindley, left, and Ian Brady, right murdered five children. Hindley died in 2002 and Brady in 2017 without revealing the location of Bennett’s body
Forensic teams continue to work at the site on Saddleworth Moor where crime author Russell Edwards believes he found the presence of human remains
Keith was one of five victims of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, with three of them later found buried on Saddleworth Moor
Teams are sifting through the earth on the moor as they continue the search
Officers from Greater Manchester Police continue a search on Saddleworth Moor, in north west England, for the remains of the body of 12-year-old Keith Bennett
Keith’s 66-year-old brother Alan said there were ‘hundreds of thoughts running through my mind’.
He added: ‘I’m not saying there is nothing there, what I will say is that I, and many others are confused, to say the very least.’
Mr Bennett said he believed Keith’s remains would not be found at the site being excavated – but ‘nobody can rule anything else out’.
Keith was last seen by his mother in the early evening of June 16 1964 after he left home in Eston Street, Longsight, Manchester, on his way to his grandmother’s house nearby.
A police presence is being maintained at the site after searching began on Friday
An officer from Greater Manchester Police is pictured at Saddleworth Moor, in north west England
Brady and Hindley’s other victims were Pauline Reade, 16, who disappeared on her way to a disco on July 12 1963; John Kilbride, 12, who was snatched in November the same year; Lesley Ann Downey, 10, who was lured away from a funfair on Boxing Day 1964; and Edward Evans, 17, who was axed to death in October 1965.
The killers were caught after the Evans murder and Lesley and John’s bodies were recovered from the moors.
Both Brady and Hindley were taken back to Saddleworth Moor to help police find the remains of the outstanding victims but only Pauline’s body was recovered.
A forensic officer takes a picture at the search site on Saddleworth Moor, in north west England
Keith’s brother Alan Bennett said he believed Keith’s remains would not be found at the site being excavated – but ‘nobody can rule anything else out’
Brady claimed he could not remember where he had buried Keith after he was taken to Saddleworth Moor by police officers
Brady claimed he could not remember where he had buried Keith.
In 2009, police said a covert search operation on the moor, which used a wealth of scientific experts, had also failed to discover any trace of the boy.
Hindley died in jail in 2002 at the age of 60.
Brady died in a high-security hospital in 2017 aged 79.
Police searching for the body of Moors murder victim Keith Bennett yesterday deployed a drone as they continued to investigate a report that the skeletal remains of a child had been found
Last night police said they were going to continue searching the spot ‘for the foreseeable time’ – but said ‘no identifiable human remains’ had been found
Speaking after Brady’s death, Greater Manchester Police’s force review officer Martin Bottomley said: ‘It is especially saddening for the family of Keith Bennett that his killers did not reveal to police the whereabouts of Keith’s burial site.
‘A week hardly goes by when we do not receive some information which purports to lead us to Keith but ultimately only two people knew where Keith is.
‘Greater Manchester Police will never close this case. Brady’s death does not change that. We will act on credible and actionable information that will help lead us to him.’
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