Human blood has been found on a toy car and sandal believed to be to have belonged to Ben Needham, who disappeared on the Greek Island of Kos 26 years ago
Ben Needham was just 21 months old when he disappeared on the island of Kos in 1991.
Despite many claims of sightings, no-one knows what happened to him - but British police are fairly certain that he was accidentally killed on a building site and his body was disposed of.
Today, on the 26th anniversary of his disappearance, more details have been released about recent progress that has been made.
After an excavation last September, a toy car and part of a sandal was recovered, believed to have belonged to Ben.
Forensic work has been carried out in Aberdeen to try and find any DNA samples, and human blood has now been detected on part of a sandal.
It is being tested to discover whether it may be Ben's blood.
Professor Lorna Dawson, who heads up the soil forensics group, said: "There's a strong indication from this chemical profile that this was present on those items as a result of blood decomposition.
"It's significant in identifying that there had been a human who had bled in contact with those items.
"The biologist has to come in now and identify who left that blood on that item by extracting the DNA."
WATCH: Kerry Needham opens up about the search for her son Ben on Lorraine
Detective Inspector Jon Cousins from South Yorkshire Police, has always maintained his belief that little Ben was killed accidentally and his body was moved in an attempt to cover it up.
He said: "Based on the facts and the information obtained, as previously stated it is still my professional belief that Ben died as a result of a tragic incident at the farmhouse involving heavy machinery.
"It's my belief that [the findings] corroborate and strengthen that theory."
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Ben's mum Kerry, who has campaigned tirelessly over the years to find out what happened to her son, told The Daily Mirror: "This confirms everything the police have suspected. It makes it all a little too real. We believe what they believe."
Kerry went on to add that she believes his body was moved twice: "That proves it to me without doubt they obviously moved him and buried him and for whatever reason dug him up.
"There's no other explanation. It's all been a massive cover-up."
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