Police dig for Moors murders victim Keith Bennett after 'skull found'

Police have begun digging for the remains of Moors murders victim Keith Bennett after a skull was reportedly found more than half a century after he went missing.

The 12-year-old was one of five victims of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in the 1960s, with three of them later found buried on Saddleworth Moor.

Fresh hopes were raised on Friday when a report revealed that author Russell Edwards believed he had located the boy's makeshift grave following "extensive soil analysis".

Mr Edwards commenced his own dig – close to where the others were found – and uncovered a skull with teeth present, according to the Daily Mail.

Martin Bottomley, Greater Manchester Police's review officer, confirmed that the force was now investigating and had begun a painstaking forensic search of a spot at a remote location near Greenfield, on Saddleworth Moor.

He said that "specialist officers have begun initial exploration activity" after being informed of the author's dig but that it was too early to be certain whether human remains had been discovered, and added that verification could take some time.

Police teams in white forensic suits could be seen through heavy mist on the moor conducting their search, with a police car on the Holmfirth Road keeping onlookers at bay.

Conditions have been difficult, with heavy rain making the ground claggy and visibility reduced to a couple of hundred yards.

At one stage two blue police forensic tents were taken down because of high winds. The search was paused overnight at around 5.30pm as conditions were too poor.

Extensive DNA tests will need to be conducted on any remains found to determine if they are Keith’s.

The 12-year-old was abducted on his way to visit his grandmother in Manchester on June 16 1964. His mother, Winnie Johnson, died in 2012 at 78, never having discovered what happened to her son’s body.

Hindley lured the boy into a van by asking him to help with some boxes, while her lover Brady sat watching from the back seat.

Between July 1963 and Oct 1965, the pair murdered five children before Brady was eventually caught red-handed with the body of their final victim, 17-year-old Edward Evans.

Extensive searches of the Moors led to the discovery of the bodies of Pauline Reade, 16, John Kilbride, 12 and Lesley Ann Downey, 10, but Keith’s body was never found.

Mr Edwards believes that he has found Keith’s grave, just a few hundred yards from the site where the couple buried their other victims, after seven years of research.

Following extensive soil analysis, Mr Edwards started a dig under the supervision of a geologist and expert archaeologist.

Dawn Keen, a forensic archaeologist who specialises in the study of human remains, remotely supervised the "grave cut".

"I do believe there are human remains there. The police have got to look. From the photographs, I saw the teeth, I could see the canines, I could see the incisors, I could see the first molar. It is the left side of an upper jaw. There is no way that it is an animal," she told the Daily Mail.

Keith’s brother Alan, 66, who has devoted his life to trying to find his sibling, was informed about the extraordinary discovery. Sources described him as "stoic" when he was told.

Terry Kilbride, 67, whose older brother John was murdered by Brady, said he was praying that police had finally made a breakthrough.

Brought everything back

Speaking from his home in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, he said: “If it is Keith, I feel for the families. I can imagine what they’re all going through. I can imagine what Alan’s emotions are, what he’s going through because I have been through it. It’s just brought everything back for me. It’s bringing everything back – digging for Pauline [Reade], Lesley-Ann [Downey].

“I empathise with what Alan’s been going through all of these years, what the families have gone through and are still going through. It’s affected me all my life. And the brothers and sisters and families, it’s got too much.

"We have to be certain whether this is Keith or not, but I think in my heart, 100 per cent that it is. I hope it is for Alan Bennett. And if it’s not, it’s absolutely going to floor him.”

Mr Kilbride added: “It’s a lifetime of grief for the families. But if this is Keith at least Brady has not had the last laugh has he?”