Greater Manchester Police says it will continue excavation works but “conditions are difficult”.
Image source, EPAPolice searching for Moors murderers’ victim Keith Bennett have said no identifiable human remains have so far been found, as excavations continue.
The 12-year-old was one of five youngsters killed by Ian Brady and his partner Myra Hindley in the 1960s.
He disappeared on 16 June 1964 while on his way to see his grandmother in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said it had received information about a “site of interest” on Saddleworth Moor.
In a statement on Saturday, Cheryl Hughes, force review officer at GMP, said they had received images of a potential burial site from people involved in a privately-funded search.
“This information included photographs of the site and show what experts working with the informant have interpreted as a human jaw bone,” she said.
“No physical evidence of a jaw bone or skull has been examined.
“Conditions are difficult and it may take us some time to fully complete the excavation but we are committed to ensuring this is undertaken in the most thorough way possible.”
Image source, PA Media
Brady and Hindley tortured and killed five youngsters in 1963-65 in one of the most notorious crimes in recent British history.
They buried four of their victims on Saddleworth Moor in the Pennines but Keith’s body is the only one that has not been recovered.
The Moors murders
Image source, PA Media
- Ian Brady and Myra Hindley tortured, sexually assaulted and murdered five youngsters in 1963-65, burying four of them on Saddleworth Moor
- Hindley’s brother-in-law reported the pair to police after witnessing Brady’s murder of 17-year-old Edward Evans
- Officers found the body at the couple’s home and launched an investigation
- In 1966, Brady and Hindley were convicted of killing Edward and 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey
- At the same time, Brady was convicted of murdering John Kilbride, while Hindley was convicted as an accessory and found not guilty of killing the 12-year-old boy
- Two decades later, in the 1980s, the pair finally confessed to the murders of 16-year-old Pauline Reade – whose remains were found in 1987 – and Keith Bennett, aged 12
- Hindley died in 2002 while Brady died in 2017
Farmer Chris Crowther, who owns the land which is being searched, said: “If they have found him, it will be a very big relief for the [Bennett] family.
“I’ve always been going out and looking for any signs for a grave when I’ve been gathering sheep.”
He said Keith’s mother Winnie Johnson, who spent most of her life trying to find her son’s remains, spoke to him before her death in 2012, adding “she asked me to keep looking and I said I will keep looking”.
Mr Crowther said the current excavation site was “about 100 yards” from where John Kilbride’s remains were discovered, with the remains of the two girls found on the other side of the A635.
“It’s such a beautiful valley, but it’s been blackened by that [crime].
“If it gets tidied up, everyone will have a bit of peace.”
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