As his family started combing the countryside for the toddler, the police launched a search for the missing boy.
Tragically, Ben was never found but, more than 20 years on, his family have never given up hope of finding him alive.
And on the eve of Ben’s 25th birthday, his mother, Kerry tells Closer of her heartbreak over her missing son.
“We try our hardest not to have occasions like Ben’s birthday not to be doom and gloom but it’s hard,” Kerry told us today.
“It’s so upsetting, we thought this at five years old, now it’s his 25th. How many more do I have to keep missing? It is truly heart wrenching.”
Kerry, 41, from Sheffield, credits the birth of her granddaughter, Hermione, to keeping her fighting to find Ben.
She adds: “Hermoine was our miracle. She brought so much light into our lives. I don’t know what we’d have done without her. She brings joy to us at these horrible times when we’re struggling to get through each day. She just brightens up our lives.
“I don’t want Hermione to grow up with this shadow over her. Everyone wrapping her in cotton wool, worrying about taking her to different places and feeling scared to leave her with baby sitters. I don’t want that.”
In recent months, efforts by the South Yorkshire Police force and the cold case officers working on finding Ben have come up with new leads in Greece which Kerry hopes could lead to Ben.
However she’s come up against resistance after the Home Office have failed to come up with a decision about funding, six months after the application.
“I’m angry we’re still angry we’re not getting anywhere,” Kerry explains.
“We had a meeting with South Yorkshire Police they’ve got some really, really good lines of investigation to start following along with the Greek police. They applied for funding to the Home Office six months ago and we still haven’t got an answer or a decision.
She adds: “It’s shattering – it’s always a question of why they help? This investigation could bring us answers we’ve wanted since 1994. We’ve never asked the government for anything – we’ve done it ourselves with the help of the public. Now we’re asking them for help, they’re dragging their heels. It makes my blood boil.”
“I want to David Cameron to list to me. David is a parent, he must have a heart. I don’t know where my son is. He’s a parent, where’s his empathy. He personally intervened on the McCann case why is he not doing that for me. I’m not asking for £10 million, I’m just asking for what South Yorkshire Police need to try and solve this case.”
To support Kerry in her search, please visit: Help Find Ben
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