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Police have ended a search for Moors murders victim Keith Bennett on Saddleworth Moor after finding no human remains.

An author claimed to have found evidence of the possible burial site of the 12-year-old boy who went missing in 1964 and whose body has never been found.

Keith was one of five victims of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, with three of them later found buried on the moor.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) began searching the area on 29 September but on Friday said there was “no evidence of the presence of human remains”.

Detective Chief Inspector Cheryl Hughes said: “The investigation into Keith’s disappearance and murder has remained open since 1964 and it will not be closed until we have found the answers his family have deserved for so many years.

“The excavation and examination at the site is complete and, to reiterate, we have found no evidence that this is the burial location of Keith Bennett.”

Author Russell Edwards told the Daily Mail he believed he had located Keith’s makeshift grave following “extensive soil analysis” which indicated the presence of human remains.

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Mr Edwards is said to have commenced his own dig – close to where the other Moors murders victims were found – and uncovered a skull with teeth, which independent experts are reported to have concluded is human.

DCI Hughes said officers “met with the member of the public who later provided us with samples and copies of the photographs he had taken”.

Moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley
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Moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley

“He also took officers to the location from which he had obtained these and provided grid references,” she added.

The senior investigating officer said experts had completed an examination of the site, adding: “The items given to us by the member of the public have been examined by a forensic scientist and though this hasn’t yet indicated the presence of human remains – more analysis is required.”

GMP previously said it was provided with a photo showing what experts working with Mr Edwards had interpreted as a human jaw bone.

But DCI Hughes said on Friday: “At this stage, the indications are that it would be considerably smaller than a juvenile jaw and it cannot be ruled out that it is plant-based.”

Keith Bennett’s brother Alan had previously expressed doubt that the author’s findings would turn out to be the remains of his sibling.

Writing on Facebook after the search of the site began, he said he “cannot escape the feeling that we have been here before”.

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, one of five victims of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. Picture date: Monday October 3, 2022.

Brady and his accomplice Hindley sexually assaulted, tortured and murdered children over two years in the 1960s.

While the bodies of four of their victims were discovered, Keith’s remains have never been found.

Keith was last seen by his mother in the early evening of 16 June 1964 after leaving his home in Longsight, Manchester, on his way to his grandmother’s house nearby.

Brady told Hindley he sexually assaulted and strangled the boy.

Despite a plea to Brady from Keith’s mother, Winnie Johnson, to reveal the details of where her son’s body was, holding back the information was believed to be the killer maintaining a last element of control.

Mrs Johnson died in 2012 without fulfilling her wish to give him a proper Christian burial.

Brady confessed to Keith’s murder but claimed he could not remember where he was buried.

Brady and Hindley’s other victims were 16-year-old Pauline Reade who disappeared on her way to a disco in July 1963; 12-year-old John Kilbride who was snatched in November the same year; Lesley Ann Downey, aged 10, who was lured away from a funfair on Boxing Day 1964; and 17-year-old Edward Evans 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.

Hindley died in jail in 2002 at the age of 60, while Brady died in a high-security hospital in 2017 aged 79.

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Jaguar Land Rover to ‘pause’ US shipments over Donald Trump tariffs

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Jaguar Land Rover to 'pause' US shipments over Donald Trump tariffs

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will “pause” shipments to the US as the British car firm works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The US president has introduced a 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into the country, which came into force on Thursday.

JLR, one of the country’s biggest carmakers, exported about 38,000 cars to the US in the third quarter of 2024 – almost equal to the amount sold to the UK and the EU combined.

Follow live updates: Trump’s baseline 10% tariff kicks in

In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for the company behind the Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover brands said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands.

“As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”

The company released a statement last week before Mr Trump announced a “baseline” 10% tariff on goods from around the world, which kicked in on Saturday morning, on what he called “liberation day”.

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JLR reassured customers its business was “resilient” and “accustomed to changing market conditions”.

“Our priorities now are delivering for our clients around the world and addressing these new US trading terms,” the firm said.

Trading across the world has been hit by Mr Trump’s tariff announcement at the White House on Wednesday.

All but one stock on the FTSE 100 fell on Friday – with Rolls-Royce, banks and miners among those to suffer the sharpest losses.

Read more: A red wall on Wall Street – but Trump seems to believe it will work out

Cars are the top product exported from the UK to the US, with exports worth £8.3bn in the year to the end of September 2024, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

For UK carmakers, the US is the second largest export market behind the European Union.

Industry groups have previously warned the tariffs will force firms to rethink where they trade, while a report by thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research said more than 25,000 car manufacturing jobs in the UK could be at risk.

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Two people die after caravan fire at holiday park in Lincolnshire

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Two people die after caravan fire at holiday park in Lincolnshire

Two people have died following a fire at a caravan site near Skegness, Lincolnshire Police have said.

In a statement, officers said they were called at 3.53am on Saturday to a report of a blaze at Golden Beach Holiday Park in the village of Ingoldmells.

Fire and rescue crews attended the scene, and two people were found to have died.

They were reported to be a 10-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man.

The force said the victims’ next of kin have been informed and will be supported by specially trained officers.

Officers are trying to establish the exact cause of the blaze.

“We are at the very early stages of our investigation and as such we are keeping an open mind,” the force said.

Two fire crews remain at the scene.

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Boy dies after ‘getting into difficulty’ in lake in southeast London

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Boy dies after 'getting into difficulty' in lake in southeast London

A 15-year-old boy has died after “getting into difficulty” in a lake in southeast London, police say.

Officers and paramedics were called shortly after 3pm on Friday to Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham.

The Metropolitan Police said a boy “was recovered from the lake” at around 10.42pm the same day.

“He was taken to hospital where he was sadly pronounced dead. His death is being treated as unexpected but not believed to be suspicious,” according to the force.

The boy’s family has been told and are being supported by specialist officers.

The force originally said the child was 16 years old, but has since confirmed his age as 15.

In the earlier statement, officers said emergency services carried out a search and the park was evacuated.

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google street view inside Beckenham Place park, Lewisham where a 16 y/o boy is missing after getting into difficulty in a lake
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Emergency teams were called to Beckenham Place Park on Friday afternoon

Beckenham Place Park, which borders the London borough of Bromley, covers around 240 acres, according to the park’s website.

The lake is described as 285 metres long, reaching depths of up to 3.5 metres.

It is designed as a swimming lake for open-water swimming and paddle boarding.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said on Friday: “We were called at 3.02pm this afternoon to reports of a person in the water.

“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team.”

Emergency teams have not explained how the boy entered the water, or whether he was accompanied by others.

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