Specialist groups looking a farm the place Muriel McKay was held hostage and murdered 55 years in the past have failed to seek out her physique.
Mrs McKay was mistaken for the then-wife of newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch when she was kidnapped, taken to a farm in Hertfordshire and killed in 1969.
A contemporary search of the positioning by the Met Police came about final week when the final surviving assassin, now dwelling in Trinidad, gave details about the place she was allegedly buried.
Met commander Steve Clayman expressed the power’s “absolute, heartfelt sympathy” for Mrs McKay’s household as he confirmed the search was unsuccessful.
However Mrs McKay’s son stated he didn’t really feel glad the search was performed correctly.
Ian McKay stated police ought to have introduced the assassin to the farm to indicate them the place he allegedly buried her physique. With out him there, he stated, the search was “the blind main the blind”.
In October 1970, Nizamodeen Hosein and brother Arthur Hosein got life sentences for kidnapping, murdering and holding Mrs McKay, 55, for a £1m ransom.
A 3rd search of the farm came about after Mrs McKay’s household persuaded officers to dig, following new info given to them from Nizamodeen.
Mrs McKay’s daughter Dianne and her son Mark Dyer flew to Trinidad, the place Nizamodeen confirmed the household on a map the place she was stated to be buried.
Police then travelled to the Caribbean and spoke to him earlier than beginning a brand new search on 15 July. However by the tip of the week, nothing was discovered.
Det Supt Katherine Goodwin stated Nizamodeen’s proof was inconsistent and he incorrectly recalled sure occasions of the kidnap and homicide.
“Muriel shouldn’t be within the location he pinpointed,” she stated.
“The parameters went manner past the unique areas searched.
“Bringing a convicted assassin to the UK has a excessive threshold and solely occurs in distinctive circumstances.”
The Met stated the most recent search was over and no additional searches can be carried out.
The power defined that officers had coated an enormous space and it had spent about £160,000.
Mrs McKay was married to Rupert Murdoch’s deputy, Alick McKay, and the Australian couple had moved to Wimbledon, south London, in 1956.
Her kidnappers had deliberate to take Mr Murdoch’s spouse on the time, Anna, in an try to extort £1m, however kidnapped the incorrect lady as Mr Murdoch had loaned the McKay household his Rolls Royce.
Mrs McKay was kidnapped on 29 December 1969 and killed at Rooks Farm, which is now referred to as Stocking Farm. Her physique has by no means been discovered.