The mother of missing child Ben Needham gives Jay Slater a message after the DNA flip

The mother of a child who disappeared more than 30 years ago is anxiously awaiting the results of a DNA test from a man who claims to be her long-lost son.

Ben Needham was just 21 months old when he disappeared on the Greek island of Kos in 1991. The boy was last seen playing outside an abandoned farmhouse on the island.

His parents searched the globe looking for their boy. With it being 33 years since Ben disappeared on Wednesday (July 24), mum Kerry is waiting to see if a stranger could be her son – for the third time this year.

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A man in Denmark claimed his grandparents told him he was taken from Kos and insists his parents refused to deny the claims. The man says he has been in hiding for years and remembers that 25 years ago he went to a market and someone shouted “Ben” at him. He claims he was then held in a caravan, the Mirror reports.

But Kerry, 51, from Sheffield, says she can never get her hopes up, having been in this position several times. She said: “This man is searching for his real family and has given Danish police a sample of his DNA, which South Yorkshire Police are trying to obtain through Interpol to compare with Ben’s.”

The stranger’s DNA samples will be compared to a blood sample taken from when Ben was born at Boston Hospital in Lincolnshire for the routine Guthrie heel test.

The mother also said she feels the pain of Jay Slater’s family and is warning trolls of the further damage they are causing. The 19-year-old was found dead in Tenerife earlier this week after a month-long search for him. After watching them follow in her footsteps, Kerry said her “heart completely goes out to them.” She added: “All I can say to give them some comfort is that it’s better that they know, because living year after year, not knowing is torture. I feel their pain”.

Hitting out at trolls who mocked Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan, she said: ‘People have been so cruel. You have no idea the pain and suffering it causes. Trolling must stop.” But she said at least £66,000 raised for the family shows there are still good people at heart.

And speaking of her son’s ‘visions’, she said: ‘In 33 years we’ve had hundreds of alleged visions, most of which we’ve seen ourselves in previous years.

“We’ve had DNA from people in Greece, Turkey, Germany and one in Florida and Australia. But at least South Yorkshire Police are trying to get me answers and I can’t praise them enough.” The force’s theory is that Ben may have died in an excavator accident after a witness came forward. But the blood found at the scene in 2016 turned out not to be Ben’s, and the witness refuses to speak to the police again.

Kerry said: “You can’t end an investigation with nothing to go on and the claim of a man who now won’t talk.” She added: “I can’t believe it’s been 33 years and in October he will be 35. My mum is 72 and my dad is 76. I don’t want anything to happen to my parents without them knowing.”