Muriel McKay family to discuss next steps for dig

Muriel McKay, pictured with her husband and children, was killed in 1969

The family of Muriel McKay are visiting a farm where she was killed 55 years ago to discuss next steps with police, including the possibility of extending their search area and getting her killer on site to pinpoint where she was buried.

Mrs McKay was mistaken for the then-wife of newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch when she was kidnapped, taken to a Hertfordshire farm and murdered in 1969. Her body has never been found.

Since Monday, the Met Police have been carrying out a dig at Stocking Pelham, near Stansted, to try to find her remains, with nothing found so far.

Speaking to BBC Three Counties' Justin Dealey on Sunday, grandson Mark Dyer said extending the search period and area were "open to discussion" and reiterated his claim that all efforts were "pointless" without her killer helping officers.

Officers have been unable to find anything of note so far

'Walking around blindfolded'

Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein were convicted of Mrs McKay’s kidnap and murder, and while Arthur died in prison, Nizamodeen was later deported to Trinidad.

Earlier this year, the family flew to Trinidad and spoke at length with Hosein, who pointed to the spot on a map where he claimed she was buried.

"Our feeling as a family is that without the perpetrator, we are walking around blindfolded," said Mr Dyer.

The layout had changed since 1969, and a back door that Hosein recalled walking out of was no longer there, he explained.

"He'll be able to get his bearings... he can walk there and show us," he added.

The Met Police told the BBC on Thursday that it had "carefully considered" the idea of bringing Hosein to the farm, but concluded it would not provide "any further or useful consistent information".

It had therefore not sought permission from the Home Office to have a temporary revocation of Hosein's deportation order.

The Met Police said the search area was based on extensive interviews with Hosein

On Sunday, Mr Dyer told the BBC he had heard the Met Police had now spoken to the Home Office.

"The Home Office have said the Met Police have to ask us, and if we say 'yes', they will lift the order.

"It's always been our position that if the kidnapper is alive and willing to travel, its pointless going to all this effort without having him here.

"I think it was Ian McKay [Muriel's son] who said if it was gold there they would certainly have someone there showing them where the box of gold was."

The Met Police has said it would continue the search this week.

The farm was searched before, in 1970 and again in 2022.