Date set for 'endgame' dig for body of Muriel McKay

Police will begin a final search next month for the body of Muriel McKay, who was abducted and murdered more than 50 years ago.

Mrs McKay, 55, was held to ransom for £1m at a farm in Hertfordshire by two brothers who had mistaken her for Anna Murdoch, the then-wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Her body was never found.

Her grandson Mark Dyer met with the Metropolitan Police at Stocking Farm on Thursday, where it was announced that a five-day dig would begin on 15 July.

“This is the endgame: either we can have an answer – a positive answer, which I hope and pray for - but I’m prepared for both,” Mr Dyer said.

Muriel was married to Alick McKay (both centre), who was deputy to Rupert Murdoch

Mr Dyer has been campaigning for a further search to take place after one of the men convicted of Mrs McKay’s kidnap and murder, Nizamodeen Hosein, told him where the body was buried.

Officers searched Stocking Farm at the time of the murder and again in 2022, with the help of ground-penetrating radar and specialist forensic archaeologists.

Nothing new was found.

The decision to carry out another search at the site near Bishop's Stortford came after detectives flew to Trinidad to speak directly to Hosein.

Mr Dyer said one of those detectives "concurred that Nizam had confirmed the location to him on numerous occasions".

"‘Three foot in front of the fence, that’s where I left her’, he told us," he said.

"If she’s there, we’re going to find her."

Muriel McKay's grandson, Mark Dyer, standing at the spot where he believes his grandmother is buried

Mr Dyer’s lawyer, Robert Edgington, used the farm’s planning history to create a set of graphics showing the changes made to the site since the 1960s, to help visualise where the body could be.

“We discovered that the area where Nizam indicated he had buried the body, hasn’t been touched. It's mostly grassland and is pretty undisturbed,” he said.

Mr Edgington added that Mrs McKay’s body "could have been discovered" during planned works in 1989 which were not fully implemented.

"There was a car park that was supposed to be put there," he said.

"They were going to re-move it but never did."

Mr Dyer's lawyer Robert Edington believes the body could have been discovered decades ago, if planned works had taken place

The Metropolitan Police said "preparation work" would be taking place at Stocking Farm before 15 July.

"The search is expected to take around five days but may be extended if required," the force said.

"Officers from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command will be working closely with forensic archaeologists and other specialists as well as Hertfordshire Police and our own forensic officers."

Mr Dyer said that "by the 25th of July, we’ll either have her or we won’t, but at least we would have done what we set out to do, the right thing".

"Nothing would be better for our family than finding the body and taking her away, giving her a proper burial – then the mystery is over, it’s done," he added.