No human remains found in search for Muriel McKay

Specialist teams searching a farm where Muriel McKay was held hostage and murdered 55 years ago have failed to find her body.

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 fresh search of the site by the Met Police took place last week when the last surviving murderer, now living in Trinidad, gave information about where she was allegedly buried.

Met commander Steve Clayman expressed the force's "absolute, heartfelt sympathy" for Mrs McKay's family as he confirmed the search was unsuccessful.

But Mrs McKay's son said he did not feel satisfied the search was conducted properly.

Ian McKay said police should have brought the murderer to the farm to show them where he allegedly buried her body.

Without him there, he said, the search was "the blind leading the blind".

In October 1970, Nizamodeen Hosein and brother Arthur Hosein were given life sentences for kidnapping, murdering and holding Mrs McKay, 55, for a £1m ransom.

A third search of the farm took place after Mrs McKay's family persuaded officers to dig, following new information given to them from Nizamodeen.

Mrs McKay's daughter Dianne and her son Mark Dyer flew to Trinidad, where Nizamodeen showed the family on a map where she was said to be buried.

Police then travelled to the Caribbean and spoke to him before starting a new search on 15 July. But by the end of the week, nothing was found.

Det Supt Katherine Goodwin said Nizamodeen's evidence was inconsistent and he incorrectly recalled certain events of the kidnap and murder.

"Muriel is not in the location he pinpointed," she said.

"The parameters went way beyond the original locations searched.

"Bringing a convicted murderer to the UK has a high threshold and only happens in exceptional circumstances."

The Met said the latest search was over and no further searches would be carried out.

The force explained that officers had covered a huge area 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 planned to take Mr Murdoch's wife at the time, Anna, in an attempt to extort £1m, but abducted the wrong woman as Mr Murdoch had loaned the McKay family his Rolls Royce.

Mrs McKay was abducted on 29 December 1969 and killed at Rooks Farm, which is now called Stocking Farm. Her body has never been found.

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.