News, Manchester
Police have insisted the search for moors murderer Ian Brady’s final missing victim is continuing “outside of public view” and have repeated calls for information that could help the investigation.
Brady, who died eight years ago, tortured and killed five children with Myra Hindley.
But he never revealed where 12-year-old Keith Bennett’s remains were buried, though Keith’s mother Winnie Johnson, who died in 2012, had begged the killer to do so.
Greater Manchester Police said: “While visible searches have paused over time, with the most recent taking place in 2022, an investigation team continues our work to find the answers Keith family deserves.”
It said detectives remained “very interested in any information that could lead to the discovery of Keith”, and officers would be seeking to “obtain, review and establish the relevance of all the information held by the documentary team”.
“We are committed to act where credible information is shared,” the force said.
“We are in regular contact with Keith’s family, who are central to any action we take.
“They are kept updated on the ongoing lines of enquiry – some of which, could be jeopardised by public disclosure, and no further comment on these matters will be given.”
Brady, who was jailed in 1966, buried four of his victims in graves on Saddleworth Moor, Greater Manchester.
He died in May 2017 at Ashworth Hospital, a secure psychiatric unit in Merseyside where he had been detained since 1985.
Brady, who was born in Glasgow but later moved to Manchester, was jailed for the murders of John Kilbride, 12, Lesley Ann Downey, 10, and Edward Evans, 17.
In 1985 he also admitted to the murders of Pauline Reade, 16, and Keith Bennett.
The children had been abducted by Brady and his lover Hindley, who died in prison in 2002, between 1963 and 1965.
Keith’s brother, Alan Bennett, has called for any missing material to be made available to police, because it could contain “vital information in regard to the search for Keith”.
He was kept informed of the discovery of the missing memoir pages by the makers of The Moors Murders – A Search For Justice.
