Muriel McKay: Hertfordshire farm search to find woman murdered in 1969 ends in failure
A search for the remains of a woman kidnapped and murdered more than 50 years ago has ended without success, police have confirmed.
The Metropolitan Police began a fresh dig at Stocking Farm near Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire last week, in their search for the body of Muriel McKay, who was the wife of a wealthy newspaper executive.
The force has now written to her relatives, who had been pushing for the new search to be carried out, confirming that no remains or evidence relating to the crimes had been found.
The family told ITV News they were disappointed but believed the police had been digging in the wrong place, and vowed not to give up.
One of Ms McKay's killers, Nizamodeen Hosein, had agreed to help the family to find her final resting place decades after his crime, but he was not present at the dig and cannot enter the UK without the police requesting permission from the Home Office.
Ms McKay's grandson Mark Dyer said his family would continue their campaign to get Hosein to Britain, adding: "That's the only way we'll get to the bottom of this."
Stocking Farm was searched at the time of the murder in 1969 and again in 2022, with 30 police officers, ground penetrating radar and specialist forensic archaeologists used, but nothing was found.
The latest search took place amid tight security, with police putting an air exclusion in place and restricting public footpath access.
Commander Steve Clayman expressed the force’s “absolute, heartfelt sympathy” for the family and friends of Ms McKay as he confirmed that the latest search for her remains had been unsuccessful.
He acknowledged that her relatives had “done everything they can” to try to find where she was buried after she was murdered in 1969, so that she could be given a respectful burial.
Mr Clayman added: “The whole team are disappointed that this was the outcome.”
Ms McKay, 55, the wealthy wife of newspaper executive Alick McKay, was kidnapped and held ransom for £1m more than 54 years ago.
The people who kidnapped her had mistaken her for Anna Murdoch, the then-wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Mr McKay, who was Mr Murdoch’s deputy, was also Australian.
Ms McKay disappeared in December 1969 and was traced to Stocking Farm, but her body has never been found.
Brothers Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein were convicted of her kidnap and murder.
Arthur died in prison in 2009, and Nizamodeen was deported to Trinidad and Tobago after serving his sentence.
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