Police have started a dig in search of Moors murder victim Keith Bennett after a skull was found on moorland.
The boy was tortured and killed, aged just 12, by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in 1964 – but his body has never been found.
Now, Greater Manchester Police have begun a dig in the area after an unofficial search group discovered a skull in Saddleworth Moor above Greater Manchester.
Forensic anthropologists from the force have already been examining potential samples of body tissue taken from the area.
Police teams were forced to halt crime scene work at around 4:45pm on Friday due to bad weather. The site where they had been working has now been covered with tarpaulin and will be revisted on Saturday morning.
It is hoped the breakthrough could help police crack the infamous case which has been unresolved since the youngster was lured into a car by Hindley while on his way to visit his grandma on 16 June 1964.
He is the only one of the five Moors murder victims whose body has never been found after Brady and Hindley – both now dead – refused to say where they had buried him.
His mother Winnie Johnson spent her life trying to locate her son until her death in 2012. At one point, she even took to the moor herself, armed with a spade.
The new discovery came after author Russell Edwards put together a team of experts to try and solve the case.
Forensic archaeologist Dawn Keen, who was on the team, said: “I do believe there are human remains there. They [police] have got to look.”
She told the Daily Mail: “From the photographs, I saw the teeth, I could see the canines, I could see the incisors, I could see the first molar. It is the left side of an upper jaw. There is no way that it is an animal."
Edwards himself said: “This is about peace for Keith and closure for the family.”
In a statement released on Friday afternoon, Martin Bottomley, a review officer with Greater Manchester Police, said: “The site was assessed late last night and, this morning, specialist officers have begun initial exploration activity. We are in the very early stages of assessing the information which has been brought to our attention…
“It is far too early to be certain whether human remains have been discovered and this is expected to take some time.”
Bennett was the third of five children murdered by Brady and Hindley between 1963 and 1965.
The pair were both jailed for life in 1966 after they were found to have snatched and sexually tortured their victims before burying them on Saddleworth Moor in the Pennines above Manchester.
The five killed were Pauline Reade, 16, John Kilbride, 12, Keith Bennett, 12, Lesley Ann Downey, 10, and Edward Evans, 17, all from the Manchester area.
Pauline disappeared on her way to a disco on 12 July 1963 and John was snatched in November the same year.
Keith was lured into Hindley’s car on 16 June 1964 after he left home to visit his grandmother, while Lesley Ann was snatched at a funfair on Boxing Day 1964, and Edward was killed in October 1965.
The pair were caught after the final murder was witnessed by the partner of Hindley’s sister – who phoned police after he had helped bury the body.
