Police launch new search for remains of murdered Muriel McKay | Hertfordshire

Police have begun a new search for the remains of Muriel McKay, who was murdered in a kidnap-for-ransom case more than 54 years ago.

Nizamodeen Hosein and her brother Arthur mistook McKay, 55, for Anna Murdoch, the then-wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, when they kidnapped her. The couple held McKay at a farm in Hertfordshire and demanded a £1 million ransom.

They were sentenced to life in prison in 1970 for the girl’s abduction and murder. Nizamodeen was deported to Trinidad and Tobago after serving his sentence, while Arthur died in prison.

McKay’s 84-year-old daughter Dianne and grandson Mark Dyer visited Nizamodeen in the Caribbean in January 2024 when he told them where he and his brother had buried the body.

They persuaded the Metropolitan Police to visit Nizamodeen in March this year. They then pledged to make a final attempt to find McKay from July 15 “to be complete”.

Dyer said he could send Nizamodeen to the farm “if we don’t get anywhere by the middle of the week. I know he’s very keen to get this case solved,” he said. However, Dyer added: “To be honest, I don’t want him here – if he’s told us the truth – it shouldn’t take us this long to find her. It’s a few yards away in either direction.”

Dianne McKay’s brother Ian McKay said: “This really is our last chance.”

He said that while he did not believe everything Hosein told his family, “I believe what he says about where my mother’s body is.”

“He knows exactly where he buried her. I’m ready for anything,” he added.

McKay said she was nervous and anxious to see if police would make a discovery, adding that finding her mother would give her family some closure. “It would mean a lot if we found her. If we did, it might tell us things we never really knew, like how she died. I’ve lived with that loss my whole life, and trying to find her has been very beneficial.”

Officers searched the Stocking Farm site in Stocking Pelham twice, once at the time of the murders and again in 2022, and found no remains.

Metropolitan Police Commander Steve Clayman said: “We all share the hope and desire to find Muriel’s remains and bring some comfort to her family after all these years.”