Muriel McKay’s son has joined police teams at the site of a new search for his mother’s remains.

Ian McKay, 82, flew from his home in Australia to visit the Hertfordshire farm where his mother’s killer says he buried her 55 years ago.

The recent confession from convicted murderer Nizamodeen Hosein – after years of silence – persuaded detectives to begin a new dig.

As he walked up the footpath to the farm Mr McKay said: “I never came to the farm and I always found it difficult to talk about my mother’s disappearance.

“But it was important to be here now to make sure the police are acting on the information provided by Nizam.”

Mr McKay was 27 when his mother was kidnapped from her London home and held for ransom at the farm just after Christmas in 1969.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Nizam and his brother Arthur had planned to kidnap the wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who had just bought The Sun newspaper, but bungled the crime.

Muriel, who was 55, was the wife of Murdoch’s deputy Alick McKay.

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Ian McKay and his nephew Mark Dyer, who has led the campaign for a new search, were met by detectives and led to the excavation site.

Mr McKay said: “I’m not sure how I feel. I really hope that my mother is here and we can take her away for a proper burial.”

The Metropolitan Police expect to spend five days at the site using specialist search teams, archaeologists and forensic analysts.

They searched a patch of land on the farm near the current excavation site two years ago, but found nothing.

Read more on Sky News:
Jay Slater’s mother pays tribute to ‘beautiful boy’
John Hunt pays tribute to ‘inspirational’ surviving daughter after crossbow attack

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

The family said they dug in the wrong place in 2022, but have agreed that if Muriel’s remains aren’t found this time they will not ask for more searches.

Related posts:

New COVID variants ‘very unlikely to send us back to square one’ as UK lockdowns eased, says top scientist Man, 50, held in Dundee over disappearance of woman and two children PM faces Brexit row at breakfast with EU leaders over sausage trade dispute Honours list shows that the worst of times brought out the best in so many UK heatwave was made 10 times more likely by climate change and hundreds may have died – study One of three rape allegations against Premier League footballer dropped Four people in critical condition after crowd trouble at Asake concert Crunch talks fail to end marking boycott as thousands of students graduate without grades Two Just Stop Oil protesters interrupt Proms at Royal Albert Hall Partial breastfeeding on the rise, new figures suggest ‘Let the bodies pile high’: Johnson did make controversial remark despite denials, veteran aide claims Critically endangered black rhino baby born in UK wildlife park