The family of murder victim Muriel McKay are headed for a showdown with detectives over concerns they are not doing enough to find her remains.
Muriel’s son Ian McKay and grandson Mark Dyer are expected to revisit the Hertfordshire farmland site of a new excavation to discuss their concerns with police on Thursday.
The family says they were informed Muriel’s daughter, Dianne85, has been banished from the site where Muriel’s body is believed to have been buried after her kidnapping and murder 55 years ago.
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Ian McKay, 82, said: “The officer in charge told me that my sister Di is banned and will not be allowed to visit her.
“He wouldn’t say why, but I think she may have complained before about his outrageous behavior towards her and now he’s under internal investigation.”
![Police officers search inside a barn on a farm in Hertfordshire for the remains of Muriel McKay. Photo: Met Police/PA](https://e3.365dm.com/24/07/768x432/skynews-police-f-muriel-mckay_6626983.jpg?20240715163932)
Photo: Met Police/PA
The family is furious because the same police officer “rudely” stopped their lawyer, who was armed with old maps and “useful” photos of the farm, from entering the premises with them on Tuesday.
Reporters witnessed the Metropolitan Police officer turning away lawyer Robert Edginton, who arrived with Mr McKay and Mr Dyer.
The officer shook Mr. Edginton’s hand and told him abruptly: “You are not going in.” When Dyer explained that the lawyer had helpful maps and documents, the officer said, “He’s not going in.”
Dyer said: “He was very rude to Robert, who had spent weeks researching the site and had valuable information that would have helped the search.
“That officer led the search here two years ago when they found nothing, and we don’t believe he wants us to succeed. I don’t understand why. He told me last year that the police would never dig again.” again and here we are, back at the farm. He should be removed from the investigation.”
See more information:
Muriel McKay – the woman who disappeared
![Police search](https://e3.365dm.com/24/07/768x432/skynews-police-search-muriel-mckay_6626675.jpg?20240715113606)
Police arriving to search the alleged cemetery again
![Police search](https://e3.365dm.com/24/07/768x432/skynews-police-search-muriel-mckay_6626672.jpg?20240715113536)
‘If you’re looking for buried gold, bring the person who buried it’
The family also want to ask why the police didn’t invite Muriel’s convicted killer, Nizam Hosein – who recently told the McKays where he buried her – come and point out the burial place and perhaps save a lot of work and time.
Hosein, who is now 76, served 20 years in a UK prison for murder before being deported to his native Trinidad. To let him return, the Home Office would have to suspend or suspend his deportation order.
But Detective Superintendent Katherine Goodwin, who has overall responsibility for the operation, recently told the family she would be “happy to meet him” if Hosein returned.
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McKay said: “If you were looking for buried gold, you would certainly bring the person who buried it? They are missing a trick, an obvious trick.
“When they showed me the site on Tuesday, they had barely excavated any part of the site that was marked out. I can’t imagine how they will do a proper search by Friday, which is what they said.”
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![The Hertfordshire farm where Muriel McKay is buried](https://e3.365dm.com/24/04/768x432/skynews-muriel-mckay-hertfordshire_6519340.jpg?20240715024901)
The Hertfordshire farm where Mrs McKay is believed to be buried
Police are ‘not using scanners’
Dyer added: “They are not using scanners, which we suggest would give them much more focus on the likely location where my grandmother was buried.”
The search, which began on Monday, is being carried out with the permission of the farm’s owner, Ian Marsh. The pedestrian paths that cross the farm were blocked and a no-fly zone was imposed.
Hosein, who was 22 at the time, kidnapped Muriel, 55, just after Christmas 1969 with her older brother Arthur.
They confused her with Anna, wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch – who had just bought The Sun newspaper. Muriel was the wife of Murdoch’s deputy, Alick McKay.
The Hosein brothers were convicted at the Old Bailey after one of the first bodyless murder trials.
Sky News has contacted the Metropolitan Police for a response.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story