The family of a woman who died in a bungled kidnapping after being mistaken for Rupert Murdoch’s wife has used ground-penetrating radar to search for her body.
Muriel McKay’s killer, Nizamodeen Hosein, revealed last month the location on a farm where he buried her more than 50 years ago.
But Mrs McKay’s daughter Dianne, 81, said she was ‘very frustrated’ that Scotland Yard officers will not even visit the site in Hertfordshire for four weeks.
Detectives have been presented evidence by ground-penetrating radar technology that shows a disturbance near the spot Hosein claims he buried his daughter.
The delay is adding to the agony of Dianne who said: ‘We can only wait to see what the police’s next move is. There’s nothing we can do now to make them hurry up. But it’s an unnecessary delay.
‘Can you imagine 52 years later, I find my mother? It would be nice to just go get her out. She’s been there too long.’
Hosein and his brother Arthur demanded a £1million ransom for Australian Mrs McKay, 55, who was married to Alick McKay – deputy to Mr Murdoch in the UK.
Muriel McKay (pictured in 1969), died in a bungled kidnapping after being mistaken for Rupert Murdoch’s wife
Rupert Murdoch is pictured with Anna, his second wife. Frau McKay was murdered by the burglars, and she was taken for Anna Murdoch.
Stocking Pelham, Hertfordshire, where Mrs McKay’s killer Nizamodeen Hosein revealed last month he buried her more than 50 years ago
Mrs McKay’s family has presented ground-penetrating radar evidence to the detectives, indicating that there was a disturbance around where Hosein said he had buried her.
In December 1969 the brothers followed Mr Murdoch’s chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce, unaware the media tycoon had lent it to Mr McKay while he was in Australia.
They forced their way in to McKay House, Wimbledon, south-west London.
They never saw Mrs McKay again, whom they had taken for Anna Murdoch. The brothers were later sentenced to life in the UK’s first conviction for a murder without a body. Arthur was killed in prison in 2009.
Hosein was released from prison in December after having served 20 years. She was then deported to Trinidad by Matthew Gayle. Matthew Gayle is a British barrister who was hired to represent the McKay clan. He found out where Hosein was buried.
McKay claims that no violence was used, and she died of a heart attack after watching an interview on TV about the kidnapping. Her presumed body was examined by radar specialists hired by the McKay family.
Although the farm’s owners denied access, the experts were able to aim a radar beam from a public footpath with Hosein directing the team via video call.
John Trust, a specialist surveyor who has also worked on the Moors Murders, said: ‘The radar showed that the ground had been interfered with – there was evidence of some trenching which could indicate that somebody had dug a hole to bury something. It was about 5ft.
‘It definitely warrants further investigation because it was virgin ground and somebody has done something there.’
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘Officers from the Met’s specialist crime command have met with the family and are in the process of reviewing all the material.’