Police will begin digging in a fresh search for the remains of Muriel McKay, who was kidnapped more than 54 years ago.
Officers will spend this week at a Hertfordshire farm where the 55-year-old was held ransom for £1 million before her kidnappers were arrested and convicted of her murder.
Ms McKay, the wife of a newspaper executive, was kidnapped in London after her abductors mistaken her for Anna Murdoch, the then-wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Ms McKay was the wife of Mr Murdoch’s deputy Alick McKay, who like Mr Murdoch was Australian.
She first disappeared in December 1969 and police traced Ms McKay to Stocking Farm near Bishop’s Stortford.
But her body was never found and brothers Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein were convicted of her kidnap and murder.
Arthur died in prison in 2009, while Nizamodeen was deported to Trinidad and Tobago after serving his sentence.
The farm was searched at the time of the murder and again in 2022, with 30 police officers, ground-penetrating radar and specialist forensic archaeologists used, but nothing new was found.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed in May that further searches would take place for Ms McKay’s remains after the victim’s family met with one of the brothers who was convicted for her murder.
In December last year, Ms McKay’s family were provided new information by Hosein about the possible whereabouts of her remains and visited him in Trinidad and shared information, including footage, with the Metropolitan Police investigation team.
The decision to search the farm again was made after the investigation team visited Hosein to speak to him in person and interviewed him over three days following his offer to show her family where she was buried.
Commander Steve Clayman previously said that while they have concerns about inconsistencies in his account, officers will search an area where a manure heap once stood.
Detectives have mapped out a small area to excavate and have assembled a team of specialist searchers, forensics experts, archaeologists and photographers.
Sky News reports that part of a barn, that was later built at the site, will be dug up.
Ms McKay’s 82-year-old son has flown from Australia to visit the excavation site.
He told the broadcaster: "This is a highly emotional time for all of us and we wanted to be together.
"My sister Dianne and her son Mark Dyer have done a wonderful job gathering evidence and passing it to the police.
"This is pretty earth-shattering stuff if we are able to find her after all this time.
“I remember the kidnapping vividly, of course, but I didn't really speak about it later to my wife and children. It wasn't something to chat about."
