Mel Gibson movie Ransom inspires family to put up £1million reward for information which helps them find murdered mums remains
The family of a woman who was kidnapped and murdered in a high-profile case more than half a century ago have offered a £1 million reward to end of the agony of not knowing where her body is.
The family of a woman who was kidnapped and murdered in a high-profile case more than half a century ago have offered a £1 million reward to end of the agony of not knowing where her body is.
Muriel McKay was snatched from her home in December 1969 after she was mistaken for the wife of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.
Brothers Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein were later convicted of the 55-year-old’s kidnap and killing, one of the first times a murder conviction was brought without a body.
Arthur died while serving time, while Nizamodeen recently provided information about Mrs McKay’s alleged whereabouts at the remote Hertfordshire location where she was held.
But a search of land at 12-acre Stocking Farm in Stocking Pelham last year failed to reveal her whereabouts.
Nizamodeen claims the mother-of-three had been given powerful sedatives and collapsed and died of a heart attack while watching a television appeal for her safe return by loved ones.
Now, in a move inspired by the 1996 Mel Gibson movie Ransom, her family – children Ian, Dianne and Jenny, and Dianne’s son Mark - are offering the seven-figure sum.
It is the same amount the brothers demanded after taking her hostage.
Mother-of-three Muriel McKay went missing from her home in Wimbledon, south-west London, in December 1969
Detectives launched a murder hunt 1969 and scoured Stocking Farm in Stocking Pelham, Hertfordshire, at the time and again in 2022 but were unable to find the body
Police carried out a third search for Mrs McKays in July last year but were again unsuccessful - despite one of her killers providing information about her potential whereabouts
In the film, multi-millionaire Tom Cullen thwarts the demands of kidnappers who have taken his son Sean by offering the $2 million sum demanded as a bounty on their heads.
‘My mother watched the film and came up with the idea,’ property investor and inventor Mark, 60, told the Mail.
‘It inspired us to think outside the box a little. This is a ransom for truth.
‘We are doing this because we know that my grandmother is buried somewhere and we know there are people that are holding secrets who may now be inspired to come forward to help.
‘The Met Police have made it clear that if any other evidence came to light they would be happy to look at it. So, we are asking for someone whos hiding information to come forward.’
The reward, which has been provided by unnamed benefactors, is subject to stringent terms and conditions.
‘It is very tautly drafted to make it clear that if somebody can provide specific, credible evidence that can be verified by the family, and that results directly in the recovery of remains, thats when it gets triggered,’ said McKay family lawyer Sheeva Vahid-Ashrafi.
The reward would not be paid if it involved an illegal act, while if multiple individuals provide verifiable and credible information that collectively leads to the recovery of the remains, the reward would likely be divided.
Nazamodeen Hosein told Mrs McKays family he could pinpoint where at Stocking Farm her body was buried
Police searching fields at the remote farm in Hertfordshire in April 2022 as the family waited, hoping that decades of uncertainty would end
A police officer guarding a cordon while carrying out searches for Mrs McKays body at Stocking Farm in April 2022
Mrs McKay, a native Australian who accompanied her newspaper executive husband Alick to the UK when he came to work here for Murdoch, was snatched from her home in Wimbledon, south west London.
Murdoch, who was married at the time to his second wife Anna, an Australian journalist and novelist, had loaned the McKays his Rolls-Royce while he was on holiday.
By the time the Hoseins realised they had the wrong woman, they decided it was too late to turn back and took her to Rooks Farm, as it was known at the time, and issued the ransom demand anyway.
Attempts to hand over some money failed and she was never seen again.
The brothers were jailed for life for blackmail, kidnap and murder following a trial at the Old Bailey in London.
A search of the farm took place at the time and again in 2022 and July last year, although the family criticised police for not allowing Nizamodeen to be present to assist with the most recent dig.
The killer - now 76 and living in Trinidad, where he was deported after his release from prison – provided information about Mrs McKays whereabouts on the farm after Dianne and Mark flew out to speak to him early last year.
But the Metropolitan Police said he cannot enter the UK without Home Office permission as he is a convicted murderer.
The abduction was a case of mistaken identity - with the kidnappers intending to seize Anna Murdoch, second wife of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch
Brothers Arthur, left, and Nazamodeen Hosein were found guilty of Mrs McKays blackmail, kidnap and murder following a trial at the Old Bailey in London
Mrs McKay was seized outside her familys home in Wimbledon, south-west London, in December 1969
Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein were remanded in custody by Wimbledon magistrates
‘I was twenty‑two when my mother disappeared. In the five decades since, I have married, worked, and raised children,’ said Ian, 83.
‘Yet I have never once laid a flower on her grave, and my grandchildren recognise her only from photographs. For our family it’s a wound that never closes.’ Dianne, 85, added: ‘There have been times when I have been unbelievably low and wondered if I should just let it all go.
‘I always come back to the fact that my mum deserves a final proper resting place. We are doing this for her.’
The family have a website www.murielmckay.com, which tells the full story of Mrs McKay’s tragic disappearance and the family’s attempts to find her, alongside the terms and conditions for the reward.
‘It’s been 55 years since my grandmother was kidnapped and we’ve been trying to get her back ever since,’ Mark said.
‘The sad truth is that everyone involved in this case is getting older and we are running out of time.’