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Mission to find kidnap case victim

The Journal

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November 25, 2025

THE grandson of a woman who was kidnapped and killed more than 55 years ago has said "she would like to come home for Christmas", after the High Court heard her family believes her remains are in an east London back garden.

Muriel McKay, the wealthy wife of newspaper executive Alick McKay, was kidnapped for a £1 million ransom in 1969 after being mistaken for Anna Murdoch, the then-wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Two men were convicted and jailed for Ms McKay's murder in 1970, but her body has never been discovered despite several police searches.

Yesterday, barristers for two of Ms McKay's children, Ian McKay and Dianne Levinson, asked a judge to order that the owners of two neighbouring properties on Bethnal Green Road allow the family to conduct a "ground-penetrating radar survey" of a shared back garden.

One of the home owners, Madeleine Higson, opposes the injunction bid, which would also stop her from disturbing the garden.

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