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Muriel McKay's family want to buy Stocking Farm in Hertfordshire

Mark Dyer Muriel McKay wears a hat, smiles and holds a dog.Mark Dyer

Muriel McKay's body has not been found since her disappearance and murder on December 29, 1969

The family of a woman who was kidnapped and murdered on a farm wants to buy the property and dig for her body.

Muriel McKay was never found after she was killed at Stocking Farm near Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire in 1969.

The Metropolitan Police spent £160,000 on an eight-day search of the site in July but failed ultimately proved unsuccessful.

Ms McKay's grandson Mark Dyer said he was prepared to pay more than £1 million to buy what he described as “the nastiest place in the world”.

He admitted it would be “difficult” emotionally but said it might be necessary for closure.

The digs in July took place after the last surviving killer, now living in Trinidad, gave information about where Ms McKay was allegedly buried.

Nizamodeen Hosein was not allowed to return to Britain to help with the search, which the McKay family said hampered the effort.

Steve Hubbard/BBC An aerial photo of police searching the farm. There are several outbuildings and a large lawn with a path in the middle.Steve Hubbard/BBC

Since the murder, three different excavations have taken place at Stocking Farm, but none of them have been successful

Ian McKay, Ms McKay's son, told the BBC: “All of this depends on the property owner wanting to sell.”

“Purchasing Rook’s Farm would be an emotional response to give the family the opportunity to properly search and hopefully pursue closure.”

The farm's owners have been contacted for comment.

Nizamodeen Hosein wearing a black shirt with abstract patterns.

Nizamodeen Hosein, who murdered Ms McKay, has said he would come to England to help with any searches

Mr Dyer said if his family were to buy the property in the future the ownership would only be “temporary”.

They would buy it, hire specialists to conduct a private search for Ms. McKay and then sell it on, he explained.

In October 1970, Nizamodeen and his brother Arthur Hosein met sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping and holding Ms McKay, 55, for a £1million ransom before murdering her.

She was kidnapped on December 29, 1969 due to mistaken identity. The siblings believed she was the then wife of newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch.

Earlier this year, Mr Dyer flew to Trinidad with Ms McKay's daughter Dianne and Nizamodeen showed them on a map where he believed the body was buried.

The killer's lawyer, Matthew Gayle, told the BBC that Nizamodeen remained ready to come to England help with an excavation.

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