Rikki Neave’s body was discovered in a forest near his house on the Welland estate in Peterborough in November 1994, nude and positioned star-shaped with his arms outstretched and legs wide apart.
He’d been suffocated to death. The photo of the toddler has gone viral on social media sites such as Twitter and Reddit. Despite the fact that it took almost three decades, the 41-year-old was found guilty of Rikki’s murder.
Rikki was found murdered in the woods near his Welland Estate home. His corpse was discovered the next day after he went missing. On November 29, 1994, a 6-year-old boy was found killed in the bushes near their house on the Welland Estate in Peterborough.
Ruth Neave’s abuse and incompetence were to blame for her son’s death. Rikki went missing after leaving their Redmile Walk home at 09:00 GMT on November 28th to walk the five minutes to school.
Cambridgeshire social services had identified Rikki as a vulnerable youngster. He was included on the county’s Child Protection Register because he was a risk to others and was regularly missing from school.
Rochelle Neave, Rikkis’ half-sister, remembers him as a “kind and sensitive” small boy when he was three years old at the time of the murder. Their early years together, she stated, were challenging.
Ruth’s 1996 trial revealed how she threatened to murder her son, scrawled “idiot” on his forehead, and squirted dishwashing detergent into his mouth. She was sentenced to seven years in jail for child abuse.
