Muriel McKay is declared dead after her 1969 kidnap and murder

A woman who was kidnapped for ransom in 1969 has been officially declared dead by a High Court judge.

Muriel McKay was held hostage at Rooks Farm in Stocking Pelham, Hertfordshire, by two brothers who were later jailed for her murder. She had been mistaken by the kidnappers as the then wife of Rupert Murdoch.

After receiving a tip-off this year, the McKay family had requested to use scanners to search for her body behind a shop in east London, but said they were denied access by leaseholders.

They hope the declaration of her death will help them pursue an injunction to formally search the site for Mrs McKay’s remains.

The declaration was delivered at the High Court on Monday by Chief Master Karen Shuman.

It grants “letters of administration” to Mrs McKay’s son and daughter, “for the limited purpose of obtaining the body of Muriel Frieda McKay”.

Mrs McKay’s son Ian told Radio 4’s Today programme: “The decision by the High Court now allows us to proceed with what we believe – what I believe – what we believe generally is the hottest lead we had in the entire investigation.

“I’m 83 now and I’m keen to have a final answer on this.

“We feel like we owe it to her. We feel cheated by the fact that we were never able to help her at the time.”

Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein were convicted of Mrs McKay’s kidnap and murder.

Ms Mckay was married to Alick McKay, deputy to Rupert Murdoch, and was kidnapped after being mistaken for Mr Murdoch’s then wife.

Arthur died in prison, but Nizamodeen told Mrs McKay’s daughter Dianne that he had buried her body at Rooks Farm.

However, three searches of the grounds proved fruitless.

After an offer of a £1m reward, a brother and sister told the family that Arthur had worked in their late father’s tailor’s shop in Bethnal Green.

They claimed their father confessed on his deathbed his fears that Nizamodeen and another man had hidden a body in the yard behind his shop and described smelling a “foul stench” one night.

Their father had been mixed up with London’s criminal gangs, including the Kray twins, they said.

The McKays had hoped to use scanning technology to search the garden, then later dig if it was successful, but have not been granted permission to do so from the landowners.