2026 Progress

Below are the details of the 2026 progress and its outcomes, including personal recounts by the McKay family.

Jan, 2026

The family entered into a settlement agreement with the two leaseholders of the Bethnal Green Road property. Under the terms of the agreement, the family agreed to pay the leaseholders a substantial sum in exchange for permission to carry out a non-invasive survey of the garden area. If the survey identified any anomalies, excavation works would be permitted as necessary.

Mar, 2026

On 5 March 2026, Pulse Mapping attended the property and conducted a non-invasive Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey of the garden.
The survey identified two anomalies, with the primary area of interest measuring approximately 1.9 metres in width and extending to a depth of 1.6 metres.
Arrangements were subsequently made for excavation works to commence on 20 March 2026 in the locations identified by Pulse Mapping.
The excavation began at 9am. Present at the site were solicitors acting on behalf of both the family and the leaseholders, a surveyor, and two contractors engaged to undertake the excavation.
During the course of the excavation, the family were informed that the leaseholders had behaved in a rude and obstructive manner towards the surveyor and had directed abusive language at him. The family were also informed that the leaseholders’ solicitors sought additional payments, outside the terms of the settlement agreement, as a condition of permitting the excavation to continue.
Whilst discussions regarding these issues were ongoing, a large bone was uncovered at a depth of approximately 1.2 metres. Pursuant to the terms of the settlement agreement, the police and/or coroner were to be notified should any significant item be discovered during the excavation.
The family’s solicitor immediately contacted the Metropolitan Police, who attended the property within approximately one hour.
The bone was not removed for forensic examination. Instead, officers from the Metropolitan Police photographed the bone and concluded within a matter of hours that it was non-human. This conclusion was not communicated directly to the family. Rather, the family first became aware of the Metropolitan Police's assessment through information released to the Press Association.
As the excavation had not reached its full intended depth due to the discovery of the bone, the family requested permission, through the leaseholders’ solicitors, to return to the property and complete the excavation. This request was initially refused. The leaseholders alleged that the family had breached the settlement agreement and consequently denied further access to the property.
The leaseholders asserted that the alleged breach arose from the media having been informed of the excavation prior to police attendance. The family did not accept this position and maintained that no breach of the agreement had occurred.
Following extensive correspondence between the parties, notwithstanding the fact that both parties had entered into a legally binding agreement, it was ultimately agreed that the family’s contractors would be permitted to return to the property to complete the excavation of the larger anomaly where the bone had been discovered, as well as the second location identified by Pulse Mapping.

Apr, 2026

On 10 April 2026, the parties’ respective solicitors and contractors returned to the property to complete the excavation works. Upon arrival, it was discovered that the excavation hole previously dug had been backfilled, requiring the excavation to recommence from the beginning.
During the excavation, the larger bone which the leaseholders had reportedly replaced in the excavation area following the previous visit was not recovered. Instead, five smaller bone fragments were uncovered.
The solicitor acting for the leaseholders did not permit the family’s solicitor to photograph the bone fragments found and to date do not have any photographs. The fragments were subsequently removed from the site by the leaseholders’ solicitor and taken to their office in Marylebone.
The family notified the Metropolitan Police that the bone fragments had been removed from the property. On 13 April 2026, officers attended the solicitors’ office and collected the fragments.
The discovery of these bone fragments is of particular significance. At the original hearing held at the Old Bailey in 1970, Sir Peter Rawlinson, the presiding judge, concluded that the Hosein brothers had most likely dismembered Muriel’s body using the same billhook that they claimed had been borrowed to butcher a calf which had died on the farm.
It is well recognised that perpetrators may seek to conceal evidence of a crime by commingling human remains with animal remains. The presence of multiple bone fragments at the site therefore warrants careful consideration.

May, 2026

Following several weeks of correspondence, the family were informed by the Metropolitan Police that the five bone fragments had also been identified as non-human.
The family have since requested copies of all reports, records and documentation relating to the examination of the bones but, to date, these have not been provided.
The family consider this information to be of critical importance, particularly in light of the findings made at the original hearing, the circumstances surrounding the disappearance, and the unusual discovery of multiple bone fragments at significant depth within a residential garden in East London.
In the family's view, these circumstances support the need for a comprehensive and professionally supervised excavation of the site.

Muriel McKay

2026 Progress

Muriel McKay

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