The mum of missing Ben Needham said a military witness has come forward claiming to know about her son’s disappearance.
Kerry Needham, 43, said a soldier contacted Greece’s version of Crimewatch after she made an emotional appeal.
She joined British detectives last Friday in Athens to beg for help finding her son, who was 21 months old when he vanished from Kos on July 24, 1991.
Kerry said one caller to the show said he knew about the “abduction” of Ben from the summer of 1991.
She told the Daily Mirror: “The show was being translated for us through an earpiece.
"The presenter looked shocked and horrified as she was talking to a researcher who had taken the call.
“The man said he was a soldier in the military in 1991 and he was on an exercise in Iraklis on Kos.
"All I know was I heard something about information to do with a ‘possible abduction’.
“Maybe he was on Kos as it was part of his national service. We just don’t know.
“She asked why they’d only come forward now. I’m still waiting for more information. I don’t know any more details than that.
“I’m assuming that it was somebody that has heard who took Ben or actually witnessed the abduction.
“It was just the presenter’s face looked so shocked. I was so on edge the entire time.
"I thought it was something really significant and serious just by the look on her face.”
Kerry was working at a local restaurant when Ben disappeared while he was being cared for by his grandparents.
Hundreds of calls followed her appearance on The Light at the End of the Tunnel show, which was seen by 60 per cent of Greeks.
South Yorkshire Police’s Operation Ben team also received more than 85 calls from Greek nationals back in the UK.
They are now chasing seven “interesting” leads.
Talking about her appearance on one of the biggest shows in Greece, she said: “We’re ecstatic with the amount of information that came through.
“It is amazing not to have to play detective myself any more. I have been campaigning for this for so long.
“Now I have these incredible detectives helping me. I just feel like Ben’s case is being taken seriously for the first time in almost 24 years.”
Nine officers from South Yorkshire police are working on the case.
One is a Greek-speaker who has been taking calls since the television programme went out.
Kerry also appeared on ITV’s This Morning after having been dropped from Tuesday’s show.
