Lockerbie heartache for mother who has only just discovered that her son she gave up for adoption 50 years ago had died in 1988 Pan Am bombing

  • Carol King Eckersley gave up her newborn son Kenneth when she was 19
  • She only began searching for him earlier this year after her husband died
  • She discovered a picture of him on a tribute website to Lockerbie victims
  • He had been a Syracuse University student studying in London
  • 35 Syracuse students flying home for Christmas were killed in the bombing
  • Next week marks the 25th anniversary of the atrocity in which 270 died

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 16:05 EST, 14 December 2013 | UPDATED: 19:26 EST, 14 December 2013


A mother searching for the son she gave up for adoption 50 years ago has told of her grief at learning only recently that he was killed in the 1988 Lockerbie Bombing.

Carol King Eckersley, 65, from Oregon in the US, gave up her newborn son Kenneth Bissett when she was 19 years old.

But this year, following the death of her husband, she decided to try to track him down.

Grief: Carol King Eckersley, 65, from Oregon, has just discovered that the son she gave up for adoption 50 years ago was killed in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing

Grief: Carol King Eckersley, 65, from Oregon, has just discovered that the son she gave up for adoption 50 years ago was killed in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing

Her hunt led her to a remembrance website for the 35 students of New York's Syracuse University who were killed in the 1988 atrocity on which she was stunned to find a picture of young man with a familiar-looking face.

 

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After checking the date of birth she realised he was her long lost son.

Mrs King Eckersley tells her story in a BBC documentary commissioned to mark the 25th anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing.

American student Ken Bissett, was one of the 270 victims of the Lockerbie bombing, but his mother Carol King Eckersley who gave him up for adoption only discovered he had been killed this year

American student Ken Bissett, was one of the 270 victims of the Lockerbie bombing

She told the documentary: 'I looked and I said "my God, it's him".

'It was his birth date, he looked just like my dad. I looked in the mirror and I said "he looks like me".

'I called my sister and I said "but why are they only showing a part of his life? They've got December 1967 but then they've got December 21 1988. That's not right".

'And it finally dawned on me that it was right and I just said 'my God, my baby's dead'.

'I realised that it was the Lockerbie Pan Am 103 remembrance page and I said 'My God, he was on that plane'.

'Two hundred and seventy people died in that tragedy and one of those happened to be the only child I ever had.'

Ken had been returning to the US from a term spent studying in London.

He had been told he was adopted but had never met his birth mother, the daughter of a school principal who felt it would have been socially unacceptable for her to keep him.

She said: 'I gave up Ken for adoption at birth and even though I was told his name I never looked for him because I had given my word.

'There was always the hope and dream that some day there would come a knock on the door and I would open it and there would be this tall, handsome gentleman saying 'hi, I guess you're my mum'.'

Ken's adoptive parents are now both dead but left a detailed account of his childhood in Syracuse University's archives, where his mother saw a baby picture for the first time.

She said: 'I had never seen him, except wrapped up in a yellow blanket on the day we left hospital.'

She added: 'In a way, I'm going backwards...because the getting to know him makes it sharper, makes the regret deeper. He was an incredible artist. I saw comic strips that he drew when he was 11 years old.'

Atrocity: Pan-Am flight 103 from London to New York exploded above the Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21, 1988

Atrocity: Pan-Am flight 103 from London to New York exploded above the Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21, 1988

Students from the University of Syracuse, read the names of the victims at the memorial in Lockerbie, Scotland. 35 Syracuse students were killed in the bombing

Students from the University of Syracuse, read the names of the victims at the memorial in Lockerbie, Scotland. 35 Syracuse students flying home for Christmas were killed in the bombing

She described the feeling of never having felt like a proper parent as a result of giving up her son. She said: 'I have carried that stigma around. It's just a real regret that I'll never, in this life, see him.'

Pan Am Flight 103 exploded as it flew to New York from London on December 21, 1988.

All 259 people aboard were killed, and 11 on the ground below in the Scottish town of Lockerbie also died.

Libyan agent Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was the only person found guilty of murder.

He was convicted of killing 270 people by blowing up an American airliner over Lockerbie in December 1988.

Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, returned to a hero's welcome in Libya after being released from Scottish prison on compassionate grounds in 2006

Insult: Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, returned to a hero's welcome in Libya after being released from Scottish prison on compassionate grounds in 2006

He was sent home early from a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds because he had terminal prostate cancer.

Ministers insisted his release was a decision taken solely by the Scottish government.

However documents have come to light showing that the Labour party secretly helped free Megrahi to appease Colonel Gaddafi, who was threatening to scupper oil contracts and unleash ‘holy war’ on Britain.

Living With Lockerbie will be broadcast on Monday 16 December at 22:35 GMT on BBC Scotland and on Saturday 21 December at 09:10 GMT on BBC World News.


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That is the saddest story ever. Poor woman had to say goodbye twice.

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So sad :(

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How sad and even sadder to be reminded that our governments sold us out over oil again. Just to read this makes my blood boil for the victims and relatives.Yes your son was a handsome man and successful. But a life cut short.RIP. Tragic.

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This is a tear jerker to read so how sad it will be to watch the documentary!

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Such a sad story that they were never able to meet. To find and to loose in one day must be awful. At least she knows what happened to her son, Sometimes life can be so cruel.

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A sad story indeed...RiP

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How sad :(

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It's very sad for her, but I don't feel she should be speaking out as it's very disrespectful towards Kenneth's adoptive mother, his mum who raised him.

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I'm confused..."A mother searching for the son she gave up for adoption 50 years ago....Carol King Eckersley, 65, from Oregon in the US, gave up her newborn son Kenneth Bissett when she was 19 years old." If it was 50 years ago she would have been 15? Anyway, not important. What a horrible way to find out your only child has gone. And such a disgusting, cowardly way to be killed. I hope you can find happiness again soon.

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Clearly, some things are better not knowing.

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