Mrs McKay, the wife of newspaper executive Alick McKay, was kidnapped for a £1m ransom in 1969.
But it was a case of mistaken identity, as her killers had intended to seize and ransom Anna Murdoch, the wife of Alick’s then boss, Rupert Murdoch.
Two brothers, Arthur and Nizamodeen Hosein, were convicted of Mrs McKay’s murder and kidnapping 55 years ago, though her remains were never found.
Hoping to find her body, two of her children – Ian McKay and Dianne Levinson – asked the High Court to allow a “ground-penetrating radar survey” at two neighbouring London properties.
On Tuesday, the court denied them the injunction that would have enabled them to carry out the survey.
It comes after new information from Hayley Frais, whose father ran a tailor shop on the site in Bethnal Green Road, where Arthur Hosein worked at the time of the killing.
She claimed her father said on his deathbed that he noticed a strong smell at the premises after Mrs McKay disappeared.
One of the affected homeowners, Madeleine Higson, opposed the injunction bid.
Callum Reid-Hutchings, for Ms Higson, said that his client had “considerable sympathy” for the family of the deceased, but this “cannot displace the requirement for a proper legal foundation” for the injunction.
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Ms McKay’s grandson Mark Dyer said: “We’ve been told she’s there… so we need to pick her up.
“She would like to come home for Christmas this year and what is left of her is purely some remains, some bones.”
