" One would presume the "search" then included body cavities "

Why would one presume that? It is exactly that kind of presumption that is at the heart of these kind of stories.

"The BBC news, along with the NY Times and Washington Post, are the most reliable sources of the news available. "

That is debatable. Frankly there is no such thing as a single reliable source anymore, and most people tend to read only one source and assume that is the truth. Fox News watches are not known for channel surfing either.   Journalism is shoddy these days, getting a story fast is the criteria and getting it accurate is secondary.