I too heard many years ago that the aircraft had been stripped of much of its aluminium very soon after the accident.
Apparently, when BOAC went to claim on the aircraft's insurance, the insurers took one look at all those excellent photographs and refused to pay up for the loss as they judged the aircraft salvageable. So they mounted an expensive expedition into the desert to carry out a salvage survey, and when the team arrived there wasn't very much left to assess!
A case of throwing good money after bad, if ever there was one.