Families cling to hope after longest night
The families of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were clinging to a “little hope” today after a search of two mounds of earth by police found no trace of the 10-year-olds.
Agnes Wells, 61, Holly’s grandmother, broke down in tears as she described the “horrific” wait for news from Warren Hill, where forensic experts conducted a painstaking search overnight.
“Just imagine if you thought your grandchild was dead. Last night they were dead but this morning we have a little hope,” she said.
Holly and Jessica’s parents had been warned to brace themselves for the worst after a jogger who had heard screams from the area on the night they went missing later reported finding the mounds of disturbed earth.
Mrs Wells described how they faced one of “longest nights” of their lives as they prepared for the worst.
She said that although Holly’s parents were “coping badly” they were bearing up, with this morning’s news that no bodies had been found giving them new hope that Holly may still be alive.
“They are doing well really, but deep down they are doing badly.
“We were all in tears, it was just horrific, it was one of the longest nights of my life. It’s just horrific.”
Emerging from the woods on the edge of Newmarket just after 6.30am this morning, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Hebb said: “We can now say that there is no connection with the disappearance of Holly and Jessica.”
He said the search was careful and detailed, “a very similar process to an archeological dig”.
But he added that officers eventually found just “loose mounds of earth with nothing underneath”.
“Clearly now we need to regain the focus and find Jessica and Holly alive and well,” said Mr Hebb.
Throughout the night uniformed officers using torches scoured woodland.
After carrying out a fingertip search of the area around the two mounds the delicate work of excavating the two piles of earth began with a team of five forensic officers carefully removing soil with small trowels.
Mr Hebb said: “It’s been a detailed and careful process to make sure that we would have recovered whatever forensic evidence was there.
“This was a process initially of clearing the roots to the side, detailed finger searching, visual inspection of the sites and then a detailed and careful excavation of both sites, a very similar process to an archeological dig.”
The mounds of freshly-dug earth, which police feared could have been woodland shallow graves, were spotted by a jogger near a copse less than 10 miles from the girls’ homes in Soham, Cambridgeshire.
Chillingly, the same man had also heard screaming when he was out walking his dogs in the area on the evening of Sunday, August 4, when the schoolgirls disappeared.
A painstaking search of the site, on heathland known as Warren Hill on the edge of Newmarket, began yesterday evening and continued through the night. Shortly after 1am, officers erected a white tent on a metal frame and carried it into the trees.
The wooded area is on the south side of Newmarket, where the focus of the police investigation moved after taxi driver Ian Webster reported seeing two children in a green car apparently struggling with the driver, who he said was swerving all over the A142 from Soham to Newmarket.
The man, seen waving his arms around in the car, was described as white, aged between 38 and 45, with black, wiry, unkempt hair and Mediterranean, tanned skin, and dressed in dark clothing.
No one has so far responded to police appeals for him to come forward and offer an “innocent explanation”.
It was a night of turmoil for Holly’s parents, Nicola and Kevin, and Jessica’s mother and father, Sharon and Leslie.
Comforted by close family and friends, each couple sat at their homes in Soham desperately hoping the next update, when it came, would not be the news they have been dreading.
The Wells were keeping an open house, with family and friends coming in and out, Holly’s 12-year-old brother Oliver playing in the garden and Mr Wells constantly on the phone.
At the Chapmans’ home, the harrowing vigil took place behind windows and doors that remained shut.
At both houses, police liaison officers were on hand to relay information the moment any discovery was made.
Mr Hebb said: “This has been a particularly long and distressing night for the two girls’ parents and my heart goes out to them at this time.
The foreboding spread throughout the town, with pubs closing in the early evening as news spread of the woodland search.
Det Supt David Beck, leading the hunt for Holly and Jessica, said the jogger had reported the screams last Tuesday and this was logged in the computer system being used by officers.
Warren Hill is used by local stables in Newmarket to exercise horses in the mornings, while after 1pm it is open to the public and is popular with joggers and dog walkers.
The woodland is surrounded by stud farms and mansions, including one belonging to racehorse trainer Henry Cecil.
Police have blamed the sheer volume of information flooding their incident room for the delays.
It took detectives four days to interview taxi driver Mr Webster, whose evidence about the man apparently struggling with two children in his car could potentially be key.
Officers have been working around-the-clock to trace cars similar to the metallic dark green car, possibly a Vauxhall Vectra or Peugeot 405, along with checking the list of sex offenders and following up about 10,000 calls received since the inquiry began.
More than 320 officers have been working on the search, with some working 24 hours a day, refusing to go home and cancelling holidays.
