Jessica Aimee Chapman - Investigation

Investigation

After the girls were reported missing, the police released photographs — taken only hours before their disappearance — of them wearing Manchester United replica football shirts and a physical description of each of them, describing them as "white, about 4 ft 6 in tall and slim".

Meanwhile, Huntley appeared in television interviews on Sky News and the BBC's regional news programme Look East, speaking of the shock in the local community. One reporter suggested to Huntley that he may have been the last person to speak to the girls before they disappeared, to which Huntley replied: "Yeah, that's what it seems like." Huntley said their disappearance was "absolutely" a mystery and that "...while there's no news there's still that glimmer of hope, and that's basically what we're all hanging on to." Carr, a teaching assistant at the school Huntley was caretaker for, was also interviewed by the press. In one, she showed a reporter a thank-you card Wells had given her on the last day of the school year. Carr said: "She was just lovely, really lovely" and urged the missing girls to "just come home".

The girls' bodies were found in a ditch near the perimeter fence of RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, about six miles from Soham, on 17 August. Twelve hours later, their clothing was discovered in the grounds of Soham Village College and Huntley was arrested. The girls had been missing for 13 days when their bodies were found, with police stating that both corpses were "severely decomposed and partially skeletonised". Huntley had set them alight in a bid to destroy forensic evidence.

On 16 August, 12 days after the girls went missing, Huntley and Carr were first questioned by police and agreed to give witness statements during seven hours of questioning before being released. That night, police searched Huntley and Carr's home, as well as the grounds of Soham Village College, and recovered items of "major importance" to their investigation. Although it was not made public at the time, the items recovered from the school grounds were clothes matching those the girls were last seen wearing, including their Manchester United shirts.

Huntley and Carr were arrested in the early hours of 17 August on suspicion of murder. This was the first time that the police admitted that they feared the girls were now dead. Their bodies were found later on that day and were formally identified as those of the two missing girls on 21 August.

The school caretaker was charged with two counts of murder on 20 August and detained under Section 48 of the Mental Health Act at Rampton Secure Hospital, Nottinghamshire, where his mental state was assessed to determine whether he suffered from mental illness and whether he was fit to stand trial. Consultant psychiatrist Dr. Christopher Clark carried out the assessment and stated:

Although Mr. Huntley made clear attempts to appear insane, I have no doubt that the man currently, and at the time of the murders, was both physically and mentally sound and therefore, if he is found guilty, carried out the murders totally aware of his actions.

This left Huntley facing life imprisonment if a jury could be convinced of his guilt. A judge ruled on 8 October 2002 that he was therefore fit to stand trial. Huntley was subsequently moved to Woodhill prison in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, where he attempted suicide on 9 June 2003 by taking 29 antidepressants which he had stashed in his cell. There were fears that Huntley could die as a result of the overdose, but within 48 hours he was back in prison and was later transferred to Belmarsh prison in London.