Van seized in hunt for girls

Police investigating the disappearance of missing 10-year-old schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman have seized a white van as part of their ongoing inquiries.

Detective Superintendent David Hankins said said it was just a routine part of the enquiry and followed reports that a van had been seen in the area when the girls vanished.

He said police were "increasingly having to look at the possibility that the girls have been abducted".

"From the outset we thought this might be a prank, we thought there might have been an accident, now we are sadly having to consider the possibility of an abduction," he said.

"Sadly this inquiry is rapidly turning from a missing persons inquiry to an investigation of criminal abduction."

The youngsters, who were wearing Manchester United shirts, were believed to have been spotted on Monday. But Mr Hankins said today that the sighting might have been misplaced.

He said: "It does cast some doubt as to whether this was Jessica and Holly by the fact that nobody else has come forward."

Interviews with bus drivers who use the route the girls were last seen on and searches of CCTV footage had failed to provide any new leads for the 100-plus officers now working on the case, said Mr Hankins.

He added: "The longer this investigation takes, the more nights that Jessica and Holly area away from their parents, the greater the danger they are in."

The mother of one of two missing 10-year-old girls today made a tearful plea. Nicola Wells, mother of Holly, said: "We just want them home." Mrs Wells, 35, said: "Anyone who is a parent must know what we're going through."

Holly, and friend Jessica Chapman, have been missing from their homes in Soham, Cambridgeshire, since Sunday evening.

Asked if the girls could be hiding somewhere, afraid they were in trouble, Mrs Sharon Chapman said: "Jessica doesn't like the dark, she would come home."

Husband Mr Leslie Chapman added: "Jessica is a competent swimmer."

Mrs Chapman added: "She has never been to swim or play near rivers because we would not allow her to go."

The two families both said their daughters would react if anyone tried to grab them or drag them into a car.

Mrs Chapman said: "Jess is not a quiet child. She would scream."

The Chapmans said they had been on holiday in Menorca prior to Jessica's disappearance but they said nothing happened during that holiday that would trigger any problems with their daughter.

"Mr Chapman said: "I don't allow her to go far on the streets on her own at all.

"I don't understand why Jess didn't contact us to ask us if she could go out.

Both couples said they were sceptical about the reporting sighting eight miles away at Little Thetford.

"I would like to believe it because it means that they were safe and well," added Mr Chapman. "But it is just so out of character."

The Chapmans said their other children were "coping very well".

Mr Wells said Holly's 12-year-old brother was "very quiet" and added: "He is bearing up very well. I don't feel he can understand the full seriousness of the situation."

Asked whether she thought anyone might be sheltering the children, Mrs Chapman added: "Nobody in their right minds would be still keeping them after all this publicity. We just want them back safe and well."