Town's hopes dashed by police statement

The final hope that Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman would be found alive collapsed tonight and the bad news was greeted with disbelief and tears in the girls’ home town.

Despite the developments of the past 48 hours, the townspeople were still clinging to the fragile hope that maybe the bodies were not the girls and that somehow they could still be found alive.

But that was shattered the moment police revealed they were as certain as they could be that the two bodies found in remote woodland were the missing 10-year-olds.

As Cambridgeshire Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Keith Hoddy broke the news, a group of three young women standing in a huddle behind him broke into sobs.

One gasped: "Oh God" and burst into tears.

The three closed in and hugged one another with tears streaming down their faces.

They composed themselves to listen as Mr Hoddy read out statements from the families in tribute to the girls.

But once the announcement was complete, they lost control of their emotions once more.

None could find the words to express their despair and redhead Karen Gillett buried her shaking head into her hands.

The 30-year-old said later: "We were just wishing and hoping it wasn’t going to be them. They were just two sweet innocent little girls."

A short distance away, a woman with a pram, Lisa Vickery, leaned forward and patted her two-year-old daughter, Sian, on the head, her face twisted in agony, her eyes blood red.

She sobbed later: "At least, we know they are safe now. No-one can touch them now."

In other corners of the church graveyard, among residents of Soham who had tentatively arrived to hear the statement, there was stunned silence.

One man, in a football shirt, simply stared into space.

Couples held hands while no-one seemed to know where to look or what to say.

As the four men walked away from the assembled media to view the many flowers, cards and gifts of condolence one woman stood in tears.

Another, Angela Gipp, 25, said: "Even though it said in the newspapers it was them, even though it was on the telly, even though they found bodies and they arrested people for murder - we somehow thought that somehow there was still a chance."

When the final confirmation came from Mr Hoddy, Ms Gipp had been unable to control her emotions and had sobbed uncontrollably.

Cambridgeshire Police spokesmen Matt Tapp sniffed back tears as he described the past 24 hours as "a very painful" time.

He said: "Today has been a really hard day for us all. But that’s nothing to what the families have had to go through.

"We wanted a few moments to share our feelings with the community about this tragedy."

Their work would continue to ensure that the families of Holly and Jessica "get justice" and the community can return to some form of normality, he added.

The Rev Alan Ashton said: "We hope that this community grieving process that’s been happening all day since the service this morning will continue, not necessarily in this kind of form, though I think the idea of bringing flowers as people are doing is something we have started to become accustomed to, and we have to welcome it on the grounds that it allows people a visible and tangible expression of how they are feeling.

"Many people are drawing immense comfort from travelling here to Soham to make such a response."

Rev Ashton said people had clung on to hope, beyond hope, right up until the moment police announced that they were almost certain the two bodies discovered at RAF Lakenheath were those of Holly and Jessica.

"Up until seven o’clock tonight, the police weren’t making any commitment so perhaps, in the most dire situation, people were clinging on to what might be a hope that is never going to materialise," he added.