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12-8-2002 Scotsman Missing girls may have been abducted by a woman By Gethin Chamberlain A WOMAN may have been involved in the abduction of missing schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, one of Britain's leading criminal psychologists claimed yesterday. Ian Stephen said the girls could have been targeted by a group of people, who they may well have known, and are almost certainly still together. The Edinburgh-based psychologist, who advised on the television crime dramas Cracker, Prime Suspect and A Touch of Frost, said he had not given up hope that they were still alive and would eventually be returned home safely. "Though I cannot deny the possibility that we could be looking at a double tragedy, I am confident that being there for each other will have helped these girls through their ordeal," he said. But he said it was unlikely that the girls had been picked up off the street at random. "A woman could even have been involved - remember, Ian Brady was reliant on Myra Hindley," he said. Yesterday, a week after the girls disappeared, two men arrested in connection with the disappearance of the girls were released without charge and Cambridgeshire police appeared to be no closer to finding the pair than they were the previous Sunday. Detectives are now convinced the girls were abducted but continue to voice the belief that they are still alive. Direct appeals for the release of the girls have drawn a blank and officers yesterday were stopping motorists driving into and out of the town in a fresh trawl for people who were in the area at the time the girls went missing. Officers questioned drivers entering and leaving the town, starting just after 5pm, 45 minutes before the girls are thought to have left Holly's home the previous week. The motorists were handed leaflets containing photographs of the ten-year-olds. Police said later they had stopped more than 700 drivers in three hours and that the response had been "fantastic". Det Chief Insp Andy Hebb said: "The public have been very supportive and helpful." Earlier, the families of the missing girls attended a communion service in their local parish church to pray for their safe return. Holly's parents, Kevin and Nicola, and Jessica's mother, Sharon, were joined by more than 15 of their family and friends at the church. They spoke and embraced each other after the moving service, and Mr Wells, 38, gave thanks for the support they had received. "We drew a lot of strength from the service," he said. "We are bearing up, thank you for your support." Well-wishers have lit candles for the pair at the church as more than 300 police scoured the town for any sign of the two best friends. The Rev Tim Alban Jones, who led the service, said Soham had never expected such terrible events and said the two families were enduring a "living nightmare". He led prayers for the safe return of the schoolgirls and said their plight had raised theological questions about the nature of evil and about God. "How could God allow something like this to happen? There may be some anger directed at God and certainly there is appropriate anger directed at whoever has done such a vile deed," he said, adding that he believed God was with Holly and Jessica wherever they were.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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