Answer may lie in Soham, locals told

The people of Soham turned out in force

Detectives have told a public meeting in Soham that the solution to the disappearance of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells is most likely to be found in the town itself.

People of the local community were urged to think if the behaviour of friends or neighbours had become unusual.

The midnight deadline set by police for anyone holding the girls to contact them has now passed.

Police have not revealed whether the dedicated hotline set up on Wednesday had been used by an abductor.

Instead, they turned the focus of the investigation on the Cambridgeshire town where the 10-year-olds disappeared on Sunday, 4 August.

Look at all your neighbours in your mind and ask yourselves, 'Can I vouch for them?'

Maurice Audley Retired Chief Superintendent

"Look at the behaviour of your friends, relatives, neighbours, anything," said Detective Chief Inspector Andy Hebb to a packed public meeting in the Cambridgeshire town on Thursday night.

Earlier, police defended their investigation.

Mr Hebb insisted the force was not back to "square one", despite both its strongest leads coming to nothing.

He said there were many "active lines of inquiry" which could not be discussed for "operational reasons" and repeated his belief that the girls were alive but being held against their will.

Unusual behaviour

And on Thursday night, he told the people of Soham they could hold the key to finding them.

He told them to look among their friends and neighbours.

"Think about how they are behaving. Are they doing anything differently?

"That's the most important thing," he said.

DCI Andy Hebb: local solution

The meeting was then addressed by a former chief superintendent of the area, who urged residents to think again if they had seen anything suspicious.

Maurice Audley, who worked as a police officer for 36 years, said: "It has never been police policy to set neighbour against neighbour or to ask someone in the community to spy on their neighbours.

"I don't want you to do that, but I do want you to go home and talk to your wives, husbands and children, to cast your minds back to that Sunday.

"Look at all your neighbours in your mind and ask yourselves, 'Can I vouch for them, am I quite certain they have nothing to do with this abduction?"'

	:	Holly and Jessica
Maps showing focus of the investigation

Mr Hebb said a decision to call the Metropolitan Police in to review the investigation had been requested by the Cambridgeshire force, and was not the result of criticism of the county's police.

But a Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed that the decision to call in the review team has been taken earlier than usual in this case.

'Suspicious' couple

On Wednesday, the detective leading the investigation, Detective Superintendent David Beck, made an appeal to whoever is holding the girls to contact police on a hotline.

He took the unusual step of setting a deadline for the kidnapper to get in touch - midnight on Thursday, 15 August.

Meanwhile, searches are continuing in Soham and house-to-house inquiries are being taken to a wider area.

Police are also checking claims by a Soham local, David Kitching, 51, that he saw a man and woman staring intently at children on the day the two girls disappeared.

He reported seeing a smartly dressed woman and a man in a green car acting suspiciously yards from where the 10-year-olds were last seen

Both girls were wearing replica red David Beckham shirts when they disappeared.