'Give us Danielle's body' say parents

Parents did not know of killer's past convictions

The parents of murdered schoolgirl Danielle Jones have spoken of their need to find their daughter's body so they can lay her to rest and grieve properly.

Their comments were directed at Danielle's uncle - Stuart Campbell - who was sentenced to life for killing the 15-year-old from Essex, whose body has never been found.

Linda and Tony Jones said they had no idea Campbell had previous convictions and were completely shocked by revelations about his criminal record.

Today is tinged with sadness because we still don't have her back

Linda Jones, Danielle's mother

Speaking at a news conference, Mrs Jones said no words could describe how they felt about Campbell other than "betrayed".

Campbell, 44, of Grays in Essex, had denied killing the 15-year-old from East Tilbury, who was last seen on 18 June 2001.

Mrs Jones said: "We are happy with the verdict today and we would really like to take the opportunity to thank everybody."

However, the conviction could not detract from the family's sadness, she said.

"Today is tinged with sadness because we still don't have her back," she said.

"We need to find her so that we can lay her to rest and grieve properly."

Campbell's crimes

Tony Jones appealed to Campbell to tell the police where his daughter's body was hidden.

"We are just hoping that now he has been convicted, after some time, he would come forward and say 'yes I have been convicted and I would like to tell you where Danielle is'", he said.

He added: "It is terrible for somebody to be murdered anyway, but to actually be somebody in your family to do it is just unbelievable."

'Covered up'

Following the verdict, the court heard of Campbell's previous convictions which included abduction and taking indecent photographs of a 14-year-old girl and robbery.

Mr and Mrs Jones said they knew Campbell had been to court, but did not know the severity of his crimes or that he had been convicted of them.

Mrs Jones feels 'betrayed' by Campbell

Mr Jones said: "It was all very much covered up. We were told he was found not guilty but it was not until Danielle went missing that we knew that he was found guilty."

Mrs Jones said they had not recognised any signs that Campbell might be to blame for their daughter's disappearance.

They added that "hindsight is such a wonderful thing - there may have been signs, but not things we picked up on".

They said their only message to Campbell was to give them back their daughter.