Alarm over missing girls

The parents of two 10-year-old girls missing for nearly 24 hours today appealed for help in finding them.

Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells vanished from Soham, Cambridgeshire, at around 6.30pm on Sunday and have not been heard from or seen since.

Their parents, Sharon and Leslie Chapman and Nicola and Kevin Wells, today appeared at a press conference as the search for the girls intensified.

"Come home. All is forgiven," said Mr Chapman after being asked if he had a message for his daughter.

"She is pretty intelligent. She knows how to use the phone. It is just a complete mystery as to why she has not phoned. It is so out of character."

Mrs Chapman added: "She is not streetwise but she is not stupid."

Mr Wells added: "They have been friends for a long time. It is out of character for them to do this.

"I would not think they were frightened to come home. Not in Holly's case. They are very bright. And probably not Jessica's.

"They were in and out playing. We were having a family barbecue. And when we went to check on them they weren't there."

He said the girls might have left the house to buy "confectionery".

"That's something they would do normally. The sweet shop is in the direction of where they were heading," added Mr Wells.

"They would have pocket money. Holly would have £3 a week."

Police say both girls had access to computers and they are checking to see whether they might have been going to meet anyone they had made contact with via the Internet.

Jessica also had a mobile phone which initially did not answer when rung and then went dead.

Police traced the phone signal to an area of Cambridgeshire but say that may mean nothing.

A spokesman said anyone who found a mobile phone lying anywhere in the area should contact police immediately.

Both girls are slim and about 4ft 6in tall. Holly has blonde hair and Jessica brown hair. Both were wearing replica Manchester United tops with the word Beckham and the number seven on the back, with dark trousers.