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Fears grow in hunt for schoolgirl Danielle

Hundreds of neighbours to join police search near school, but officers say a 'happy ending' is unlikely with few clues and no sightings

Terri Judd
Saturday 30 June 2001 00:00 BST
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Dozens of chattering pupils looking forward to the weekend filed past the bus stop yesterday but few seemed to remember this was where Danielle Jones disappeared almost two weeks ago.

The East Tilbury estate where Danielle, 15, lived, is a nondescript collection of postwar and Seventies houses that grew around an East European- owned shoe factory. The rumour mill has been working overtime. Signs appealing for help pepper the streets but few offer more than speculation.

Gill McLaughlin, a hairdresser, said: "Everyone is talking about it and everyone is very upset about it." Glynn Bailey, 43, a resident, said: "I think she's dead." His neighbour Sarah Fairman said: "My friend thinks she is pregnant and she has run off." Mr Bailey replied: "I don't agree. Any 15-year-old girl with problems would have contacted her mum by now."

Essex Police certainly appear to be losing hope of a "happy ending" as the detective superintendent in charge, Peter Coltman, put it two days ago. Yesterday officers called on Danielle's favourite group, Steps, to make an appeal, the same band that called in vain for the return of eight-year-old Sarah Payne. "Danielle, if you hear this message, could you please contact your friends, family or the police as soon as you can," said band member Lee.

As their appeal went out, officers were searching the undergrowth near Danielle's school, St Clere's, in Stanford-le-Hope. Today hundreds of neighbours are expected to join 60 policemen to comb the fields and farmland of Coalhouse Fort, behind the estate.

Mrs Fairman said: "I don't know why they haven't searched that area before. It is full of bushes and hideaways."

But so far there are few clues, and no sightings of Danielle. Police say a solo text message was received from her phone hours after she went missing. A neighbour said: "We have known about that for a week. She sent it to her uncle or her grandfather or something." Detectives said there was no proof the message came from Danielle.

The mood on the estate surrounding Coronation Avenue has become increasingly pessimistic, with many fearing the worst. "I always thought this was an area I could let my kids out and now I'm constantly keeping an eye on them," said a young mother, Terrianne Hunt. "A lot of kids where I live haven't been allowed out. It has affected everybody because it is a close community."

Nearby, Danielle's parents Linda, 41, and Tony Jones, 40, sat in their immaculately tidy home and waited. Geoffrey England, a neighbour, said: "We are just hoping she will be found safe and well. I can't begin to imagine what they are going through."

A girl fitting Danielle's description was seen getting into a blue Transit-style van "without hesitation" shortly after 8am on Monday, 18 June. Police said they had found several vans fitting that description but did not know whether any of them was the vehicle concerned.

A man arrested on suspicion of abducting Danielle was quickly released and bailed to return to the police station on 22 August. Stuart Campbell, a self-employed builder in his 40s, insisted: "It's nothing to do with me. It's all a big mistake."

Officers have travelled the country, speaking to friends the teenager met on a recent school trip and holiday. Despite text messages pleading for information about her whereabouts, none has heard from her.

Yesterday everyone described Danielle as a shy, quiet girl with no known boyfriend. Her face, staring out from an appeal on the Essex Police website, seems to be the image of innocence. Her fresh face and braced teeth give the impression of a young girl who is anything but worldly wise. Yet, if she was the girl getting into the untraced blue van, she did not appear reluctant.

Kelly Fuller, a hairdresser, said: "Her friends have said that is out of character. She's not the type to run off with some older man."

People on the estate are convinced that any abductor would have had to have come from outside. Despite the area's unkempt, litter-strewn appearance, they insisted the estate – in effect a cul-de-sac bordered by the river Thames – offered few escape routes for criminals.

Mrs Fairman said: "We don't get much vandalism or many robberies. There is not much crime. What people can't understand is how this could happen around here."

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