Green car clue in UK girls search

Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells were wearing identical Manchester United shirts when they went missing

LONDON, England -- A witness saw a driver apparently struggling with two children in his car near where two 10-year-old girls disappeared in Cambridgeshire, England, last week.

Police have appealed for the driver of the dark metallic green saloon car -- believed to be a Peugeot 405 or Vauxhall Vectra -- to come forward.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Hebb said: "As a matter of urgency we need to trace this vehicle and driver and establish what relevance, if any, it has to the investigation."

A taxi driver told police he had seen the green car swerving erratically on the A142 road with the driver waving his arms around near where Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman went missing on Sunday, August 4.

"As he closed upon the vehicle he saw what he believed to be a child in the front passenger seat and another in the back of the car," Hebb said.

The driver was described as a white male between 38 and 45 years of age with black, wiry, unkempt hair and of Mediterranean appearance.

Hebb said it was "a significant line of inquiry."

Earlier the parents of the two missing girls spoke to TV cameras of the chilling moment when they realised their daughters had disappeared.

The mothers and fathers of Jessica and Holly made a direct appeal to anyone who might be holding the girls, saying: "They are not your children -- give them back."

In interviews for the UK ITV programme Tonight with Trevor McDonald on Monday, both fathers said they knew immediately that the girls had been abducted.

"As parents you think that straight away, not after a few hours," Leslie Chapman, Jessica's father, said. "You think, 'My God, is this happening to me?"'

Holly's father Kevin Wells concurred: "We knew they'd been taken on the Sunday night. We told police that this is an abduction -- we knew."

Best friends Holly and Jessica vanished from Soham, Cambridgeshire, eastern England during a family barbecue. An intensive week of searches by police and local volunteers has so far failed to reveal any clues.

Police have said they believe the girls were abducted and are still alive. They have appealed to anyone holding them not to panic and to set them free.

One theory police have failed to rule out is that the girls could have been befriended by someone they met over the Internet. (Full story)

In Monday's television interview, Nicola Wells spoke of the agonising moment she realised the pair were missing.

"We just assumed they'd gone upstairs to play," she said. "I shouted several times and then popped up to check they could hear me. They weren't there.

"It was absolutely dreadful. I just kept thinking she was going to walk through the door in a moment -- every 10 minutes, pacing around."

Haunting the parents is the prospect that the girls could have been taken by a neighbour.

"It is a scenario which has been discussed with us by the police," Kevin Wells said.

"How come two girls would perhaps get into a vehicle without creating any fuss? The obvious answer is that one of the girls knew the parties involved."

But, he said, it was a scenario he was not yet ready to accept.

On Sunday -- exactly a week after Holly and Jessica went missing -- both families attended a service at St Andrew's church to pray for their safe return.

Well-wishers lit candles and the Rev. Tim Alban-Jones led prayers for the 10-year-olds' safe return as he described the "living nightmare" that their parents were enduring.

"We never expect it so close to home and certainly not on our doorstep," he told the congregation.

On Saturday, two child actors wearing clothing identical to Holly and Jessica's when they disappeared -- Manchester United shirts -- meandered through the centre of Soham in a bid to jog memories.

Police have also released CCTV footage of the pair taken not long before they vanished. On Sunday night, officers began checks on motorists in the hope of finding new clues.

The girls' parents appealed to possible abductors to let their daughters come home.

"We plead, we absolutely plead that you don't harm these two girls," Kevin Wells said.

"We want Holly and Jessica returned to our families and our community. They must be frightened to death... If you have them please let them come home."

Sharon Chapman added: "Drop them off somewhere that is safe. It's never too late."

Several British newspapers have offered rewards totalling more than £1 million ($1.5 million) for any information leading to the safe return of the two girls. (Full story)