What happened to Soham’s Holly and Jessica murder victims?

FRIENDS Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman went missing in August 2002 and their bodies were not found until more than a week later.

School custodian Ian Huntley was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

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Who are Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells?

The two girls were both 10 years old when they attended a barbecue at Holly’s home in Soham, Cambridgeshire.

They attended St. Andrew.

Holly and Jessica’s football fans and best friends spent the day together and played as usual.

A picture of them in a Manchester United shirt was taken just hours before they went missing.

What happened to the girls?

On Sunday, August 4, 2002, Jessica went to Holly’s house for a barbecue.

They are said to have gone exploring around the vicinity.

It was not until 8 p.m. that Holly’s parents found out she was missing.

More than 400 officers worked around the clock to find the girls, along with hundreds of locals who volunteered to help and appealed to the media.

Nearly two weeks later, on August 17, 2002, the bodies of 10-year-olds were found burned in a ditch about 10 miles from Soham.

It is revealed that they were lured into Ian Huntley’s house, where he killed Holly then Jessica.

Huntley said that Holly’s death was an accident.

He initially claimed that he had mistakenly killed Jessica to try to stop her from crying after Holly died.

In 2018, he changed his story in leaked audio recordings, explaining that he “couldn’t let her out of the house”.

Who are Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr?

Suspicion fell on Soham Village College carer Ian Huntley and his partner Maxine Carr.

They were brought in for questioning shortly before the bodies were found.

Huntley has appeared in televised appeals and even approached police to inquire.

In a Channel 5 documentary, former special agent Sharon Gilbert said he appeared “very relaxed” and asked her for evidence.

She said: “We were assigned to Soham College, and Ian Huntley walked up to the car and sprawled across the hinged part of the door.

“He talks very freely, he is not nervous in any way or form.

“Very early in the conversation, he said to me, ‘how long does the DNA evidence last?”

“I said ‘indefinitely, they’ve been using it on the Russian tsarist family and the woolly mammoths I trust’.”

Huntley’s girlfriend Maxine Carr works at the school the girls attend, she was jailed for giving him a false alibi.

She remained anonymous for life and received a new identity when she was released from prison, 21 months after her arrest.

When did Ian Huntley go to jail?

Huntley was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to life in prison twice.

The Supreme Court then insisted on a minimum sentence of 40 years.

After his conviction, it was revealed that he had previously been investigated for reports of sex crimes and theft.

A recording behind bars in 2018 shows him apologizing for what he did.

Huntley said: “What I’m going to say is I’m extremely, very sorry for what I’ve done.

“I know the people of Soham brought me into their community, they trusted me, gave me a job and a home, and I betrayed them in the worst way possible.

“And I’m sorry for what I’ve done, sorry for the pain I’ve caused Holly and Jessica’s family and friends, for the pain I’ve caused my family and friends, and the pain I have caused Soham’s community. “