Channel 5's new two-part true-crime documentary, Soham: The Murder of Holly and Jessica, delves into the shocking double murder of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman 20 years on from when the devastating crime occurred.
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But what really happened to them and where is their killer Ian Huntley now? Keep reading to find out...
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Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman went missing from their small Cambridgeshire town on a sunny evening in August 2002. The best friends, who were both just ten years old, were attending a barbeque at Jessica's house when they decided to leave without telling anybody to buy sweets from a vending machine at the local sports centre. Sadly, though they never returned as on their route back to Jessica's house, they crossed paths with their killer Ian Huntley.
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Huntley worked as a caretaker at the girls' school and was also dating one of their teaching assistants, meaning that he was a familiar face to the girls. He lured them into his house under the pretence that his girlfriend Maxine Carr was home, but in reality, she was miles away visiting her mother in Grimsby.
A two week search for the girls was launched after they didn't return home
After the girls' families discovered that they had left the barbeque, they alerted the authorities, and a huge police search was launched. The now-famous last photo of Holly and Jessica, showing them both wearing Manchester United football club shirts, was released to help the search. Over 400 police officers were assigned full-time to search for the girls and hundreds of local volunteers - including Huntley - joined in.
He even gave TV interviews, claiming that he had spoken to the girls on his doorstep just before their disappearance, describing them as "happy as Larry". Although the police were suspicious of his account and searched his house, no evidence linking him to the crime was initially found.
Ian Huntley has given to two life sentences for the murder of Holly and Jessica
Thirteen days after the girls were reported missing, their bodies were found by a gamekeeper in an irrigation ditch in Suffolk. While they were in an advanced state of decomposition because Huntley had attempted to burn them, they were identified by DNA testing.
Huntley was eventually linked to the crime and in December 2003, he was given to two life sentences, which means he will serve a minimum of 40 years in prison.
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He is currently incarcerated at HMP Frankland in County Durham. Other notorious inmates at the high-security facility include Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and Milly Dowler's killer Levi Bellfield.
Meanwhile, Carr was given a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for conspiring with Huntley to pervert the course of justice. Upon her release, she was given a new identity.
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