British police are questioning a man and a woman over the disappearance of two 10-year-old girls missing for nearly two weeks. Detective Chief Inspector Andy Hebb told reporters that officers were also searching the pair's home in the girls' hometown of Soham.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Hebb told reporters that Ian Huntley, 28, a caretaker at the school and his partner Maxine Carr, 25, a teaching assistant had agreed to give witness statements to police.
Huntley, who may have been one of the last people to speak to the girls before they vanished on the evening of August 4th, told
Sky News
prior to giving a statement to police that both girls had seemed in good spirits.
"They seemed fine, very cheerful, happy, chatty. I didn't see anything untoward, nobody hanging around," he said.
Carr, who was also interviewed by Sky, said of best friends Jessica and Holly: "Lovely, really bubbly girls, ever so funny, kind to everybody."
She said Holly had given her a card on the last day of term with the inscription: "to a special teaching assistant".
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Webb said that investigators were about to begin a search of the couple's house in Soham.
"A police search team is about to start carrying out detailed examination of their house in Soham for any evidence that may point to the whereabouts of Holly and Jessica."
He said the questioning of the two people was "one of many active and interesting lines of inquiry" but said it would not be appropriate to say anything further at this stage.