A jury today heard Sarah Payne's brother describe how a van driver "grinned and waved at me" before speeding from the area where she was last seen alive.
Lee (13) was searching for eight-year-old Sarah after she ran away during a hide-and-seek game.
The jury at Lewes Crown Court also heard other members of Sarah's family describe their final moments with the schoolgirl before she was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by mechanic Mr Roy Whiting.
The prosecution claims Mr Whiting snatched Sarah from a lane in Kingston Gorse, West Sussex, on July 1st last year before murdering her and dumping her body in a shallow grave where it was discovered 17 days later.
Mr Whiting (42) St Augustin Road, Littlehampton, West Sussex, denies kidnap and murder.
Lee Payne took the oath as a witness via a video-link from another room in the court building. On the police video, he told how he first saw a white van as he was three-quarters of the way across the cornfield while chasing after Sarah.
He said he saw the driver smile and wave at him when he saw the vehicle for the second time closer to his grandparents' house.
Lee said: "There was about a quarter of the field left when I saw this white van. I saw it when Sarah had left the field and it was driving towards Peak Lane.
"I ran up the lane and I saw the van again. I saw it pull out of Peak Lane towards the cornfields. I heard the wheels spinning. It sounded like a car skidding but it was the wheels losing grip.
"The number plate was dirty but the van was clean. There was one male driver. He just sat there and grinned and waved at me and then went off. He smiled. He had both hands on the wheel".
PA