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CNN Sunday Morning

Soham, England Comes to Grips With Two Child Abductions

Aired August 18, 2002 - 11:04   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Police in England have made a grim discovery in the search for two kidnapped girls. Authorities are trying to identify two bodies found near the girls' hometown of Soham. Police have arrested a man and a woman in connection with the abductions. Both are now held on suspicion of murder. As ITN's Mark Webster reports, the case has stunned Britain and the small town where the girls live.
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MARK WEBSTER, ITN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hundreds of Soham's people came to the church, desperate to make sense of the appalling events which have left this town in turmoil. Just seven days ago, the congregation here prayed that the two 10-year-olds were safe somewhere, but the absence felt most heavily in this ancient church was of the dead girls' parents, who had attended the service last week, praying their girls would return safely.

REV. TIM ALBAN JONES, SOHAM, ENGLAND: Throughout this dreadful fortnight, we've had their image of Holly and Jessica etched on our minds. Pictures of their happy, smiling faces have been displayed in just about every window in town. These two lovely girls have been our first thought in the morning and our last thought every night. And as we've been thinking of these two delightful girls, we've been constantly aware of the searing, heart-rending agony that their parents having been going through. Kevin (ph) and Nicola (ph), Leslie (ph) and Sharon (ph) have brought themselves with a bravery and a dignity that has won them nothing but admiration and great respect. We cannot even begin to imagine how harrowing this nightmare must be for them.

WEBSTER: This community is still in an agony of self-doubt about how anything so dreadful could have happened in their midst. And there are many questions, still unanswered.

(on camera): For many people in this small town, still struggling to come to terms with the enormity of what happened here, the service will have been a welcome moment of quiet reflection.

Mark Webster, ITV News, Cambridgeshire.

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