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A BBQ, a walk, and an ominous disappearance

November 19, 2018 / 31:38

This episode discusses the 2002 disappearance of best friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, England. It covers the police investigation, the suspects Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr, and the eventual discovery of the girls' bodies.

The episode details the background of Holly and Jessica, their close friendship, and the events leading up to their disappearance on August 4, 2002. The girls were last seen walking towards Soham Village College to visit their favorite teacher, Maxine Carr, and her fiancé, Ian Huntley.

The police search for the girls, named Operation Fincham, involved extensive community support and media coverage. Despite the efforts, the search yielded no immediate results, leading to public frustration and criticism of the police.

As the investigation progressed, Ian Huntley emerged as a suspect due to his suspicious behavior and past allegations of sexual offenses. The episode discusses the police's efforts to gather evidence against him and Maxine Carr, who initially provided him with an alibi.

The tragic conclusion reveals the discovery of Holly and Jessica's bodies and the subsequent trial of Huntley and Carr. Huntley was convicted of murder, while Carr was found guilty of providing a false alibi. The episode highlights the impact of the case on the community and the legal outcomes for both suspects.

TLDR

The episode covers the tragic case of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, their disappearance, and the investigation leading to Ian Huntley's conviction.

Episode

31:38
00:00:09
[Music] on the 4th of August 2002 best friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman disappeared from the small town of Seoul
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in England one of England's biggest Sevigny enhance followed after two weeks the media was critical of police and a
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perceived lack of progress on the case [Music] but the police did have a suspect
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[Music] [Music] best friends Jessica Chapman and Holly wills both grew up in the small town of
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song in the county of Cambridge she England the population of Psalm was around eight and a half thousand people
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it is a small charming beautiful town Jessica and Holly met when they were just four years old they struck up an
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instant bond they were always playing together and we're described as being more like sisters Jessica was the
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youngest of three girls she was well-behaved and a lively child the healthy outdoors taught a bit of a
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tomboy she liked to play sports she had a bubbly personality and was very friendly and chatty holly was more of a
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feminine type she enjoyed dressing up dancing and playing with maker although she did likes Porter's role she wasn't
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as into it as Jessica she was also brought bubbly and very intelligent always smiling and happy both girls were
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10 years old and were considered sensible and mature for their age both were only allowed to visit homes of
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friends who their parents knew Jessica had a mobile phone and would keep in regular contact with their mother
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whenever she was away from the house on Sunday the fourth of August 2002 Jessica
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was at Holly's house where Holly's parents were hosting a barbecue for some close friends about 5:00 p.m. the girls
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decided to dress up in identical clothing so they both could on read Manchester United jerseys and matching
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black shorts Ali's mother Nicola saw them dressed up the same and took a photo of them in their matching outfit
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both girls were committed Manchester United fans mainly due to the fact their favourite player David Beckham was in
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the side about 5:30 p.m. their girls decided they were bored of the barbecue and went for a walk they left Holly's
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yes and walked towards the center of town they stopped in at a shop to buy some lollies then walked down towards
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the vacant so on Village College which is a high school kids aged 12 and a police are able to reconstruct this
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particular part of the girls walk from CCTV cameras and witnesses they'll both still dressed in their identical
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Manchester United outfits so people remembered seeing them when they got to Salem village college they made their
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way to their caretakers house where their favorite teacher Maxine Carr lived with her fiance named
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Huntley the girls weren't students at her college that was still in primary school at st. Andrews which was next to
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the college and st. Andrews is where Maxine Carr age 25 worked she was a teacher's assistant not an actual
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teacher but the girls loved her she was popular with all the students Maxine's fiance in Huntley aged 28 was the
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caretaker at Salem College so that's why they lived together in the caretakers house the girls got there around 6:30
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p.m. in Huntley was at the front washing his dog the girls chatted to Anne and he says
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that they asked if Maxine or Miss Carr as they referred to her was around and told them she was up taking a bath as
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she wasn't feeling well the girls asked him if Maxine got the permanent teaching
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position as any injuries that she had applied for and they were disappointed to learn that she hadn't and she
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wouldn't be returning to see any injuries after the summer break the girls told him to say hello to Miss Carr
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for them and then he says he saw them skip off happily down the road at 8 p.m. the girls still hadn't arrived
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home Nicola tried to call them so they could come home and say goodbye to the guests of the barbecue as it was
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finishing up but she didn't get any answer Nicholas started to become concerned she searched every room of the
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house been raining outside and looked up and down the street then ran back inside
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and social every room of the house again there was no sign of them by 8:45 p.m. Nicola and Holly's father Kevin thought
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something was seriously wrong Holly and Jessica knew they had to be home by 8:30
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no matter what Nicola called Jessica's mother Sharon and got the bad news the girls weren't there either Sharon became
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immediately alarmed she called Jessica's phone but the phone was switched off she
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tried again and again many more times but the phone remained off Sharon became panicked she frantically started to call
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friends and family members but no one had seen the girls both her and Jessica's father Leslie immediately when
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you are searching for them they checked everywhere they could think of in town but there was no sign of them anywhere
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after about an hour they made their way to the welders house to see if the girls
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gave any possible clues as to where they were going but they gave it none the disappearance was completely out of
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character for the two well-behaved girls they'd never done anything like this before
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at M p.m. the police were called they got there pretty quickly and started to arrange search teams to try and
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following the girls police checked in with all their other friends not only the safe they were there but also to
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safe their friends could think of some where they would go that their parents wouldn't be aware of but they got no
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information to help you quickly spread around the small town and a lot of the other team members came
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out to help in the search they made their way to the grounds of the song village college to see if they will may
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be hiding in the school grounds there somewhere the caretaker aim Huntly immediately offered his help to assist
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with the search and unlock the college when he learned what was going on he realized the missing girls were Holly
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and Jessica who had spoken to only hours before he immediately told the police they'd walk voice yes at this point in
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time he was the last known person to seek the girls alive the search went all throughout the night
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and went all over town but there was no trace of Jessica or Holly the next day in the 5th of August the huge police
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operation started to get into full swing it was called Operation Fincham which is
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a random operation named generated by computer and has nothing to do with the actual case there were great fears for
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the girls giving it was completely out of their character to simply wander off there weren't too many people around
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town who felt the girls had gone missing of their own volition the area of Psalm
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was relatively flat terrain however there were a lot of ditches streams and rivers that had to be searched police
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divers were called in but there was a lot of water to be covered and underwater searching was slow work at
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the best of times some also had extensive parkland areas and given it was summer a lot of the
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areas where overgrown and contained long grass so the search wasn't straightforward over 500 townspeople
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volunteered to help search they were tasked by police and new sticks to poke into the various ditches highly holes
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and long grass areas to make sure they didn't miss anything some searched as long as 16 hours a day
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many held under the firm belief that Jessica and Holly would be found alive in the meantime Solon became a ghost
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town parents were too frightened to allow their kids out of the house police say Jessica and Holly were just on an
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adventure gone wrong and they were okay maybe too scared to come home they even organized a message from the girls hero
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David Beckham encouraging them to return home than that they weren't in any trouble and appealing for anyone with
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information to come forward by Wednesday police had searched the entire area of Seoul and the surrounding areas they had
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received 2,500 phone calls made 400 daughter dog interviews and it stops 700 cars in their effort to find the girls
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over 700 police officers were involved the search included the use of a helicopter with thermal imaging
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equipment and the use of a plane from the nearby Air Force Base but they had found nothing four days into the search
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police held a press conference and gave what little info they knew it was here that they mentioned the girls were last
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seen by some college caretaker and country as the girls look walked past his house naturally the media were
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pretty keen to hear what he had to say the guilt but I don't know the girls I'll stood on the front doorstep
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grooming my dog down she'd run away and come back a bit of a mess and that just came across an ask Thomas car was as she
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used to teach them the st. Andrews my just said she weren't very good a shared and got the job and they're just as
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please tell her that were very sorry and off the waltz in the direction of the the library over there boy now police in
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the media had based themselves in the grounds of Solan College and held daily meetings and press conferences there
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ain't only a Maxine Carr had both been a big help as the caretaker the Kali Jane
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helps set up the chairs for press conferences and was on hand in case anything was needed he also helped
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coordinate further searches throughout the school grounds and once the media went the reason Jessica and Holly had
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gone by the college was to see Maxine car they were eager to talk to her as well this is something like why to keep
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for the rest of my life I think it's what Holly gave me on the last day of term she was very very upset but I
00:10:21
didn't get my job and that's kind of girl she was she was just lovely on Saturday the 10th of August police
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organized the reconstruction of Holly and Jessica's on a walk two young actresses were dressed up in Manchester
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United jerseys and black shorts and retraced the girls steps in the hopes that might spark something in somebody's
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memory the next day some sections of the media started to criticize the police and their lack of progress on the case
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despite their mammoth effort unfortunately as with a lot of cases of this magnitude a lot of the calls
00:10:56
received from the public were false leads and dead ends including a lot of false sightings of the girls this
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actually led the police making a public appeal for young children not to wear red Manchester United shirts in public
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fearing it would create many more false sightings a profile was made up of the abductor but it was pretty broad he was
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thought to be a local man probably with previous sex offenses aged between 25 and 40 there were around 700 men with
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prior sex offenses the living within a reasonable distance of Salim but the police and Holly and Jessica's parents
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made direct appeals to the abductor through the media to return the girls home this included an appeal by police
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urging the abductor they're getting touched by midnight and that instructions have been left on Jessica's
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phone vile way of text message this was an attempt to try and get the abductor to turn on Jessica's phone which was
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still off so they could get a signal on it and try and trace the location but it
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didn't work the phone remained off despite the perceived lack of progress from the eyes of the media the police
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had a suspect and they'd been working hard on him behind the scenes the police say that the answer is here and so on
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do you agree with that that line of enquiry as they say yeah absolutely I mean for two girls to go missing
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basically for my front doorstep and you know somebody would have seen or heard something if somebody had tried to get
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those girls into a car if it just means somebody passing through and it's very strange boy you know in huntly had been
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identified as a suspect and police had pored over every word both he and Maxine Carr had
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added to the media and there was a lot to pour through both were very willing to speak to the media throughout the
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investigation the media regularly attended their house looking for interviews being the last person to see
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the girls and being the reason the girls were there was a big deal the police turned up at their house regularly
00:13:00
presenting for what they made look like friendly chats but each time they would go over his story again and again in the
00:13:06
hope he would slip up and it wasn't missed by anybody just how sparkling cleaned the inside of their house was
00:13:15
but all I had was suspicion neither had a criminal record there was no physical evidence as the days went on analysts
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were able to narrow down to a much more precise location where Jessica's phone was switched off and they were able to
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determine it was switched off somewhere very close to Ian and Maxine's results this led police to scrutinize them more
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closely and they dug up that in 1998 only a few years prior Ian had been charged with the rape of an
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18 year old girl but the charge had later been dropped that's why it wasn't showing up on a criminal record
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also calls had started to come in Maxine had given a version that she was home then like the girls disappeared
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having a bath upstairs that she wasn't feeling well so she didn't see them but there were several witnesses from the
00:14:03
Grimsby area that said otherwise they contacted police to say Maxine was in Grimsby visiting her mother than either
00:14:10
girls disappeared she was spotted by many people out on the town she was drunk there was no way she was having a bath
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at home when the girls came around to visit on the 15th of August police organized the town meeting designed to
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rattle Huntley the meeting was held at the College Hall so Huntley helps set it up police made it clear that the key to
00:14:32
the case lay within the salm community they asked the question was anyone doing anything differently they encouraged
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people to look suspiciously at their neighbors and to ask them Souls how well did they really know certain people the
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next day the police made their move they knocked on Huntley's door and asked both
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he and Maxine if they'd like to go down to the station to answer some questions they both went willingly not under
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arrest at this stage they were taken to two separate police stations to be interviewed but no cracks emerged they
00:15:03
stuck solid to their stories police told Maxine they had witnesses placing her in
00:15:08
groups be on the evening of the 4th but she didn't crack at 9:30 p.m. they were reunited in a nearby Holiday Inn room
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police arranged them to meet there they still weren't under arrest police had bugged the room in the hopes they went
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to sleep up in the meantime other police searched Dean and Maxine's home they also searched the college again and
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found a shed within the grounds that hadn't yet been searched as a entire police he didn't have a key for it the
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shed contained the burnt clothing of Jessica and Holly the clothing wasn't totally destroyed so you could make you
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at the Manchester United jerseys police beyond the key to the shed in Ian's house had lied about not having one the
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clothes were found in a plastic bag Ian's fingerprints were found on the bag it was all but over
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both Maxine and M were arrested soon after in the early hours of the 70s police were pretty certain Jessica and
00:16:08
Hollywood dead and later that day their worst fears were confirmed when the girls bodies were found in a ditch next
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to the Air Force Base at Lakenheath they are 70 miles away from Seoul the girls bodies with disfigured blackened and
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burned Maxine and a.m. was subjected to extensive questioning and police had to apply for warrants to hold them without
00:16:32
charge although they had a lot of circumstantial evidence they still wanted to crack their stories they were
00:16:39
eventually able to wear Maxine din a little and get her to admit she wasn't on the night the girls disappeared and
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she was in Grimsby visiting her mother this destroyed Ian's alibi car says she lied to protect the hen when she found
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out he was the last known person they say the girl's alive she knew he would be a suspect
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especially when police found out he'd been charged with the rape if he years earlier she said she gave the alibi not
00:17:05
because he was guilty but to avoid him being suspected unfairly as far as she was concerned aim was not responsible
00:17:12
for the girl's deaths but her actions suggested otherwise if you remember back to that earlier media clip she referred
00:17:21
to the girls in the past tense as she did in several other media interviews when at that stage no one knew if the
00:17:28
girls were still alive or not she also helped they inscribe the house clean repeatedly when she returned from
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Grimsby so who were in Huntley in Maxine car Ian was bullied at school described
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as a class loner he couldn't make friends and not even the teachers really liked him
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he made one suicide attempt in high school he left school at 16 and went from one low-paying job to another he
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moved around a lot to different addresses and whenever he arrived at a new address he always lied and talked
00:18:01
him so far he was always making himself out to be better than he actually was and once people started to catch on to
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his laws he would move on to the next address ex-girlfriends reported that he was a control freak and locked to
00:18:15
dominate and abuse them after his arrest many women came forward to detail their
00:18:21
horrific experiences with him there were several claims of rape many claims of underage sex and claims of sexual
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harassment there were even claims that he kept girls locked in his flat when they refused to have sex with him many
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were too frightened to report him as he threatened them but some did and he was investigated for
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rape on four occasions and investigated for sleeping with underage girls on three occasions
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none of the allegations stuck there was never enough evidence to charge him so he never got a criminal record out of it
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but there was a clear pattern being established of a serial sex offender the system failed by not catching on to it
00:19:01
Ian got married just before he turned 21 and subjected his first wife Claire to horrendous domestic abuse he would erupt
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into fits of rages for no apparent reason and beat her up leaving her battered and
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bruised Claire didn't hang around and left a few weeks later and she ended up marrying Ian's brother Wayne needless to
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say a.m. wasn't impressed it actually caused him to have a breakdown and suffer depression Claire said he wasn't
00:19:28
upset about losing her but he was upset about losing control of her that's the type of person he was
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Hundley soon went back to his old ways of seducing young schoolgirls and he did eventually get charged with rape he
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allegedly followed a drunk eighteen-year-old girl out of a nightclub one night after she'd refused
00:19:49
his advances he raped her and he was arrested and charged a few days later but after a week of being held in
00:19:56
custody police elected to drop the charges they believe there was insufficient evidence
00:20:02
leaving the victim furious and leaving and still without a criminal record there was a patent near horrible
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violence against women that he kept getting away with no wonder his behavior continued to escalate he met Maxine Carr
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in a pub in 1998 and started chatting her up and there was an instant attraction the relationship progressed
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quickly and they were soon living together and it wasn't long before the mental and physical abuse started but
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unlike previous partners Maxine adored the ground and walked on and saw his violent controlling behavior as a sign
00:20:41
of his affection and devotion towards her in textbook domestic violence fashion a.m. would assault Maxine and then
00:20:50
professes love say you was sorry and he would never do it again only for the vicious cycle to start again and it
00:20:59
didn't take long before he started cheating on Maxine with a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl Maxine found
00:21:05
out an attempted suicide she didn't succeed but Ian became more attracted to her
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thinking she was willing to die for him little did he know Maxine was also cheating on him they decided their
00:21:18
relationship needed a fresh start they got engaged and moved between several other towns before settling in so on and
00:21:25
secured a job as the caretaker at the village college in September 2001 the school was found to around 1,300
00:21:33
students ie Maxine moved into the caretakers house a police check was conducted but as he had never been
00:21:40
convicted of anything no criminal history came up in February 2002 Maxine landed a job as a teaching assistant at
00:21:50
st. Andrew's primary school she was an instant success with the kids they loved her but she didn't get on as well with
00:21:56
the teachers despite his ball in history and feeling well with his new job other
00:22:03
staff didn't have any doubts about his suitability at all he developed a good relationship with
00:22:07
many of the students mainly the females he tended to pick on the male students all in all
00:22:15
Ian and Maxine settled into the town quite well they didn't make any close friends as they hadn't no laws but they
00:22:21
got on chatting terms with their neighbors parents of children and local shopkeepers the attack on Jessica and
00:22:28
Holly wasn't planned Pam was a pedophile and his thought he couldn't resist the opportunity that
00:22:33
presented itself when the girls turned up to his house Maxine was away for the weekend in
00:22:38
Grimsby and he had just had a heated argument with their on the phone he was worried she was cheating on him and
00:22:45
that's when Holly and Jessica showed up [Music] the only person who will ever know the
00:22:58
exact story is a Ian but it's thought that when you saw the girls he would have put on his charms and lured them
00:23:04
inside on the pretense that Maxine was home and she would be happy to see them it's thought that were killed soon after
00:23:11
the door shut behind them although the crime was a plan to once Huntley realized the seriousness of what
00:23:17
he had done he became very well planned and organized he wasn't sorry but he was
00:23:23
terrified of being caught he thoroughly cleaned the house top to bottom being shorter movie up furniture so nothing
00:23:30
was missed when thinking of where to dispose of the bodies he knew he couldn't put them anywhere and so on he
00:23:36
also knew he couldn't travel any great distance he knew about the year basing like and he only 70 miles away as you
00:23:44
went plane spotting there and that's where he decided would be a good spot plus his grandmother lived in that
00:23:50
direction so if he was spotted out that way there was a reason for him to be there
00:23:55
he put the girls in his car and covered their bodies and made his way to Lakenheath when he got there he'd take
00:24:01
plastic bags to his feet careful not to leave footprints he cut off their clothing as he knew the
00:24:07
clothing would be means to easily identify the bodies and he didn't want that to happen
00:24:12
he put the bodies in a ditch and then left with their clothing when you're on time you put the clothes into a plastic
00:24:18
bag and made his way to the shed on the college grounds he put the clothes in a bin and then set them on fire but the
00:24:26
shed seemed filled up with thick smoke so he put it out the clothes were burnt but they was still largely intact he
00:24:33
didn't like them again scared somebody would see the smoke he locked the shed up leaving the clothes inside deciding
00:24:41
to deal with them later but he never got a chance due to the constant heavy police
00:24:45
presence on the college grounds it became the makeshift base for the police and media
00:24:52
he throw out Jessica's mobile phone it was never found after scrubbing himself clean he was
00:25:00
able to make his way outside and pretend he had no idea what was going on and he started to help with the search
00:25:07
he knew admitting that he had spoken with the girls would cast suspicion on him but he couldn't take the risk of
00:25:12
lying that he hadn't seen them there was a public place somebody could easily have spotted him chatting to them if he
00:25:18
got caught lying it would have been all over the next day he got to work cleaning their car he got the tires
00:25:25
changed and removed the carpet from the car boot he called Maxine and begged her to come
00:25:30
home early from her trip saying he needed her to lie for him as the girls had come by the house and he
00:25:36
would be the prime suspect if she didn't give him an alibi he then started asking
00:25:42
questions of police officers about DNA evidence in how long it lasted which put him straight under suspicion he became
00:25:49
paranoid when he learned the DNA evidence could last a very long time so he went back to Lakenheath and set Holly
00:25:55
and Jessica on fire he then embraced his role as searcher he played a keen part in the search and was
00:26:06
often seen as being the unofficial leader of a lot of the search parties that were organized and Maxine was only
00:26:12
too happy to help lying for him and giving him his alibi the families the community the entire country
00:26:22
even parts of the world were stricken with grief er the news Holly and Jessica had been found dead that grave sin
00:26:29
turned to anger police had to keep the location of Ian and Maxine secret as vigilante attacks were a legitimate fear
00:26:37
at Maxine's first court appearance a prison fan was pelted with objects there was a large crowd yelling abuse and
00:26:44
threats and I'll banging on the side of the van as I went past and whilst Maxine
00:26:51
was at her first court appearance amy was in a mental health ward pretending to be crazy his every move was watched
00:26:57
and recorded for 50 days in the hospital extensive notes were kept and doctors concluded his mental illness was all
00:27:04
ashamed Ian was putting on an act and she'll be treated like every other suspect they recommended he be sent back
00:27:10
to normal custody he was taken to prison and was met by a huge amount of abuse and threats from the other inmates he
00:27:19
was placed in a specially made isolated cell where he was kept under close watch
00:27:23
but he still managed a near successful suicide attempt he had to have an urgent stomach pump but he survived Maxine was
00:27:31
also segregated from other prisoners she tried to starve us off and at one point
00:27:36
she had to be forced fed through a tube to stay alive by the time the trial came
00:27:41
around more forensic evidence had come to life police had found fibers from the Manchester United jerseys in Langley's
00:27:47
home they found evidence in his car plus lady's prints on the bag the girls jerseys were finding
00:27:54
Maxine and Anne were tried together in the same courtroom faced with their overwhelming physical evidence
00:28:01
Anne was forced to come up with a story he admitted the girls were in his house he said Hollies nose started to bleed so
00:28:09
they walked upstairs to the bath which was full of water as he had been washing their dogs Polly sat on the side on the
00:28:15
tub and he accidentally bumped into her causing her to fall and hit her head Jessica started screaming you pushed her
00:28:23
so he rushed over to try and quieten her down by grabbing her around the mouth accidentally killing her in the process
00:28:31
he then turned around to find Holly had drowned by accident Huntley took the stand to give this ridiculous account
00:28:38
and the many gaping holes in his story were easily exposed Ian also testified Maxine didn't know that he was
00:28:47
responsible for the girl's death and when Maxine testified the next day she said Owens testimony was the first time
00:28:53
he said he was responsible for their death until that point she believed he was innocent
00:28:58
but many remain unconvinced her explanation for doing several extremely detailed house claims was that she was a
00:29:06
clean freak and I'm not sure what the reason was that she gave for repeatedly referring to the girls in the past tense
00:29:12
she said a.m. begged her to lie for him and provide an alibi as police would think it was him even though he didn't
00:29:18
do it she said she knew it wasn't right morally but she thought it was right for
00:29:23
Anne as she didn't want him to be accused of something he hadn't done there was evidence Ian had been
00:29:31
frantically trying to clean the house when Maxine arrived home from Grimsby but she said she believed this was done
00:29:36
to try and cover up the fact that he had been cheating on her she made her Sophia to be a victim of a
00:29:42
mazwell an unwilling pawn you can forget the very dramatic scenes in courtroom number one as Maxine Carr giving her
00:29:51
evidence from the witness box broke down as she was questioned and said pointing
00:29:56
is he in Huntley across the courtroom I will not be blamed for what that thing in that box has done to me all those
00:30:03
children in huntly was found guilty of murder he was given a life sentence for each can
00:30:10
and was given a minimum term of 40 years meaning he would be eligible for a lease
00:30:15
in 2042 at 68 years of age interestingly the jury wasn't unanimous it wasn't 11 the one can't maxeen car
00:30:27
was found guilty of providing a false alibi but not guilty of helping conceal the murder the jury was satisfied she
00:30:33
didn't know Anne had killed Jessica and Holly Maxine was sentenced to three and a half years jail but she only served
00:30:40
one year in nine months when release from prison Maxine was given a new identity her appearance was changed with
00:30:48
the help of experts and she was placed in a secret location to live her lawyers successfully got a high
00:30:54
court injunction banning the press from revealing the new identity or the location she lived it basically forbade
00:31:01
journals from even trying to find out this information let alone publish it she was even given police guards to
00:31:07
protect against revenge attacks and of course all this was done at the expense of the taxpayer
00:31:25
[Music] you [Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most heartbreaking
  • 85
    Most shocking
  • 80
    Most intense
  • 80
    Most unpredictable

Episode Highlights

  • The Disappearance of Best Friends
    On August 4, 2002, best friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman vanished from their small town, sparking a massive search effort.
    “The disappearance was completely out of character for the two well-behaved girls.”
    @ 05m 49s
    November 19, 2018
  • Community Search Efforts
    Over 500 townspeople volunteered to search for the missing girls, believing they would be found alive.
    “The search wasn't straightforward.”
    @ 07m 48s
    November 19, 2018
  • The Investigation Unfolds
    As the investigation progressed, police began to scrutinize a local caretaker, Ian Huntley, who was the last person to see the girls.
    “The system failed by not catching on to it.”
    @ 19m 01s
    November 19, 2018
  • Ian Huntley's Conviction
    Ian Huntley was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
    “He was given a life sentence for each count.”
    @ 30m 05s
    November 19, 2018
  • Maxine Carr's Sentencing
    Maxine Carr was found guilty of providing a false alibi but not guilty of murder concealment.
    “She was sentenced to three and a half years in jail.”
    @ 30m 27s
    November 19, 2018

Episode Quotes

  • They were always playing together and were described as being more like sisters.
    A BBQ, a walk, and an ominous disappearance
  • The disappearance was completely out of character for the two well-behaved girls.
    A BBQ, a walk, and an ominous disappearance
  • The search wasn't straightforward.
    A BBQ, a walk, and an ominous disappearance
  • Maybe too scared to come home.
    A BBQ, a walk, and an ominous disappearance
  • The system failed by not catching on to it.
    A BBQ, a walk, and an ominous disappearance

Key Moments

  • Best Friends00:13
  • Disappearance00:18
  • Search Efforts07:51
  • Community Fear08:12
  • Cycle of Violence20:38
  • Suicide Attempt27:25
  • Courtroom Drama29:51
  • Life Sentences30:05

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown