Special counselling services had been put in place when the people of Soham village woke yesterday. It was their first day since confirmation that the bodies found on Saturday were those of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. Eithne Donnellan reports.
Cambridge County Council opened helplines staffed by trained counsellors at 8 a.m. and a minute later the first call came.
The council spokesman, Mr Bob Pearson, said the helpline was for the 2,000 students and their families in the area. Others who needed help should call the Samaritans, he advised.
He said some calls lasted just a few minutes but others continued for over an hour. "The calls reflected a lot of anger in the local community as well as huge amounts of distress," he said.
The 12-hour-a-day helpline will operate for as long as necessary. It had received more than 100 calls by teatime. Mr Pearson said it was the first time the council had set up a counselling helpline in its 28 years.
Because the local authority runs the education department in Cambridgeshire it felt it had a responsibility to its staff, parents and pupils to help.
Meanwhile in Soham, notices have been placed in public buildings advising the community of alternative sources of help if they need it. They list phone numbers of social workers, clergy from several churches, as well as contact details for the Samaritans.
Books of condolence opened in the local parish church of St Andrews and throughout the day a steady stream of people visited to sign it, light candles and lay more floral tributes in memory of the dead girls. The message attached to one said: "Holly and Jessica - Sorry we could not protect you from this horrid world we live in".
More flowers were also laid close to the spot where the girls' bodies were found at Lakenheath on Saturday. The prevailing message on them was a question: "Why?".
At several places across Britain other books of condolence were opened and a website was set up by Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Cambridge County Council for people to leave messages of sympathy. It can be accessed at www.cambs.police.uk/camops/major-incidents/
The faded posters displayed in Soham's shop windows, appealing for information on the schoolgirls since their disappearance on August 4th, were being taken down.
Several businesses, including a pub and fish and chip shop, posted notices advising they would close early last night as a mark of respect.
The large media contingent covering the story also left the village and moved to Huntingdon where the headquarters of Cambridgeshire police, which is co-ordinating the murder investigation, is based.
The head of the investigation team, Acting Deputy Chief Constable Keith Hoddy, had asked the media to withdraw from Soham to allow the community come to terms with the tragedy. One photographer and one camera crew were allowed remain, however, to relay images of the day's events to journalists.