Police question two suspects in murder of British girls

LONDON -- Messages of condolence poured into an English village Monday for the families of two slain 10-year-old girls, while police questioned two suspects and tried to determine exactly how the children were killed.

Postmortem examinations of the bodies of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, found over the weekend, failed to reveal the cause of death, so further tests will have to be made over the next few weeks, police said.

At St. Andrew's Church in Soham, eastern England, a thousand candles flickered for Holly and Jessica, and the churchyard became a sea of flowers. Hundreds of bouquets lay in rows, brought by townspeople and arriving from around the country.

The case of the missing girls, who disappeared Aug. 4, has dominated British headlines for two weeks.

On Saturday, police arrested school caretaker Ian Huntley, 28, and his girlfriend Maxine Carr, 25, who was a teaching assistant at the girls' school in Soham.

Huntley was arrested on suspicion of murder and abduction while Carr was being detained on suspicion of murder.

Police have said they found "items of major interest" at Soham Village College, the secondary school were Huntley worked.

Police said Sunday they were certain that two bodies found near Lakenheath air base, seven miles from Soham, were those of the two girls.

Although police have disclosed nothing about the circumstances or motive for the murders, a tabloid newspaper, the News of the World, revived its campaign to require publication of the sex offenders' register.

Home Office minister Beverley Hughes said Monday the government had no plans to do that.

"I am not clear, and I don't think anybody can be at the moment, whether that issue has any relevance whatsoever for this particular horrific crime," she said.

"I think it is very important that we do reassure people that what we have done over the last four years is begin a complete transformation of the way in which we manage and regulate sex offenders -- and therefore protect children," Hughes told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

"As we go into the next parliamentary session we will be ratcheting up those measures even further."

Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said he was "very distressed to hear about these offenses and he feels a great deal of sympathy for the parents."

The Rev. Tim Alban Jones, vicar of St. Andrew's in Soham, said, "People have driven two or three hours to get here. It is deeply moving. ... There is palpable grief in the town," he said. "One card says this has broken Soham's heart and that's a fair way to reflect on the way people feel."