Anguish of girls' schoolteacher

Holly and Jessica's form teacher Joy Pederson today told of her shock at learning the two were missing. She held up a thank-you card Holly gave her at the end of last term, saying: "That card is very precious to me. Every time I see it now I dissolve."

The girls had been gone for almost a week when Mrs Pederson, 38, read about them on her way back from holiday. Her voice cracking, she said: "It was awful. I just couldn't believe it could happen to children in my class, to the Holly and Jessica I know. It is a terrible shock." She showed the card from Holly that reads: "To Mrs Pederson, thank you very much for teaching me, luv Holly."

The teacher said they had been warned about personal safety and the internet only weeks before they disappeared.