Daily Mail chief reporter Sam Greenhill recalls knocking on Ian Huntley’s Soham cottage door while Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were still missing in Cambridgeshire

There are moments in journalism that never quite leave you.

For Daily Mail chief reporter Sam Greenhill, one of those moments came in August 2002, when he knocked on the door of a quiet cottage in Soham.

At that point, schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman had been missing for more than a week.

The whole country was holding its breath.

Posters were everywhere. Television bulletins rolled constantly.

A small Cambridgeshire town had become the focus of national anguish.

Greenhill had arrived hoping to speak to a local man who might help shed light on the girls’ disappearance.

He had no idea he was stepping into what would later be revealed as the epicentre of one of Britain’s most horrifying crimes.

Inside The Home Of A Killer

The door was opened by Ian Huntley, the school caretaker who would later be convicted of murdering the two ten-year-olds.

Within minutes, Greenhill found himself sitting in Huntley’s living room.

Also there was Maxine Carr, Huntley’s fiancée at the time — a woman who would later be convicted of perverting the course of justice for providing him with a false alibi.

In the months that followed, Carr became one of the most reviled figures in Britain, her name forever tied to the tragedy.

But on that day, none of it was visible on the surface.

Huntley presented himself as concerned. Carr appeared calm.

The horror had not yet been uncovered.

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A Crime That Shocked Britain

The murders of Holly and Jessica changed the country.

Their disappearance on 4 August 2002 after leaving a family barbecue triggered one of the largest manhunts in British history.

When their bodies were discovered nearly two weeks later near RAF Lakenheath, the sense of devastation was overwhelming.

Huntley was later sentenced to life imprisonment.

The case also exposed serious failures in police intelligence sharing, leading to the landmark Bichard Inquiry.

That inquiry ultimately paved the way for improved vetting procedures and the development of systems designed to prevent individuals with troubling histories from working with children.

Carr served a prison sentence before being released with lifelong anonymity protection — a controversial decision that continues to spark debate.

The Lingering Questions

More than two decades on, the Soham murders remain one of the most haunting cases in modern British criminal history.

They reshaped safeguarding laws, altered how background checks are handled in schools, and left scars on an entire generation.

For journalists who covered it, including Greenhill, the memories are vivid.

The knock on that cottage door. The polite conversation.

The ordinary setting that masked something unthinkable.

It is a reminder that sometimes the darkest truths are hidden in plain sight.

A New Look At The Case

The Daily Mail’s Crime Desk is revisiting cases like Soham with fresh eyes — digging deeper, uncovering new angles, and speaking to those who were there.

Greenhill’s chilling first-hand account of what happened after that knock on the door is now available through The Crime Desk newsletter.

The channel promises exclusive reporting, expert insight, and behind-the-scenes detail on the cases that still grip the nation.

What’s Next?

The Crime Desk newsletter will continue to explore Britain’s most notorious criminal cases, offering readers exclusive revelations and deeper context.

As interest in true crime remains strong, more archival material, insider perspectives, and investigative updates are expected in future editions.

For those who remember Soham — or for a new generation trying to understand it — the story is far from forgotten.

Summary

Daily Mail chief reporter Sam Greenhill has reflected on the chilling moment he unknowingly stepped inside Ian Huntley’s Soham cottage while Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were still missing.

The murders shocked Britain, triggered sweeping safeguarding reforms, and remain one of the country’s most disturbing criminal cases.

The Crime Desk newsletter now revisits the case with fresh insight and exclusive reporting, bringing readers closer to the events that continue to haunt the nation.