Police have urged the public not to carry out their own searches as they desperately hunt for two missing schoolgirls who were last seen nearly two days ago.
An appeal was made on August 10 by Detective Chief Superintendent John Belcher as part of the urgent search for missing Angelica and Verity, aged 11 and 12.
The girls disappeared together on Saturday (August 8) and were last seen 'at 4am' on Sunday morning (August 9) in the Newbold area of Rugby, Warwickshire, according to police. Both girls are from Rugby and were said to have links to Cornwall.
Police warn against independent searches
As concerns grow regarding the pair's whereabouts, DCS Belcher urged locals not to carry out their own searches as it could 'risk the investigation'.
He said: "At this stage whilst we thank everybody for keeping a lookout we also ask that people please do not attempt to organise searches themselves. We have officers on the ground searching and they have specialist training and the presence of large numbers of people without that training may risk the investigation and our ability to be able to locate them quickly. Where there are further opportunities to help we will advise you."
DCS Belcher added: "We would also ask that the public kindly refrain from speculation around what has happened as this is unhelpful and might cloud our investigative actions moving forward."
Ongoing police efforts
Round-the-clock work is being done by the police to locate the girls as 'soon as they can', including house-to-house inquiries and CCTV checks.
He added: "If you see the girls or know where they are please call 999 immediately, that's the key message I want you to take away."
