12 clues schoolgirl's uncle killed her despite body still missing 22 years on
The disappearance and murder of a schoolgirl which shocked the country more than 20 years ago, is the subject of a new documentary.
Danielle Jones was just 15 when she was abducted on her way to catch the school bus. But the mystery of where her body is, despite the fact police know who killed her, remains unsolved to this day. Reported Missing: The Murder of Danielle Jones looks at “how a suspected runaway case revealed a story of obsession, grooming and murder”.
Her uncle Stuart Campbell, who was a builder and married to Danielle's dad Tony's sister Debbie, had two children. He was convicted despite her body every being found after police found overwhelming evidence against him, some of which was groundbreaking back in 2002 when he faced trial.
Schoolgirl Danielle Jones (Press Association)At the 2002 trial Orlando Pownall, prosecuting, told Chelmsford Crown Court that although Danielle’s body had not been found “there can be no doubt that she is dead.” Mr Pownall was giving his opening address at the trial of Campbell, who denies kidnapping and murdering Danielle. Mr Pownall alleged: “Mr Campbell was sexually attracted to Danielle. His fixation for her manifested itself in a number of ways. During the period immediately preceding her disappearance it is clear... that Danielle had grown tired of his advances.”
Stuart Campbell's custody image (Press Association)Diary about 15-year-old niece
After Campbell's arrest police carried out a thorough search of his home and came across a what they dubbed as 'the Danielle Diary'. It was a diary written by Campbell and listed every time he met, called or heard from her.
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In the documentary, one of the officers involved in her case, said: "It was noting various incidents involving the two of them, there was a lot of detail, almost an obsession. When a grown man like that starts writing a diary about his 15-year-old niece, all the interactions, it's beyond weird. It is creepy, it is unsettling, its disturbing."
A copy of a page from Stuart Campbell's diary in which his obsession with his niece Danielle was evident (Press Association)Hundreds of photos of young girls
Campbell had hundreds of sick images of young girls, many he would download to the internet, but he would also lure youngsters to his home by handing out business cards claiming to be a glamour photographer for a bogus photographic agency.
In 1987 two girls, aged 15 and 16, were approached by Campbell in the street and agreed to meet him the following day. He told them to bring their school uniforms. He took them to his house and photographed one girl topless on his bed, wearing stockings and suspenders.
Four months before Danielle disappeared, Campbell is alleged to have approached two young girls at a gym. He offered to take photographs of them and handed over his Cinderella’s business card. Computer experts discovered that Campbell had downloaded child porn pictures from several Internet sites.
One of the officers told the documentary: "The photos didn't end up anywhere, they weren't in any publication. This was just him, getting his jollies, making out that he was a glamour photographer.
"He absolutely had a type and Danielle was his type."
His business card (Press Association)Mum found notes in Danielle's pencil case
After Danielle's disappearance her school friends told her parents she had found some notes in her pencil case while she was in class that upset her. Her mum went through her things and found two notes signed by her uncle, which appeared to show that he was jealous she had recently gone on holiday with her parents. It was never clear how Campbell got the notes into her school pencil case.
One read: "Hi Princess. Hope you had a lovely holiday. Text me when you get back. Love, Stuart. x"
Another said: "Hi Princess, in case you missed my last note I just thought I'd pop in another to let you know that I do miss your smile xx".
A chilling note from Campbell to DaniellePrevious convictions
Officers revealed that Campbell had gotten into trouble with the police before Danielle's disappearance. Her family apparently knew he had previous convictions, but were unaware of the full details and were horrified when they found out.
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He had a "previous conviction and offence for the abduction of a 14-year-old girl in 1989". He was convicted of taking a child without lawful authority.
One detective said: "He had at least 20 years of serial offending, they were able to go back and identify about 30 victims. We had allegations of indecent photography, indecent assault and rape."
The Daily Mirror report of Danielle's parents' appeal for help (Daily Mirror)Marks on her neck
Danielle's mum Linda spoke on the documentary and remembered Campbell dropping Danielle back home after she had been at his house, as she ran straight upstairs to her room.
Campbell told Linda that Danielle had taken a "funny turn", passed out and wet herself. The concerned mum later saw some marks on her neck, assuming they were from the chain she wore. Danielle told her mum she had assumed she had passed out, and was upset and embarrassed when she recalled the incident to her mum
Detectives believe Campbell had attempted to incapacitate and assault her that day, after finding notes about chloroform in his diary and a statement from a neighbour, who had heard a disagreement between him and a young girl, who they believed to be Danielle, telling her she didn't have to do anything she didn't want to.
Linda Jones - the mum of Danielle (Daily Mirror)Blue transit van
Police carrying out house-to-house enquiries near Danielle's home after she was reported missing were told she - or a girl matching her description - talking to a someone in a blue transit van,
Other neighbours had seen a blue transit van around the estate described as near "pinch points where Danielle was travelling to school".
The only person Danielle's mother, Linda, knew who owned a blue van at the time was her uncle who had even used the van to pick Danielle up from the bus stop in the past.
Witness sighting
Police spoke to a witness who saw and heard a girl, who matched Danielle's description on the morning she went missing.
The girl had been arguing with a man, who fit Campbell's description, with the young girl shouting: "No, leave me alone, go away you pervert".
A second witness saw a girl, who could have been Danielle, slumped that same morning in the front seat of a blue van.
DNA evidence in his loft
A holdall containing bikinis, underwear and handcuffs was found in the loft of Campbell's home by police. A DNA sample was taken from a toe of a pair of tights which showed both Danielle's and Campbells DNA mixed together.
A lip gloss, which Danielle bought at Lakeside to match her friends, had also been found at his home and also had her DNA on it.
Inappropriate behaviour
Detectives described the relationship between Campbell and his 15-year-old niece in the documentary as "grossly inappropriate". He had carved a role in Danielle's teen life as mediator between her and her parents.
He was expecting a baby with his wife and frequently asked her to go baby shopping with him in order to spend time with her. Her own friends later raised concerns and her parents also noticed that "something was not quite right".
After Danielle went missing, her mum recalled struggling to get hold of him and "when we eventually got hold of him, his behaviour just wasn't that of a concerned uncle".
Fake alibi
Campbell told police he had been shopping at a DIY store when his niece went missing and even called his wife on the way home to let her know he had been caught in traffic.
Detectives trawled hours of CCTV, looking for his blue transit van or the family's silver car. Neither he nor the vehicles appeared in any surrounding CCTV and officers were convinced his alibi was false.
Telephone evidence
In 2002 the use of mobile phone evidence is trials was relatively new. Prosecutors were able to prove that both Campbell's and Danielle's phones were using the same cell tower.
After she went missing Campbell tuned her phone on, sent him a message, then turned the phone off again. They also proved the text messages, which were reportedly from her, used different language, using WOT for example, when reams of previous messages to her friends would spell out WHAT.
Police interview
A detective who was tasked with interviewing Campbell after his arrest about the disappearance of his niece, said it was both bizarre and disturbing.
He told the documentary, the builder had replied no comment more than 50 times in the 20-minute interview. He said: "I vividly remember Stuart Campbell sitting opposite me. He couldn't maintain any form of eye contact. He wasn't having any form of conversation.
"He was so noncommittal and nonplussed around the whole event he just didn't care. "At no time did Stuart Campbell display the feelings of a concerned uncle. He displayed the feelings of self-preservation. His lack of cooperation meant that we honed in completely."
(© COLLECT)Couldn't look brother in the eye
Just 10 minutes in his brother Stuart Campbell's company was all Alix Sharkey needed to become convinced that he was guilty of abducting a missing teenage schoolgirl.
Detectives had suggested the meeting, but had urged him not to confront Stuart, in the hope he might lead them to where Danielle was.
Alix says of the meeting in 2001: “If I was the guy accused of doing something like this, what would I say to my brother? I’m going to say, ‘This is bulls**t. It’s outrageous’. If he were innocent, he would have started at exactly the same place.”
But he didn’t. Alix adds: “So I knew immediately. I thought, you are lying to me by omission. He couldn’t look me in the eye. Inside 10 minutes I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt: you abducted that girl. And either you’ve got her locked up somewhere now or you’ve killed her already.”
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