There was a large and exhaustive search to find Jones' body and it was considered one of the biggest cases Essex Police had to deal with at the time.

15-year-old Danielle Sarah Jones[4] was last seen near her home in East Tilbury, Essex, on the morning of 18 June 2001, while walking to a bus stop.

On 17 August 2001, police re-arrested Campbell on suspicion of murder, after finding "significant evidence" that appeared to support their theory that Danielle Jones was now dead.

By 14 November 2001, the Crown Prosecution Service decided that the police had enough evidence to charge Campbell with murder – even though her body had not been found.

The High Court later ruled that Campbell should serve a minimum of 20 years before being considered for parole, meaning that he would remain imprisoned until at least November 2022 at the age of 64.

[12] After his trial, it was revealed that in 1989, Campbell had received a 12-month suspended sentence for forcibly detaining a 14-year-old girl in his house and taking indecent photographs of her.

[18][19][20] In May 2017, Essex and Kent Police forces began searching a garage block in Stifford Clays, Thurrock, after receiving new information, and "did not rule out" looking for a body.

It was reported that similar information regarding suspicious activity around the garages had been received at the time Danielle Jones disappeared, but had not been followed up in the initial investigation.