The bodies of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells were found in a "severely decomposed and partially skeletonised" state and were almost certainly not killed at the spot where they were found, an inquest was told today.
The inquest into the deaths of the 10-year-olds was today formally opened and adjourned at Shire Hall in Cambridge.
Opening the inquest, coroner's officer Ms Tracy Smith said Det Chief Insp Andy Hebb contacted Cambridgeshire Coroner Mr David Morris on August 18th.
She said it was to advise him that the bodies of two young girls had been discovered the previous day in a ditch in an isolated location in the Mildenhall area of Suffolk.
The inquest was told that it is believed the deaths of the two girls happened in Cambridgeshire rather than Suffolk.
Mr Morris also criticised the offering of rewards for information made by newspapers during the search for the girls.
He said: "Personally I have to question the value of offering enormous financial rewards for information, however well intentioned".
PA