Police involved in the search for Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman must now return their attentions to the search for a suspicious green car after excavations in the Suffolk countryside found no sign of the girls.
A team of forensic scientists and police officers descended on the site in Warren Hill, near Newmarket, after a jogger who had heard screams from the area on the night they went missing later reported finding mounds of disturbed earth.
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Police forensic officers at Warren Hill Gallops in Newmarket prepare to examine two mounds of freshly disturbed earth. Photograph: PA
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But having been told to "brace themselves" for bad news, the anxious wait by the girls' parents continues after the search found no connection with the inquiry.
The team leading the investigation must now refocus their efforts on the evidence of a local taxi driver.
They will also continue to check the sex offenders register in the search for known paedophiles in the area.
Taxi driver Ian Webster, 56, reported seeing a driver struggling with two girls in a car near where Holly and Jessica were last seen in Soham, Cambridgeshire, more than a week ago.
A witness told police yesterday he had discovered the mounds of earth after returning to a spot where he had earlier reported hearing screams while walking a dog on Sunday, August 4th, the day Jessica and Holly were last seen.
More than 300 police officers have been taking part in the search for the best friends who disappeared during a family barbecue in the Cambridgeshire town of Soham.