investigation commenced. Murder investigation Roy Whiting was first questioned about the disappearance of Sarah Payne, which had taken place within of his Littlehampton seafront flat, some 24 hours after she went missing. Whiting was routinely questioned as he was known to local police as a convicted sex offender. Police first visited Whiting's flat on the afternoon of 2 July 2000, but he was not there. The police returned that evening and questioned Whiting for over an hour before leaving. The officers left Whiting's flat but were suspicious of his apparent lack of concern for Sarah, which differed from the attitude of at least one other known sex offender who had already been questioned. When Whiting re-appeared soon afterwards and attempted to drive away in his van, he was stopped by the police and arrested. He spent two days in custody but the police had no concrete evidence to press any charges, although they had found a receipt for fuel at Buck Barn garage near Pulborough, which contradicted his alibi of being at a funfair in Hove at 5:30p.m. and then returning to his flat by 9:30p.m. on the night Sarah disappeared. Whiting was released on bail. Police had found a receipt for fuel from Buck Barn garage on the A24, not far from Coolham where one of Payne's shoes was found, contradicting his alibi. After his initial arrest, Whiting did not return to his Littlehampton flat and went to live with his father in Crawley. On 20 July, three days after Sarah Payne's body was found, a shoe was recovered from a roadside in the village of Coolham, three miles from Pulborough, and identified as one of those belonging to Sarah Payne. On 23 July 2000, Whiting stole a Vauxhall Nova in Crawley and was pursued by police at speeds of up to before crashing into a parked vehicle. Whiting was arrested on a charge of dangerous driving. He was remanded in custody until 27 September 2000, when he admitted to the charges and was jailed for 22 months. After Whiting began his jail term for the car theft and dangerous driving, detectives carried out forensic tests on his 1988 white Fiat Ducato van, which he had bought on 23 June 2000. On 6 February 2001, following a police enquiry, Whiting was charged with the abduction and murder of Sarah Payne. On 6 February 2001, following seven months of investigating,