For two weeks, the hunt for missing Sarah Payne dominated the national news.

JULY 1, 2000: Sarah vanishes after leaving a field in Kingston Gorse, East Preston, where she has been playing with her brothers and sister. She was last seen at 7.45pm, 150 metres from her grandparents' home. Campers in Fittleworth, on the A29 near Pulborough, hear a child scream.

JULY 2: More than 150 police officers and 80 volunteers begin the search. In the evening, police arrest Roy Whiting at his flat in Littlehampton. He is released on police bail after questioning.

JULY 3: Mum Sara and dad Michael make a public appeal for the return of their "little princess". A second man, 31, is arrested later that day. He is released without charge after 48 hours.

JULY 4: More than 500 volunteers join the search for Sarah. The Argus puts up a £5,000 reward for information leading to her safe return.

JULY 5: Sarah's brother Lee takes part in an identity parade but fails to pick out Whiting, who is later released on bail.

JULY 7: Six days after Sarah vanished, four local schoolchildren take part in a reconstruction of her last movements, which is broadcast around the world.

JULY 10: A woman tells police she spoke to a girl matching Sarah's description at Knutsford service station on the M6 in Cheshire. The report proves to be a red herring.

JULY 11: An e-fit picture of a man seen at the service station is circulated, triggering another 1,500 calls. A teenage boy is arrested after police are given a hoax tip-off.

JULY 14: Police announce they are treating Sarah's disappearance as abduction. Until now it has been a missing persons inquiry.

JULY 15: Two weeks after Sarah's disappearance, the Paynes take their children to the beach where they were last together.

JULY 17: Shortly after 10.15am a farmhand finds a young girl's body next to A29 near Brinsbury Agricultural College, between Pulborough and Billingshurst.

JULY 18: The body is formally identified as that of missing Sarah.

JULY 19: Sara and Michael Payne visit the site where their daughter's body was found. They lay a bouquet of long-stemmed lilies - Sarah's favourite flowers - at the spot. The Argus offers a £10,000 reward for the capture of her killer.

JULY 20: Police find one of Sarah's shoes in a hedge two miles away.

JULY 22: Whiting is arrested after a high-speed police chase.

JULY 23: The News of the World launches its For Sarah campaign, in which it names convicted sex offenders. Meanwhile, officers stop 2,000 motorists on the A29.

JULY 30: Police begin to remove 30,000 bouquets left for Sarah.

JULY 31: Whiting is rearrested for questioning in connection with Sarah's abduction and murder. He is again released.

AUGUST 12: Thousands of people pack Guildford Cathedral for Sarah's memorial service.

AUGUST 23: The reward for information is raised to £100,000 as police desperately seek more evidence.

JANUARY 25, 2001: The owners of the other half of a set of blue and white striped clown-print curtains, found in Whiting's van, come forward following an appeal on TV show Crimewatch.

FEBRUARY 6: Whiting, imprisoned for leading police on a high-speed chase, is questioned for a third time following analysis of forensic science samples. He is charged and appears in court the next day.

December 12, 2001