At 12.20am on 30 July one of the children decided to sleep in the house, although three others including Sophie stayed outdoors. Sophie's uncle, whose house it was, checked the children at 12.40am before retiring for the night, leaving the door open at the rear of the house in case any of them decided to come in. At 2.30 a.m. Sophie's cousin woke, checked the time, and noticed that Sophie was still in the tent asleep between himself and her sister. At 2.55 a.m. Hughes was spoken to by a police officer who saw him while patrolling the town's promenade. When her cousin next woke at 7.15 a.m. he found Sophie was missing. Having failed to locate her after searching the garden and surrounding fields, she was reported missing to the police at 8.20 a.m.