This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/02/wales

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
April Jones: man arrested as search continues April Jones: man arrested as search continues
(about 4 hours later)
Detectives involved in the massive hunt for a five-year-old girl abducted from the street as she played with friends were on Tuesday night questioning a suspect – a man known to the police – in the hope that they would find the child alive. The family of a five-year-old girl abducted from a street as she played with friends said their lives had been "shattered" and appealed for help in getting her home.
Police sources told the Guardian that the man arrested was a local resident called Mark Bridger. The 46-year-old was detained some 22 hours after April Jones was snatched from near her home in the rural town of Machynlleth in mid-Wales. Her disappearance triggered the first nationwide child rescue alert in the UK. Detectives were questioning a suspect on Tuesday night and continued to search river banks, fields and hills around the town of Machynlleth in mid-Wales in the hope that April Jones would be found alive.
The arrest came as April's parents Coral, 40 and Paul, 43, were about to make an appeal at a press conference in Aberystwyth for information about their missing child. Police sources told the Guardian the man arrested was a 46-year-old called Mark Bridger, who lives streets away from April's home and is known to the family.
Instead of the parents appearing, the senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Reg Bevan, of Dyfed- Powys police, said that the man had been arrested on suspicion of abduction. He was walking along the side of a road near Machynlleth when he was arrested. As he was being questioned in Aberystwyth, the police released a statement from the girl's family in which they appealed for her to be returned.
Bevan said they hoped his arrest would help officers find April. "We are still searching for April as if she is alive and we will continue to do so," he said. The statement read: "Our lives were shattered when our beautiful little girl April, who was playing with friends, was taken from us. We are devastated and our lives have stopped.
In a statement read out by police officers at a later press conference , April's family appealed for her safe return, saying their lives had been shattered. "Please, please if you have our little girl, let her come home to us," the statement added. "Please, please, if you have our little girl let her come home to us. This is such a small, close-knit community and we plead with anyone who has information, no matter how small they may think it is, to contact the police immediately. Please help us bring home our beautiful girl."
Officers then said that as well as detaining the 46-year-old, they had also seized a left-hand drive Land Rover Discovery. Bridger was detained on Tuesday afternoon, around 20 hours after April was snatched from her home on Monday evening. He was found walking down a road near Machynlleth just before April's parents, Coral, 40, and Paul, 43, were about to appear in person to appeal for help.
Shortly after the announcement of the arrest, the search for April moved to a road north of the town, the A487, where a light coloured vehicle was seen surrounded by police cars. Instead of the parents appearing, the senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Reg Bevan, of Dyfed- Powys police, said a 46-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of abduction. He said he hoped the arrest would lead to the discovery of April. "We are still searching for April as if she is alive and we will continue to do so," he said.
Police and coastguards were seen searching alongside the River Dyfi near the town of Corris, outside Machynlleth. It is believed the police had been searching for the man for some hours. "We knew he was in the area, we've been anxious to trace him and speak to him," said Bevan. "He came into the inquiry as a result of initial investigations and we have been anxious to trace him. He has a vehicle similar to what was seen near to where April went missing."
Bevan revealed that the suspect – who is not thought to be a relative but did know the family – was known to have a vehicle matching the description of the one April's friends saw her get into on Monday night. At another press conference hours later, Bevan said they continued to question the man but April still had not been found.
"We knew he was in the area, we've been anxious to trace him and speak to him," said Bevan. "He came into the inquiry as a result of initial investigations and we have been anxious to trace him. He has a vehicle similar to what was seen near to where April went missing." For the first time he gave details of a vehicle that police were examining: a left-hand drive mid-nineties Land Rover Discovery. April is said to have got into the driver's side or the passenger side of a left-hand drive van-like vehicle.
It is known that police are identifying known paedophiles that might be living in the area as one line of inquiry. Police also confirmed that they are looking at possible links between April's abduction and a suspected attempt last week. A driver was seen "acting suspiciously" in the Aberystwyth area, the apparent target being a young schoolboy. Bevan said he was "extremely concerned" for April. Search teams, including police officers, coastguards and mountain rescue experts, continued to look for her.
The five-year-old was abducted as she played on her bike with friends near her home on the Bryn-y-Gog estate around 7pm on Monday. Among the areas they were combing were the banks of the river Dyfi, which runs through Machynlleth. Police asked the hundreds of members of the public who have helped search to go home and rest in case they are needed again today.
During Monday night and throughout Tuesday hundreds of volunteers – some from the town and others from further afield arrived to help in the search. Superintendent Ian John, the local police commander, said: "We ask the public to take this opportunity to have some rest and, if they're available, to consider coming and helping us again. The residents have really shown themselves to be a very close-knit and kind-hearted community."
Her seven-year-old friend has told police that she got into the driver's side of a light coloured van-like vehicle. Police said specially trained officers were carefully talking to the child to get more information, but April apparently got into the car "willingly." It is known that police are identifying known paedophiles that might be living in the area as one line of inquiry. Police also confirmed they are looking at possible links between April's abduction and a suspected attempt last week. A driver was seen "acting suspiciously" in the Aberystwyth area, the apparent target being a young schoolboy.
The child rescue alert has never been used across the country like this before, partly because suspected stranger abductions are rare. April was abducted as she played on her bike with friends near her home on the Bryn-y-Gog estate around 7pm on Monday. The seven-year-old friend she was playing with spoke to specially trained officers and told them that apparently April got into the car "willingly". But police were having to proceed slowly and carefully with the girl because she is so young.
Charlie Hedges, manager of the missing, abducted and kidnapped children section within the Child Exploitation and Online Protection unit, said the decision to launch the alert was made because the risk to April was so great, and in the knowledge that to do so could swamp the investigating team. April's disappearance triggered the first nationwide child rescue alert in the UK. The rescue alert has never been used across the country like this before, partly because suspected stranger-abductions are rare.
A team from Ceop has travelled to Wales to work with Dyfed- Powys police in the hunt for April. The massive police search involves two helicopters with thermal imaging cameras, sniffer dogs, mountain rescue teams, the fire service and hundreds of officers and volunteers. Charlie Hedges, manager of the missing, abducted and kidnapped children section within the Child Exploitation and Online Protection unit, said the decision to launch the alert was made because the risk to April was so great, and in the knowledge that to do so could swamp the investigating team. A team from Ceop has travelled to Wales to work with Dyfed-Powys police.
Police forces across the country – including from the Metropolitan police – have offered support to the small rural force. There are nationwide alerts out for any sign of April and police were also looking through CCTV footage from private homes, municipal cameras and the road network. Police forces across the country – including from the Metropolitan police – have offered support to the small rural force. There were nationwide alerts out and police were also looking through CCTV footage from private homes, municipal cameras and the road network.
One of the difficulties for police is that the witness to the abduction is a seven- year-old child, April's best friend. Police specially trained in interviewing children were continuing to interview the girl trying to "delicately" coax every drop of information from her. Neighbours on the Bryn-y-Gog estate where April and her family live said April and the girl who were playing with her were best friends. Judy Price, 56, who lives 200 yards away, said: "They were always together. I would often see them playing together outside their homes. April is a lovely little thing, always smiling and from a very good and caring home."
Bevan said the family were extremely distraught and were being supported by experienced officers. "It's every family's worst nightmare to suffer a child go missing in this way," he said.
"Clearly April's gone into the vehicle. There's nothing to suggest otherwise."
Neighbours on the Bryn-y-Gog estate where April and her family live said April and the girl who were playing with her were best friends.
Judy Price, 56, who lives 200 yards away, said: "They were always together. I would often see them playing together outside their homes. April is a lovely little thing, always smiling and from a very good and caring home."
Matthew Harris, 22, who lives on the estate, said: "The general feeling is one of disbelief, nobody can take it on board."Matthew Harris, 22, who lives on the estate, said: "The general feeling is one of disbelief, nobody can take it on board."
April's godmother Mair Raftree, 41, from Aberystwyth, who helped with the effort to find her, said: "She's a quiet girl, and an important member of her family. She would never go with anybody and ask for a lift. We just want her back safely."April's godmother Mair Raftree, 41, from Aberystwyth, who helped with the effort to find her, said: "She's a quiet girl, and an important member of her family. She would never go with anybody and ask for a lift. We just want her back safely."
Since April disappeared hundreds of people both from the small Welsh town and from further afield have travelled to the area to help police in their search. Gathering at the community centre in the town, the volunteers were counted into 10 groups of 20 and sent out into the hills, woodlands and fields on with a mountain rescue guide as part of the hunt.