Jayden Parkinson disappearance: second person arrested as hunt goes on

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/13/jayden-parkinson-disappearance-second-person-arrested

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A second person was arrested on Friday on suspicion of murder as detectives said that they were keeping "an open mind" on what happened to a 17-year-old girl who went missing in Oxford last week.

The 17-year-old boy was arrested in connection with the disappearance of Jayden Parkinson after he attended an Oxfordshire police station, a day after a 22-year-old man was also arrested in Reading.

Police are appealing to the public to think of any information they may have dismissed at the time but which may help with the investigation into the disappearance of the Oxford teenager, who was last seen in the Iffley Road area of the town in the mid-afternoon of 3 December. She did not return home that evening as planned.

Forensic officers have been examining the property in Christchurch Road, Reading, where they made their arrest on Thursday of the 22-year-old man. He is reported to have been in relationship with her and was also held on suspicion of murder.

Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Murray of Thames Valley police said on Friday: "At this stage, we are keeping an open mind as to what has happened to Jayden. Due to the length of time she has been missing and the fact that she has made no contact with her family or friends, we are treating her disappearance very seriously."

Police have issued a CCTV image of Jayden leaving Didcot Parkway railway station after she had earlier caught a train from Oxford. She is white, of slim build with shoulder-length dark brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing light blue faded jeans and a brown hooded top with red lettering on it, a black waist length jacket, and dark coloured trainers.

It is believed she walked up the High Street through the town centre, arriving at Oxford train station at 4.07pm, where she boarded a train to Didcot. The last sighting of her is when she left Didcot train station at about 4.27pm. Police are on the ground in Upton, near Didcot, in connection with the search.

Detective Chief Superintendent Murray added: "A number of lines of inquiries have led us to this area and we are asking residents if they saw any suspicious activity on Sunday night into Monday morning.

"Upton is a small area and I am hopeful someone might have seen something that they dismissed at the time but which may prove important to the investigation.

"As you can appreciate this is a live investigation with multiple lines of inquiries and possible scenes, and we also have a suspect in custody. Some of the information we have received is in the very early stages of investigation and we have a team of detectives working tirelessly to find out Jayden's movements and where she is.

"Jayden's family are obviously aware of the developments in the investigation as it goes on."

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