Balloons rise to honour missing April

Balloons were released around the world last night in a show of solidarity to mark what would have been the sixth birthday of missing April Jones.

April’s parents watched as hundreds of pink balloons were released from the housing estate where she vanished more than six months ago.

The primary schoolgirl was abducted while playing out on her bike on the Bryn-y-Gog estate in Machynlleth, Mid Wales, on 1 October last year. Parents Coral and Paul Jones appealed for friends and well-wishers around the world to mark their daughter’s sixth birthday today.

The Facebook appeal was via a page set up by Mel Moon, April’s Australia-based cousin.