Police bolstered by public support for missing April Jones

ONE of the police officers leading the search for April Jones said last night that he was “very heartened” that the force had received more than 2,500 phone calls with information.

• April Jones has been missing since Monday evening

Police have been given until 5pm tomorrow to question Mark Bridger.

• Mother made emotional appeal yesterday

Superintendent Ian John, of Dyfed Powys Police, said officers from across England and Wales were helping to field the calls. Police remained determined to find the five-year-old girl, who has been missing since Monday, and he said searches would continue through the night, regardless of the weather.

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Mr John said he was sure everyone was feeling for April’s family.

“I just want to remind everybody that’s why we’re here tonight, in the pouring rain in Machynlleth,” he said. “The good news is that everybody is determined to follow this through.”

More than 400 people have registered their details of specialist skills with police.

“Following the appeals for information that we’ve made, we’ve received over 2,500 calls from the public,” Mr John said.

“I’m very heartened by it, it shows that the public care and want to help us.”

Earlier, the force was granted until 5pm today to continue questioning Mark Bridger, 46, who has been arrested in relation to April’s disappearance.

Detective Superintendent Reg Bevan appealed for information from anyone who saw Mr

Bridger or his blue Land Rover Discovery, registration L503 MEP, between 6:30pm on Monday and 3:30pm on Tuesday.

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He said: “We will continue to piece together his movements and look to overlay his account with what we’ve gleaned from witnesses, sightings and the other inquiries that we are conducting.”

April has been missing since about 7pm on Monday, when she vanished while playing with friends, sparking a frantic search.

Specialist police search teams are being helped in the hunt by a marine unit, mountain rescuers, the coastguard and lifeboat services. The public have been asked to search their gardens and outbuildings.

Mr Bridger was arrested on Tuesday as he walked along the side of the road a couple of miles outside Machynlleth, wearing camouflage-style clothing.

His Land Rover was retrieved from a repair garage in the town.

It had been reported that Mr Bridger was a former soldier, but the Ministry of Defence said yesterday that he had never been a member of the armed forces.

More than 220 police officers have joined the operation to find April, who has cerebral palsy.

Detectives are focusing specific search activity at more than 20 sites, including a farmhouse where Mr Bridger is believed to have lived recently.

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Specialist teams have also been combing the area along the River Dyfi.

Mr Bridger has young daughters who are known to have played with April in the area where she was snatched, near her home on the Bryn-y-Gog estate where she lives with her mother Coral, 40.

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