April Jones: Police launch murder inquiry

 after giving up hope of finding her alive

Police investigating the abduction of April Jones have launched a murder inquiry after giving up hope of finding her alive.

Det Supt Reg Bevan said they had arrested the main suspect Mark Bridger on suspicion of her murder.

Supt Ian John called on the hundreds of volunteers to stand down and leave to trained officers as the hunt moved away from a rescue mission to one of finding her body.

Police have already called in dogs trained to locate dead bodies.

Officers have until 5pm tonight to either charge Mr Bridger or let him go.

Locals said that the news was the "confirmation of their worst fears" as they reluctantly gave up the search.

Today it emerged that Mr Bridger attended the same school parents' evening as the five year–old's mother and father in the hours before she was kidnapped.

He was at Machynlleth primary school on Monday evening, where his Land Rover Discovery was parked in a one-way street and blocked in other parents.

Witnesses have described seeing Mr Bridger driving “erratically” through the estate where April lived an hour before she was abducted.
There were reports last night that two women had told police they saw a man carrying a bin bag to a river the day after April disappeared.
^{The footage of the man fitting Mark Bridger's description was taken at 1.45pm on Tuesday by a Channel 4 News team}
He was allegedly seen scrambling down a bank near where April went missing.
Carwen Sheen, 36, told the Daily Mirror: "I've told the police what I saw. It's up to them now."

The father of the second woman, who had been chatting with her friend when the man allegedly appeared, said: "My daughter and a friend saw a man, they know him well. He was coming down a shale bank with a black bag. He was next to the river. She has been interviewed by the police since and told them everything she saw."
Police were continuing to build up a picture of Mr Bridger’s movements before and after the kidnapping.

^{Members of a mountain rescue team search the River Dyfi as the hunt for missing April Jones continues in Machynlleth (Getty Images)}

Mr Bridger, 46, was questioned by detectives for a third time yesterday after magistrates granted police another 36 hours to hold him. Police could apply for a further 24-hour extension today, but he must be charged or released by tomorrow afternoon.

Senior officers said establishing where Mr Bridger was between 5pm on Monday and 3.30pm on Tuesday, when he was arrested, was key to the search for April, who was abducted at 7pm on Monday.
^{Detective Superintendent Reg Bevan during a press conference holding up a photo of Mark Bridger and his Land Rover (PA)}
Powys county council confirmed that Mr Bridger attended a parents’ evening at the primary school in Machynlleth, where his own daughter and April are pupils.
April’s parents, Coral and Paul, were reportedly still at the parents’ evening when April, who was playing outside on her bicycle, disappeared.
A source said that at one point Mr Bridger’s Land Rover blocked the one-way road in front of the primary school, preventing another parent from getting away.
Another witness said he saw him driving through the Bryn-y-Gog estate, where April lives, at 6pm on Monday.
“He was driving erratically through Bryn-y-Gog,” said the witness. “He nearly hit my mate at 6pm. I heard other people say he was driving up and down the road.”
^{Police forensic officers enter Mark Bridger's house in Esgairgeiliog near Machynlleth (Reuters)}
At 9.15am on Tuesday, Mr Bridger seemed “agitated” as he drove out of Ceinws, the hamlet where he lived, according to a motorist, David Richards. “I was turning into Ceinws off the main road and crossing the bridge,” he said. “He wanted to go out to the main road in his vehicle. He was flustered, he wanted to get going. He couldn’t wait for me to cross the bridge, he couldn’t get out of that road quick enough. He was very agitated. There was only him in the Land Rover that I could see.
“He was crashing the gears, making a hell of a noise. He went out to the junction, then stopped and there was an almighty bang. There was something wrong with the vehicle.”
Mr Bridger’s Land Rover was seized by police later that day at a repair garage after Mr Bridger had been arrested.
Police searching his rented cottage lifted paving slabs and manhole covers in their hunt for clues yesterday, and a guesthouse nearby where he worked as an odd-job man was also searched.
^{April Jones and Mark Bridger}
April was born with cerebral palsy and has irritable bowel syndrome and needs daily doses of painkillers to manage her condition.
Her father also has health problems, and has been unable to join the search for his daughter because he has a degenerative eye condition that prevents him working.
A family friend said: “Paul is feeling helpless. He would like to be out there looking for his daughter but has been advised against it.”
Richard Moon, April’s maternal grandfather, said that he and his wife, Jean, now found it too painful to watch the news. He said it had “all become too much”.
Busloads of friends from their home town of Holyhead, Anglesey, have arrived in Machynlleth to help with the search for April.
Mr Moon, 69, described the support as “overwhelming” and a great comfort to the family.
April Jones' sister last night described the "sick" feeling of knowing someone was withholding information on her whereabouts.
As April's family waited in vain for news, her sister Jasmine, 16, said: "Knowing April still isn't found is making me sick and knowing someone knows something but won't say it makes me feel even worse. I just want our beautiful princess home now – it's been too long."
It was reported last night that Joe Sullivan, a forensic psychologist who advised British and Portuguese police in the search for Madeleine McCann, has been drafted in to aid Dyfed Powys police. He will advise detectives interviewing Mr Bridger in how to frame questions and interpret his responses.

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