Search for April widens as mum renews appeal

The search for April Jones continued to widen in hostile terrain last night as police questioned her suspected abductor for clues about her whereabouts.

Mark Bridger, 46, has been interviewed twice by officers focused on any information he may have about where five-year-old April is.

Police said they would not reveal what the former soldier had said to avoid jeopardising the search but stated they were looking into his past to build up a profile.

Meanwhile, the search continued to grow in the area around April’s home town Machynlleth, on the fringes of Snowdonia national park in mid-Wales, an area described as a “hostile environment”.

Supt Ian John of Dyfed Powys Police said the scale of the investigation was unprecedented: “The search operation is continuing to grow and grow at quite a pace.

“We’ve got over 100 mountain rescue experts, 100 police-trained search officers, 20 dog-handlers, two vessels to search the river, a team of kayakers, as well as the Dyfed Powys Police marine unit.”

Mr John said the ground was “quite treacherous and we have had a lot of rain”.

“We’ve got a flooded river that we are working around and we are really pulling on the skills of the teams that are there.”

One of the areas being searched is a farmhouse where Mr Bridger is believed to have lived recently and specialist teams have also been combing the area along the Dyfi river.

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 Jones, 40.

The two girls, believed to be aged seven and 10, live less than 200m from April’s home. They have a step-sister who is the same age as April and who also regularly played with her.

Railway worker Glen Lewis, 50, described the former soldier’s two daughters as “lovely, sweet girls” and said he often saw them playing on the estate.

He said it was well-known they were Mr Bridger’s daughters and that his former partner was married and lived on the estate.

“I know Mark vaguely. I think he came to Machynlleth about 15 years ago when the leisure centre opened and he was one of the lifeguards.

“Over the years I have seen him around and I’ve seen his Land Rover Discovery on the estate. He would come here to visit his daughters and would probably take them out in his car.”

Mr Bridger’s estranged son, Scott Williams, revealed last night he had joined in the search for April.

Earlier, April’s mother begged for help in finding her daughter as she made an emotional public appeal.

Ms Jones sobbed as she said: “It’s been 36 hours since April was taken from us. There must be someone out there who knows where she is and can help the police find her. We are desperate for any news.

“April is only five years old. Please, please, help find her.”

After her plea, she broke down in tears, holding her head in her hands, and was comforted by April’s grandfather, Dai Smith.

April has been missing since about 7pm on Monday when she vanished while playing with friends in the Bryn-y-Gog estate. She was seen to get into a car, believed to be a left-hand drive Land Rover Discovery, apparently of her own free will.