Man arrested in UK hunt for boys feared dead

A man has been arrested in the hunt for two boys feared dead after they disappeared nearly seven years ago, police said today.

A 37-year-old man was questioned by police investigating the whereabouts of Birmingham boys David Spencer and Patrick Warren, who were 13 and 11 at the time of their disappearance.

The best friends were reported missing from their homes in Chelmsley Wood, Solihull, on Boxing Day 1996.

A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said detectives arrested the man, from Birmingham, on Thursday after receiving new information on the case and subsequently bailed him.

David and Patrick were never found despite a poster campaign and their pictures featuring in a missing persons appeal on milk cartons.