[BoardBonobo]

A little five year old girl was abducted this evening around 7:30pm from Machynlleth. It's a long shot I know but for all you UK dwellers can you help. Her name is April (she is in the same class as my eldest son) and she was last seen being bundled into a white van.

The facebook link

There is a twitter #findapril.

Please spread the word, every pair of open eyes is one less place to hide.

[green.pixel]

Best of luck to the parents.

[eastmen]

hope they find her.

[Arwin]

Ech, what a nightmare come true for any parent ...

[ShadowWolf64]

Wow this is absolutely terrifying for the parents and hope they find her soon...

[BoardBonobo]

Its terrifying. My kids are at the same school, we've all been out searching for the last 24 hours and they have arrested a 46 year old man. But she still hasn't been found and the weather is pretty rough at the moment. The police seem to be concentrating their search along the banks of the river dyfi. It's all looking pretty bleak...

[Grall]

I always feel so sad whenever something like this happens. I wish I could wish the girl would turn up safe and unharmed, but when some time has passed and there's no sign, usually that is a bad sign. Unless it's a custody battle thing, where a parent might go underground with the child (for example to escape what is claimed to be abuse by the other parent) or where one parent is a foreigner who's taken the child abroad to his or her home country.

Why did they arrest that man in particular, is it likely it's the one involved in the kidnapping?

[cjo]

Originally Posted by Grall

Why did they arrest that man in particular, is it likely it's the one involved in the kidnapping?

They are asking for any possible sightings of his car between the time of the abduction and when they arrested him, so it seems likely they suspect he did it, and that it was his car that she was seen getting in to.

[Gerry]

Originally Posted by Grall

Why did they arrest that man in particular, is it likely it's the one involved in the kidnapping?

Seems like Bridger, the man who has been arrested, is the ex of the mother of some of the children that the girl was playing with. There's speculation that he's previously given lifts to April and his two girls. The Land Rover he drives matches the description (which is admittedly vague) of the vehicle that April was seen entering. April also seemingly entered the vehicle of her own accord so you'd have to guess she knew the person involved.

Lots of ifs and buts though. It's worrying that nothing seems to have come from the arrest so far.

[BoardBonobo]

He maybe linked to another failed abduction attempt early last week in Aberwrystwyth. Also his vehicle is left hand drive and April was seen getting into the drivers side.

It's really difficult around here as there are literally hundreds of forestry roads all within 30 minutes of town. And ruins, quarries...

We're hoping she has been stashed in a caravan or house somewhere and not just dumped on moorland somewhere, the weather has been horrible for the last couple of days and it would be easy to get hypothermia or suffer from exposure.

But the fact that the police are concentrating their search on the river and around the footbridge is not a good sign. With all the rain the river is in flood and it's dangerous for the searchers.

[nutball]

Originally Posted by Grall

Why did they arrest that man in particular, is it likely it's the one involved in the kidnapping?

Possibly. Though in cases like this the police do have an alarming tendency just to arrest the local weirdo, to make it look like they're doing something. More often than not is this individual is subsequently found not to have anything to do with it (sometimes quickly, occasionally after many years in jail for something they didn't do).

[Gerry]

Originally Posted by nutball

Possibly. Though in cases like this the police do have an alarming tendency just to arrest the local weirdo, to make it look like they're doing something. More often than not is this individual is subsequently found not to have anything to do with it (sometimes quickly, occasionally after many years in jail for something they didn't do).

Indeed. Just look at the Joanna Yates affair, where they arrested the landlord and everybody (well, OK, every idiot throughout the land) thought he was guilty because "he looked the sort".

[Grall]

Originally Posted by nutball

Though in cases like this the police do have an alarming tendency just to arrest the local weirdo, to make it look like they're doing something.

That was my first thought as well, considering they arrested someone, and then nothing seemed to come out of it.

[zed]

why was this on the news this morning? (rhetorical question's)
OK I listen to the news for an hour on the radio, so they go into depth. But even still a normal (as in parents non famous) 5 yr old girl abducted half the world away aint exactly stop the presses, how many 1000s of cases like this are happening aound the world today yet the media doesnt concern themselves with them.

this reminds me of an 'abduction in auckland a few months ago of a small girl' a psychic was called in and she said shes in a drain.
Of course the head of nz sceptics went on the records as saying BS, later they found the girl drowned in a ditch, so the head of the sceptics said I told you completely unrelated the psychic couldnt of been more wrong.
heres me going "hmm both are long narrow things used to convey water"
I think in future I'll take the sceptics proclamations as purports. The socalled rational person was letting her 'beliefs' get in way of the facts.
NOTE - I think it was just a coincidence I believe psychics are BS

[Grall]

Psychics aren't.

'Nuff said.

[cjo]

Originally Posted by Grall

That was my first thought as well, considering they arrested someone, and then nothing seemed to come out of it.

They're still questioning him (and have at least a few more hours to do so before they have to charge him or let him go).

EDIT: They applied for an extension, and now have until 5pm on friday.

[Bludd]

Norwegian newspapers are reporting that Mark Bridger (46) has been charged with the murder.

[Gerry]

Originally Posted by Bludd

Norwegian newspapers are reporting that Mark Bridger (46) has been charged with the murder.

Yeah, he has. Doesn't sound very promising alas.

[BoardBonobo]

I think he has been re-arrested on suspicion of murder not actually charged. They have no body etc to make a charge over. I also suspect that the change is down to it now being five days that she has been missing, so five days without food or water, and no medication for her cerebral palsy...

Also, we have all been practically told to stand down from searching now. The police must feel that we have exhausted the possibility of finding her. But there are still groups going out and people will continue looking until something is found.