missing april jones: live updates Rapist

Police release images of inside of Mark Bridger’s home Jury taken around Bridger’s cottage in fours on tours lasting 5 minutes Police found blood and bone in lounge, hallway and bathroom Forensics claim DNA match with April was a billion to one chance After tour also stopped to look at exterior and flower tributes in garden Jury also taken to riverside lay-by where Bridger was seen with black bag Bridger denies abduction and murder, claiming her death was an accident The living room in the home of Mark Bridger Images of the interior of Mark Bridger’s former home have been released after the jury in his trial visited the cottage in Ceinws, three miles from the estate in Machynlleth where he allegedly abducted April Jones.

Clearly visible in one of the photographs of the living room is the woodburner where what the prosecution says are charred fragments of a young person’s skull were found.

When police reached Bridger’s home the day after the five-year-old vanished, the room and house were “uncomfortably hot”.

A police helicopter helping in the search for April happened to capture images of smoke coming from the chimney a few hours before.

Bathroom tiles: The green arrows denote where police say they found April’s blood following Mark Bridger’s arrest The prosecution has alleged that Bridger undertook a major cleanup operation after he murdered April.

Police officers smelled detergent and found freshly laundered clothes when they arrived at his home.

Investigation: The prosecution also allege that April’s DNA was discovered in the hallway of the cottage But spots of April’s blood were found in “nooks and crannies”, the court has heard.

Some traces were found on the wood burner and the hearth.

Spots were also found on the underside of the carpet, where it had soaked through and so could not be easily cleaned up, the prosecution has claimed.

April’s blood was also found on the white sofa visible in the released images.

In front of the fireplace, boxes of cider can be seen.

Bridger has told police that he was an alcoholic and was drinking heavily on the night of April’s disappearance.

A rifle appears to be fixed to the beam above the woodburner but there is no sign of the knives that police found in the house, including a boning knife.

The court has been told that Bridger was a skilled slaughterman.

There is no sign of Bridger’s laptop on which the prosecution says he stored child abuse images, pictures of children involved in notorious murder cases and photos of local girls, including April and her two stepsisters.

The room is messy – a pair of trousers is draped over an armchair – and behind the sofa and above the CD rack are what appear to be family photographs.

A dog bed is in front of the woodburner; Bridger told police he often slept downstairs too.

bathroom door had blood on it matching Aprils dna Clothes, a trainer and what appears to be a belt are scattered on the stairs, and in the bathroom green police stickers indicate areas of interest to detectives.

The court has been told that April’s blood was found on the shower curtain and inside the washing machine in the bathroom.

There was also what might have been a bloody fingerprint on the washing machine, the trial has heard.

Bathroom: Police says blood was found on the inside of the door of this washing machine The prosecution claims that April came to harm at Bridger’s home rather than at the Bryn-Y-Gog estate where he allegedly abducted her in his car on 1 October.

Home: Around his possessions blood was also allegedly found on and surrounding this white leather sofa Elwen Evans QC, prosecuting, asked: “What happened to April there?

She lay bleeding in front of the fire in the defendant’s living room.

One person knows and he is not prepared to say.” Visit: Jurors arrive by coach at the home of Mark Bridger, Mount Pleasant in Ceinws, Mid Wales, on the third day of his trial for the abduction and murder of April Jones.

it is surrounded by trees, outbuildings and a river runs down its left side Bridger denies murder.

The trial continues.

01/05/2013 April Jones: Accused Mark Bridger ‘had her blood and bone in his home and stash of child abuse images’ The former slaughterhouse man, who also previously worked as a lifeguard and welder, was said to have a lurid fascination with child abuse images Obsessed Mark Bridger spent weeks before the kidnap and murder of April Jones gazing at pictures of the five-year-old and her teenage half-sisters, a court heard today.

He also scoured the web for vile images of underage girls being forced into sex and launched internet searches for “naked young five-year-old and 10-year-old girls”, a jury was told.

The former slaughter-house man, who also previously worked as a lifeguard and welder, was said to have a lurid fascination with child porn.

He kept files on his computer of high-profile murders.

They included images of Soham victims Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, Caroline Dickinson, a British schoolgirl murdered in a French hostel in 1996 and Jessica Lunsford, a nine-year-old American girl who was abducted in Florida.

He named the files after April’s two half sisters, aged 13 and 16, and collated a stash of images which police allegedly discovered on his hard drive.

Bridger, 47, was also found to have gathered photographs of other girls in the small mid-Wales town of Machynlleth, Powys, where April vanished near her home on October 1, prosecutor Elwen Evans told Mold crown court.

Mr Evans said Bridger held an obvious interest in “young girls who had been raped and murdered”.

When confronted about the child porn, the father of six told cops he wanted to understand the development of his own daughter’s breasts to help push forward her future career as a model.

And he claimed he was amassing the sick images so he could write to foreign companies responsible for banned websites to complain about them.

But just hours before April was abducted, he had been ogling up to 20 pictures of another teenage girl – the daughter of one of his friends – along with a pornographic cartoon, the jury heard.

When police swooped on his remote farmhouse home some days later in the tiny village of Ceinws, bloodstains that matched April’s DNA were found inside.

Bone fragments were discovered burnt in his fire, and when analysed by scientists, it was ruled they came from a child’s skull, although they were unable to make any further identification.

April’s blood was discovered in his living room, hallway and bathroom with a concentration of blood uncovered close to the wood burner, along with a boning knife, also badly charred.

Bridger has admitted killing April, but has protested to cops he cannot remember where he dumped her body.

The ex-lifeguard told detectives he accidentally ran over the five-year-old outside her home on the Bryn-y-Gog estate before bundling her body in the boot of his Land Rover as he drove round Machynlleth in a frantic panic deciding what to do.

But prosecutor Elwen Evans dismissed his explanation as an outright lie and told the trial: “It’s our case that the defendant’s actions – abduction, murder, covering up what he has done – that his actions were sexually motivated.” “He{Bridger} has played, we say, a cruel game in pretending not to know what he has done to her.

“It’s a game to try and save himself and try to manipulate his way out of his full responsibility in what he has done.

“It is the defendant’s case he admits her drove her away, he admits April is dead.

“He accepts he killed or probably killed her.

He accepts that he must have got rid of her body.

“Where he got rid of the body or how, he says to us, he does not know and he cannot remember.

“The prosecution case is Mark Bridger murdered her and went to enormous lengths to cover up what he had done.” A harrowing 999 call made by mother Coral Jones moments after her daughter disappeared was played to the jury during which she begged the police operator: “Please…please my daughter has been kidnapped…my daughter.” Hyperventilating with panic, the desperate mother could be heard breaking down in tears as Bridger, emotionless in the dock, shook his head.

Bridger was described in court as a ‘fantasist’ who claimed he used to be in the SAS and was an expert in ‘survival and bushcraft’, but when police examined his supposed Army background there were no records to back it up.

The court heard how a young girl, who was playing outside her home with April on the Bryn-y-Gog estate when she vanished, told officers in interview she was happy and smiling when the five-year-old talked to the man who allegedly kidnapped her.

She said: “I thought April knew him.

We were just playing on the bikes near the garage.

“I saw April by the van and saw the man get out and April get in.

I just watched.

I thought she’d come back.” A courtroom, including parents Coral and Paul Jones, were shown Bridger’s stash of outlawed porn which featured children performing sex acts, dead youngsters and normal pictures of girls from the internet.

One image showed an eight-year-old girl who was pregnant, a photo which Bridger described as ‘astonishing and interesting.’ Some of his files were marked in a sub-category under the heading ‘Clothes’ and his computer history revealed he had typed ‘naked five-year-old girl’ into a search engine.

Miss Evans, said: “In addition to child pornography and photos of young girls, the defendant also had an interest in child murder and rape cases; for example, images of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman from the Soham case.

“Why will you need to consider this sort of material?

You will have to decide whether pretty five-year-old April was abducted and murdered or run over by accident and killed, as the defendant says.

“We say his interest in pornography, young girls, rape and murder cases is all too relevant and you may see it as the key to understanding what he did and why he did what he did.” Bridger, wearing a light blue, short-sleeved shirt and striped tie, sat staring ahead as he listened to the evidence.

A large snake tattoo could be seen on his left forearm and he wore headphones to help him hear the proceedings.

At times he appeared to be struggling with his emotions and had to wipe away tears with a tissue.

Bridger claims he was too drunk to recollect what he did with April after his explanation that she died after he ran over her, pinning the tot under his wheel.

Questioning his account, Miss Evans said: “Did he call for help?

Did he use his mobile phone he had on his dashboard?

“Did he go to any hospital?

Did he tell anyone what he had done?

The answer was absolutely resounding ‘no.’ “He left Byrn-y-Gog by a back road.

It took him the opposite way from the local hospital.

“He drove away from Machynlleth to the direction of his home.” Bridger, of Ceinws, denies abducting and murdering April, and unlawfully disposing of and concealing her body with intent to pervert the course of justice.

Where is the investigation at now ?

The former lifeguard accused of murdering five-year-old April Jones has made a first appearance in crown court via videolink.

Mark Leonard Bridger, 46, remained in prison in Manchester rather than appearing in person at the brief preliminary hearing at Caernarfon crown court in north-west Wales.

Wearing spectacles and a black jumper over a grey T-shirt, Bridger spoke only to confirm that he could hear proceedings and his identity.

He appeared to be listening intently during the 18-minute appearance.

He was remanded in custody until Janaury 11th, 2013 Bridger is accused of abducting and murdering April, who was last seen on Monday evening last week as she played with friends close to her home in Machynlleth, mid-Wales.

He is also charged with disposing of and concealing her body with intent to pervert the course of justice.

Mark Bridger, 46, appeared before Aberystwyth magistrates and will appear at Caernarfon Crown Court on Wednesday Mr Bridger confirmed his name and address and cried as he confirmed he understood the charges against him.

He has also been charged with child abduction and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The latter charge refers to the unlawful disposal and concealment of a body.

The court clerk read out each charge individually, asking Mr Bridger if he understood.

Mark Bridger has been charged with April’s murder.

When the murder charge was read out he answered “Yes” with tears in his eyes.

He answered “Yes” twice more to confirm he had understood each charge.

When his name was read out, he said: “That is correct.” He answered “correct” to confirm that his date of birth was 6 November, 1965, and said the same for his Mount Pleasant farmhouse address at the village of Ceinws.

He was remanded in custody and will be held in prison in Manchester and will appear at Caernarfon Crown Court via video link.

Mark Bridger has been formally charged with the murder of 5 yr old April Jones, also charged with child abduction and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

He will appear b4 magistrates on monday to confirm his name.

SKY NEWS now say the police have a good idea of where they must look in the retreival of Aprils body (within a 5 mile stretch of the river) that is why the sonar boat is being sent in, Other search teams are scaling down …..

Supt Ian John said that because of today’s “significant development” it was no longer appropriate for the many volunteers who had joined the hunt for April to continue searching.”The dynamics of the search have now changed and due to the passage of time and the developments within the investigation it is no longer appropriate for us to expect untrained members of the public to continue the search.

“So now we only require professional searchers to be involved in the ongoing search which continues in and around Machynlleth.” It has just been confirmed that the police are asking the public to go home, the police say they are not looking for April to be alive and the search and rescue teams will go out to try and recover the body Police have now arrested MARK BRIDGER ON SUSPICION OF THE MURDER OF APRIL JONES Police confirmed Mr Bridger was arrested on the A487 road north of Dyfi Bridge, walking in the direction of Machynlleth.

Why were they looking for him immediately ?

Was he a sex offender ?

The reason they were looking for him was because he was identified by the witness when the abduction took place.

There is no record to suggest he is a convicted sex offender He was wearing a camouflage green jacket, black waterproof over-trousers and camouflage trousers beneath those.

Bridger had the use of a mid-1990s Land-Rover, similar to one reportedly used to abduct April.

(The initial colour was suggested as white/cream, and Bridgers is blue, but under dusk and street lights and as only a 5 yr old was a witness we can accept the colour may of been distorted) One of his children was said to have been playing with April when she disappeared in Machynlleth, Mid Wales — and may also have been in his van at the time.

April is thought to have got in a vehicle at 7.30 on Monday night while playing near her home.

Police said Bridger is known to her family but is not a relative.

Sources said the father of two was a close friend and “almost part of the family”.

One of his children was said to have been playing with April when she disappeared.

A local said: “We’ve heard tyre marks were found on the river bank at a spot where vehicles don’t normally go.” (however a land rover could easily access there) Police said she got into the van willingly and there was “nothing to suggest there was a struggle”.

(which suggests April knew her abductor) Police say the Land Rover Discovery was recovered from a repair garage in the old Station Road area of Machynlleth on Tuesday afternoon.

(Was he attempting to hide it?

Mechanic Mark Bridger, 46 and his Land Rover Discovery The pink and purple bike that April loved to play on lay outside her home last night.The hunt was being concentrated on the nearby River Dyfi last night.

19-00 : Sky Sources: Man arrested on suspicion of abduction of April Jones is 46-year-old Mark Bridger, he split from his girlfriend one week ago 16-46 : 46 yr old man arrested !

His van is similiar to the one used, He was already known to the police Latest – April got in to the drivers side of the vehicle !!!!

None of the other kids who were there knew the vehicle or the occupant so no it looks like its a “stranger” abduction, but she was not forced into the vehicle , she got in willing !

(However it could be a left hand drive vehicle) “Witnesses told us about small van – small at the front and large at the back,” he said, adding that the colour of the van, grey or light-coloured, had not changed.

“This could be interpreted to something similar Ford Connect van or something like Land Rover.

“April got into the driver’s door so it may well be that she got in with driver or it could mean it’s a left hand-drive vehicle.

“The indications are that she got into the vehicle willingly… There’s nothing to suggest at this stage there was a struggle.” April Jones: missing girl ‘was abducted’, say police Police and hundreds of residents have launched a major search for a missing five-year-old girl feared to have been snatched off the street.

April Jones was seen getting into a light coloured van which drove off in Machynlleth, Powys, at 7.30pm yesterday.

She had been playing on her bike with friends near her home on the Brynygog estate in the market town in mid Wales.

April Jones was last seen playing with her friend on their bikes near to garages in the town at around 7.30pm yesterday evening.

April was seen getting into a light coloured van or van sized vehicle which then drove off.

Roadblocks were set up and a 25-mile radius search was launched, while officers spoke to April’s friend – the only witness to the abduction.

This is the purple knee-length coat with grey fur around the hood that April was wearing when she disappeared yesterday evening.

April Jones got into a grey or light-coloured van, witnesses reported Disappeared from Welsh town of Machynlleth at about 7pm on Monday Hundreds of local residents take to streets in hunt for missing child Police: ‘We are becoming increasingly concerned for her safety’ Posters bearing the message ‘Kidnapped’ produced to raise awareness Cars entering and leaving the town stopped and searched Police have released new information about the last-known movements of a five-year-old girl who was abducted on Monday night in mid Wales.

April Jones was last seen by another child, getting into a grey or light-coloured van which drove off in Machynlleth at about 7pm.

Police and hundreds of local residents spent the night searching for the youngster, who was out playing near her home when she disappeared.

Dyfed Powys Police said that April was wearing a purple knee-length coat with grey fur around the hood, a white polo shirt and black trousers.

A spokeswoman said: “Her abduction took place around 7pm in the Bryn Y Gog estate in Machynlleth.

It was witnessed by another young child when April was seen getting into a grey or light-coloured van, or van-sized vehicle.

While the details of what happened are vague at the current time, it appears the suspect left the scene and drove off with April.

Detective Superintendent Reg Bevan of Dyfed-Powys Police told Sky News that because the initial account of April’s abduction came from children, police were involved in a “delicate and lengthy process” to get the best information.

He said: “Hopefully, later this morning I’ll have some more details around the vehicle, specific details, and we are pursuing a number of lines of inquiry around that vehicle, where it may or may not be at this moment in time.” Police previously said April was last seen playing on a bike near her home, before being seen getting into the van.

Dog teams have been involved in the operation to find the five-year-old, and cars in and out of the small market town, which has a population of 2,500, were being stopped and searched, police said.

Aerial photo showing part of Machynlleth.

The pink arrow marks the Bryn Y Gog estate Aerial photograph showing the town of Machynlleth (bottom right) and surrounding landscape The force has also released three pictures of brown-haired April and urged anyone with information about her disappearance to come forward.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101.

April’s disappearance has sparked concern in the local area, as well as further afield.

Hundreds of people from across the UK have already signed up to a dedicated Facebook page in a bid to raise awareness.

Those joining the group are able to download a missing poster, featuring three photographs of the youngster, before sharing it on their profile.

On Monday night, up to 200 people gathered at Machynlleth LeisureCentre to help search for April, according to reports.

Locals also put up posters of the youngster around the town as part of their efforts.

Chris Dudley, who works at the Skinners Arms in Penrallt Street, said the pub was empty last night, with many of the locals joining the search.

“All the locals are looking for her in this area – the cemeteries, the golf field, playing field, everywhere you can think of,” Mr Dudley said.

He said police officers were “everywhere” and were also searching cars.

Search: Around 200 people were said to be looking for the girl in the town of Machynlleth