April Jones abduction: New plea on Mark Bridger whereabouts

Police searching for April Jones have renewed an appeal over suspect Mark Bridger's movements, as they are given more time to question him.

Detectives, who have until 5pm on Friday to hold him, are dealing with a "vast amount of forensic analysis".

The search for April, five, is in its fourth day since she went missing from Machynlleth, Powys, on Monday evening.

PM David Cameron said it was every family's nightmare and urged anyone with information to speak to police.

The prime minister, whose late son Ivan had cerebral palsy, said the fact that April has the condition only made it worse.

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Volunteers gather to search in the village of Corris

At a news conference on Thursday, Det Supt Reg Bevan, of Dyfed-Powys Police, who is leading the inquiry, said: "We need information from the public which may help us find April.

"In particular we are looking to trace the movements of Mark Bridger between 6.30pm on Monday and 3.30pm on Tuesday and any sightings of him between these times.

"In addition, if anyone had contact with him between these times, we would urge you to come forward.

"By contact I mean any contact - including face to face, telephone, text or social media.

Mark Bridger and his blue Land Rover Discovery - registration L503MEP

"We also need information regarding the movements of the blue Land Rover Discovery registration L503 MEP between Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon."

Supt Ian John also thanked the hundreds of locals who had once again turned out to scour the countryside.

"We continue to implement the police-led searches in partnership with other police forces from around the UK, which includes nationally recognised search advice, mountain rescue, coastguard and other agencies," he said.

"We understand fully why people feel the need do something practical to get out and try to find April.

"We want to ensure that we do all we can to find her, and at the same time do nothing to jeopardise the effort to locate her.

"We are consulting the National Police Search Centre to see how we can best use the untrained community volunteers to do this."

April was last seen wearing this purple knee-length coat

A special area has been created in the foyer of April's school to show its support.

The school, Ysgol Gynradd Machynlleth, said after a request from April's mother all pupils created small individual heart-shaped messages, and some classes also made artwork for her family.

The school has also set up an open book for parents, pupils and staff to leave "messages of support for April, Coral, Paul, Jasmine and Harley during this traumatic time".

On Wednesday night police confirmed April has cerebral palsy and would be in pain without her daily medication.

April's mother has made a plea for people to wear pink ribbons to support the search.

Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones said: "As a dad I have thought about little else since the news came through. It's very difficult to imagine what April's parents are going through, there's been a lot of support from the community, it's been absolutely incredible".

Mr Jones added: "So many people have come forward to offer their services but what we need more than anything else is to understand the whereabouts of April."

Hundreds of local people responded to a fresh call for people living within a 10 to 15 mile (16-24km) radius and with a good local knowledge of the area, to contact rescue coordinators.

They are currently searching areas around 32 villages, concentrating initially on 15 communities.

Volunteers have been told to keep away from the River Dyfi, the Dyfi forest and places such as mine shafts, which were being searched by specialist teams.

Meanwhile, April's godmother Mair Raftree said her family was "just devastated".

"And they're just waiting every minute of every hour for some news of the return of April," she added.

Overnight, the Bishop of Bangor Andy John led a vigil in the parish church in Machynlleth.

"I think people want to keep their fears at bay, that's what I'm sensing," he said.

"There are a lot of sentences that begin and then don't finish, as though people don't want to entertain the idea that there's going to be a bad outcome.

"At the same time they are wanting to find a way of expressing hope."

Dyfed-Powys Police have asked anyone with information to contact a dedicated hotline on 0300 2000 333.

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