The Abduction and Murder of April Jones | SOLVED
ma in a historic Market town in Palace Wales is known for its cultural heritage and Scenic location in the doy Valley near snowdonia National Park it features landmarks like the Clock Tower and the O glendor Center and is home to the Museum of Modern Art Wales in 2012 the Sleepy Town became subject of national headlines when a 5-year-old girl vanished Without a Trace April suin Jones’s parents described her as a bright happy and loving little girl they often spoke about her infectious smile
her bubbly personality and her love for Life April was known to be full of energy enjoying activities like swimming and playing with her friends and family her parents Paul and coral highlighted her caring nature and her joy in The Simple Pleasures of childhood painting a picture of a cherished and much-loved daughter April’s sister Jasmine who was 12 years her senior adored her and was devoted to helping April navigate a normal childhood with cerebral py the Jones family resided on the brogue housing estate in maenle Wales
and on the evening of October 1st 2012 5-year-old April attended a swimming lesson at the local Leisure Center whilst her parents attended parents evening at her primary school School April invited her 7-year-old friend over to her house to watch a film together after which the pair wanted to play outside her parents were hesitant at first as the night was drawing in and they wouldn’t normally allow April outside when it started to get dark however on this one occasion they allowed it Coral told her daughter that
she could play with her friend but only for a short while her parents saw her ride her Pink Bicycle outside their home at around 700 p.m. that night and the girl was seen by neighbors continuing to play on the estate at quarter past April’s parents went outside to bring their daughter in but they couldn’t find her the friend last seen playing with April told Paul and coral that they had seen her Converse with a man before quote happily climbing into a gray van before it drove away at around 7:20 p.m.
immediately after the friend told the Joneses what had happened at 7:29 p.m Coral contacted the deed po police and reported her daughter’s abduction an officer arrived at the Jones’s residence 8 minutes later where it is quickly established that the incident was quote serious and critical the investigation was immediately upgraded and more officers arrived D at the Brin goog estate to conduct a large scale search for April and to question neighbors hundreds of locals joined the police to search for the missing school
girl as Knight enveloped the Welsh town but despite their efforts April was not found meanwhile a Manhunt for her abductor got underway a first in the UK a child rescue alert was posted across the country to make other police forces and the public aware of April’s abduction as the search for April continued on October 2nd investigators behind the scenes managed to obtain a description of the abductor from the child who had seen her kidnapping the person of interest was identified shortly afterwards as Mark Bridger a 46-year-old
man who had moved to kenis a village 3 miles away just 5 weeks earlier bridger’s Gray left-and Drive Land Rover Discovery was seen in the vicinity of maenle during the time frame of April’s abduction and he was seen speeding away from the broga state at around 7:20 p.m. on the night in question Witnesses saw bridger’s vehicle arrive home at around 8:30 p.m.
leaving almost an hour on counted for his drive home should have taken no longer than 10 minutes shortly before 9:00 a.m. on October 2nd as the search for April continued Bridger was seen close to a river bank carrying a black sack with the witness saying it appeared that something was in the bag later that same day Bridger took his car to a garage to quote be repaired before he decided to Aid in the search for April it was around the same time that detectives delved into bridger’s background in order to establish if he was without doubt involved in the
kidnapping as the days passed with no sign of April her parents made an emotional plea to the public to help find their daughter asking anyone with any information to come forward the prime minister at the time also appealed for information search and rescue teams were deployed across the vicinity using specialist equipment the search for April lasted months going into 2013 but sadly no trace of her was found despite intense search efforts the search was called off in April of 2013 ending the largest scale missing person
search the UK has ever seen at noon on October 2nd not even 24 hours after April’s abduction police visited Mark bridger’s Cottage but he did not appear to be home police forced their way into the house only to be met with the smell of detergent and it was noted that the house was very hot inside forensic investigators scoured the property for Clues and in doing so found traces of blood belonging to April in the bathroom under some carpets and by the wood burning stove despite near meticulous efforts made by Bridger to clean up the
scene forensic teams also found 17 bone fragments believed to have belonged to a child’s skull in the wood burner in bridger’s living room DNA later confirmed the bone fragments belonged to April Jones Mark Bridger was arrested on the afternoon of October 2nd and taken in for questioning by Deford po police where he claimed to have accidentally hit April with his car but due to being intoxicated and in a panick state he could not remember where he buried her Remains by October 5th deid poers police informed the public that they were now
looking at a murder investigation despite the fact that April’s body had not been found Bridger was subsequently charged on October 6th with abduction murder and attempting to pervert the course of Justice on October 8th 201 12 Bridger appeared before the magistrates in abist where he was also charged with unlawful concealment and disposal of a body he was then remanded in custody at hmp Manchester known as strange ways before appearing in canaran Crown Court on October 10th in addition to the forensic evidence found at bridger’s
Cottage police discovered extensive amounts of illegal child images on his computer photographs of the murdered school girls Holly whales and Jessica Chapman who were killed in so him in 2002 were found on his hard drive as were photographs of Jasmine Jones and her sister April though the family had no connection to Bridger Jasmine told the media several years after her sister’s murder that he had tried to add her as a friend on Facebook prior to the murder later campaigning by the Jones family alongside several National
newspapers resulted in search engines modifying the way in which they block content with searches relating to child abuse images Bridger had previous convictions for firearms offenses and theft before he moved from England to Wales in the 1980s where he was charged with further offenses including criminal damage and driving without valid insurance in 2004 he was charged with battery and threatening behavior and in 2007 was charged with assault he had worked an array of jobs including at an abattoir on January 14th 2013 Bridger
pled not guilty to the murder of April Jones but he accepted that he was quote probably responsible for her death his trial at mold Crown Court was delayed by two months by the defense team who looked to pursue further inquiries meaning the trial began on April 29th rather than February 25th as initially planned the trial presented damning evidence against Bridger including the bone fragments which belonged to April and the blood found in his home also matching April’s DNA it was clear that whatever Horrors occurred in that house
house April would not have survived the injuries inflicted upon her bridger’s defense claimed that he had accidentally hit the 5-year-old with his car and in a panic and under the influence of alcohol disposed of her body though due to intoxication he could not recall how or where he’d gotten rid of April’s remains on May 29th the jury retired to consider their verdict which was returned the following day Mark Bridger was found guilty of abduction murder and perverting the course of Justice he was sentenced to a whole life order meaning
he will spend the rest of his life Behind Bars just weeks after he began his sentence Bridger was attacked by a fellow prisoner which left him with significant face and neck injuries by December of 2013 Bridger looked to appeal his conviction however the appeal was dropped a short time later it was revealed that following the verdict Bridger confessed to the prison chaplain that he had disposed of April’s body in the afon dulus river however police do not believe this to be the case and are of the firm belief that he
scattered her remains across the countryside Beyond his house in November 2014 The Cottage where Mark Bridger lived named Mount Pleasant was demolished after the Welsh government purchased the building after it had stood empty for almost two years following his arrest April’s loved ones watched on as the house crumbled into a pile of rubble the 17 bone fragments that were found were returned to April’s family and a funeral service took place on September 26th 2013 in her hometown of mahle [Music] is
