April Jones abduction: Family 'devastated' by abduction as man held

The family of a five-year-old girl missing in mid Wales say they are "devastated" by her abduction as police hold a 46-year-old man for questioning. April Jones was with friends near her Machynlleth home when she "willingly" got into a van at 19:00 BST on Monday. The arrested man, named locally as Mark Bridger, would be questioned Dyfed-Powys Police said. on Tuesday night,

In a statement April's family said: "Please, please if you have our little girl, let her come home to us." The statement, read at a news conference by Det Supt Reg Bevan, said: "Last night our lives were shattered when our beautiful little girl April who was playing with friends was taken from us. "We are devastated and our lives have stopped.

"This is such a small, close knit community and we plead with anyone who has any information no matter how small they may think it is to contact the police immediately. "Please help us bring home our beautiful little girl." Det Supt Bevan said the arrested man remained night. Coastguard teams Police earlier confirmed that the 46-year-old man had been arrested at about 16:00 BST on the A487 main road north out of Machynlleth, which has been closed in both directions as far as Cross Foxes, near Dolgellau, 12 miles away. The search effort had continued into the evening, including coastguard teams combing the banks of Dyfi estuary and RNLI inshore lifeboats on the water. Speaking at an earlier news conference in Aberystwyth on Tuesday afternoon, Det Supt Bevan said the arrested man had been sought by police and was stopped while he was walking along a road outside the town. His vehicle, similar to the one described by witnesses, has now been recovered. "We knew he was in the area, we've been anxious to trace him and speak to him," he added. Det Supt Bevan said: "We're still pursuing all lines of inquiry with the view that April is still alive and will continue to do so until we find her." 'Tremendous response' in custody and would be questioned that

When asked if police were looking for anyone else, he said: "It's a very early stage. He is a local man and it's a small community. I wouldn't like to speculate further." But he went on to say: "We have a number of leads. Some are higher priority than others. "This man is significant, clearly, but I'm sure there are other people in the area who can assist and I would appeal to them to get in touch." Supt Ian John added: "We are continuing with the searches and can I ask everyone who has already looked in their sheds, outbuildings to do so once more, we still have a missing five-year-old." He said the search for April had involved mountain rescue teams, British Transport Police, police dogs and helicopters as well as people from the town and the surrounding area who had helped with the efforts. Police have praised the "tremendous response" from the community as hundreds of people have been gathering at the local leisure centre to help with the search . Search volunteer Anwen Morris said locals had searched an area with a 30-mile radius using quad bikes and off-road vehicles. Mayor of Machynlleth Gareth Jones said people had travelled from outside of the area to help. "We live in hope," he said. "I want to appeal to people out there who may have seen something, even if they thought it's not of very much importance, to come forward and tell police." Powys County Council said it was providing support for pupils and staff at April's school - Ysgol Gynradd Machynlleth. St Peter's Church in the town has organised a vigil will be lit and prayers said for the missing schoolgirl. for people in the town where candles

According to Home Office figures there were 532 child abductions between 2011 and 2012.

in England and Wales

About 500 children under 16 are abducted each year - but the majority of these are parental abductions, according to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop).