Britain was shocked when five-year-old April Jones was kidnapped near her home in Machynlleth more than ten years ago.
The student’s story shook the entire country and is the subject of the Channel 5 documentary, The Disappearance of April Jones.
What happened to April Jones?
Five-year-old April Jones disappeared after being seen getting into a vehicle near her home in Machynlleth, Wales, on October 1, 2012.
At the time, her mother made an emotional appeal about her daughter, which led Prime Minister David Cameron to also make an appeal.
After April was not found, police officially designated the case a homicide investigation on October 5, 2012, despite no body being recovered.
His disappearance sparked one of the most intense police searches in British history.
A major search operation was launched by police officers in the area near his home with family, friends and volunteers helping with the search.
The day after April’s disappearance, Mark Bridger was arrested for matching the description of the man who, according to witnesses, spoke to April and drove her away in his car.
Although April’s body was never discovered, DNA evidence discovered during the search of Mark’s home convinced police that she had been brutally murdered.
Why April Jones’ Body was never found?
The killer claimed he ran over the five-year-old child.
Mark told authorities he couldn’t remember what he did with April’s body because he had been drinking heavily and panicked after putting her in the car.
Mark even told a priest that he threw the girl’s body into a river.
On March 27, 2013, police announced that the search for April’s body would be called off at the end of April 2013 after failing to find her.
April Jones’ funeral took place in Machynlleth on 26 September 2013.
What is the Channel 4 documentary The Disappearance of April Jones about?
The Disappearance of April Jones is a Channel 4 documentary that first aired in 2022.
The synopsis reads: The hunt for five-year-old April Jones, who disappeared outside her home in Machynlleth, and the challenges police faced in trying to convict a local man.
The documentary can be watched on the Channel 4 streaming platform or at 11:05 pm on July 10, 2024.
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Who is April Jones’ killer, Mark Bridger?
Mark Leonard Bridger was born in Carshalton, Surrey, on 6 November 1965, and has three children.
When he was 19, he was convicted of gun crimes and robbery.
In the 1980s he moved from London to Wales and is said to have worked in a slaughterhouse, a hotel porter, a firefighter, a mechanic and a welder.
I have no doubt that you are a pedophile, who has harbored sexual and morbid fantasies about girls for some time.
Trial judge Judge Griffith Williams
When he moved to Machynlleth, he claimed he was ex-military in an attempt to hide his past. A claim that was later proven false by the Ministry of Defense.
He also worked as a lifeguard at the pool where April took swimming lessons.
What happened at the trial after Mark Bridger was charged?
Bridger was charged with child abduction, murder and attempting to pervert the course of justice, before being additionally charged with unlawful concealment and disposal of a body.
On January 14, 2013, he pleaded not guilty but accepted that he was “probably responsible” for her death.
At Mold Crown Court on April 29, 2013, a forensic expert told the court that fragments of human bone and blood that matched April’s DNA were found in parts of her home.
The DNA evidence was enough to convince the jury that young April suffered injuries she could not have survived.
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On May 30, 2013, he was found guilty of kidnapping, murder and perverting the course of justice.
Bridger was sentenced to life in prison with the recommendation that he never be released.
The conviction led to the creation of stricter laws for sex offenders.
The trial judge, Judge Griffith Williams, said in his sentencing remarks: “I have no doubt that you are a paedophile, who has harbored sexual and morbid fantasies about young girls for some time.
“You kidnapped her for sexual purposes and then murdered her and disposed of her body to hide the evidence of your sexual abuse of her.”
Prosecutors said after the verdict that Bridger was a “cold-hearted killer” who “spun a web of lies and half-truths” to try to get away with his “truly horrific” crime.
April’s mother, Coral Jones, marked the sixth anniversary of her daughter’s death with a heartbreaking Facebook post about the day she learned April was missing.
April’s sister’s heartbreak
April’s sister Jazz spoke about her sister’s horrific murder in Channel 4 documentary The Disappearance Of April Jones.
She said one of the most painful consequences of losing April was still having to sleep in the room they shared, which was full of five-year-old children’s things.
“His teddy bears were all at the bottom of the bed. Their clothes, toys and DVDs were everywhere,” Jazz recalled.
“Every morning I would wake up and before you were fully awake, I would look over expecting to see you.
“Unless I looked at the wall, I couldn’t avoid her things.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
