2 October 2012
Last updated at 12:07 GMT
April 'got into van willingly'
Police investigating the abduction of a five-year-old girl from
her street in mid Wales give more details of the van she was seen
getting into.
2 October 2012 Last updated at 11:59 GMT
April Jones abduction: Child got into van willingly say police
Det Supt Reg Bevan: "Witnesses told us about a small van - small at the front and large at the back"
Police
investigating the abduction of a five-year-old girl from her street in
mid Wales, have given more details of the van she was seen getting into.
April Jones was with friends near her home in Machynlleth, Powys, when she got into a van at 19:00 BST on Monday.Hundreds of people have joined the search for April who was wearing a purple coat with a fur hood, white polo top and black trousers.
A hotline number has been set up - 0300 2000 333.
April was last seen wearing this purple knee-length coat
"It is still early days in the investigation and we are still speaking to witnesses to gather as much info as possible. These witnesses are children and speaking with them is a delicate and time consuming process," he said.
"I would like to return to the description of the vehicle, and I am mindful that we are still in the process of speaking to these children, so I am anxious that we only provide as accurate information as possible.
"What the witnesses have told us is that the vehicle looks like a van. They describe it as small at the front and large at the back, so it could be interpreted that this could be something similar to a Ford Connect type van or a Land Rover.
"Furthermore April has been described as getting into the driver's side of the vehicle. This may be because she got in with the driver or that it is left hand drive vehicle.
"We still believe that the van is grey or light coloured, but again these things can be affected by failing light and street lamps.
"The indications are that she got into the vehicle willingly... There's nothing to suggest at this stage there was a struggle."
Det Supt Bevan added that police were concentrating efforts in the immediate vacinity following specialist advice.
This included an initial description of the driver but detectives were not comfortable releasing more details at this stage.
When asked about April's family, Det Supt Bevan said "as you would imagine, it must be their worst nightmare so it must be a very difficult time for them".
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Following a police briefing, the volunteers are being split into groups of up to 20, one going clockwise, the other anti-clockwise around the town.
One search volunteer suggested the town's railway line might be closed later, when the search is extended to the railway.
The leisure centre is bustling with all sorts of people - police, council staff, network rail officials, transport police and members of the public, who've brought dogs along.
More people are joining the search all the time.
Lynne Owen, 45, from nearby Llanerfyl, drove to Machynlleth on Tuesday morning.
He said: "I had to come down and help in the search for this little girl, having kids of my own.
"We're off out on another search now. We've been given a description of her and told not to touch anything if we find something."
Back on the estate where April lives, the road is cordoned off and a police van and car are parked nearby, while a lone police officer stands beyond the cordon in the rain.
Overhead the rumblings of a police helicopter and the bright red Wales Air Ambulance can be heard circling the town.
A few miles out of Machynlleth, towards Welshpool and Newtown, people in fluorescent jackets are stopping drivers near a mini roundabout in what appears to be an attempt to find out more information about April's disappearance.
At the scene
At the town's leisure centre, hundreds of people involved in the hunt for April have just set off on another search for her.Following a police briefing, the volunteers are being split into groups of up to 20, one going clockwise, the other anti-clockwise around the town.
One search volunteer suggested the town's railway line might be closed later, when the search is extended to the railway.
The leisure centre is bustling with all sorts of people - police, council staff, network rail officials, transport police and members of the public, who've brought dogs along.
More people are joining the search all the time.
Lynne Owen, 45, from nearby Llanerfyl, drove to Machynlleth on Tuesday morning.
He said: "I had to come down and help in the search for this little girl, having kids of my own.
"We're off out on another search now. We've been given a description of her and told not to touch anything if we find something."
Back on the estate where April lives, the road is cordoned off and a police van and car are parked nearby, while a lone police officer stands beyond the cordon in the rain.
Overhead the rumblings of a police helicopter and the bright red Wales Air Ambulance can be heard circling the town.
A few miles out of Machynlleth, towards Welshpool and Newtown, people in fluorescent jackets are stopping drivers near a mini roundabout in what appears to be an attempt to find out more information about April's disappearance.
Child Rescue Alert
He said the force were getting help from neighbouring Welsh
forces and some English in relation to the Child Rescue Alert system
(CRA).The CRA brings together the forces of police, media and the public to help find abducted children by publishing details as soon as possible.
April disappeared close to her home on the Bryn Y Gog estate in Machynlleth.
Road blocks have been set up as officers and hundreds of local people continue conducting searches of the local area, woodland and isolated farmland.
Police helicopters, the fire service and police dog teams have been mobilised. Refuse collections in the area have been suspended on Tuesday as council workers re-deploy to help the search.
Bus companies have also been ferrying groups of people around the large, rural area to widen the search.
Meanwhile, detectives are due to re-interview the children who had been playing with April on the Bryn-y-Gog estate last night.
Supt Ian John said: "At this moment in time we're still interviewing young witnesses and... we believe April got into the vehicle without any sort of struggle."
Asked whether this suggested she may have known the driver, he replied: "We're keeping our minds' open at this moment in time. We're not ruling anything out, we're not ruling anything in."
Police have praised the "tremendous response" from the community.
Hundreds of people have been gathering at the local leisure centre to help with the search.
Alun Hughes, a friend of April's family said: "We were out last night and at the moment we are waiting for the police to organise specialist searches of the town."
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.
The Bryn-y-Gog estate in Machynlleth
Powys County Council said it was providing support for pupils and staff at April's school - Ysgol Gynradd Machynlleth.
Brian Vaughn, whose daughter goes to school with April, described her as a "lovely little girl". He said: "Everybody just wants her back, really.
"Whatever we've got to do, we'll do it. We're just hoping for the best, that she's closer rather than further away."
Neighbour Rhydian Mason said: "It's completely heartbreaking. I'm trying to put myself in the shoes of April's parents and it's an awful feeling in the pit of the stomach.
Shadow Welsh Secretary, Owen Smith MP, told the Labour conference in Manchester that the thoughts and prayers of all delegates are with the missing girl and her family.
"We all pray she's back in her community and with her family as soon as humanly possible," he added.
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