Five-year-old April Jones kidnapped in Machynlleth, Mid-Wales

[bendeus]

So hope ends, not that there was ever very much in the first place. That poor, poor child.

It amazes me that the 'urges' this bastard must have had locked up within him were sufficiently strong as to cause him to take a path of action that would destroy the lives of a family, and in doing so, his own. He must have known he'd be caught, surely?

Welcome to a lifetime of trembling on the nonce wing hoping none of the normal prisoners ever get to you, you fucking piece of shit.

 

[gabi]

Welcome to a lifetime of trembling on the nonce wing hoping none of the normal prisoners ever get to you, you fucking piece of shit.

Might not be as simple as him being a nonce according to some rumours on twitter.

 

[agricola]

Presumably that gives them more time to question him. They're gambling on finding a body.

It wont give them any more time to question him, the only person that can do that is the magistrate (and even then there is a limit to how much that can be given, and there has to be clear reasons for doing so).

 

[Mr.Bishie]

Hasn't he had 60 hours in custody already? Surely they'll have to charge him soon, or he walks?

 

[agricola]

 

[agricola]

Hasn't he had 60 hours in custody already? Surely they'll have to charge him soon, or he walks?

I think they can get one more lot of 36 hours, then thats it before he has to get charged with something.

 

[Treacle Toes]

Kay Burley...getting it for this rubbish interview technique:

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/alex-hern/2012/10/crashing-insensitivity-kay-burley

ETA: Snap! with post above.

 

[yardbird]

Note that he has been re-arrested on suspicion of murder.
Time up on abduction charge so they can now hold him and get the time to question him all over again.
This is all so depressing.

 

[gabi]

Kay Burley...getting it for this rubbish interview technique:

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/alex-hern/2012/10/crashing-insensitivity-kay-burley

ETA: Snap! with post above.

She's a cunt. But this detail is quite crucial to that.

For context, the woman who Kay Burley is speaking to is said to have approached Burley asking her what happened.

 

[bendeus]

Might not be as simple as him being a nonce according to some rumours on twitter.

Is this the stuff around his being the biological father of April or something else? Twitter is about as reliable as my large intestines after a jalfrezi though, surely?

 

[Looby]

Why are the public ignoring what the police have told them and still insisting on searching? The police have clearly said the only people that should be searching now are training search teams and I'm sure there are bloody good reasons for this.

It's wonderful that people have given up their time and all but just fucking back off.

 

[Pickman's model]

Why are the public ignoring what the police have told them and still insisting on searching? The police have clearly said the only people that should be searching now are training search teams and I'm sure there are bloody good reasons for this.

It's wonderful that people have given up their time and all but just fucking back off.

that's because this is the most important thing which these people will ever have done.

it gives meaning to their lives.

 

[kebabking]

Why are the public ignoring what the police have told them and still insisting on searching? The police have clearly said the only people that should be searching now are training search teams and I'm sure there are bloody good reasons for this.

It's wonderful that people have given up their time and all but just fucking back off.

i've heard from a friend in Mach- yes, i know... that lots of people there have a nasty suspiscion that the Police have fucked up the investigation, they've arrested the local weirdo and taken the investigation down a dead end while other possibilities existed that they've not looked at because, and i quote, 'wild-arsed guess powered searches all over the Cambrian mountains and Snowdonia done by the public aren't what modern policing is all about..'

thats not to say i don't agree with you - well intentioned but unco-ordinated random searches by the public are astonishingly unlikely to find anything, and might well just get in the way, but thats the motivation.

and of course there are more than a few griefwhores, walter mittys, and the psychologically ill who are making hay in the media spotlight, doing not a little harm, and causing enormous anger. Media really getting it as well - just being so intrusive and insensitive.

and its not just Sky...

 

[Iguana]

thats not to say i don't agree with you - well intentioned but unco-ordinated random searches by the public are astonishingly unlikely to find anything, and might well just get in the way, but thats the motivation.

Not just get in the way. If they do find anything, what are the odds of them backing off immediately and calling in the professional forensic people so as not to contaminate any evidence? Not likely I'd guess, especially as there are reports of people using their (not specially trained) dogs to help search.

 

[cantsin]

Why are the public ignoring what the police have told them and still insisting on searching? The police have clearly said the only people that should be searching now are training search teams and I'm sure there are bloody good reasons for this.

It's wonderful that people have given up their time and all but just fucking back off.

it's a circus, there's nothing rational about any of it, a personal tragedy churned into a 24hr news event, some people think they can become be part of the spectacle. not just passive consumers of it.

 

[bendeus]

it's a circus, there's nothing rational about any of it, a personal tragedy churned into a 24hr news event, some people think they can become be part of the spectacle. not just passive consumers of it.

Hmmm. It's a small, tight-knit community in which a large number would have known April or her parents, or would have kids in school with her, etc. To dismiss the genuine efforts of local people as simply a 'circus' is a bit off, IMO. Yes, you'll have your gawkers, grief whores and spectacle seekers, but you'll also have a lot of people who live locally and have been personally touched by the tragedy who want to express their solidarity and empathy in some way. I would say that many can't just sit there passively; they feel compelled to 'do something', even though many must have known that it was never, ever going to end well.

 

[treelover]

Yes, there may be hangers on, etc, but as i said at the top of the thread Mach really is a very close and cohesive community and yes,(for the critics) that includes most newcomers. I have considered moving there and I know the place well and have attended a number of events at the community centre where the media is now encamped, it is so so sad and can't imagine what it is like there at the moment.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

It's absolutely right and normal that children living in tiny towns should play outside and feel safe.

...and in big cities.

 

[Looby]

Hmmm. It's a small, tight-knit community in which a large number would have known April or her parents, or would have kids in school with her, etc. To dismiss the genuine efforts of local people as simply a 'circus' is a bit off, IMO. Yes, you'll have your gawkers, grief whores and spectacle seekers, but you'll also have a lot of people who live locally and have been personally touched by the tragedy who want to express their solidarity and empathy in some way. I would say that many can't just sit there passively; they feel compelled to 'do something', even though many must have known that it was never, ever going to end well.

Of course, but there are people driving from Manchester then complaining when they get there that the police won't let them help.

It must be very hard for the local community and they want to help etc but what's actually important is finding the girl and getting enough evidence to convict if she is dead. They need to put their own feelings aside, let the police do what they need to them support this poor family when the sky news/grief porn circus has left town.

 

[gabi]

Is this the stuff around his being the biological father of April or something else? Twitter is about as reliable as my large intestines after a jalfrezi though, surely?

That's the gist of it. As you say though, Twitter's about as reliable as Sky News.

In other more reassuring news...

One of the world's leading forensic psychologists who advised British and Portuguese police in the search for Madeleine McCann is reportedly helping detectives.

 

[cantsin]

Hmmm. It's a small, tight-knit community in which a large number would have known April or her parents, or would have kids in school with her, etc. To dismiss the genuine efforts of local people as simply a 'circus' is a bit off, IMO. Yes, you'll have your gawkers, grief whores and spectacle seekers, but you'll also have a lot of people who live locally and have been personally touched by the tragedy who want to express their solidarity and empathy in some way. I would say that many can't just sit there passively; they feel compelled to 'do something', even though many must have known that it was never, ever going to end well.

I thought it was pretty clear what I was "dismissing" as a "circus", and it wasn't " the genuine efforts of local people" - clue : multi national news corps gorging in the trough of 24hrs a day free content.

 

[bendeus]

I don't think it was that clear, TBH, but this isn't the thread for a bunfight, and I acknowledge I may have read your post wrong

 

[aqua]

I read it first on a parenting forum (along with a lot of "I'm not blaming anyone but 5 year olds should be in bed at 7pm, not out on the street" type comments) but have seen it on a few places since.

I'm not defending this of course, but sometimes the "5 year olds should be in bed by 7pm" thing to me sometimes reads as "of course this type of thing wouldn't happen to ME because x is in bed by this time". Almost a coping strategy with what is a truly horrible, frightening thing to happen to a little child. I can't even begin (nor do I want to) imagine what her Mum feels right now. I can't. I can't even consider it for a moment. So by saying she should be in bed by x time, is more reassuring myself not anything else, because THIS incident couldn't have happened.

Does that make sense? I'm not justifying those thoughts that they have posted, and I don't understand why people need to fucking judge other parents at the best of times, let alone in this situation I just wanted to say how I think sometimes.

 

[cantsin]

I don't think it was that clear, TBH, but this isn't the thread for a bunfight, and I acknowledge I may have read your post wrong

re-reading it , I see your point ---- by "some people think they can become be part of the spectacle. not just passive consumers of it." i was refferring to those being bombarded by the news and responding, not the locals . it was about as clear as mud tbh.

 

[bendeus]

re-reading it , I see your point ---- by "some people think they can become be part of the spectacle. not just passive consumers of it." i was refferring to those being bombarded by the news and responding, not the locals . it was about as clear as mud tbh.

Aye. Some of the responses from the people of Mach have been wonderful, as has the fact that they have collectively acted as a community knit together by more than proximity. They're trying to say something to themselves, April's parents and the world, IMO. The Sky news goons wanting to be able to say 'I was there' are fucking idiots, though. OK magazine, Dianaesque grief tourism at it's very, very worst.

 

[Citizen66]

The people attacking the news corps for their 'grief porn' must surely be watching those very same channels themselves to know it is occurring?

 

[DexterTCN]

The people attacking the news corps for their 'grief porn' must surely be watching those very same channels themselves to know it is occurring?

Detesting newscorp does not detract from the resources they have.

 

[Iguana]

I'm not defending this of course, but sometimes the "5 year olds should be in bed by 7pm" thing to me sometimes reads as "of course this type of thing wouldn't happen to ME because x is in bed by this time". Almost a coping strategy with what is a truly horrible, frightening thing to happen to a little child. I can't even begin (nor do I want to) imagine what her Mum feels right now. I can't. I can't even consider it for a moment. So by saying she should be in bed by x time, is more reassuring myself not anything else, because THIS incident couldn't have happened.

Does that make sense? I'm not justifying those thoughts that they have posted, and I don't understand why people need to fucking judge other parents at the best of times, let alone in this situation I just wanted to say how I think sometimes.

It does make sense, it's just so frustrating that this family appears like a loving responsible family who obviously felt it was not only safe for their child to play outside but possibly considered allowing her that freedom an important, healthy part of a normal childhood and they get castigated for it at what is going to be the worst time of their lives. The odds are that at some point they, their friends/families will see those types of comments and they could make them feel worse.

 

[JeffWode]

Yes, there may be hangers on, etc, but as i said at the top of the thread Mach really is a very close and cohesive community and yes,(for the critics) that includes most newcomers. I have considered moving there and I know the place well and have attended a number of events at the community centre where the media is now encamped, it is so so sad and can't imagine what it is like there at the moment.

Oh God, please don't...Mach doesn't need any more tree-huggers.

 

[gabi]

what the fuck is wrong with these people. do they seriously think this is their chance at their 15 minutes?

The Guardian'sSteven Morris, in Machynlleth, writes that some volunteers are refusing to give up the search for April, despite the police request that they leave it to the professionals.

There is hardly a person in Machynlleth – residents, visitors, media, police, searchers – who is not wearing a pink ribbon.​

​

Kirsty Jones, 16, a friend of April's sister, Jasmine, was walking down the main street carrying a basket filled with ribbons. She was handing them out and collecting donations for April's family. “People still have hope,” she said.​

​

At Wheeler Fabrics, they ran out of pink ribbon on Thursday after April's family appealed for people to wear a splash of pink as a symbol of hope. They had more in on Friday and three staff members were turning them into bows and giving them to the constant stream of people coming into the shop for them.​

​

Over at the Losin Lush sweet shop, Alyson Jones and two friends were busy putting sweets into bags to be handed out to schoolmates of April's. Earlier in the week she had been busy liaising with independent sweetshops across the country, asking them to be on the look-out for anyone with a young child acting suspiciously ...​

​

Although police asked volunteers not to carry on searching, some of them defied the request and went out.​

​

Carl Jones, from Machynlleth, one of the organisers of the search run by local people that has run parallel with the police effort, said: “The police have spoken with us and told us the search is for a body. We're trying to work out what to do next. I do know that groups have gone out searching since the police announcement. We continue to hope.”