A documentary series has shed new, horrifying light on Mark Bridger’s kidnapping and murder of Machynlleth schoolgirl April Jones, who was crippled. “Mach was the focus of the world.”
Tonight at 9 p.m. on Channel 4, the third and final instalment of the documentary series The Disappearance of April Jones will premiere.
So far, it has made public the devastating last words April’s family spoke to her before she tragically left to meet her pals and vanished into thin air.
It includes never-before-seen film of “psychopath” and “fantasist” Mark Bridger deceiving authorities during an interview, saying he can’t recall what happened to her body, which has never been found.
April’s family, who are still based in Machynlleth, are prominently featured and talk about the agony they went through in the wake of the five-year-disappearance old’s as well as the pain they now feel from never having found her body.
Residents of the town also discuss April’s killer, who was charged with her kidnapping and murder and given a life term in prison, as well as the subsequent manhunt, which was one of the biggest in UK policing history.
Haunted Dyfed-Powys Police officers divulge horrifying information about the inquiry and its terrifying results, as well as the emotional toll the case took on them.
April was born preterm and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy from the hip down.
Her mother Coral describes her as “my little Thumbelina – like a little diamond” in the documentary.
You wouldn’t want to let go.
She mentions a miniature wind-up hamster that was April’s favourite toy and that she claimed would “drive them crazy, but was delightful.”
Her sister Jazmin emotionally recounted being told to go home and rest after the conclusion of the first day of searches.
She said: “At some point somebody told us to try and get some sleep.
“You can’t – you physically can’t. I remember going up to my bed.
“Staying in a room that was… ours, with an empty bed, was soul-destroying.”
One resident says: “Mach became the focus of the whole world.”
