British police name suspect in missing girl case

British police investigating the disappearance of a five-year-old girl identified yesterday the man they are questioning, in the hope it will bring in more information about his movements. April Jones was last seen getting into a vehicle on Monday near her home in the mid-Wales market town of Machynlleth, triggering a huge search by residents across the area. The local Dyfed-Powys Police force named 46-year-old Mark Bridger as the man they have been questioning since Tuesday, as they appealed for witnesses who may have seen him or his sport utility vehicle between the girl’s disappearance and his arrest. “We are in the process of piecing together his movements and that of the vehicle from around 5 p.m. on Monday evening through to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon when Mark Bridger was arrested,” said Detective Superintendent Reg Bevan. Separately, thousands of police officers from across Britain gathered yesterday in a silent tribute to a policewoman killed in a gun and grenade attack. Officers bowed their heads solemnly as the funeral cortege for 23-year-old police constable Nicola Hughes passed through the center of Manchester in northwest England. Hughes and her colleague Fiona Bone, 32, both died in the Hattersley area of the city on Sept. 16 after being called to a house by someone claiming there had been a burglary. Both were shot dead and grenades were also thrown. Dale Cregan, 29, has appeared in court charged with their murders and those of a father and son earlier in the year. The deaths of the policewomen — a rare occurrence in Britain — shocked the public and reopened the debate about arming regular officers. Officers from other forces volunteered to cover the shifts of GMP colleagues so they could attend the service at Manchester Cathedral, with most of them lining the funeral procession route. Hundreds of people and police formed a wide arc around a big screen outside to follow the service.