The disappearance of April Jones in October 2012 sparked the biggest search in British policing history.

Her murder by evil Mark Bridger shook the nation, and her devastated family are still dealing with the trauma.

Former abattoir worker Bridger will never be freed after being sentenced to a full-life term for the abduction and killing.

But the family of April have been hit by fresh tragedy, after dad Paul developed a rare brain illness .

Here's the key points of her disappearance, Bridger's murder trial, and the aftermath of her death.

Who was April Jones?

Video Loading

April was five years old when she went missing from Machynlleth, Powys, Wales, on 1st October 2012.

She was snatched and later murdered by Mark Bridger as she played outside her home on the Bryn-Y-Gog estate.

April had suffered from cerebral palsy, and mum Coral Jones described her as a "little fighter".

What happened to her?

April went missing on the evening of 1st October 2012 as she played on her bicycle.

Hundreds of volunteers joined the operation to find her, and cops launched the biggest search in British policing history.

She was never seen again.

It emerged that she was last seen getting into a light coloured van after playing with friends.

April Jones' mother Coral (
Image:
Roland Leon/Sunday Mirror)

Bridger was arrested the next day, but tried to cover his tracks by lying to cops.

By April 5th, cops had launched a murder investigation.

Bridger claimed that he had "accidentally" run over April and then panicked before blacking out due to alcohol. He claimed he could not remember what he did with her body.

But police recovered vast amounts of forensic evidence from his remote country cottage linking him to the killing.

What happened to her body?

April’s body was never found, and Bridger repeatedly told police that he could not remember what he did with her remains.

He later told a prison priest that he dumped April's body in a river, but police played down the "confession", saying it was yet another of Bridger's stories.

Mark Bridger tried to cover his tracks by lying to cops (
Image:
PA)

It was revealed at his trial that fragments of a child's skull were found in the ashes of Bridger's fireplace at his home in Ceinws.

Police believe that he used skills he learned while working in a slaughterhouse to quickly dispose of her body.

A funeral for April was held in September 2013.

What happened at Bridger's trial?

Bridger was found guilty of the abduction and murder of April at Mold Crown Court in May 2013.

He was also convicted of perverting the course of justice by unlawfully disposing or destroying her body.

It took the jury just four hours and six minutes to find him guilty.

The killer was given a full-life tariff and told he will never be released from prison.

The court was told how cops found numerous indecent images on his computer, as well as pictures of young female murder victims, including Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, the victims of Soham killer Ian Huntley.

Bridger also had images of local young girls, including April and her half-sisters, aged 13 and 16.

Bridger arrives at Mold Crown Court (
Image:
PA)

The judge said: "There is no doubt in my mind that you are a paedophile, who has for some time harboured sexual and morbid fantasies about young girls."

The judge said Bridger had stored on his laptop "not only images of pre-pubescent and pubescent girls but foul pornography of the gross sexual abuse of young children.

"What prompted you on Monday October 1 to live out one of those fantasies is a matter for speculation, but it may have been a combination of the ending of one sexual relationship and your drinking.

"Whatever, you set out to find a little girl to abuse. I am not sure you targeted April specifically - it was probably fortuitous that she can be seen on some of the images which you stored on your laptop of her older sister - but you were on the prowl for a young girl."

Aftermath

Bridger's house - where it is thought he killed April - was demolished in 2014. The site is now a garden in her memory.

The family of April have spoken about their struggles in coming to terms with her killing.

In a statement at the trial, mum Coral said she will "live with the guilt of letting her go out to play on the estate that night for the rest of my life."

In 2017, five years on from the murder, her sister Jazmin told how she nearly drank herself to death as she battled her grief.

It wasn't until her best pal forced her to face up to reality by asking: "What would April do?" that she addressed her problems.

April pictured with her dad, Paul (
Image:
Daily Mirror)

In February 2018, the family revealed their fresh heartache after dad Paul Jones was struck with a rare brain disease, which left him unable to remember the murder .

Wife Coral told the Mirror how Paul could not understand why April had not visited him in hospital - and broke down in tears when he found out she had been killed.

Paul has been left permanently brain-damaged because of encephalitis - a rare condition which causes inflammation of the brain.