The sister of April Jones has spoken publicly for the first time about the last time she saw the five-year-old before she was abducted and murdered by paedophile Mark Bridger in 2012. Hazel Jones, now 31, recalled the moment in an interview, saying April was in the kitchen with their father making hot chocolate and laughing, wearing army pyjamas.
April was playing on her bike near her home in Machynlleth, Powys, when she was snatched by Bridger, who was later found guilty of abduction, murder, perverting justice, and unlawful concealment and disposal of a body. Despite extensive searches, her body was never recovered, though fragments of her remains were found at Bridger's cottage. He was given a whole-life term.
Hazel said she wished she had known that would be the last time she saw her sister and described the ordeal as a nightmare from which she has not woken. She added that Bridger deserves everything he is getting after being attacked in prison, and that he should be made to suffer.
April's father, Paul Jones, died suddenly eight years after being diagnosed with encephalitis, never learning what happened to his daughter's body. During Bridger's trial, a statement from April's mother described her as a fighter from birth and expressed the lifelong guilt of letting her play out that night.
