Search for missing girl focused on river

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MACHYNLLETH, England, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Officials from a small British town say they fear a missing 5-year-old may have been swept 70 miles down a river, similar to another disappearance 60 years ago.

Searches for April Jones, who disappeared on Oct. 1, have been focused around the river Dyfi in Machynlleth, Mid Wales, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

The coast guard have been looking along the area between Towyn and Borth, which are to the north and south of where the river opens into the sea.

Local historian David Wynn Davies said April's disappearance has reminded many of the town's older residents of the disappearance of 8-year-old Beryl Jones, who fell into the river in the late-1940s.

"She fell off that and they found her body in Criccieth about nine days later," Davies said. Criccieth is about 70 miles away from Machynlleth.

If April did go into the river, she "could well be a long way by now," Davies said.

But he said: "This is a lot bigger. The other girl [Beryl] had an accident and fell in the river."

Police have arrested Mark Bridger, 46, a former lifeguard and slaughterhouse worker, for April's disappearance.