THE FATHER of murdered schoolgirl April Jones has tragically died – 12 years on from his daughter’s heinous abduction.
Paul Jones, 55, died after a long battle with a brain disease he contracted in 2018 – six years after April was kidnapped while playing outside in Machynlleth, Wales in 2012.
fpnw.co.uk©2025Paul Jones, 55, died in hospital after a long battle with a brain disease[/caption]
Paul’s step-daughter Jazz broke the news on social mediaSupplied
April was tragically murdered by Mark BridgerPA: Press Association
The five-year-old’s disappearance shocked the nation and a manhunt led to the arrest of evil Mark Bridger.
Fragments of bone from a human skull were found in Bridger’s fireplace.
The vile killer was found guilty of April’s abduction and murder and jailed for life.
Despite one of the biggest searches in police history, April’s body was never found and cops think Bridger disposed of her remains in the countryside near his home.
In the years leading up to his death, Paul is understood to have been living in a specialist hospital unit in Swansea, south Wales.
Paul’s step-daughter, Jazz Jones, announced his tragic passing on Tuesday.
She said: “It is with broken hearts that my brother and I wish to let people know our dad (Paul Jones) passed away early hours this morning. It was very unexpected and we are all in shock.
“Harley and myself will update people with further information as we know more but please give us our privacy to mourn our loss.”
The 29-year-old told The Sun she is “heartbroken” over his death and the family still processing his loss.
“It was very unexpected and we are all in shock,” she said.
“It’s only been 24 hours, it’s a lot to get our head around.
“As a family we’re heartbroken, but we’re still trying to process the fact that dad has passed away, so we’re not sharing any information on his death out of respect for him.
“Dad didn’t want any media attention towards the end, he wanted his privacy, and as a family we need time to grieve.”
fpnw.co.uk©2025Paul with April before the tragedy[/caption]
News Group Newspapers LtdThe family of April Jones attending her funeral in September 2013[/caption]
Nigel IskanderThe girl was taken from the town’s Bryn-y-Gog housing estate[/caption]
Mark Bridger was convicted of abduction, murder and perverting the course of justiceHandout
Jazz previously made headlines when she said that she never wanted to know what her sister’s killer did to April.
She said: “When you lose someone anyway, it’s an emotional time but losing someone like this where you don’t know what’s happened, you haven’t got anything to bury, you haven’t got anything to say goodbye to, your entire world just falls apart.
“At first I was really angry because I just wanted to say goodbye.
“But then, I got to the point when I was like, he’s never gonna say anything so I don’t know why I’m keeping my hopes up … there’s no point in giving … my time or energy about it. It’s just not worth it.”
April vanished on October 1, 2012, when she was last seen getting into a stranger’s car near her home in Machynlleth, Wales.
Local and national papers reported on her disappearance, whilst police scoured the surrounding area but the youngster was never found.
David Cameron even made an appeal, whilst a search efforts continued in Wales.
Bridger, who was 46-years-old at the time, was arrested just a day after her disappearance – since he matched the description of the mysterious driver.
Who is Mark Bridger?
Mark Bridger abducted and murdered five-year-old April Jones in 2012.
The former abattoir worker went to prison for his horrific crimes and is serving a life sentence.
He was born in Carshalton, Surrey on November 6, 1965 and was just 19 when he had his first run-in with the law.
He pleaded guilty to firearms offences, theft, attempted theft, and deception.
That was to be the first of many convictions throughout his life. He was convicted of driving offences and assaults before he moved from England to Wales.
He fathered six children by four different women.
One woman he dated was Elaine Griffiths and they had two children together.
Elaine’s sister Karen dated Paul Jones and they had two children before Paul met Coral and had April.
April’s disappearance and murder
April disappeared near her home in Machynlleth on October 1, 2012.
She was seen getting into a vehicle in the area on the day of her disappearance.
Eyewitnesses saw April talking with a man before climbing into a Land Rover Discovery with him and driving off.
After fitting the description of the man seen talking with April, Mark Bridger was arrested for her abduction.
After his initial arrest, the police found a large collection of child abuse images on Bridger’s personal computer.
A large search operation was then conducted by the police and search teams in the hope of finding April.
After an extensive search for April provided no insight into her whereabouts, police officially turned the case into a murder inquiry on October 5, 2012.
Just a day later, on October 6, Bridger was charged with child abduction, murder, and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
He was additionally charged with the unlawful concealment and disposal of a body on October 8.
On January 14, 2013, at Mold Crown Court, Bridger pleaded not guilty to the charge of murdering April Jones but accepted that he was “probably responsible” for her death.
Mold Crown Court heard from a forensic expert that human bones and blood matching April’s DNA were found in areas of Bridger’s home.
He claimed that he had accidentally run April over with his car and could not remember disposing of her body due to heavy drinking and panicking about what he had done.
His trial began on April 29, 2013, and on 30 May 2013, Bridger was found guilty of abduction, murder, and perverting the course of justice.
He was sentenced to life in prison with a recommendation that he should never be released by the Judge.
Despite his conviction, the whereabouts of April’s body remain unknown.
Bridger was last reported to have been moved to HMP Wakefield in Yorkshire, where he is defined as a Category A prisoner – the most dangerous in the country.
On January 14, 2013, he pled not guilty to a slew of charges including child abduction, murder and perverting the course of justice.
However, he did admit that he was “probably responsible” for April’s death.
When fragments of bone and traces of blood matching April’s DNA were found at his home, Bridger changed his story.
He claimed that he had hit April with his car and, being intoxicated, could not remember dumping her body.
However, he was found guilty of abduction, murder and perverting the course of justice and was handed a whole life sentence.
The severity of his crime led to the toughening sentences for sex offenders.
My sister April Jones was killed by evil predator when she was just five – our family’s suffering will never end
By Will Potter
THE sister of murdered schoolgirl April Jones previously spoke out about her family’s suffering since her death – and how it would never end.
April’s older sister Jazmin, 27, chillingly spoke of how monster Mark Bridger attempted to communicate with her before he abducted the youngster in 2012.
Speaking in a documentary which aired on Channel 4 in December 2022, Jazz, then 27, said: “When she went, the whole thing just collapsed.
“Our family was fractured. Things are better now but, from that night, I didn’t have a mother. I had just lost my sister, and then I lost my mother too.
“I had to grow up overnight. I was on my own, really, trying to look after my little brother (just ten at the time), trying to help my dad.”
Speaking to the documentary, Jazmin’s mum Coral spoke of the devastating impact of Bridger’s heinous crime.
“He abused her,” he says.
“They found her DNA in his pants. Then we think he chopped her up and burnt her, after whatever he did to her.”
Jazmin said that although the details of the crime were unthinkable, she feels she needed to learn what happened to her sister to try and cope with the loss.
“I needed those answers,” she said.
“When you don’t have them you go to the worst-case scenario — what you are imagining is so terrible that anything is better than that.”
She revealed that just a year before April’s murder, Bridger had attempted to communicate with her on Facebook.
Following his arrest, the predator was found to have downloaded disturbing images of children, some pornographic, alongside photographs of April and Jazz.
She said he had tried to add her on Facebook, leading to questions over his potential obsession with the two and his targeting of April.
“It makes my skin crawl,” she said.
“I don’t want to think about it. I want to believe she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but if that was the case, I would have swapped places with her a million times over. I would have taken her place.”
Paul and Coral Jones pictured in 2014Neil Jones – The Sun
CollectApril’s body has never been recovered[/caption]
Neil Jones – The SunThe youngster was snatched while riding her bike[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
