British police charge man with missing girl's murder

LONDON (AFP) - British police investigating the disappearance of a five-year-old girl in Wales charged a family friend on Saturday with her murder although her body had still not been found.

Mark Bridger, 46, was charged with the abduction and murder of April Jones and with perverting the course of justice, Dyfed Powys police and the Crown Prosecution Service said. He would appear in court on Monday.

April was last seen getting into a vehicle on Monday evening. She had been playing on her bicycle with a friend near her home in the market town of Machynlleth.

Hundreds of volunteers had turned out to help police search the surrounding countryside.