April Jones' dad to buried in the same grave as missing daughter's partial remains

The late father of murdered schoolgirl will be laid to rest in the same grave as his , a member has confirmed.

Paul Jones, 56, - eight years on from being diagnosed with encephalitis - a serious brain condition. The former pub doorman never found out what happened to's body after she was abducted from a street she had been playing on in 2012 by , who was later convicted of her murder. While most of her , fragments were discovered at Bridger’s cottage and later buried in April’s hometown of Machynlleth, North Wales. Paul’s stepfather, Dai Smith, 72, said: “The funeral arrangements are still being made, but they’ll put him in April’s grave. That would be the fitting thing to do.”

Following the devastating loss of their daughter, Paul and April’s mother, Coral Jones, separated. Paul was later diagnosed with encephalitis and moved into a care home in Swansea after his condition left him unable to care for himself. Mr Smith told the : “Paul was devastated by what happened to April and it’s fair to say he never got over it.

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“People have said that he became ill because of the tragedy of losing his little girl but that’s not the case. It was more or less dementia; he had been in hospital for eight years and couldn’t remember anything about April. But he had long term memory - he could remember things from 30 years ago.

“He was a fantastic man, very strong, he’d walk 15 miles with the and think nothing of it. He was fit and loved the outdoors. He went down from 13st to 8st and when he was first in hospital he would wander around the wards but didn’t know where he was.”

Mr Smith added that the family believe Paul developed encephalitis after visiting a local swimming pool. He contracted the disease six years after April was abducted near the family home on 1 October 2012. The case sparked a vast search for the five-year-old, as well as a personal appeal from then-Prime Minister .

Hundreds of volunteers joined in to look for the youngster, along with various police and rescue teams, but April's body was never found. Police enquiries eventually led to the arrest of 46-year-old local man Mark Bridger, who was later jailed for her abduction and murder.

Jazz Jones, the step-daughter of April's dad Paul, 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."

On the day of April's disappearance, the youngster had friends round for dinner and wanted to take one of them home on her bike. Her mum, Carol, said "no problem" and told her to "come straight back". But April never returned, and was instead seen getting into a vehicle near her home.

Bridger was arrested the day after April vanished, as he matched the description of the male that eyewitnesses said had spoken to April and drove away with her in his car. Police officially designated the case a murder inquiry on October 5, 2012 - despite no body being recovered.

April's sister Jazz previously told how she never wanted to know happened to April after she was abducted. 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 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."