Newsreader Alastair Stewart pays tribute to April Jones's family

Mr Stewart, who works for ITV, has written a blog about the time he spent covering the story of how April was abducted from outside her home and killed by Mark Bridger.

Mr Stewart said he was reminded of the case after meeting April's parents Coral and Paul Jones at an event raising awareness of the Child Rescue Alert service.

In the 1990s Mr Stewart presented a television show called Missing and he said he has been involved with missing people's charities ever since.

He said: "In October 2012, I anchored the ITV Evening News from Machynlleth. A beautiful, five-year-old girl, April Jones, had gone missing.

"An entire community appeared to have gone into over-drive in a loving, caring effort to find her.

"The town was festooned with pink ribbons – April's favourite colour; there were posters and hand-bills; there was the police, aplenty, and the citizenry of this ancient Welsh town, all harnessed by the simple desire to help find a vulnerable little girl.

"It ended, as you may by now have remembered, badly. Mark Bridger was arrested, charged and convicted of her abduction and murder. Her remains, such a cold inadequate word, were never found.

"I returned to Machynlleth to cover Bridger's conviction and the wholly inadequate and heartbreaking conclusion to this bitter, brutal tale of woe."

He spoke of later attending a talk given by Coral, adding: "A chill runs through my body as I write those words. It is quite some time since I have been so moved by a simple meeting, enhanced, in a wonderful way, by the honour of spending an hour with such a remarkable woman.

"Her husband Paul, a strikingly handsome Welshman, sat quietly in the audience. I'd witnessed his love, loyalty and gentle support for his wife when the three of us took coffee together before entering the conference hall.

"Our purpose was to promote the Child Rescue Alert – an app capable of harnessing men, women and children of goodwill in the all-too-frequent quest for people who go missing.

"Many are children. Some are folk struggling with a mid-life crisis; others, struck by the cruel burden of dementia. But 'missing' is 'missing' and doesn't recognise age, gender, race or cause.

"The audience responded well and asked intelligent, probing questions. At the end, there was appreciative applause for what Coral had said and, I fancy, even more for what she had done just by being here.

"I was overwhelmed to have been a part of it. Honoured? Moved? Touched? Motivated? Yes, all of the above and more."