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answered.
    ‘April, how old is she?’
    ‘Five.’
    ‘Are you able to describe what she’s wearing?’
    Luckily Val had seen April when she returned home briefly and was able to describe her outfit in detail.
    ‘She had a white T-shirt,’ she replied. ‘Black trousers and a purple coat.’
    ‘They haven’t got details of the car at all have they?’ asked the operator.
    At that stage, we didn’t know much about the car or the driver. All we had to go on was Amy’s description which, amidst the chaos, had been tearfully relayed to us by Harley.
    ‘It’s a big grey car with a man driving,’ Val said.
    ‘Bear with me, stay on the line for me,’ the operator said. By now, I was in the middle of the street, in a state of panic. Neighbours heard the commotion and were gathering in
     their dozens around the front door, desperate to calm me down and see what they could do to help.
    ‘Everybody’s just scattered everywhere to go and look now,’ Val said.
    ‘Officers are on their way,’ replied the operator.
    I began running round the houses, screaming hysterically. I even looked in the bins, just in case April was playing one of her games and hiding from us.
    I hazily remember phoning Jazmin, who was at a youth club, and telling her she needed to come home straight away. While I begged people for information, Paul found Amy and her mum. Between
     them, they managed to get some information from Amy, who said they’d gone to Louise’s, but Louise’s dad had told them they couldn’t come in as the family was having
     dinner. A few seconds later, the man had approached them and April had been taken away in what Amy thought was not a car, but a grey van. But there were no vans parked on the estate and we had
     no more clues as to what had happened.
    I have a vague recollection of the first police officer arriving at our house, less than ten minutes after I’d called 999, a kind and calming woman who obviously quickly realised she
     was dealing with a very serious situation. But I was in such a state of alarm I can’t remember anything she said to us.
    As soon as you become a mum you feel the most basic need to protect your children. Most parents will understand how terrifying it is to lose sight of your child for a second in a crowded
     shopping centre, or to see him or her running towards a busy road. But nothing can compare to the horror of having no idea where your child is, or whom they are with. With every second of every
     minute that ticked by, the terror inside me grew. The pain was indescribable – I felt so consumed by grief and fear that I was sure I would collapse at any moment. The only thing that
     kept me upright was knowing I had to be reunited with my little girl.
    Within fifteen minutes, word of April’s disappearance had spread all over Bryn-y-Gog and beyond and volunteers were already congregating on the grass outside our house, combing every
     corner of the estate and banging on doors begging for information. At that moment in time, I wasn’t aware of just how hard all of our friends and neighbours were trying to help find our
     daughter, but as well as helping with the physical search, they were also furiously uploading April’s picture to social media sites, aware that time was very much of the essence. Over the
     next few months, this amazing sense of community would help sustain Paul and me in our darkest hours.
    By now, my already weak knees were in agony and I knew my feet couldn’t carry me much further, but the thought of giving up the search was unthinkable. I burst into the house, where
     Paul was waiting with some police officers. It was only then I realised I was limping badly.
    ‘I can’t take this anymore,’ I wept. ‘I’m going looking for her in the car.’
    Panic flashed across Paul’s face. ‘Coral, no,’ he said. ‘You can’t drive in the state you’re in.’
    ‘What do you want me to do?’ I sobbed. ‘Just stay here and do nothing? Paul, we have to find