By Mark Townsend/London

 

 

Jefferies: getting bail

The landlord of Joanna Yeates has been released on bail after being held for more than two days by police investigating the murder of the 25-year-old, whose body was found on Christmas morning.

Chris Jefferies, 65, a former teacher who lives above the flat Yeates had shared in Bristol, had been arrested by police on Thursday.Joanna’s family issued an emotional statement expressing their heartbreak over how their treasured daughter had been “stolen” from them. A week after the landscape architect’s body was discovered, her parents also said they were “certain” her killer would be brought to justice.

A separate statement from Joanna’s boyfriend, Greg Reardon, who reported her missing on December 17, described her as a beautiful woman in “mind, body and soul.”

He added: “I will always love her.”

In statements read out by a police family liaison officer outside the couple’s favourite pub, the Cottage Inn on Bristol’s dockside yesterday, her parents said they had been overwhelmed by the extraordinary support they had received from the public since their daughter went missing.

She was “a beautiful and talented person who was destined to fly high,” her parents added. They also admitted that they felt relief once the uncertainty over her fate had been resolved with the news her body had been found.

 “We dreaded going to our graves without knowing. In a very strange way, Jo’s body being found was a relief,” they said.Investigators stressed that the investigation was continuing as they issued a fresh appeal for members of the public to come forward with any useful information after Jefferies was released last night.

-- Guardian News & Media