London Evening Standard/London

 

 

A 32-year-old man was yesterday arrested on suspicion of murdering Joanna Yeates (pictured). Detectives seized the man in the early hours before sealing off the road where she lived and erecting scaffolding around her flat.

Officers refused to give details about where they arrested the suspect, who was being questioned yesterday afternoon.

The swoop follows a Crimewatch reconstruction of Yeates’s last journey and more than 300 calls from the public. The 25-year-old landscape architect was strangled after vanishing from her Bristol home on December 17. Her parents David and Teresa yesterday told of their relief that an arrest had been made and said they were “optimistic” about the progress of the investigation.

Detective chief inspector Phil Jones, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: “I would like to thank the public for their continued support for the investigation and the information they have provided to us.

“I would also like to pay tribute to Jo’s family and to her boyfriend Greg Reardon.

“They continue to be unfailing in their support to me and my team at what is an incredibly difficult and painful time for them.”

The arrest is the second in the investigation. Yeates’s landlord Chris Jefferies, 65, remains on bail after being held for three days on suspicion of murder.

Yesterday it was also revealed that police are investigating whether her body was moved from her flat in a big suitcase or holdall. The absence of drag marks on her body or clothes suggests she was lifted and carried away.

As there are 25 strides from her door to the road, police think a bag or case may have been used to conceal the movement.

Canynge Road where she lived in the Clifton area of Bristol was busy in the Christmas period and the killer risked being seen if he attempted to move her body without cover.

A police source told The Sun: “It would be strange if someone was able to move a body without being spotted. But someone carrying a bag or pulling a case on wheels would not have stood out. It was the weekend before Christmas so lots of people were going away for the holiday.”

Officers were said to be checking surveillance footage from the Clifton Suspension Bridge for signs of a car with a large bag on the back seat.

Yeates was last seen alive by work colleagues after Christmas drinks at the Bristol Ram pub in the city centre. Police launched their investigation when boyfriend Reardon, 27, reported her missing after he returned to their flat on December 19 following a weekend away visiting family in Sheffield.

It turned into a murder inquiry when her body was found on Christmas Day by a couple walking their dogs three miles away from the flat. Police have said there was no evidence Yeates was sexually assaulted but have not ruled out a sexual motive.