Detectives investigating the disappearance of the Hull University student Libby Squire have been given extra time to question a 24-year-old man.
Magistrates granted police a further 36 hours’ detention. The suspect was arrested on Wednesday night in relation to the alleged abduction of the 21-year-old student, about half a mile from Squire’s home.
Squire, from High Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, was last seen in Beverley Road, in Hull after a night out. She was reported missing in the early hours of 1 February and police and volunteers have been carrying out an intensive search since then.
Later on Friday, ITV News reported that police were focusing on CCTV footage obtained, which appeared to show a man sitting in a vehicle believed to be parked near to where Squire was last seen. He leaves the car and, a minute and a half later, a man is seen opening the front passenger side door and moving around before getting behind the wheel and driving away.
Humberside police Det Supt Matt Hutchinson said investigators have trawled through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage. “While we currently have a man in custody and proceedings are active, we are unable to provide any further comment in regards to the nature of any footage so not to prejudice any potential further proceedings.
“Our priority remains to find Libby and support her family during this incredibly distressing time. We continue to keep an open mind and would ask anyone who believes they have information that could assist with the investigation to please make contact with police.”
The previous evening, a week since Squire disappeared, police and student volunteers handed out leaflets and a large screen featuring images of the missing student was driven around the city centre.
Officers have said Squire was dropped off in a taxi near her home on Wellesley Avenue at 11.29pm on 31 January and was seen 10 minutes later on CCTV near a bench on Beverley Road, where a motorist stopped to offer help. She is believed to have been in this area until about 12.09am on 1 February. Police said the taxi driver and motorist had been spoken to and were not suspects.
On Wednesday, Squire’s parents, Lisa and Russell, thanked people who had helped search for their daughter.
“We have been overwhelmed with people’s kindness and support and it’s been incredible how all her friends, students at the university, and members of the public have joined together to help us look for her,” they said.
