Search widens for missing Shrewsbury man Mark Hodnett
Police, friends and family of Shrewsbury man Mark Hodnett are to widen their search for the missing 27-year-old.
Mark who lives in the Radbrook area of Shrewsbury, and has a young son, was last seen on CCTV making his way towards the old Music Hall after leaving the C21 nightclub in Abbey Foregate around 1am on Saturday morning.
Both the shirt and his mobile phone were found close to the River Severn in the area of the Quarry soon after police launched their search for him on Saturday morning.
Police are also investigating a report from a member of the public of someone briefly seen struggling in the river at around 5am on Saturday.
Police Divers Join Search
Today police divers will join the search with members of the South Wales Police Underwater Search Team checking the River Severn through the town as part of the search.
Fresh Sighting on CCTV
Fresh sightings of Mark walking towards the town centre have come to light from CCTV footage.
Detective Inspector Mick Homden, the senior investigating officer, said: "We have CCTV pictures of Mark walking over the English Bridge and up Wyle Cop at 1.15am. There are also shots of him in the area of The Square, crossing from near Starbucks towards the old Music Hall which is the last positive sighting".
He renewed appeals for information or possible sightings and said posters from the Missing People charity were being put up in the town today.
"We are grateful for assistance from members of the public who have come forward with snippets of information. But if people think they may have seen Mark during the early hours of Saturday in the area of the town centre or near the Quarry, it is still very important they contact Shrewsbury CID on 0300 333 3000."
Mr Hodnett was wearing a distinctive t-shirt with a v-neck, short sleeves and horizontal stripes. He is described as 5ft 10ins tall, of slim build with short, mousey coloured hair. He was also wearing dark blue jeans and brown slip-on shoes.
More than 20 police officers are involved in the search.
Facebook Search Organised
A Facebook group which was set up to help find Mark has over 7,000 members, a number who have been meeting in Shrewsbury several times a day searching an area around the River and Shrewsbury School.
Members of the group are encouraging their friends to be part of the search downloading and distributing posters and web links to the site.
The next search organised by friends and those searching for Mark is set to take place at 5.30pm today with members of the Facebook group.
