Missing Danielle 'seen in van'

Police investigating the disappearance of the missing schoolgirl Danielle Jones are following up a newly reported sighting of a teenager matching her description.

The girl was seen with a man in a blue Ford Transit-sized van on Monday 18 June, the day Danielle disappeared.

A woman has reported having seen the girl and a man in the van as it was driven along London Road, in Grays, Essex, at its junction with Parsonage Road, at approximately 10am. The girl was sitting in the front passenger seat. The van was described as being "not quite navy blue in colour". It was heading away from Grays towards the Lakeside area of Thurrock. The man was described as white, aged in his 30s, with a strong-looking build and neat, short dark hair.

Detective Superintendent Dick Madden said: "If this was Danielle, it is a very significant sighting for us as it is the first sighting of her after approximately 10am, when she was last seen in east Tilbury." Danielle was seen talking to the driver of a blue van in Tilbury.

Several possible sightings of 15-year-old Danielle in the same area at that time have already been reported.

Essex police have urged the man in the latest sighting to come forward to eliminate himself from the inquiry.