Man Arrested On Suspicion Of Abducting Hull Student Libby Squire

The 21-year-old has still not been found.
Libby Squire was reported missing in the early hours of 1 February
Libby Squire was reported missing in the early hours of 1 February
PA Ready News UK

A 24-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of abducting missing Hull University student Libby Squire.

Humberside Police said the man was arrested at an address in Raglan Street, Hull, on Wednesday night.

A spokeswoman confirmed 21-year-old Squire has still not been found.

She was reported missing from the city in the early hours of Friday 1 February and an intensive search has been mounted by police and volunteers over the last week.

The spokeswoman said: “The man remains in our custody, assisting us with our inquiries.

“We have not yet found Libby and doing so remains our top priority.

“Libby’s parents have been informed of the man’s arrest and we’re continuing to support them at this difficult time.”

PA Ready News UK

The address where the man was arrested is about half a mile from Squire’s home.

Hull University student Jorge Ramos, 22, who lives on the street, said he was “shocked” when he heard that an arrest had been made.

Ramos, who has lived on the street since September last year, said he does not know the man that has been arrested.

He said: “I knew there had been searches around the university for Libby, but I never imagined that someone would be arrested on this street.

“I did not see any police cars here last night, I only heard this morning that a man had been arrested.”

Linda Bartle, 63, said she saw police vehicles towing away a car on Wednesday night.

She said: “It was around 9pm when it all started, and there was quite a heavy police presence in the hours following that.”

A police car in Raglan Street in Hull, where a 24-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of abducting Squire
A police car in Raglan Street in Hull, where a 24-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of abducting Squire
PA Wire/PA Images

John Garrity said police arrived at his home on the street at around 9.15pm on Wednesday.

He said: “The police knocked on the door and showed me their warrant card, that was two officers, and they wanted to gain access to the garden.

“There’s a fence panel down, so I suggested the easiest way for them to do that was through my garden and then to walk through the gap where the fence panel had fallen.”

Garrity added that he does not know the inhabitants of the house that the police were trying to access, but said that many of the properties on the street are rented.

On Thursday a single police car could be seen on Raglan Street. There were no signs of a police cordon and apparently no officers inside any of the properties.

Police say they have received hundreds of calls in the last week.

Officers said Squire was dropped off in a taxi near her home on Wellesley Avenue at around 11.29pm on Thursday 31 January and was seen 10 minutes later on CCTV near a bench on Beverley Road, where a motorist stopped to offer help.

Squire was returning home from a night out when she vanished
Squire was returning home from a night out when she vanished
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She is believed to have been in this area until around 12.09am on Friday.

On Wednesday, Squire’s parents Lisa and Russell issued a statement which said: “We’d like to thank everyone who has helped this week in trying to find Libby.

“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.”

Humberside Police said the Squires, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, had met their daughter’s friends and university staff.

In their statement, the couple said Squire – whose full name is Liberty Anna – has two younger sisters and a younger brother, who all live in High Wycombe.

A woman, who did not want to be named, told the Press Association on Wednesday that she had heard an “urgent, panicked scream” outside her house at around 12.30am on Friday.

The woman, who lives near Squire’s home, said the area is populated by students who make a lot of noise “any day of the week”.

But she said the scream she heard on Friday morning sounded unusual, like a woman was “being harassed”.

Officers have been searching a number of locations in the area of Hull where Squire disappeared.

On Wednesday, a number of officers used sticks to look in the undergrowth on Oak Road Playing Fields and the Regional Marine Unit returned to search a pond nearby.

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