Libby Squire: Humberside Police describe "overwhelming" support to find missing Hull student

Ms Squire, 21, was reported missing in the early hours of Friday 1 February.

A 24-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday evening on suspicion of abduction and remains in custody.

A 12 hour supervisor’s extension was granted last night to continue to question him followed by a 36 hour extension until 9pm on Saturday which was granted by the court on Friday morning.

The force said: "Last night more than 20 officers, including PCSOs, detectives and police staff, with the help of more than 50 volunteers from Hull University and members of the public spent the night out in Hull as part of our search to find Libby Squire."

They also spoke to people to try and gather more information following Libby's disappearance on Friday February 1 and visited shops, takeaways, off licences, pubs and bars to speak to owners and staff.

A ‘media van’ carrying an 11 square metre digital screen looped around an 8 mile route from the area where Libby was last seen, and circled student areas as well as Newland Avenue and Princes Avenue.

The screen showed images of Libby measuring almost three metres high.

The force added: "The van was on the road for over eight hours from rush hour to around 1am and provided a high profile and mobile reminder about our appeal to people who were in the area and driving around Hull last night."

Detective Superintendent Matt Hutchinson said: “I was really impressed with the turnout and support from everyone last night.

“The weather was quite cold but that didn’t stop dozens of volunteers giving up their time to work alongside our officers to help with the search for Libby Squire.

“It was an emotional time for some of the volunteers who were visibly upset but still wanted to help.

“Our search for Libby over the past week has really shown me how the communities in Hull have come together in such a positive way to help each other to find Libby - which is our priority above everything else.

"Our officers will continue to search for her and we are still very much treating her disappearance as a missing person’s enquiry."

The force encouraged social media users to share the appeal online using the hashtag #HelpFindLibby.

So far the force's own social media posts have reached 147,500 Facebook users and have been seen by more than 225,000 people on Twitter.

Over the weekend and throughout next week the appeal will be displayed on 20 digital screens in the main shopping areas of Hull city centre in the hope that people will come forward with more information about Libby’s disappearance.

This digital space has been donated free of charge by JCDecaux.

The statement from Police concluded: "The support we have received has been incredible and we want to thank everyone in Hull and the force area who have helped and assisted over the past week."

The inverstigation remains ongoing and police ask that anyone with information contact them quoting log 163 of 6/2/19.