Girl, five, goes missing in mid-Wales Machynlleth, where April Jones went missing, has a population of 2,000 Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian A search was started on Monday night for a missing five-year-old girl who was last seen playing on her bike near her home. April Jones was playing with friends in the mid-Wales town of Machynlleth at about 7.30pm when she went missing. There are widespread reports that she was seen getting into a light coloured van which then drove off. Up to 200 residents of the town, which has a with a population of 2,000, joined in the search. Chris Dudley, who works at the Skinners Arms on Penrallt Street, said the pub was empty as many of the locals were looking for the girl. "All the locals are out looking for her in this area - the cemeteries, the golf field, playing field, everywhere you can think of," Dudley said. Local restaurant owner Razul Islam said a large proportion of the town, which has a population of 2,000, was out in force searching for the girl. "There are hundreds of people out looking for her," Islam told Sky News. It is such a small town and nearly everyone is out looking for her - I'm shocked that it has happened in a town like this. He said he expected the search to continue throughout the night. Meanwhile, petrol station owner Nerys Zjalic said she had reopened the garage to help with the search. Zjalic said: "We'll stay open all night if we have to. We heard about the search through social networking sites and there were a lot of people going past our house. My friend called to ask if we would open so people can get petrol to help in the search. Locals are out in full force searching for her.