APRIL Dingle is going to go missing next week on Emmerdale as she struggles to cope without dad Marlon.
The schoolgirl’s dad Marlon – who is played by actor Mark Charnock in the ITV soap – was arrested last night under suspicion of murdering Graham Foster.
He had had a very public altercation with Graham in the hours leading up to his death over Graham and Rhona’s plans to move to France with his son Leo.
Viewers know that Rhona’s rapist ex-husband Pierce Harris is to blame for Graham’s murder, but the villagers have no idea.
Fortunately however they don’t believe mild-mannered chef Marlon would kill anyone and his cousin Mandy launches a Free Marlon campaign to clear his name.
But while Marlon’s rotting away in prison, his daughter April is desperate to see him but he insists it would be a bad idea and gets Cain to lie to her to say children aren’t allowed.
Even Cain tries to convince an emotional Marlon to let April visit him, but the chef remains steadfast in not wanting April to see him in prison because it would be too much.
But when April overhears how her dad is struggling to cope, everything becomes too much for her.
And when she finds out children can see their parents in prison, things go from bad to worse and April goes missing.
A terrified Mandy is forced to report April’s disappearance to the police and the a massive search is soon launched.
In prison Marlon gets aggressive with the guards when the news of April going missing reaches him, leaving him frustrated and scared for his young daughter.
And he’s left devastated when he realises it is his refusal to see her that has caused April to disappear.
As the search for April continues, Bob and Sam decide to check Hotten Road again.
Arriving there, they find April bedraggled on the side of a road and are surprised when April tries to run away from them.
