Search For US Soldier Missing For Two Weeks

Hundreds of volunteers have joined the search for an American soldier who has been missing for more than two weeks.

Mystery surrounds the disappearance of 23-year-old Private First Class Kelli Bordeaux after she was last seen leaving a bar close to her home in North Carolina.

Police say they have received information from across the country but have so far failed to make a breakthrough in a case which is gripping America.

Detectives have released a photo that the soldier took of herself shortly before heading out on the night she disappeared.

They have not said how they got hold of the picture but they have released it as the hunt for Pte Bordeaux appears to have gone cold.

Her husband Mike, who was in Florida on the night his wife disappeared, said there were no problems in their marriage even though he had not seen his wife for a week before she disappeared.

He said he did not know why she was in the Froggy Bottoms bar in Fayetteville.

Mr Bordeaux told reporters: "Just please let her come home. Just let her come home to her family, me, friends. Just let her come home."

Hundreds of civilians and military personnel, some on horseback, joined police to scour an area of dense woodland close to where the last signal was received from her mobile phone.

Mr Bordeaux said: "She is a dedicated wife, a dedicated soldier. We love each other very much and I just appreciate everyone our here helping to look for her."

Police have said that a convicted sex offender who admits dropping Pte Bordeaux off close to her home on the night she disappeared is not regarded as a suspect.

Pte Bordeaux, who joined up as a medic, was reported missing after failing to show up for work at her base at Fort Bragg.