FBI joins Southport investigation with claims killer wiped search history

The FBI and US Justice Department are aiding British police to investigate Southport killer Axel Rudakubana.

Child killer Rudakubana, 18, was handed a minimum of 52 years in January for the murder of three girls at a Taylor Swift theme dance class in July last year.

He murdered Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and attempted to murder eight other children, whose identities are protected, dance instructor Leanne Lucas, and businessman John Hayes.

Now, British police have enlisted the support of American investigators amid reports Rudakubana wiped his internet search history before the attack.

In a joint statement, Merseyside Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Saturday, February 15: “The Southport attack has devastated the lives of the victims, their families and the wider community.

“A specialist liaison CPS Prosecutor in the United States has been working with international partners to obtain material which may be relevant.

“We are thankful to the US Department of Justice and the FBI for their ongoing assistance and the importance which they have placed upon our request.”

According to reports, investigators now hope to recover deleted searches from the killer’s Google and Microsoft accounts within weeks.

Meanwhile the parents of Elsie Dot Stancombe have said months on from the death of their seven-year-old daughter in the Southport attack that “we will never feel true happiness again, ever”,

Jenni Stancombe said her daugher was never meant to be at the dance class where Rudakubana launched his attack, but was only there because she had been saved a place.

In their first TV interview, the parents of Elsie and Bebe have said children need to be “safer and protected”.

Bebe’s mother told ITV Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid that she hoped her daughter would still have an impression on the world with the safety of other children paramount.

Alice’s family said they were not ready to speak but they were supportive of the other families.