General Chat

There is something very odd about this case ... things will slowly come out. I just hope little Shannon is happy.

Tina x

some rather disturbing news on News 24 just now - apparently a 22 year old man has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of Shannon - he has pornographic images of children/child

How nice to hear good news for a change....
I'm so pleased..

Brilliant news, :-)))))))
xx

Fantastic news i'm so pleased.

Fantastic news !!
Tony Walker phoned me with it whilst I was up the school earlier. I was chuffed to bits to hear that she'd been found safe......bless her.

Wonderful news for her family too.xx

I read this just a few minutes ago. How lucky she's been but who knows what psychological damage may have been done in them 24 days. She was in the bottom of a divan bed when they found her but who knows if she'd been in there all that time. Karmic thanks to the neighbour who reported the tip. I hope that they'll be able to minimise any harm done to her. So glad she's been found alive though.

I've just read it on the news - seams she is unharmed too what great news x

Good to hear Shannon is ok and well, will be interested to know the in'and outs of it though
Janet

Some good news for once - wonderful, poor little lamb.

Tina x

A great relief that Shannon is alive.

And how I would love to get hold of the monstrosity that has kept her away from her family all this time.

Just so glad she is alive and will be back with her family shortly.

Sue

Breaking News

Shannon Matthews Is Found
Updated:17:07, Friday March 14, 2008

Missing schoolgirl Shannon Matthews has been found alive 24 days after she disappeared.
She was discovered around a mile away at the home of a man who is related to her stepfather, say Sky sources.

Shannon MatthewsPolice smashed their way into a flat in Lidgate Gardens in Batley Carr and emerged carrying Shannon, neighbours said.

A 39-year-old man has been arrested at the address in the Dewsbury area of West Yorkshire, on suspicion of abduction, said police.

The man is "remotely related" to Shannon's stepfather Craig Meehan, according to Sky sources.

The nine-year-old was found "concealed" in the base of a divan bed at the address, the West Yorkshire force said.

Neighbours said the young girl looked "quite calm" and officers confirmed she was OK as she was brought out.

Batley Carr resident Mandy Dixon, 37, said: "I couldn't see Shannon's face - she was covered up. She was clinging to the officer for dear life."

She said the suspect was then "dragged" out of the property and into a waiting vehicle.

"He wasn't walking, he was just limp. There were two men on either side of him. They were dragging him."

Another local resident, who did not want to give her name, said: "One of my neighbours heard banging.

"When he went outside, police were breaking the door down - the man wouldn't come out so they broke in. Apparently they found her in bed."

The neighbour believed the man who occupied the flat where Shannon was found lived alone and had children who had been taken into care.


Mother Karen MatthewsShe added: "We haven't seen him for two or three years. But apparently he's come back."

The woman who lives downstairs from him tipped off police after hearing footsteps, she said.

Charity Missing People said it recently contacted police after being told that Shannon might be in Lidgate Gardens.

Earlier reports claimed the little girl was found hiding under a bed in a her grandparents' home.

Police had been searching for the nine-year-old for over three weeks.

The youngster has now been taken to a police station where she will be reunited with her mother Karen Matthews, who is said by a friend to be "shocked and overwhelmed".

The schoolgirl's aunt Amanda Hyett said Ms Matthews, 32, had been driven away by police from the family home shortly before 2pm.

Shannon's father Leon Rose said he never gave up hope of seeing his daughter alive again and being reunited with her would be like "winning the lottery".

Sky's north of England correspondent Gerard Tubb said: "I only know that she is alive but I wasn't given any impression that she was harmed.

"They've got her, they're very excited."


Officers in the search for ShannonChild protection expert Mark Williams-Thomas said: "It's fantastic news that she has been but now the investigation will take a different line."

He added: "They will have to find out where she's been. Clearly there are some huge issues as to why she disappeared in the first place."

Former Scotland Yard detective, Mike Hames, told Sky the police "always thought she was being kept away from home by someone that knows her".

"It is quite rare that you would find a child alive after all this time," he added.

Shannon failed to return home from school after a swimming trip on February 19.

Earlier this week, Ms Matthews, a mother-of-seven from Dewsbury, West Yorks, said: "She got abducted. That's all I can say."

Asked if someone she knew was responsible, she said: "It seems that way because there's no trace of her at all.

"There's no trace of her swimming costume, her towel or anything like that that she's taken with her."

Shannon had been dressed in a black jumper with a school logo, a white cotton T-shirt, black trousers and a waist-length black coat with fur round the hood.

One national newspaper offered a £50,000 reward for information about her disappearance.

Police searched more than 200 homes and received over 300 calls from the public in their extensive investigation.

Friends and neighbours also distributed leaflets appealing for information about Shannon's whereabouts across West Yorkshire.

wonderful news :-))

Julia

wish they all could
lets hope and pray
...............rosexx........

Fantastic news, her family must be ecstatic.
If only all missing children were returned safely.

Jean xx

So her Mum was right to believe that it was someone she knew.......I am so glad she has been found safe, such good news after all this time......

Oh it's so nice to hear the good news about little Shannon being found. :O)

thank god for that.

Lets hope they get to the bottom of it.

d xx

Yes that would be great if they found her too.

Marion