Cops find missing UK girl
2008-03-14 21:13
London - Missing schoolgirl Shannon
Matthews was found alive on Friday, hidden in the base of a bed
in a house in West Yorkshire, police said.
A 39-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of
abducting the nine-year-old, who disappeared nearly a month ago.
"Shannon is currently in the care of West Yorkshire Police,"
a police statement said. "Investigations are ongoing."
She had gone missing on February 19 after going on a swimming
trip in the town of Dewsbury, prompting one of the biggest
investigations in the area since the Yorkshire Ripper inquiry of
the late 1970s.
Detectives found her during a raid on a flat in nearby
Batley Carr early on Friday afternoon. She was hidden in the
base of a divan bed.
Neighbours said police smashed their way into the house and
brought her out. She appeared "quite calm", witnesses told
reporters at the scene.
"She looked OK - there didn't seem to be any physical marks
on her. You could tell she was scared, though," one unnamed
resident told the Yorkshire Evening Post Web site.
Police raided the house after a tip-off from a close
neighbour, according to an unconfirmed report on Sky News.
Relatives said police had driven the girl's mother Karen
Matthews from the family home this afternoon.
Hundreds of police, dog handlers and mountain rescue teams
had joined the search for the girl. Officers have spoken to more
than 1 500 motorists.
Police leading the search had spoken of their grave concern
for the girl and likened the investigation to a murder inquiry.
Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan said last month: "What
concerns me greatly at this point is that Shannon as a
vulnerable nine-year-old girl may have fallen into the wrong
hands".
Karen Matthews made repeated emotional appeals for her
daughter's safe return.
On Mother's Day, she said: "I have a special bond with
Shannon and I feel sure that she is alive and will come home to
her mum."
- Reuters