Two get bail in Shannon probe
2008-04-05 14:50
London - Detectives investigating the kidnapping of schoolgirl Shannon Matthews in Yorkshire have released on bail two members of her stepfather's family, police said on Saturday.
Identified by media reports as Alice Meehan, 49, and Amanda Hyett, 25, the mother and sister of Shannon's stepfather Craig Meehan, the two women were arrested on Friday as part of the investigation into the nine-year-old girl's kidnapping.
The 25-year-old had been arrested suspicion of assisting an offender and the 49-year-old on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Nine-year-old Shannon's disappearance in February sparked a huge search before she was found safe and well last month.
On Thursday, Craig Meehan, 22, was remanded on charges of possessing indecent images of children. He has lived with Shannon's 32-year-old mother Karen for around five years.
Shannon was found hidden in the base of a bed at a house a mile from her family home in Dewsbury last month, 24 days after she went missing following a school swimming trip.
Her disappearance prompted one of the biggest police inquiries in the area since the Yorkshire Ripper investigation of the late 1970s.
Police have charged Meehan's uncle, 39-year-old Michael Donovan, with Shannon's abduction and imprisonment.
The girl has not returned home since her rescue and remains in the care of social services.
- Reuters