The True Story Of A Child Abduction — Part Two
You Won’t Believe The Shocking Twist!
Part Two
The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, offered a reward of £20,000 for information leading to her safe return; this was later increased to £50,000 on the 10th of March, by which time Shannon had been missing for 20 days. A business in Huddersfield, around nine miles away from Dewsbury, also offered £5,000. The case received an enormous amount of media coverage; Karen Matthews, 32, and her partner Craig Meehan, 22, made several emotional TV appeals, pleading for the safe return of their ‘beautiful princess’ whilst cradling her favourite teddy bear. Websites were set up to help with the search and the close-knit community wore matching t-shirts emblazoned with her image as they scoured the area for any possible clues or sightings.
On the 14th of March 2008, at around 12:30, Detective Constables Nick Townsend and Paul Kettlewell were making house-to-house enquiries in the area of Batley Carr, a district that straddles the border between Dewsbury and Batley. A man called Michael Donovan had come to their attention: he often visited the Dewsbury Moor area but hadn’t been seen there since the time that Shannon had vanished. Needless to say, they felt that he may be a useful person to speak to.
After knocking on the door of his flat and receiving no response, they spoke to his downstairs neighbour. She recalled hearing little footsteps, like those of a toddler, from the floor above. The police had been made aware that Shannon had an unusual gait — she walked with very tiny steps — so this immediately rang alarm bells for the two policemen. After waiting for backup, the police broke down the door to Donovan’s flat. They were horrified at what they found…
Read Part Three here
