Police search house of missing Shannon's uncle as detectives treat case 'as seriously as a murder'

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A dozen police officers conducted a fingertip search of the house belonging to the uncle of missing nine-year-old Shannon Matthews today.

Officers from West Yorkshire Police filed into the property in Moorside Road, Dewsbury Moor which adjoins the home of the schoolgirl who disappeared last week.

The house belongs to Neil Hyett, Shannon Matthews' uncle, and his wife, Amanda.

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Search continues: Shannon smiles as she sits beside a favourite dog in an undated photograph released today by West Yorkshire Police

With white masks covering their mouths, officers rummaged through rubbish in the garden and poked through items in the kitchen and living room.

Officers spent around 50 minutes in the property before leaving.

The development came as detectives confirmed they were now treating her disappearance on a scale 'as serious as a murder investigation'.

Detective Superintendent Brennan, who is heading up the search, said: "I'm convinced that if Shannon had run away that night of her own volition, in a den or hideaway of some sort, we would have found her by now - over a week on from when the investigation opened.

"It is very rare in searches of this kind that a girl of Shannon's age should be missing for this long without any clues pointing to her whereabouts.

"It is extremely concerning and we are now looking at this on a scale as serious as a murder investigation.

"It can now be said that the tone of our enquiry has changed to a bleaker outlook.

"The shift in emphasis is that we are now looking for individuals who may have been seen on the day of her disappearance, acting suspiciously, or unknown to the local community.

"We are also appealing for anyone who may have friends or family that may have been behaving strangely since Shannon went missing, to come forward.

"At this stage, any shred of information, however insignificant it seems, may help.

"We have a grave concern that she may have fallen into the wrong hands but no arrests have been made at this point, and I must stress at this point that we are not ruling out any possibilities as to what might have happened to her."

When asked if police were now treating the enquiry directly as a murder investigation, he said: "We are not excluding anything."

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Popular: A birthday celebration has Shannon reaching to blow out the candles in an undated photograph handed out today by the police

Meanwhile, friends and neighbours of Shannon will hold a vigil tonight - exactly one week after she disappeared.

Worried residents will walk with colourful balloons from the local community centre in Dewsbury Moor to Shannon's home.

A banner strung across the house in Moorside Road will urge the nine-year-old to come home.

Police have confirmed they are investigating an attempted abduction of a 12-year-old girl in Wakefield.

Police are investigating the report, but are so far refusing to confirm that the two incidents are connected.

The man stopped his car alongside the girl as she walked to school at around 9am last Tuesday, the same day Shannon disappeared.

He asked her to get in and reached over to open the passenger door.

After she had refused his offer of a lift, the man attempted to run after the girl but she managed to escape.

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Police search local rubbish bins for clues of Shannon's whereabouts

As the hunt for Shannon continues, it was earlier revealed that a man helping in the search for missing schoolgirl Shannon Matthews is believed to have been crucified outside his house just yards from the nine-year-old's family home.

Police are investigating the alleged assault of a 43-year-old man who neighbours claim was nailed to a wooden cross through his hands on Sunday night, and some locals claim the attack is related to the hunt for the missing girl.

Yesterday eight officers and three police vehicles could be seen outside the property while police searched the flat. A large poster appealing for information on the missing youngster could be seen displayed in the ground-floor window.

Nearby, police examining the disappearance of Shannon have been searching through hundreds of household bins. Around 50 officers wearing masks and gloves rummaged through the domestic waste at every home on the route Shannon would have taken home from school.

She was last seen at 3.10pm last Tuesday walking away from Westmoor Junior School in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

A neighbour of the 'crucified' man said she found him singing "Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ" as he lay nailed to the cross.

She said: "I was leaving my neighbour's house at 11.45pm when I heard him singing. I told him to get up, thinking he was drunk, but he cried 'I can't'.

"My nephew Mark shouted 'Get over here, he's nailed to some wood, I've called an ambulance'." But the scared neighbour said, as she came closer to the victim, she realised it wasn't just wood - it was a cross.

She claims that the victim said somebody had dragged him out of his house and done it to him, with locals claiming the attack was related to the hunt for the missing girl.

But police have denied any link to the Shannon Matthews case, adding that the incident was minor and no-one had been arrested.

A huge operation over the last week has involved searches at more than 200 homes, as well as common land and ponds.

Yesterday, officers were helped by council binmen. Chief Superintendent Barry South said: "We are emptying the bins, checking the refuse to make sure there's nothing there that could link us to Shannon's whereabouts.

"Over the past week, we've recovered more than 500 items of property. We believe we've not found anything that links directly to Shannon."

Police also searched her father Leon Rose's home yesterday as a matter of "routine".

Mr South said: "In an inquiry of this nature, we're going to speak with close family, close friends, anybody that might be connected with Shannon."

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Candles lay next to a picture of the missing nine-year-old during prayers at Saint John The Baptist Church in Dewsbury

Police have already examined more than 200 homes and received more than 300 calls from the public.

But the desperate searches by officers as well as Shannon's friends and relatives have so far failed to find any trace of her.

Shannon's mother Karen leaves her home yesterday

Mr South added: "I've said from the outset, I believe that somebody out there has a vital piece of information.

"We're constantly reminding people that it might just be that small bit that they think is not important that we need."

Despite the number of days Shannon has been missing, Mr South said he still hoped to find her alive.

"I think the size of the search, the extent of what we're doing, the resources going in - we're not going to lose hope.

"My priority has been the same right from the very outset- we are doing our best to locate Shannon safe and well."

Over the weekend, officers searched hundreds of properties, including Shannon's family home. Divers also scoured a pond and sewers on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the McCanns, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared from their holiday apartment in the Algarve last May, have pledged their support to Shannon's parents.

Writing in his personal online blog, Gerry McCann, said he and his wife Kate were praying for her safe return.

"No matter what has happened to Shannon, there is no doubt she is extremely vulnerable," he added.

"We hope she is found safe and well soon and returned to her family."

Chief Superintendent Barry South said police had received 300 calls about Shannon's disappearance and were "gravely concerned" about her welfare.

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Police have released CCTV footage of Shannon Matthews, who disappeared after leaving school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, on Tuesday afternoon

The CCTV images, released by West Yorkshire Police, show Shannon entering and leaving the Dewsbury Sports Centre Swimming Pool, surrounded by a group of friends.

Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan told a press conference how Shannon returned to school with her friends after the swimming trip.

But a sighting of her leaving school at 3.10pm remains the last confirmed time she was spotted despite a number of other unconfirmed sightings after this, which are still under investigation.

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Grim search: Police divers spent Saturday scouring a pond for signs of missing schoolgirl Shannon Matthews

Police assemble their ranks to spread the search for nine-year-old Shannon

Mr Brennan also confirmed statements made by Shannon's natural father, who separated from her mother, Karen, a number of years ago, that she had written on her bedroom wall about wanting to go and live with him.

Leon Rose said his daughter may have tried to get to his home in nearby Huddersfield.

But Mr Brennan said this was just part of an array of scribbles that the youngster had daubed on the wall.

The nine-year-old had also expressed desires to leave home, Mr Brennan added.

"She had suggested to a number of friends that she didn't want to go home and we are investigating that as well," he said.

He added: "We do remain gravely concerned."

Opening the news conference, Chief Superintendent Barry South said that police had not recovered any clothing or any items connected to Shannon.

On Friday, Mr Rose said: "She's scared and cold and, basically, if someone's seen her I'd like them to ring the police straight away as soon as you see her so then we know where to look."

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Shannon took a different route home to Moorside Road, Dewsbury, after being dropped off at school after her first swimming lesson. Friends can't explain why.

Shannon's mother Karen, 32, said Shannon had not expressed a wish to go and live with her father and had a close relationship with her stepfather, 22-year-old Craig Meehan, whom she had lived with for four years.

"She is really clingy with him. She's a daddy's girl, more than a mummy's girl," Mrs Matthews said.

"On Monday night, they were having tickling fights. She views him as a dad."

Mrs Matthews is staying at friend Natalie Brown's house while police carry out investigations in her family home two doors down the road.

A scenes of crime officer examined the property yesterday, while two police officers stood guard at the front door.

On Thursday, senior detectives said they were taking seriously a report from an adult man who did not know the family but said he saw Shannon just a few hundred yards from her home in Dewsbury Moor, on Wednesday morning.

Police described Shannon as white, around 4ft 1in and slim, with shoulder-length, medium-brown hair, which was possibly tied up in a ponytail. She has blue eyes and freckles.

She was wearing a black school jumper with a school logo on it, a white cotton T-shirt, black trousers and a black, waist-length coat with fur round the hood. She was also wearing pink and grey "Bratz" furry boots.

 

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