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Police finally say missing Shannon, 9, could have been abducted
Last updated at 00:07am on 28.02.08
Fears: Shannon Matthews may have been abducted in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
A week after the nine-year-old was last seen walking away from school at 3.10pm, it emerged police have also been investigating an attempted abduction of another schoolgirl called Shannon on the same day 10 miles away in a neighbouring town.
Shannon Selby, 12, was walking on her own to school in Wakefield at around 9am last Tuesday when a man pulled up and ordered her to "get in this car now".
The terrified schoolgirl ran away as the stranger parked and set off to chase her on foot, but she reached home safely and her mother phoned the police.
West Yorkshire Police issued an efit of the man yesterday. They said there was no evidence to link the two incidents, but were "not excluding any possibilities."
The huge operation to find Shannon Matthews continued one week on in Dewsbury Moor with police stopping and questioning hundreds of motorists in the hope of finding a vital witness.
Police have searched several hundred properties to look for clues and yesterday sent a team into the girl's aunt and uncle's house next door to the Matthews' family home in Moorside Road as a matter of "routine".
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Worried: Shannon's stepfather Craig Meehan with mother Karen Matthews and brothers Tony and Cameron, far right
Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan said: "What concerns me greatly at this point is that Shannon is a vulnerable nine-year-old girl who may have fallen into the wrong hands.
"While we hope and pray Shannon will be found safe and well, we remain gravely concerned.
"We are not excluding any possibility as to what happened to Shannon that afternoon."
Police dogs trained to sniff out human remains have been used, along with the force helicopter and mountain rescue teams to search in nearby countryside.
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Appeal: Neighbours in Wakefield gather on the streats in a plea to help find missing Shannon
More than 200 officers have been working on the operation - which continues to focus on the immediate local neighbourhood - every day and police chiefs have vowed not to reduce resources.
Further pictures of Shannon were released by her family yesterday as police made another desperate appeal for information.
Ninth Birthday: Shannon celebrates
Shannon had told friends she didn't want to go home following a row over money that went missing from home, she was also believed to be jealous of the attention her 11-year-old brother - a regular runaway who was often found out at night by police - was receiving.
The incident in Wakefield six hours before Shannon was last seen walking from the school gates is being treated seriously and police have liaised with the Shannon Matthews inquiry.
Mother-of-four Nichola Selby, 32, whose daughter reported the attempted abduction, said: "It was only because she was running towards a main road where there were a lot of people that she got away.
"I'm so glad she didn't run for the graveyard or he would have stayed with her and probably caught her.
"Shannon has asthma and her chest was heaving when she got back. She had to really try to get it out. She said Mum, a man tried to get me."
Reader views (4)
I am appalled at what little has been on the news regarding this little girl, I feel the police have not taken this nine year olds disappearance seriously enough.
- Nicola James, Audenshaw - manchester
The newspapers had an obsession with making the abduction of Madeline screaming headline story for WEEKS on end. Some high profile footballers(who would turn up at the opening of an envelope) appeared on the front pages of the tabloids wearing yellow ribbons for Madeline . Business men like Branson even set up a fund to help the McCanns. I even witnessed black cab taxi drivers with yellow ribbons on the front of cab bonnets. ALL the previous ,WHERE ARE YOU NOW!Is it because the family "aren't photogenic" in your eyes? Me and others think so.
EVERY CHILD that goes missing deserves the same high profile media attention until they are hopefully found alive!
If and I repeat if Shannon has been abducted,the perpetrator and people who commit this type of crime must be punished with the utmost severity. For some strange reason this country is far to lenient on certain crimes committed against children.
- Sam, Lewisham
When I was that age there was an informal meeting point where children joined a group and all walked to school together with just 2 or 3 adults to accompany them. I hope other parents are now thinking of doing this.
- Roz, Chamonix, France
When is someone going to set up a help find Shannon fund like the one for Maddie? Thought the McCanns would have been among the first to chip in.
- Raymond Hancock, matlock uk
