'I've looked everywhere I can think of': Police release recording of 999 call made my mother of missing Shannon

A recording of the 999 call made by the mother of missing schoolgirl Shannon Matthews has been released by police.

Karen Matthews can be heard breaking down during the call, made on February 19 after nine-year-old Shannon failed to return home from school.

She appears to be in tears as she tells the operator that her daughter, described as a "timid" girl, had never gone missing before.

Her mother sounded controlled when the operator first answers, saying: "I want to report my daughter as missing please."

But as she answers various questions about Shannon, she becomes increasingly emotional.

She told the operator: "She went to school as normal", adding that their had been no family rows.

Asked if she had tried the people she knews, Ms Matthews, 32, went on: "I have been everywhere. I have been everywhere I can think of - friends-wise, family and everything."

She said that Shannon usually walked home from school on her own and should have returned home at around 3.30pm.

"She left school at the normal time of 3.10pm," she said.

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When the operator asks whether Shannon has ever gone missing before, Ms Matthews' voice cracks with emotion.

"No, this is the first time," she said.

Police launched a massive operation to find the nine-year-old, from Dewsbury Moor in West Yorkshire.

But despite an intensive hunt, there have been no confirmed sightings of the girl.

She was last seen leaving an afternoon swimming session with a friend but after that, officers have drawn a total blank.

The whole 71-second transcript reads:

"Operator: Police, emergency.

Ms Matthews: Hiya, I want to report my daughter as missing, please.

Operator: Right. How old is she?

Ms Matthews: Nine.

Operator: Nine?

Ms Matthews: Yes.

Operator: When did you last see her?

Ms Matthews: She went to school this morning.

Operator: Right. Have there been any arguments, or anything...

Ms Matthews: No, none at all.

Operator: No. Have you been in touch with any of her friends or anybody like that?

Ms Matthews: I've been everywhere I can think of friends-wise and family and everything.

Operator: And nobody at all has any information about where she can be? Does she go to school and come back on her own normally then?

Ms Matthews: Yes.

Operator: Right. So. You expected her home what, at 4 o'clock?

Ms Matthews: About half-past-three at the latest...(inaudible)...

Operator: Does she have a mobile phone or anything like that?

Ms Matthews: No. It's at home.

Operator: So there's no way to ring to find out....

Ms Matthews: No

Operator: But you've rung round her friends and you've been in touch with all her relatives and there's nowhere else that you've got left to look?

Ms Matthews: No

Operator: Have you been in touch with the school. Can they confirm whether they've been...

Ms Matthews: She left school at the normal time at ten-past-three.

Operator: Right. What do they call her?

Ms Matthews: Shannon Matthews

Operator: Has she been missing before.

Ms Matthews: No. It's the first time."

Its release follows an emotional plea by Ms Matthews, begging for her daughter's safe return.

She wept on Monday as she told a press conference that she believes someone she knows could hold the key to finding her.

She told reporters that she cried herself to sleep each night and could not go into Shannon's bedroom because it upset her too much.