Mum: 'Let Shannon go'

The mother of missing schoolgirl Shannon Matthews has urged: "Whoever's got Shannon, just please let her go."

In an emotional press conference, Karen Matthews made a direct appeal to "somebody out there" who may be holding the nine-year-old captive.

Shannon failed to come home after leaving a school trip in her home town of Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire, on February 19.

Karen Matthews said her daughter's last words on the day she vanished were: "I'll see you at teatime, Mum. Love you.'

Mrs Matthews carried Shannon's favourite teddy bear as she renewed calls for information on the child's whereabouts.

She added: "If somebody's out there who's actually got Shannon, it's just broken the family that we had apart.

"The family doesn't feel safe anymore."

Asked if she believed somebody living locally knows something, she said: "I think there's somebody out there who knows Shannon and probably knows me as well. And I just want her home safe, really."

Mrs Matthews said she accepted police had to carry out criminal checks on members of her family.

She said her daughter's disappearance made her question her trust in friends and wider family.

"I can't trust the people who are really close to me any more.

"Whoever's got Shannon, just please let her go. Her family's missing her. All her friends are missing her at school."

Mrs Matthews said she and Shannon's stepfather Craig Meehan had both been crying themselves to sleep since she disappeared.

There have been no positive sightings of the nine-year-old since she left her school about half-a-mile from her home in Moorside Road, Dewsbury Moor.

Police searching for Shannon have received hundreds of calls from the public, and last week stopped and questioned around 1,500 motorists as part of the massive operation.

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