25/02/2008

Rubbish Bins Searched In Hunt For Shannon

Bins on the route that missing schoolgirl Shannon Matthews would have taken on her way from school are being searched as the hunt for the missing nine-year-old continues.

Fifty specialist officers have been brought in to search bins on the route between Shannon's school - Westmoor Junior School - and her home in Moorside Road, Dewsbury Moor.

A spokesperson for Kirklees Council said that the bins had been left uncollected in order for the police to search for clues to Shannon's whereabouts.

A search was mounted for Shannon when she failed to return to her home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, after a school swimming trip on February 19.

Around 250 police officers have been involved in the hunt, which has seen the gardens and outhouses of more than 200 homes close to the nine-year-old's home in Moorside Road, Dewsbury Moor, searched.

Specialist divers have also searched a pond, sewers and drains.

West Yorkshire Police have received more than 300 calls in connection with Shannon's disappearance.

Shannon's family and friends handed out leaflets appealing for information at the weekend.

Shannon is described as timid and is white, around 4ft 1in tall, with shoulder-length medium-brown hair which may have been tied in a ponytail.

When she was last seen, she was wearing a black jumper with a school logo, a white cotton T-shirt, black trousers, a waist-length black coat with fur around the hood and distinctive pink and grey 'Bratz' furry boots.

Anyone with any information regarding Shannon's disappearance is asked to contact West Yorkshire Police on: 01274 373737 or text: 07786 200806. Crimestoppers can also be contacted anonymously on: 0800 555 111.

(KMcA)


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