This is a timeline of all the events which led up to the eventual arrest of Paul Drake/Mick DonovanFebruary 19: This is the last confirmed sighting of Shannon, from Dewsbury Moor. She was last seen at 3.10pm outside West Moor Junior School, after she returning from a swimming lesson.
Shannon is reported missing later that evening. West Yorkshire Police launch a search of the local area, making inquiries throughout the night.
Shannon is reported missing later that evening. West Yorkshire Police launch a search of the local area, making inquiries throughout the night.
Julie France spots a girl matching Shannon's description near Paul Drake's flat.
February 20: Shannon's mother, Karen Matthews, makes a plea for her daughter to return home. Posters featuring Shannon's picture are distributed to passers-by and posted around the neighbourhood.
West Yorkshire Police say 200 officers are helping in the search and scores of local people spend a second night scouring gardens, parks and buildings.
February 21: Police say they have a possible new sighting of Shannon, near her home by an adult on the morning of February 20, and are treating this as "significant".
Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan tells a packed press conference that friends of the missing girl have told police she had talked of running away from home.
He describes her as vulnerable and not "streetwise".
West Yorkshire Police say 200 officers are helping in the search and scores of local people spend a second night scouring gardens, parks and buildings.
February 21: Police say they have a possible new sighting of Shannon, near her home by an adult on the morning of February 20, and are treating this as "significant".
Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan tells a packed press conference that friends of the missing girl have told police she had talked of running away from home.
He describes her as vulnerable and not "streetwise".
February 22: Police release CCTV footage showing Shannon shortly before she disappeared, entering and leaving the Dewsbury Sports Centre Swimming Pool, surrounded by a group of friends. Detectives say they remain "gravely concerned" about the schoolgirl.
Mr Brennan confirms statements made by Shannon's natural father, who separated from her mother a number of years ago, that Shannon had written on her bedroom wall about wanting to go to live with him.
Leon Rose said his daughter may have tried to get to his home in nearby Huddersfield.
February 23: Neighbours of missing Shannon, some wearing the n
ow well known T-shirts showing pictures of the nine-year-old, gather together at the residents' association hall, to support the search.Police say they have received more than 300 calls from members of the public and the operation has included searches of over 200 homes within a half-mile radius of Moorside Road.
Officers with underwater breathing apparatus search a pond behind Dewsbury Hospital as part of the investigation.
February 24: The congregation at St James Church, Heckmondwike, have a Sunday service with prayers for her safe return.
The police operation focuses on areas close to her family home and groups of officers are seen conducting house-to-house inquiries in the vicinity.
Julie France spots a white bag with Shannon's swimming items in it while out walking her dogs. She links this together with the suspected sighting of the Shannon look-alike and calls the police and reports this.
February 25: Fifty specialist police officers are drafted in to check wheelie bins on the route Shannon would have taken home from West Moor Junior School. Still no new leads.
February 26: Exactly one week after she disappeared - friends and neighbours of Shannon hold a vigil
The police operation focuses on areas close to her family home and groups of officers are seen conducting house-to-house inquiries in the vicinity.
Julie France spots a white bag with Shannon's swimming items in it while out walking her dogs. She links this together with the suspected sighting of the Shannon look-alike and calls the police and reports this.
February 25: Fifty specialist police officers are drafted in to check wheelie bins on the route Shannon would have taken home from West Moor Junior School. Still no new leads.
February 26: Exactly one week after she disappeared - friends and neighbours of Shannon hold a vigil
March 1: Shannon's mother makes another plea for her daughter's return home on the eve of Mother's Day.
March 4: As the search enters its third week, Shannon's parents and her headteacher, Krystyna Piatkowski hold a joint press conference to keep their plight in the public eye.
March 5: Police release the emotional recording of the 999 call made by Shannon's mother in the hope that it will prompt witnesses to come forward.
March 11: Three weeks to the day since the disappearance, police teams stress there will be no let-up in the search for missing Shannon but still there have been no arrests and no apparent
leads.
Almost half of the UK specialist search dogs are involved in the operation, they announce.
March 12: Shannon's mother says in a radio interview that she believed someone she knows had snatched her daughter to hurt her. She had seen a clairvoyant who had told her that she knew the person who had taken her daughter a few days before and her daughter was safe. Karen Matthews never gave up hope that her daughter was alive.
March 14: Shannon is found alive in Batley Carr, 24 days after going missing. A 39-year-old man is arrested in relation to her disappearance.
March 11: Three weeks to the day since the disappearance, police teams stress there will be no let-up in the search for missing Shannon but still there have been no arrests and no apparent
leads.Almost half of the UK specialist search dogs are involved in the operation, they announce.
March 12: Shannon's mother says in a radio interview that she believed someone she knows had snatched her daughter to hurt her. She had seen a clairvoyant who had told her that she knew the person who had taken her daughter a few days before and her daughter was safe. Karen Matthews never gave up hope that her daughter was alive.
March 14: Shannon is found alive in Batley Carr, 24 days after going missing. A 39-year-old man is arrested in relation to her disappearance.
Photos thanks to a variety of websites.
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