How Shevaun came home

Shevaun Pennington, reunited with her mother, being driven home

Breakfast's main story this morning is the safe return of 12 year old Shevaun Pennington to her family, after disappearing for four days with a man she met on the internet.

It's becoming clear that the police operation to track Shevaun and 31 year old Toby Studabaker was highly sophisticated.

Aspects of Studabaker's past were deliberately kept out of the media - and Shevaun's parents were carefully briefed on what to say, to avoid scaring the pair into going underground.

Breakfast this morning reported live from Shevaun's home town of Leigh in Greater Manchester - and from Frankfurt, where the pair were finally found.

We talked to a criminal psychologist, Dr Simon Meyerson, about how the operation to bring Shevaun home was conducted.

Further details from BBC News Online

Shevaun was reunited with her parents at a police station in Lancashire on Wednesday after an international police hunt.

Officers said she appeared to be unharmed.

Her mother Joanna Pennington sobbed as she spoke of the moment she realised her child was safe and well.

She said her first words on being reunited with her daughter were "how are you?" and "give us a hug".

Stephen Pennington, Shevaun's father, said the girl had seemed well.

Shevaun was not with Mr Studabaker when she was found, although police said she had been in Frankfurt at some point.

It appeared she had flown from Stuttgart to Amsterdam and then home to Manchester.

Mr Studabaker was arrested after a joint operation between Greater Manchester Police, the German authorities and the FBI.

Mr Studabaker's family in Michigan have stood by him since Shevaun's disappearance and had urged him to contact the police after he rang them on Tuesday.

Internet chatroom

His sister-in-law, Sherry, said news of the arrest had been a "relief".

She said: "This has been a very difficult few days for the family. We are glad it now seems to be drawing to a close."

Mr Studabaker spent three years in the US Marines, before leaving in June this year.

He met Shevaun in an internet chatroom, without her parents knowing.

The pair had been e-mailing for up to a year, and then exchanging letters and possibly phone calls, before meeting face-to-face for the first time on Saturday, police believe.