Third night of searches for girl

The nine-year-old has never gone missing before

Teams of police officers are continuing to scour a West Yorkshire town looking for a nine-year-old girl who has been missing for three days.

The last confirmed sighting of Shannon Matthews, from Moorside Road, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was when she left school on Tuesday.

Her father, Leon Rose, who is estranged from the family, said the youngster had claimed she wanted to live with him.

The youngster's family are facing a third day not knowing if she is safe.

But detectives are treating a reported sighting of her the day after she disappeared as "significant".

See the key locations in the search

Mr Rose said: "I've spoken with Karen [Shannon's mother] on Wednesday.

"She said that she'd [Shannon] wrote on her bedroom wall that she wanted to live with her dad.

"We thought that that might be something to do with why she'd run off.

"She knows where we live, but she doesn't know how to get here."

Late on Thursday night family, friends and local residents joined the 250 police officers who were looking for the schoolgirl.

I couldn't be more concerned - she is nine year-old girl who has never gone missing before Det Supt Andy Brennan

Julie Bushby, chairman of the Moorside residents' association, said: "That is the type of neighbourhood this is and we are so grateful to everybody who has been getting involved.

"It's been absolutely fantastic."

Mrs Bushby said local shops and businesses had been handing out tea and coffee to the search teams.

Earlier Det Supt Andy Brennan, from West Yorkshire Police, said: "I couldn't be more concerned. She is nine year-old girl who has never gone missing before and I would have expected her to turn up by now."

"Under normal circumstances we would expect to have found a young person a lot sooner than this, which causes great concern."

Shannon's step aunt, Amanda Hyett, told the BBC that the girl's mother Karen was "distraught".

"She wants her daughter back, like any other mother would do.

"Her brother this morning was devastated. He had to go to school, obviously, because you have got to carry on as normal the best that you can."

Mr Brennan said one witness was "100% sure" that he had seen Shannon on Wednesday morning.

Other sightings included one on the playing fields behind Shannon's school on Church Lane between 1830 GMT and 1930 GMT on Tuesday and another in a park at the junction of Staincliffe Road and Heckmondwike Road.

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