A change of tone in Shannon hunt

I've been speaking to the detective searching for Shannon Matthews each day since the schoolgirl went missing. But today the tone of his language changed.

Despite a big search in streets, back alleys, rivers and bins - there has been no sign of her.

Today police confirmed that they were investigating an attempted abduction of a 12 year-old girl on the same day Shannon disappeared - but so far the two events are not being linked.

At a briefing the possibility that Shannon had been abducted was raised.

Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan said: "What concerns me greatly at this point is that Shannon is a vulnerable nine year-old girl who may have fallen into the wrong hands."

There's no shortage of resources going into this search.

Specialist search dogs trained to sniff out human remains are now being used in the investigation. Frogmen have been in the local rivers and streams which surround Dewsbury and hundreds of officers have knocked on hundreds of doors.

Even the bins have been tipped out, searched before being taken to the local incinerator. Police are also removing manhole covers in their attempt to search the sewage system.

We've just stopped at a police road check where we've been handed a leaflet - the police say they're targeting motorists who would have been driving in the area around the time of Shannon's disappearance a week ago.

Mr Brennan told us that the inquiry was very similar in structure to a murder investigation, but said police were "ruling out no possibilities".

Search dogs were just one part of a wide ranging inquiry that included mounted police patrols, search and rescue teams, mountain rescue teams, and helicopters.

A team of "dedicated scientists" were on hand for detailed forensic examinations, detectives said.

"While we hope and pray that Shannon will be found safe and well, we remain gravely concerned," Mr Brennan said.

"We are not excluding any possibility as to what has happened to Shannon that afternoon."

We will be live in Dewsbury tonight with the latest on this search.

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