Search for missing English girl continues
British police hunting for missing nine-year-old Shannon Matthews said today that "significant" searches continue into her whereabouts and renewed their appeal for information.
The operation remains focused on the areas where the schoolgirl was last seen, police said.
Shannon, from Moorside Road, Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire, failed to return home from school after a swimming trip on Tuesday afternoon.
A spokeswoman from West Yorkshire Police said: "Significant searches are continuing around the area where she was last seen.
"We are continuing to follow up information from members of the public including the recovery of CCTV and the house to house inquiries are also continuing."
She appealed for anyone with information to contact the police.
More than 300 calls from members of the public have already been received and officers have searched around 200 homes within a half mile radius of Moorside Road.
Leaflets appealing for information about Shannon's whereabouts have also been distributed around the area.
The police operation, which has involved 250 officers and desperate day-and-night searches by friends and relatives, has so far failed to find a trace of Shannon.
Yesterday worried residents and family members, some wearing t-shirts showing pictures of the schoolgirl, filled the residents' association hall near her home.
Chief Superintendent Barry South, a senior officer in the inquiry, said yesterday that police remained "gravely concerned" about Shannon's welfare.
"Anyone at this stage would be concerned," he said. "What we have got to do though is maintain the activity."
The last confirmed sighting of Shannon was as she left West Moor Junior School at 3.10pm after returning from a swimming lesson.
Detectives have released CCTV footage showing the youngster entering and leaving Dewsbury Sports Centre swimming pool with classmates shortly before her disappearance.
She is described as timid and is white, around 4ft 1in tall and slim, with shoulder-length, medium-brown hair, which may have been tied up in a ponytail. She has blue eyes and freckles.
She was dressed in a black jumper with a school logo on it, a white cotton T-shirt, black trousers and a waist-length black coat with fur round the hood. She was also wearing distinctive pink and grey "Bratz" furry boots.
Anyone with information is asked to contact West Yorkshire Police on 01274 373737, or by text on 07786 200806, or, alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
