The family of the man who kidnapped Shannon Matthews say if cops had listened to them they would have found her right away.
Mick Donovan's sister, who wished to remain anonymous, alleges that she asked police to "check my brother" on the very first day of their £3.2 million search operation, reports the Mirror. The force have denied her accusations.
Shannon, 9, disappeared in 2008 and prompted one of the biggest such search parties in UK history.
Eventually cops discovered the girl after hunting for 24 days. She was hidden under Donovan’s bed in Batley Carr, West Yorks.
Subsequently in 2009, Donovan and Shannon’s mother, Karen Matthews, were jailed for eight years.
In a new documentary, The Man Who Took Shannon, which will air on Channel 5 on Thursday, Donovan's sister says: “Not one of them believed me when I said, ‘Go to his house’.”
“The day Shannon went missing, I was listening to the radio and it said a child’s gone missing, named her. I knew he had her. All I could think… he’s done it once before… What if he has…?
“I called the police and said, ‘Check out my brother, please’. I got no response whatsoever from them… they didn’t care or believe me. “
Another relative said he alerted police and also called Crimestoppers.
He told how he confronted Donovan after he started borrowing cartoon DVDs. “I thought it were a bit strange,” he said. “I believed he had Shannon, so went round. He wouldn’t let me in.”
Eventually Shannon was found after the relative told officers visiting his home: “You want to go see Mick Donovan… he’s related to Craig Meehan [Karen’s ex].”
The next day police found Donovan cowering under his bed with Shannon.
West Yorkshire Police said they “conducted a thorough investigation into the kidnap”.
They added: “The records do not support this account of a call made to the police on 19/02/2008.”
Crimestoppers said: “Our charity takes crime information completely anonymously. No personal details are ever asked for, or stored.”
Donovan, 53, was released in 2012 but was recalled after “acting bizarrely” near Leeds market. According to the MoJ his full sentence expired in 2016, and his family say he has since been moved to a psychiatric facility.
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