How a Mother Faked Her Daughter's Kidnapping for Money

he does missing you so much Shannon he's even out looking for yeah please come on suddenly if you're out there come home if anybody's got my daughter my beautiful princess dog please bring her home this is the face of Karen Matthews her little girl Shannon just nine years old has been missing for over a week at this point she was last seen at 3 10 p.m on the 19th of February 2008 leaving Westmore Junior School in a small town of dewsbury in Yorkshire England this case will take you as it took the police on many twists and turns that would be unbelievable if written in a fiction story how does a little girl disappear from Junior School without anyone noticing you're about to find out before we begin we would like to send our sincere condolences to all of the friends and family of Shannon Matthews who were exposed to a horrific ordeal that no child should ever have to experience Yorkshire England a rural County said in amongst various valleys and Hills people from Yorkshire call it God's country but the small town of dewsbury normally a quiet place was about to become the epicenter for a storm of police activity and a media Feeding Frenzy that would broadcast it all over the world when a child goes missing police have to act very fast every minute that a child isn't found the odds lengthen of them being found alive within just a few hours West Yorkshire police had assigned an entire team to finding Shannon Matthews knocking on every door in sight and questioning everyone within 24 hours Yorkshire police had drafted over 200 officers from neighboring forces to Aid in their efforts to find Shannon hundreds of concerned citizens also offered their assistance and alongside police search teams they searched nearby fields and Woodlands for even the slightest clue as to her whereabouts but alas their Valiant efforts would all come to nothing Shannon's mother Karen was certain that the little girl had not gone far but all of the homes of friends and family had been checked Shannon was nowhere to be seen similar to the local community who continued to give up their time to search police were also stumped and although they could not say it publicly behind the scenes they were increasingly worried surely if Shannon was local and had just wandered off normal methods of policing would have found her by now but there had been much more to this than meets the eye Shannon Matthews was born on the 9th of September 1998. her parents Leon Rose and Karen Matthews had separated when she was very young Shannon was described by everyone as a timid shy little girl she found it difficult to mix with other children and often played alone with the exception of a very few close friends she grew up in a busy household her father didn't have much involvement in her life after the breakup so she was mainly brought up by her mother Karen had seven children including Shannon with five different dads five of her children lived with her and her boyfriend Craig Meehan and two other children lived with their fathers people described Karen and Craig as nice enough people but as gossipers will do they did question their relationship Craig was 10 years younger than Karen who was 32. friends and family also questioned Karen's character seven children are a lot to have by the age of 32 in fact it's a lot to have for any woman at any age people accused Karen of Simply having children so she didn't have to go to work and could claim more benefits from the state at the time the UK benefits system meant the more children you had the more you could claim although that has since changed but Karen was receiving approximately 400 pounds per week from the state at the time a similar wage to what a working person could expect to be paid but Karen's ability to be a mother would also be questioned as well during what was described as an extremely heated fight with one of her ex-boyfriends friends from across the street actually came over the road to Karen's home and took Shannon by force to look after her for a few days days because they didn't believe she was being looked after properly even the police who attended the incident in a slightly unorthodox move allowed the neighbors to take temporary charge of the child when Shannon was checked over by medical professionals they found that she was covered in lice and clearly had not bathed for some time growing up in this environment could explain a lot about Shannon's personality her shyness her timidity and the way she often flinched and jumped Whenever there was a sudden loud noise neighbors had called Social Services several times but nothing ever seemed to be done on the day of her disappearance Shannon had been to swimming lessons that were provided by the school she would always come home from school around 3 30. Karen was not home at 3 30 and hadn't realized that Shannon hadn't returned until her boyfriend Craig told her in a casual passing conversation Karen immediately phoned the school to ask if the bus had come back from the swimming lessons yet and the school did confirm that it had she also visited neighbors telling them that Shannon had not come home asking if anyone had seen her but no one had it wasn't until 6 50 PM nearly three and a half hours since Shannon had last been seen that Karen finally decided to call 999 the emergency number in the UK news spreads fast in these small communities and even before the police arrived people were flocking out of their homes in temperatures near zero to start scouring the streets within a very short time the police contacted all major media outlets in the UK and made a broadcast appealing for anyone with any information to come forward immediately the media can be useful in making public appeals but they can also be a hindrance to any investigation at the same time with the Revelation that Shannon was missing media Crews from all over the country came flocking to the Narrow Street where Karen Matthews lived within 48 Hours 300 officers were now working on finding Shannon most worryingly police had brought in the murder Squad which might have given us an insight into what the police were thinking at that time the local community were frantic doing everything they could to his assist under police Guidance the police themselves were running around everywhere and doing everything they could but something was noted at the time not just by the community but also by the two family liaison officers assigned to Karen Matthews of all the people trying to help it seemed that she was the calmest of them all surely any mother who had lost a child would be almost inconsolable with worry and grief but strangely not Karen and not her boyfriend usually in the UK in a case like this the family is given a single liaison officer so why had Karen been assigned to well the answer is simple the first family liaison officer DC Alex grummett was suspicious of Karen's demeanor and her ability to remain so calm as a result he contacted the senior investigating officer and asked for a second liaison officer to be brought in for a second opinion West Yorkshire police agreed and sent along D.C Christine Freeman alongside Alex grummett the next day Christine immediately had suspicions of her own upon entering the house Karen's boyfriend was sitting on the sofa playing a game on his Xbox and Karen was sitting calmly beside him to make matters worse DC Freeman's mobile phone rang her ringtone was a popular song at that time but Karen's reaction wasn't is that news of Shannon have they found my little girl she actually said to the officers oh I love this tune and then proceeded to get up and start dancing around the room not exactly the actions of a mother who was worried about her daughter after Karen finished her floor show she then reacted strangely to the officers complaining about the media that had set up camp outside her home also saying that she was being compared to the McCann family who had lost their daughter Madeline sometime earlier while on vacation in Portugal the officers acted professionally and told her to ignore the media Karen continued complaining that no one was making a big enough effort to find Shannon some statement considering she had just been dancing around the room amen that earlier D.C Freeman later said I couldn't believe she was accusing people of not doing enough to find Shannon we had 300 officers out looking for her the local community were out in their hundreds as well meanwhile she was sitting in her front room watching her boyfriend play a computer game but as police officers we often get abuse I just keep calm and thought maybe it was down to the shock of the situation after the police left and Karen had finished complaining about the media she did something else that many found rather strange appearing at her window she began to open and close the curtains repeatedly smiling and looking down towards her television she was watching her own curtains move on live TV and then laughing and joking about it in full view of the media cameras on the 20th of February 2008 Karen Matthews finally made an appearance before the media asking Shannon to come home and if anyone had her to please bring her back straight away it was clear by now to all concerned that Shannon hadn't just wandered off to a friend's house and not told anyone she wasn't going to just come walking around the corner with her tail between her legs this was now being treated as an abduction parents stopped allowing their children to walk to school or play outside with a kidnapper of the loose no one was taking any chances local businesses and members of the public decided to help the family even further some people started a fund to get a reward together for the police so they could offer it to anyone who came forward with information that led to Shannon being found the fund reached 50 000 pounds thanks to the people's generosity now dewsbury is not what you would call a wealthy place and Karen Matthews lived in a low-income neighborhood the people who donated this this money probably did not have a lot to spare but they were genuinely concerned citizens who wanted to do all they could local businesses even started taking food around to the house to help ease their worries but once again Karen and Craig would do something strange something that almost made a mockery out of one of the businesses generosity a local shop said that Karen and Craig could come in and do a week's worth of shopping for free the couple went down to the shop and filled their shopping trolley or cart as it is here at the U.S with food but then they got a second cart and filled it to the top with alcohol again we must question if Karen had her priorities straight if you were Karen and Shannon was your daughter would you be out looking for her or would you be stocking up on a ton of free liquor soon after police asked Karen to come by for an interview at this point she had no idea of their suspicions about her she was just told that it was routine to go over everything again to try to uncover any new details that may have been missed previously Karen was like any mother would be very emotional and continuously crying we mentioned Shannon's dad Leon earlier although he hadn't played a major role in her life so far he had been out almost non-stop looking for his daughter he was also called in for an interview in which he cast some doubt on the life in Karen's home he revealed to police that Shannon wasn't very happy at home and that she had asked him on more than one occasion if she could come live with him this was something that police had suspected from the start right at the beginning police had to look around Shannon's room and written on the wall in big letters right next to her bunk bed were the words I want to live with my dad one thing was now clear whatever Karen had said in her interview about Shannon being happy and not having a reason to run away doesn't seem to have been true police had suspected that Shannon may have run away due to the inscription on the bedroom wall but her dad disagreed with them he told police that no matter what she wrote she was a good girl who had good relationships with people and wouldn't like being around any new strange surroundings he was adamant that he felt she had not run away after a Time the inscription on Shannon's bedroom would become common knowledge from what source well we're not exactly sure although it is unorthodox it is perfectly possible that the police leaked it to the press or maybe Shannon's father Leon told people himself this made friends and family alike very suspicious of Karen mainly because she didn't seem to be all that upset or overly worried she just kept insisting that Shannon was okay and was in the local area wishful thinking from a distraught mother is one thing but as the days passed by surely any parent would have to start facing up to the reality that their child may never come home again Karen said not just to the media but to her friends and family that Shannon was out there in a nice warm environment safe and sound she didn't just use this phrase once but multiple times a week passed by and there was still no sign of Shannon police released CCTV footage from her school showing that she had arrived safely back at school and had left the school safely as well Karen continued to do media interviews and press conferences repeatedly stating that she thought her daughter was with someone who she not only knew but was probably someone close to the family a bit of an odd assumption to make but not entirely unjustified in many cases crimes are committed by those we know and are close to us in the case of children for them to walk off with a stranger is not very common especially outside of a school statistically it was more likely that she had been met by someone she knew and would have a certain degree of trust in especially given her timid personality given that all the efforts of law enforcement had come to nothing they were a little stuck on what to do next they decided to talk to Shannon's best friend at school Megan Aldridge Megan's words were heartbreaking I just want my friend back she is the bestest friend in the world her chair is in empty at school I have nobody to sit next to I sit on my own in the playground with nobody to talk to she's really kind I just want my friend back Megan also revealed that Shannon had been bullied at school shortly before she disappeared she apparently had been kicked and called fat and ugly kids can be so cruel Megan thankfully stood up for her friend and the children stopped but it had left Shannon understandably hurt and upset as we know she had a difficult life at home and now she had to put up with being bullied at school Meghan said that Shannon had a foxhole where she liked to go and hide from everyone which was located behind a bush near a railway line police took Megan to the area and asked her to help them find it unfortunately she was unable to pinpoint the exact location but the information provided was not exactly worthless Megan's words had given a very honest account of Shannon's life and State of Mind tragically she was being bullied she did not like her life at home and the only person she seemed to have in her life was Megan a tragic story for anyone to listen to about a nine-year-old little girl but police now knew that everything Karen had said about her daughter was probably not true she was unhappy she did not want to live with her mom and therefore had a reason to run away from home police now fairly convinced that this was a body recovery Mission drafted 16 recovery dogs now this was a lot given that the various police forces in the UK only had 27 of them total at the time these are different from search and rescue dogs these dogs are trained to find dead bodies on top of the dogs over 300 officers were still out searching plus hundreds of community volunteers despite all of the resources at their disposal police just could not make a breakthrough Gooseberry isn't that big of a place it's a fairly small town police had learned about Shannon's shy personality and was convinced that she would not wander off into a strange part of town she didn't know but every blade of grass had been checked and double checked where could she have gone rumors were now Rife about Karen's boyfriend Craig and it wasn't just idle speculation concocted by lazy journalism an anonymous source told the media that Craig had been cruel to Shannon in the past even hitting her so hard that she was left bruised Craig of course denied the allegations but by now even the local community who had rallied so enthusiastically to help the family were starting to smell a rat even some members of Karen's own family had begun to turn on her in an interview suspiciously Craig started to deny that he had any involvement in her disappearance what was most suspicious about his words was that no one had asked him if he was involved perhaps he has a guilty conscience March 13 2008 by now Shannon has been missing for over three weeks the police investigation had not led up at all with every available officer from the West Yorkshire police Lancashire police and greater Manchester police all still out searching the hopes of finding Shannon alive were now slim to none but they were determined to get to the bottom of this case regardless finally on the same day police were handed new information to work with a member of Karen's family came forward and mentioned a new name that police had not heard before Michael Donovan Donovan didn't just know the family he was the uncle of Karen's boyfriend Craig and lived less than a mile from Karen and Craig's house police eyebrows were immediately raised for a couple of reasons firstly since Shannon's disappearance it had been noted by family members that Michael had not offered to help at all in fact he had been keeping an unusually low profile secondly Karen had been asked to put together a family tree for law enforcement so that they could question all of them and search their homes but Karen strangely had left Michael off that family tree could it have been forgetfulness or was it deliberate by the 13th of March police had taken over 1 000 statements searched over 1700 homes and had formally interviewed over 200 people including friends family and former lovers of Karen Matthews but one person who had not been interviewed was Michael Donovan that's because his very existence had seemingly been hidden from them with nothing else to go on police turned their full attention in Michael's Direction not wanting to Spook him into running away they did some digging on him first it was discovered that Michael had actually abducted his own daughter from her school just 15 months prior he had two daughters in total and was not allowed access to either of them because they had been placed into foster care by the state this was the result of Michael allegedly forcing them to watch him have sex with two escorts after discovering this Revelation police immediately went to Michael's home there was no answer at the door but a neighbor came out and said that they had heard footsteps moving around inside the home from at least two people by now the police force was not in a mood to be messed around with any longer they broke down Michael's door without hesitation or prior warning police searched the home but there didn't seem to be any signs of Life at first this was until they heard a little girl's voice whimper stop it you're frightening me now officers said they could not make out where the voice was coming from but upon entering a bedroom officers walked to the far side of the room and to their sheer amazement and relief Shannon's little head popped out from underneath the bed one officer picked her up and took her out of the house the officer said I couldn't believe that we had not just found her but found her alive I got quite emotional after checking Shannon and making sure she was physically okay the officer asked where Michael was Shannon told them that he was under the bed as well officers rushed back into the bedroom and there he was lying still and quiet in a vain attempt to not be discovered officers tried to get him out but he wasn't going without a fight he punched and kicked it officers even biting one of them during the struggle he yelled out get Karen down here now we had a plan we're sharing the money the 50 000 pounds Michael was eventually arrested while officers continued to search the home they found a bed with a rope tied around it which as it turned out had been used to tie Shannon to stop her from escaping they also found a list of rules that Shannon had been given these included you must not go near the windows you must not run around you must not touch or do anything without me here Shannon described how she was tied around the waist this meant that she could move around a little for example she could go to the bathroom but the Rope wouldn't lead to the front door where she could Escape she had effectively been tied up like a dog throughout the entire ordeal the poor little girl had been kept prisoner by her own family according to Michael including her so-called mother all to get a hold of the money that had been raised by the local community Michael arrived at the police station and was booked by the desk sergeant he was asked if he had anything he wanted to say Michael responded on March 15 2008 Michael was formally interviewed by the police at the station his lawyer read out a statement on his behalf she said I was to keep Shannon and look after her and she Karen would report her missing I said what do I do then she said you'll take her back to your place and keep her there until I phone you I said I wasn't happy about this and she then threatened if I didn't do it to get three Lads onto me Michael Donovan's three-page statement was read to detectives by his solicitored him and I was frightened that if I didn't do it they would come after me I said okay I'll do it and she said there was money for me in it I said I didn't want the money she told me just to do what she said she said if I told anyone or I went to anyone I would be dead the plan was then for Michael to find Shannon at what Karen deemed as an appropriate moment Karen clearly was not the sharpest tool in the box or maybe she didn't anticipate how much the case would snowball after hundreds of police officers and members of the community had searched everywhere multiple times how is it going to be credible that she would be miraculously found by a member of her family just a mile from where she lived to put it simply it wasn't Karen assumed that Shannon would be found and then the fifty thousand dollars would be handed over to her straight away without any further investigation again she was wrong there of course would have to be an investigation before a single penny was handed over and she would have been exposed Michael was charged with kidnapping false imprisonment and perverting the course of Justice on the 18th of March Karen was taken to the police station to be interviewed she denied any involvement in the kidnapping even denying that she knew where Michael lived she said he was lying about everything but the police weren't buying it listen care I know you're upset and we'll need to be able to establish exactly what's going on and you are aware that Michael is in part holding you partly responsible so I think the best thing we can do is so that we're all clear about this he's tell you what Michael's saying nobody lived in all they would speak to me about anything about abduction at all it was the normal difference that she went to school and come up and school that way in another Twist on the 2nd of April Karen's partner Craig would also be arrested for 11 counts of child pedophilia police had searched the home and any device that the couple owned it was discovered that Craig had downloaded 49 separate images with victims as young as four years old or as you could say victims younger than the nine-year-old Shannon he was charged and sentenced very quickly completely separate to the Shannon Matthews investigation shockingly though he was only sentenced to 20 weeks in prison finally on the 6th of April 2008 Karen Matthews was arrested on the way to the station she gave up all hope of lying her way out of this any longer and told police that she had known where Shannon was the whole time but she wasn't quite done trying to absolve herself of responsibility when she was formally booked at the police station Karen said she had no idea that Shannon was abducted she admits to asking my Michael to look after Shannon but only because she wanted to get away from Craig she said as far as I'm concerned Michael abducted her off his own back it was nothing to do with me [Music] if Karen was really trying to get away from Craig why did she send Shannon to Craig's uncle's house a man who himself had faced allegations of improper Behavior around children to put it mildly also why only send Shannon and not the other children as well none of her statement made sense Karen continued to stick to her story that she was simply trying to get away from Craig even after repeated interviews she refused to change her statement Karen's lies did not carry her very far though Shannon was now in the care of authorities and was medically examined it would reveal the true extent of the abuse that she had suffered Shannon tested positive for a drug called travel ease a travel sickness drug that can cause drowsiness as well as Temazepam a very strong painkiller that when taken by adults will cause nausea and a feeling of being high so the effect on a nine-year-old girl would be much more severe in short Shannon's own family had been drugging her Shannon had not just been drugged during the kidnap either a test proved that she had been given these strong substances for up to 20 months before the abduction took place the trial of Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan commenced on the 11th of November 2008 it would take less than a month for the trial to conclude finally drawn to an end on the 4th of December 2008. during the trial Karen tried to blame everything on her boyfriend Craig saying that she only went along with the scheme because she was scared of him but this would not buy her any favors with the judge jury or prosecution she was accused by Julian Goose QC the Queen's Council of telling lie after lie after lie throughout the investigation Karen sat in the courtroom and played her last card the Water Works and she continuously cried through the proceedings several police officers gave evidence during the trial detailing the drugs found in Shannon's body and the neglect with which she had been treated throughout her short life a point was also made by the prosecution as the number of resources that had been commandeered from all over the country to help find Shannon who wasn't missing at all the investigation had cost UK taxpayers a staggering three and a half million pounds resources that had they not been diverted to dewsbury could have been used to solve other genuine crimes that were happening Elsewhere on December 4th Matthews and Donovan were both found guilty of kidnapping false imprisonment and perverting the course of Justice on the 23rd of January 2009 they were both sentenced to eight years in prison unfortunately due to what is sometimes described as an overly lenient legal system in the UK they were both released after just four years for good behavior this case has proven how far some people will go to get their hands on a little bit of money even using their own children for financial gain Shannon along with her brothers and sisters lived a traumatic life of neglect with their mother and her various boyfriends over the years Karen Matthews was dubbed Britain's worst mum something she later denied saying I didn't kill anyone while in prison Karen ironically took parenting classes talk about shutting the stable door after the horse is bolted in case in her words I ever have more children she was attacked multiple times in prison and had to be isolated from the general population she later gave a radio interview and said the only two things she missed while in prison was sex and shopping no mention of any of her children once after being released from prison she was apparently moved away from dewsbury to the south of the UK allegedly becoming a born-again Christian the last time she spoke to the media she had given up her fake identity and was unable to get a job then she complained that she wasn't receiving enough welfare from the government it seems this self-centered terrible woman had not learned a thing and will continue to be the person she always was neither Matthews nor Donovan's whereabouts are known at this time one thing is for sure had they not moved out of dewsbury they would have never been welcomed by the community again a low-income area filled with genuine working-class people who did not have a lot themselves elves and who did everything they could including donating money that they may not have been able to afford to find a little girl who was part of their Community Craig Meehan was released from prison before the trial of Karen had ever finished he was moved to a small rural Village in Yorkshire called Keithley he was quickly discovered and attacked by local residents since then he has been moved several times by authorities because wherever he goes he keeps being recognized police could move him out of Yorkshire but perhaps and we're not making any accusations here but maybe they think a life of looking over his shoulders might be more of a fitting punishment than the pitiful 20 weeks he served in prison Shannon her brothers and sisters were unfortunately separated after the event some going to live with other family while Shannon was moved away and went to live with a foster family where she was given the love and care that she should have been receiving since the day she was born she was given a brand new identity and no longer has connections to her terrible Past after her traumatic event she did spend a long time suffering with nightmares and had to go through therapy to get back to her old self again she now lives a normal life as an adult surrounded by her family far from the horrors that must surely haunt her to this day the house where the Matthews family used to live has been boarded up to this day a poignant reminder to the local community of what had happened to there how one evil selfish woman brought the world's media to their doorsteps had the local community and police searching for weeks on end while knowing the whole time that it was just a big con and a trick to get her greedy hands on some money at the expense of her nine-year-old daughter fortunately the local area hasn't changed the community remains tight-knit as ever no doubt all the better now that Karen Matthews Craig Meehan and Michael Donovan are no longer around We wish all of the friends and families affected by by this case nothing but the best for their future especially for Shannon Matthews who truly deserves all the gifts that God can bestow upon her if you found this case compelling don't forget to like the video comment down below your take on it and please subscribe to the channel less than half the folks who watch our videos are subscribers it's free and easy and it makes it possible for us to continue to bring you great True Crime content also hit the notification Bell in order to stay up to date each time we reveal a new shocking case until next time stay safe and keep your eyes peeled you never know what's lurking is

Channel: Beyond Evil Podcast

Views: 2,431,502

Keywords: Craig Meehan Karen Matthews Yorkshire, England true crime documentary murder documentary crime scene jcs inspired

Id: -9B1vrtoAIw

Length: 32min 36sec (1956 seconds)

Published: Thu May 04 2023