Shannon Matthews is a name you'll have been very familiar with if you read or watched the news back in 2008, after reports that the then nine-year-old had been abducted from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, made headlines across the country.
Now, almost two decades on, a new Prime Video series – The Hunt for Shannon Matthews – investigates the case, speaking to Shannon's childhood friends, locals from the area, and investigators involved in the gripping case.
So, what actually happened in the Shannon Matthews case and who abducted her? We took a deep-dive into the news story that shocked the nation, starting with a look at where Shannon Matthews is now...
Where is Shannon Matthews now?
Following the traumatic experience she faced as a child, wherein her mother, Karen, faked her kidnapping, Shannon Matthews (along with her six siblings) was taken into care, placed with a new family, and given a new identity.
She's now 26 years of age, and while there's a special order in place which prevents anyone from contacting her, the producers of The Hunt for Shannon Matthews reveal at the end of the series that they communicated with her during its making. That being said, nothing is revealed about Shannon's current identity or whereabouts – although, there have been pieces of information released over the years from family and friends that can give us an idea of her life now.
In 2017, Shannon's grandparents – June and Gordon Matthews – spoke to the Daily Mail about having seen a picture of their granddaughter, who they described as "beautiful."
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More recently, in the Prime Video documentary, family friend Petra Jamieson says: "Shannon will be 27 [this year]."
"I'd hate to think that what happened 17 years ago will affect the rest of their [Shannon and her siblings] lives," she went on, with tears in her eyes. "As much as it hurt everybody involved, I just hope that they are brilliant young adults and I hope that they have a happy life."
Now, a look back at the Shannon Matthews case in its entirety...
What happened to Shannon Matthews?
Shannon was first reported missing on 19 February 2008, after having last been seen outside her school, Westmoor Junior School in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. She had been on a swimming trip, but after realising she had not returned home, her frantic-sounding mother, Karen Matthews, contacted the police.
As the hours since Shannon was last seen increased, missing posters popped up and concern in the community grew. Local residents, led by Karen's friend Julie Bushby, began carrying out their own searches alongside 250 officers and 60 detectives who were deployed in the hunt for the little girl.
The search extended to 3,000 local houses, with 1,500 drivers around the local area also being questioned. It was the biggest police inquiry in the area since the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper and is thought to have cost £3.2 million to run.
The Sun offered a reward of £20,000 on 1 March, 11 days after Shannon's disappearance, for anyone who could provide information about the little girl's whereabouts, but upped this to £50,000 another 11 days later, on 12 March.
How did media coverage impact the Shannon Matthews case?
As Prime Video's The Hunt for Shannon Matthews explores, the media coverage surrounding the case prompted nationwide conversations around class, particularly in light of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, who went missing just one year before. Questions were asked about why the McCann case received far more coverage – as well as celebrity support – than the Matthews case, with many putting this down to the class divide.
In an Independent article that examined this, Madeleine's parents were described as being "a couple of nice middle-class doctors" who were able to secure millions of pounds in reward money within just a few days, in part thanks to high-profile celebrities donating to the search. "Madeleine was cute, and Kate McCann good-looking," the article went on. "The cameras loved her, even when she broke down during a press conference, clutching her daughter's pink Cuddle Cat."
"Karen Matthews is not as elegant, nor as eloquent," the piece continued, describing her family as "complicated and working-class" with a life that many may not "envy" or even identify with. As a result, during the investigation into her daughter's whereabouts (and before any indication of Karen's involvement came to light) her life was unpicked in the press, with repeated mention to the fact she had seven children with five different men.
To that end, the Independent compared the press coverage between the two cases, revealing that the McCann case garnered 465 press pieces within nine days of her disappearance, in comparison to the Matthews case having 242. Similarly, the McCann reward money totalled over £2.6 million (with donations from The News of the World newspaper, Simon Cowell, and Richard Branson, to name a few), compared to just tens of thousands for Shannon.
When was Shannon Matthews found?
Following a tip off from a family friend on 14 March 2008 – after being missing for 24 days – Shannon Matthews was found alive, hidden in the base of a bed at a house occupied by Michael Donovan in Batley Carr, West Yorkshire. Michael Donovan was the the uncle of Shannon's stepfather, Craig Meehan.
Little is known about Donovan, who was born Paul Drake, but it was reported that he had learning difficulties, with an IQ of around just half the national average.
Upon being found by police, Shannon had reportedly been tethered to the bed and drugged with sedatives to keep quiet. At the time, Donovan's neighbours also reported hearing a young child's footsteps which they hadn't heard before. Sadly, further tests revealed Shannon had been drugged for up to almost two years before her disappearance.
Thankfully, family liaison officer, Christine Freeman, confirmed that "Shannon was totally oblivious, bless her. She didn't realise what was going on, which was probably a good thing."
Police arrested Donovan on the scene, and charged him with kidnapping and false imprisonment, but during police questioning, the then 39-year-old reportedly yelled: "Get Karen down here! We'd got a plan. We're sharing the money – £50,000."
Following a police investigation, Shannon's own mother, Karen was also arrested. On 8 April 2008, she was charged with child neglect and perverting the course of justice. In excerpts from her police interviews, a detective asked Karen if she called 999 as "part of an act to make it look like she was missing, when she really knew she wasn't missing" and she was seen to agree with this statement. It's also claimed that Karen said, while crying: "People will hate me for what I've done. I've disgraced the kids."
It's thought Matthews and Donovan had plotted to release Shannon after a while, and to later 'discover her', take her to a police station, and then claim the reward. However, during police interviews, Karen changed her account numerous times and her true motive may never be known.
Where is Michael Donovan now?
Both Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan were found guilty and sentenced to eight years in prison for the abduction of Shannon Matthews. The pair served half their sentence and were released in 2012. Karen went on to change her name and began dating man called Paul Saunder.
More than a decade after his release, Micheal Donovan died of brain cancer in 2024. He was 54 years old at the time of his death and was staying in a mental health unit at the Three Valleys Hospital in Keighley.
After he passed, Karen Matthews' boyfriend told the Daily Mail she was "over the moon" at the news. "It's the best news she's had in ages," Saunders said. "Karen hopes that he rots in hell, we both do. Donovan is scum, we hope that he had a painful death."
He also stressed Karen's innocence again: "She's innocent. It was Donovan who did the crime and kidnapped Shannon. She had nothing to do with it. People have got this all wrong."
How to watch Prime Video's The Hunt for Shannon Matthews
The Hunt for Shannon Matthews, a two-part documentary series, is available to stream on Prime Video from Sunday 17 August.
Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. news, features and health. The route to her heart is a simple combination of pasta and cheese (somewhat ironic considering the whole health writing thing), and she finds it difficult to commit to TV series so currently has about 14 different ones on the go.
