This woman pleaded with cops to find her missing 9-year-old, but became universally despised when they figured out what happened

Who wouldn’t sympathize with a desperate mom searching for her missing child? On Feb. 19 2008 British mom Karen Matthews contacted the police to tell them her 9-year-old daughter Shannon hadn’t returned from school.

With the disappearance of Madeleine McCann just a year earlier still fresh in everyone’s minds, the West Yorkshire Police sprang into action and launched a massive search and rescue operation. Shannon’s mysterious disappearance was instant front-page national news, 3,000 houses were searched, and suspicious motorists stopped up and down the country.

The press had a field day. The Sun newspaper soon offered a £20,000 ($37,000) reward for any information leading to Shannon’s return, upping that to £50,000 ($97,000) after she’d been missing for 20 days. But, by this point, many were preparing themselves for the worst possible outcome.

If a child goes missing, the first 24 hours are when they’re most likely to be found alive. After that, their chances of survival start dipping. After nearly a month? It’s… not looking good.

A miracle! Or… is it?

Then, on Mar. 14, 2008, the case got what appeared to be a happy ending. Shannon was discovered alive, concealed in the base of a divan bed in an apartment just a mile from her home. The tenant, 39-year-old Michael Donovan, was arrested on the spot.

Then the cops began to smell a rat. Michael Donovan was the uncle of Craig Meehan, the boyfriend of Shannon’s mother, Karen. Shannon was taken into protective care, and interrogation of the three adults began.

The truth of Shannon’s “disappearance” left the nation’s collective jaw on the floor. The entire situation from beginning to end had been a cruel hoax designed to exploit people’s sympathies towards a desperate mother. Donovan and Matthews had conspired to fake a kidnapping, with Donovan eventually “finding” Shannon, taking her to the cops, and claiming a reward that the pair would later split.

The only wrinkle in their evil and stupid plan was how to keep a 9-year-old quiet for that long. Their solution was drugs, feeding her Temazepam to keep her sedated. The pair were promptly charged with kidnapping, child neglect, false imprisonment, and committing acts intended to pervert the course of justice.

Disturbing details emerged during the trial, with the jury being told that “Shannon was drugged and restrained with a strap tied to a roof beam”. Donovan insisted Matthews was the mastermind and she’d made him afraid for his life. Matthews shot that back right at him, denying everything and saying she was terrified of him. The pair were found guilty, both receiving eight-year sentences.

By 2012, they were released from custody. Karen Matthews changed her name, moved south, and is now reportedly a born-again Christian. Donovan ended up in a secure mental health facility and died of cancer in 2024.

As for Shannon? The prosecution confirmed she’d been deeply traumatized by the experience, suffering recurrent nightmares and being given psychotherapy. She was eventually given a new identity and placed with a foster family. We can only hope that she’s currently living a happy life for from her evil mother.