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OMG I will hold my hands up and say I was wrong with my thoughts on the story!

Karen: 'I knew where she was'

COPS have been granted an extra 12 hours to quiz the mother of Shannon Matthews.

Sobbing Karen Matthews allegedly confessed in a police car that she KNEW where her missing daughter was being held – from DAY ONE.

Karen, 32, had made emotional pleas for an abductor to return the nine-year-old throughout a massive 24-day hunt.
But last night she was being questioned on suspicion of perverting the course of justice – as neighbours who helped search for Shannon branded her “twisted”.

Panic
Detectives arrested Karen at 7.20pm on Sunday after she broke down in front of pals and her police family liaison officer.

She allegedly blurted out: “I knew where she was all the time.”

Karen has told cops the background lay in a plan to leave her partner of four years, supermarket fishmonger Craig Meehan, 22.
She claims the man accused of snatching Shannon – Craig’s uncle Michael Donovan, 39 – had offered her a place to live.

She had packed clothes but at the last minute “bottled out” and stayed put.

Police are now investigating whether at that point on February 19 Donovan had already picked up Shannon from school.

Panicking Karen reported she had gone missing on the way home – then watched in horror as the search escalated.

But detectives are ALSO probing claims that associates of the Matthews family tried to extract money from the Maddie McCann fund – and the possibility of a kidnap plan based on an episode of Channel 4 show Shameless.
Karen’s arrest came after two of her pals were driven by family liaison officer DC Christine Freeman to pick her up at a safe address.

In the car, her friends began quizzing her over inconsistencies in her story. One suddenly suggested she had known from the start where Shannon was.
Mum-of-seven Karen, of Dewsbury Moor, West Yorks, is alleged to have to have “nodded and said Yes”.

A source claimed: “She started shaking uncontrollably and crying. Her friend asked her what part was true.


“It’s alleged she said she had known where Shannon was right from Day One. It seems everything got out of control and she didn’t know how to stop it.”

DC Freeman pulled up and rang her bosses before driving Karen to Dewsbury police station. Yesterday she was being held at a police station in Wakefield.

Karen is said to have discussed moving in with Donovan at a family funeral. But she has denied gossip about an affair with him.

Police found Shannon on March 14, hidden in the base of a divan bed at the maisonette home of computer programmer Donovan in Batley Carr, a mile from her home.
Fury
Donovan is charged with abducting and falsely imprisoning her. He slit his wrists and took tablets on Sunday in a suicide bid while on remand.

Five members of Shannon’s family have now been arrested.

Karen dumped Meehan last week after he was charged with 11 child porn offences unconnected to Shannon.
Meehan’s sister, Amanda Hyett, 25, and his mother, Alice Meehan, 49, were also held in connection with the alleged kidnap.

Last night Karen’s arrest sparked fury in Dewsbury.

Farrah Johnson, who helped run the Find Shannon campaign, said: “I’m sick with anger. We think it’s unforgivable and twisted. She watched as our homes were ripped apart by search teams. We all helped look for Shannon.”
Caroline Meehan, 29, the sister of Craig Meehan and Amanda Hyett, said: “I have always maintained that Karen had something to do with this.

“There has been an image painted of her as innocent and vulnerable – but that’s not how it is. Now hopefully we will get the whole truth.”

But friend Petra Jamieson, 30, pledged to stand by Karen. She said: “Whatever she’s done, she’s done for a good reason. She’s not a bad person.”
Karen’s cousin, care home worker Vicky Saunders, said: “I’m shocked. I was with Karen when Shannon went missing, I helped. She loves all her kids, no matter what.”

In her 999 call reporting Shannon’s disappearance, tearful Karen told the operator she had been “everywhere I can think of, friends, family and everything”.

During the hunt she made a series of tearful appeals, pleading “Please let her go” and describing the youngster as “my little Princess”. Our source added: “It’s now suspected they were crocodile tears.”

A legal expert said yesterday: “Anyone who knew where Shannon was and stayed silent can expect to be prosecuted.”

West Yorks Police confirmed they had arrested a 32-year-old woman on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

More than £5million in taxpayers’ money was spent on Britain’s biggest ever missing person hunt when Shannon vanished.

Six hundred cops searched 3,000 properties.