Boy witnesses tell of new last sighting of 'sobbing' Shannon Matthews A last poignant sighting of vanished Shannon Matthews by two boys has pierced the heart of her stricken mum Karen.
The lads saw Shannon, nine, sitting on a wall weeping in despair after school on February 19, the day she disappeared.
One of them, a boy of 12, said: "It was at the top of School Lane and she was crying her eyes out. There were tears running down her face.
"I didn't say anything to her. She had no coat on. But her plastic bag was full, so it was probably in there."
Clutching the hand of partner Craig Meehan, despairing Karen, 32, said: "It breaks my heart to think she was so upset and we don't know why.
"Why did no one comfort her and bring her home to me?"
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror from her home in Dewsbury Moor, West Yorks, Karen said she was mystified by her daughter's tears and convinced she was still alive after being snatched.
She said: "Shannon was perfectly normal on the day she disappeared.
"She came running downstairs already in her uniform because she was so excited about going swimming.
"Then she was out of the door, shouting 'See you at teatime - love you'. She didn't tell us about being bullied at school and I didn't think she was upset about anything.
"I'm sure she's still alive. It's just a feeling I have - a mother's feeling.
"Wherever she is, she's going to be frightened. It's breaking our hearts. I don't think she's run away. I think something sinister has happened."
The boy witnesses saw Shannon sitting on a 2ft stone wall in front of a boarded-up health centre in a rubbishstrewn area at 3.20pm.
The site is about a 10-minute walk from her school, Westmoor Junior.
Previously the last confirmed sighting was at 3.10pm as Shannon got off the coach at school after swimming.
Exhausted from lack of sleep, Karen went on: "That afternoon I waited at the bottom of the road for her but she didn't turn up. I just thought she'd gone straight home. She'd told us she might be a bit late because of swimming.
"But by about 4pm the alarm bells really started ringing.
"We always told Shannon not to talk to strangers. She was a cautious girl. If she did anything wrong, she'd always tell us about it afterwards."
Today Karen - also mum of Tony, 11, Cameron, five, and Courtney, two - cannot bear to be in Shannon's bedroom.
But her daughter's bed on the top bunk is made up ready for her return.
Karen said: "I even hate going upstairs. Just walking past her open door is painful. She loved her room. It seems so empty since she's been gone."
Courtney, who shares the bedroom with her half sister, now sleeps cuddled up to Shannon's favourite teddy.
Karen said: "You can hear her shouting out for Shannon. It's heartbreaking." At her side, Craig said: "With 200 police on the case you'd think they'd have picked up something by now. But Shannon hasn't been seen anywhere.
"I think someone must have taken her. It could be a person with a grudge or who can't have children of their own.
"If someone has her, just let her come home. That's what everyone wants. That's what Shannon and her family want. We're all missing her."
Craig, 22, disclosed that his stepdaughter had pledged never to run away.
Shannon's brother Tony used to hide for hours in dens and she knew how worried their family became.
Supermarket fishmonger Craig added: "Me and Shannon have always got on well.
"We have a real good laugh together. She likes jumping on me and trying to beat me up.I don't see myself as her stepdad. She's my daughter."
Asked about people pointing the finger at him, Craig said: "I don't care what they think. I just want Shannon back."
Loyal Karen added: "It makes me feel sick to the stomach. Craig has been such a support. He's my rock.
"I know it's nothing to do with him, he wouldn't hurt anyone. It's very hurtful to think people believe he'd do something like that, because he wouldn't.
"I cry, he cuddles me. When he cries, I cuddle him. We comfort each other."
Hunt leader Det Supt Andy Brennan said of the boys' latest information about Shannon: "We know of this sighting. It's one of a number around that time."
Mirror
