Detective Constables Paul Kettlewell and Nick Townsend described the emotion of recovering the missing child from Michael Donovan's flat after she had been missing for 24 days.

The two policemen, with many of their colleagues in the West Yorkshire force, had thought Shannon was dead.

So they could hardly believe the little girl was now sitting in the back seat of their police car.

Looking at each other, they shook hands and cried "tears of joy" at the unbelievable recovery of the nine-year-old.

Det Con Townsend, 49, who has recently retired after serving more than 30 years as a policeman, compared the feeling to the emotion he experienced at the births of his three children.

"We looked at one another and I've got to say the emotion began to well up. Paul was already glassy-eyed," he said.

"I looked over the seat at little Shannon in the back seat sitting on a load of exhibit bags, I looked at Paul and I cried tears of joy. Simple as that."

Det Con Kettlewell, 55, who retired in September, said it was a "defining moment" of his career of nearly 30 years.

"And coming as it did just prior to retirement, a fantastic moment.
"I felt very privileged to be one of the two officers who located her."

The two detectives went to Donovan's flat in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr, after a routine inquiry led them to believe the 40-year-old was "worthy of a closer look".

But when they arrived at the flat on the morning of March 14, they received no answer at either the front or back doors of the property.

They knocked on the doors of Donovan's neighbours, who said he must be at home because his silver Peugeot car was parked outside.

One neighbour gave them some "astonishing" information.

June Batley told Det Con Townsend she had heard a child's footsteps in the flat above.

The detective said: "I think it was my chief constable who later described the overall investigation as like trying to do a jigsaw without the benefit of the full picture to refer to.

"At that moment in time, June Batley had just handed us the box lid."
Det Con Kettlewell added: "I like to think it was down to mine and Nick's old-fashioned bobbying that led to the result.

"It would have been so easy to walk away and think 'well we'll visit Mr Donovan on another day'."

The detectives called for back-up and uniformed officers broke down two doors to gain entry to the flat.

Det Con Kettlewell was the first inside the flat and initially thought the silence meant Donovan was not at home.

But as he looked around the property, his colleagues were forcing yet another locked door - which led to Donovan's bedroom.

And when Det Con Kettlewell approached the room he clearly heard a child's voice saying "Stop it, you're frightening me".

As he tried to work out where the voice had come from, he heard more noises coming from the base of the bed and he saw Shannon begin to emerge.

Two officers helped the little girl out of the bed and handed her to father-of-three Det Con Kettlewell.

He said: "I can't even begin to tell you the emotion because for 24 days we thought that Shannon was dead and I think most of the colleagues I spoke to who were on the investigation team were of the same mind as me."

He continued: "It was an emotional rollercoaster, it really was, I carried the little girl out and I couldn't believe that I was carrying Shannon.

"As I descended Nick came up the stairs and I said 'I've got her'. I just couldn't believe it."

Det Con Kettlewell took Shannon out to the car, where she told him Donovan was also hiding inside the bed.

As the detective rang his colleague to relay Shannon's information, officers in the flat had already found their suspect and were struggling to restrain him as he fought their efforts.

After Donovan was handcuffed and taken away under arrest, Det Con Townsend joined Det Con Kettlewell.

Det Con Kettlewell said: "Me and Nick shook hands in the police car, we were euphoric as you can well imagine."

He continued: "We had a little girl in the back seat who didn't appear to have a clue as to was going on and two upset burly policemen sat in the front of the car.

"She must have wondered 'what's it all about?'."

The two detectives took Shannon to Dewsbury Police Station where they helped to entertain her with pencils and colouring books.

Det Con Kettlewell said he still find it hard to talk about what happened without shedding tears, just as he did that day in his police car.

"In the early days, having found Shannon, I found it very difficult to retell what had occurred without becoming emotional.

"Even now it's difficult. It was unbelievable. I can't think of any other word, it was very, very emotional."