POLICE have conducted a fingertip search of the house next door to where Shannon Matthews lives.
A dozen officers wearing masks covering their mouths conducted a search of the house which belongs to Neil Hyett, the uncle of the missing schoolgirl.
Det Supt Andy Brennan said it was “appropriate” to the investigation for officers to work closely with family and friends.
When the Examiner approached Mr Hyett he was wearing a T-shirt highlighting his niece’s disappearance.
He said: “I don’t want to speak. I don’t want to say anything else.”
Officers spent just under an hour at the scene yesterday as part of a routine investigation.
They then searched more of the surrounding properties.
It comes just days after police confirmed they are investigating an attempted abduction of a 12-year-old girl in Wakefield.
The incident is alleged to have occurred on the same day Shannon went missing, but it is not currently being linked to her disappearance.
A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: “We have been aware of this since it was first reported. A dedicated team was set up to deal with that enquiry in its own right, headed by a Senior Investigating Officer.
“The Senior Investigating Officer for that incident has been in regular contact with the Shannon Matthews investigation team and full details of that incident are continuing to be investigated by the original team and reviewed by the Shannon Matthews team.
“We are not formally linking this, but at this stage, as with all information, we are not excluding any possibilities.”
Last night residents and school friends held a vigil for Shannon.
They carried colourful balloons from the community centre in nearby Moorside Avenue to Shannon’s home on Moorside Road.
A banner highlighting her disappearance was then placed at her family home urging her to come home.
Farrah Johnson, whose children go to West Moor Junior School with Shannon, said: “It’s terrible, isn’t it, a week on? It’s really scary. My kids go to school with Shannon. I have no doubt she’ll come back – it’s just a matter of when.”
Police will spend the next few days conducting enquiries from a van with a mobile electronic billboard which displays messages, CCTV footage and pictures of Shannon.
