Hiding in Plain Sight? Part 1 - The Karen Matthews 999 Call
- Deception Detection Lab
- Feb 28
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 17
Background
Many of us will remember nine-year-old Shannon Matthews, who disappeared on her way home from school on the 19th February 2008 in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England.
Shannon was found alive 24 days later in the house of her mother’s boyfriend’s uncle. The whole sorry episode was an elaborate plot to generate cash out of the publicity linked to her disappearance.
For the police and the taxpayer, however, the end result was rather different due to the extensive resources used during the investigation. These included;
250 Officers and 60 detectives were involved at the peak
1,500 motorists questioned
3,000 houses searched
16 out of the UK’s pool of 27 Specialist Victim Recovery Dogs were utilised
The investigation lasted 24 days and cost £2.6m.
So what could have been done differently?
From our perspective as experts in Forensic Statement & Linguistic Analysis, Karen Matthews’ 999 call is loaded. The 999 call is the point at which this ‘crime’ enters the system and there are multiple Red Flags which point to Karen being the person to take a very close look at first.
What can you determine from Karen Matthews’ 999 call?
The 999 Call
What follows is the call transcript of the 999 call her mum, Karen Matthews, made to report her missing. The call lasts 1 minute and 17 seconds and you can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhzsjQt9On8.
We can often ‘hear’ but neglect to ‘listen’ to that which is being said, missing the subtle details.
In, ‘The Sign of the Four’ Sherlock Holmes says, ‘What seems strange to you is only so because you do not follow my train of thought or observe the small facts upon which large inferences may depend.’
ECO = Emergency Call Operator and KM = Karen Matthews, Shannon’s mother.
ECO: Police Emergency
KM: Hiya. I want to report me daughter as missing please.
ECO: Right, how old is she?
KM: Nine
ECO: Nine?
KM: Yeah
ECO: When did you last see her?
KM: She went to school this morning
ECO: Right. Have there been any arguments or anything like that?
KM: No, none at all.
ECO: No, have you been in touch with any of her friends or anybody like that?
KM: I’ve been everywhere I can think of friends wise, family and everything.
ECO: And nobody at all?
KM: No
ECO: Can give you any information of where she can be.
KM: No
ECO: Does she go to school and come back on her own normally then?
KM: Yeah
ECO: Right, so you expecting her home what at er 4 o’clock then?
KM: About half past three
ECO: Right
KM: Where she (inaudible)
ECO: Does she have a mobile phone or anything like that?
KM: No. It’s at home.
ECO: Right, so we’ve no way of actually ringing to find out?
KM: No
ECO: And you’ve gone round all her friends
KM: Yeah.
ECO: And you’ve been in touch with all her relatives?
KM: Yeah
ECO: And there’s nowhere else you’ve got left to look?
KM: No.
ECO: Have you been in touch with the school, if they can confirm whether she’s been to school?
KM: She left school at normal time at ten past three
ECO: Right, what they call her?
KM: Shannon Matthews
ECO: Has she been missing before?
KM: No. First time.
ECO: And there’s been nothing to intimate why she would go?
KM: No, not at all.
Look out for Deception Detection Lab’s analysis of the 999 call on Monday.
References
Video Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhzsjQt9On8
Further Reading
Shannon Matthews Timeline: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7733586.stm
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