Missing Girl Found Hidden at Uncle's Home

LONDON, March 15, 2008— -- A nerve-wracking 24 days after she disappeared, 9-year-old Shannon Matthews was found alive Friday, hidden in the home of a family relative who is under arrest, accused of abducting the girl.

But the girl herself remained in police custody more than a day after her rescue, because police said today they do not know whether anyone besides the man arrested was involved in her abduction.

Police discovered Shannon on Friday in the drawer of a sofa-bed at an apartment less than one mile from her home in Dewsbury, in northern England.

Michael Donovan, 39, formerly known as Paul Drake, was arrested on suspicion of abducting Shannon. He is the uncle of Shannon's stepfather, Craig Meehan.

"Shannon has had a comfortable and settled night and is starting on the road to recovery following her ordeal," a statement from West Yorkshire police said the day after she was found.

"She spent last night watching DVDs, has had breakfast this morning and has been playing with a kitten ... (and) she will continue to be supported by specially trained officers who will try to carefully establish what has happened since she went missing on February 19th.," the statement said.

Although Shannon was briefly re-united with her mother, 32-year-old Karen Matthews, police have placed the girl in protective custody.

Officials said they still don't know what happened to her, including whether any one other than the arrested man could have also been involved in her kidnapping.

"We're getting mixed reports about how Shannon feels," Dr. Lesley Perman-Kerr, a psychologist and psychotherapist who works in private police and emergency services, told ABC News. "I'm assuming everything seems unreal for her. She is being reassured by spending time with the police team but she'll be getting intrusive thoughts on her own when's she not occupied, she'll mull over things."

Police say that interviewing young Shannon could be a long process, but that "throughout this enquiry our main focus has been and continues to be Shannon's welfare."