A member of schoolgirl Shannon Matthews' extended family appeared in court today, charged with her abduction and imprisonment.
Michael Donovan (39) appeared at Dewsbury Magistrates' Court accused of taking the nine-year-old and holding her captive for more than three weeks.
He made no application for bail during the brief hearing, which members of her family attended, and was remanded in custody until next week.
Matthews was found on Friday under a bed in a house just a mile from her home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. She had gone missing on February 19th after a swimming trip.
She was found, apparently unhurt, in the base section of a divan bed. Donovan, formerly known as Paul Drake, is an uncle of Matthews' stepfather Craig Meehan.
His appearance came as police were forced to again defend their handling of the case, after heavy criticism about the time it took to find the girl.
West Yorkshire Chief Constable, Norman Bettison, said the inquiry's scale had been "phenomenal and unprecedented".
Police are continuing the delicate task of talking to the girl to find out what happened to her between her disappearance from the gates of her school in Dewsbury and her dramatic rescue 24 days later.
She was unlikely to be reunited with her mother for some time, Bettison added, as she was being interviewed in short bursts.
He told reporters late on Monday that his officers had interviewed about 6,000 people and searched 3,000 houses.
He said he was amazed to have to defend his force publicly over the time it took to find the missing girl.