Gerry and Kate McCann,extraordinary media manipulators or just plain guilty?

DISAPPEARANCE OF MADELAINE McCann 3rd MAY 2007.

First the "official" story.Which will be followed by revealing some astounding inaccuracies,lies,and coverups which all point resoundingly towards Gerry and Kate McCann parents of this missing child being guilty of at least manipulating and orchestrating a massive campaign of misinformation,and at worst being guilty of murder.Six years have passed since Madelaines disappearance and the distortions become more and more bizarre as time passes.But lets start at the very beginning---.

Madeleine McCann disappeared on the evening of Thursday, 3 May 2007 from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, a resort in the Algarve region of Portugal.[1] Madeleine was on holiday there with her family – parents Kate and Gerry McCann and her twin siblings – when she went missing days before her fourth birthday.[2]

The children had been left at around 20:30 in a bedroom in the ground-floor apartment, while her parents ate with friends in a tapas restaurant 130 yards (120 metres) away. The parents or friends checked on the children throughout the evening; Madeleine's mother discovered she was missing during a check at 22:00.[3] The Polícia Judiciária (PJ), the Portuguese criminal investigation police, initially worked on the assumption that Madeleine had been abducted, but later came to regard her parents as suspects.[4] Robert Murat, a local resident, was given arguido (suspect) status in May 2007, and the McCanns were named as arguidos in September that year.[5] All three were cleared and had their arguido status lifted on 21 July 2008. Portugal's attorney-general ruled that there was no evidence to suggest that the McCanns or Murat were involved in Madeleine's disappearance.[6]

The disappearance and its aftermath were notable for the breadth and longevity of the media coverage. The event generated international media attention with controversy surrounding the Portuguese-led police investigation and the actions of Madeleine's parents. There was also criticism of the nature of the publicity and the reporting of the disappearance. The McCanns have set up a campaign to find their daughter, and over the years several unconfirmed sightings of Madeleine have been reported in Portugal and elsewhere.

Born in Leicester, Madeleine lived with her parents and younger twin siblings, brother Sean and sister Amelie, in Rothley, Leicestershire.[1] She was made a ward of court during the summer of 2007 on application by her parents, so that the court's statutory powers could be used on her behalf in legal disputes.[7] Mrs Justice Hogg has effectively been Madeleine's legal guardian since then.[8]

A notable identifying feature is a coloboma of her right eye where the pupil runs into the iris in the form of a black radial strip reaching from the pupil out to the edge of the white at the '7 o'clock' position, about 30° clockwise from the bottom.[9] The McCanns released an image (see below right) in May 2009 of the projected appearance of Madeleine at age six.[10]

Kate and Gerry McCann





Image (right) showing how Madeleine may have looked in 2009 at age six
Kate Marie McCann (née Healy; born 1967), Madeleine's mother, is a general practitioner.[11] Before the disappearance she worked as a part-time GP in Melton Mowbray.[12] Born in Allerton, Liverpool, she studied medicine at the University of Dundee. Initially she specialised in gynaecology, but later became an anaesthetist. She met her husband while employed at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow.[13] They were married in 1998. Like her husband, McCann is a practising Roman Catholic.[14]

Gerald Patrick McCann, Madeleine's father, is a cardiologist at the Glenfield Hospital in Leicester.[15] Born in Glasgow, he attended Holyrood Secondary School and studied medicine at the University of Glasgow.[13]

Friends

The friends the McCanns met in the tapas restaurant on the evening of the disappearance were Dr Russell O'Brien and Jane Tanner, spouses Dr Matthew Oldfield and Rachael Oldfield, and spouses David Payne and Dr Fiona Payne, as well as Payne's mother Dianne Webster. The group has been referred to in the British media as the Tapas Nine, or the Tapas Seven without the McCanns.[16]

Disappearance


poster


Poster showing how Madeleine might have looked in 2012 at age nine
Madeleine disappeared from a ground floor apartment at 5A Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva, Praia da Luz.[17] The apartment had been rented by the holiday company Mark Warner for the summer season as part of its Ocean Club. The layout of the Ocean Club may have contributed to the disappearance as its buildings are spread out across the village, such that anyone can wander in and out of the holiday areas.[18]

Her parents reported to the police that they had taken Madeleine to their holiday apartment at 18:00 Western European Summer Time, to prepare her and her two-year-old twin siblings for bed.[19] They left at 20:30, leaving the apartment unlocked, to dine with friends approximately 130 yards (120 metres) away at a tapas bar within the Mark Warner Ocean Summer Club.[20] The McCanns said that they were taking turns checking on their children. At 20:55, one of the McCanns' dinner companions, Matthew Oldfield, approached the bedroom window of the children to check if he could hear any noise in the room and at approximately 21:05/21:15 Gerry checked on the children. At 21:20 Jane Tanner noticed a man carrying a child going down the road next to the apartment of the McCanns. Slightly further down the road, Gerry was chatting to Jeremy Wilkins, whom he had met at the resort, and neither noticed Tanner as she walked past them to join the rest of the group at the tapas restaurant.[21] At 21:30 Matthew Oldfield went to check the children but saw only the twins through the open bedroom door.[22]

At around 22:00, Kate returned to check on the children and found Madeleine's bed empty and the bedroom window open.[23] An Ocean Club nanny, Charlotte Pennington, who was one of the first people to arrive at the apartment, said that Kate screamed both "They've taken her, they've taken her!" and "Madeleine's gone!"[24] Kate said that the police were called within 10 minutes of her finding her daughter gone.[25] Gerry said it was one of their friends who alerted the resort manager and the police.[26]

The GNR’s spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Costa Cabral, said that the first call to the police (PJ) was at 23:50.[27] According to the Portuguese police's missing person notice, the disappearance had occurred "by 22:40".[28] The police stated that officers arrived within 10 minutes of being alerted, and an investigation unit began work within 30 minutes.[22] Staff and guests at the complex searched until 04:30 while police on the Spanish border and all airports in Portugal and Spain were notified.[29]

Early stages

Following the disappearance, police carried out a search of the surrounding area with sniffer dogs, but it was called off on 11 May having produced no results.[30] The Portuguese police Polícia Judiciária (PJ) said they were unsure whether Madeleine was still alive.[31] They also examined photographs taken by holidaymakers to see if any suspects could be identified.[32] The Maritime Police searched the coast including the caves. In the countryside, possible places of concealment were explored. The City Council helped the investigation by searching sewers and waterways. On 6 May it was revealed that the PJ had asked for the help of the SIS, the Portuguese secret service.[33][34] On 7 May, it was reported that the PJ was looking for a 1.7-metre tall man with short brown hair and wearing a blue coat with a whitish collar.[35]

The Portuguese media reported that the PJ were pursuing two lines of investigation: an abduction by an international paedophile network or an abduction by an adoption network.[36][37][38] On 18 October 2007, British forensic scientist Professor David Barclay of Robert Gordon University[39] was reported as saying the layout of the complex made it 'a pervert's paradise'.[40]

On 17 June, after Madeleine was found to be missing, Chief Inspector Olegário de Sousa said that the presence of so many people in the apartment from which she disappeared, had complicated the work of the scientific team. He added that this could have destroyed all the evidence and could prove to be fatal to the investigation.[41]

Murat and Malinka

At 07:00 on 14 May 2007, searches began at Casa Liliana, a villa owned by Jennifer Murat, a British citizen, near the apartment where Madeleine disappeared.[42] Police and scientific teams sealed off the house, and at 16:00 the swimming pool was drained.[43]

Three people, including Jennifer Murat's son Robert Murat, were questioned at the main police station in nearby Portimão. Robert Murat, a frequent visitor to the villa who has dual British-Portuguese nationality, had drawn the suspicion of Lori Campbell, a Sunday Mirror journalist, who informed the police.[44] Murat's former classmate Gaynor de Jesus said: "I do know that he has been the official translator for the police."[45] Murat had said that he was deeply concerned about the case because he had recently lost custody of his own three-year-old daughter, who looked like Madeleine.[46] Subsequently, speaking at a Cambridge Union debate on 5 March 2009, Murat accused a journalist of trying to convince the Portuguese police that he was acting suspiciously, in order to break the story.[47]

Robert Murat was given arguido (suspect) status on 15 May; before being given this status people are treated as witnesses. It was not clear if Murat or the police asked for the arguido status which gave extra rights such as the right to remain silent.[48] However, a factor in Murat being made a suspect was three members of the Tapas Seven, Rachael Oldfield, Russell O'Brien, and Fiona Payne, saying that they saw him in the Praia da Luz complex during the evening Madeleine disappeared.[49] Chief Inspector Olegário de Sousa told a news conference that an unnamed 33-year-old (believed to be Murat) had been interrogated, but not enough evidence was found to justify arresting him. Sousa said police had searched five houses on Monday and seized "various materials" from the properties which were being subjected to scientific tests and had questioned two other unnamed people as witnesses. Murat stated that he was being made a scapegoat so that the police could be seen to have found a suspect.[50]

It was reported on 16 May that two cars used by the Murats had been examined, and computers, mobile phones and several video tapes were taken from their villa.[51] It also emerged that a British architect, who built the villa in 1993, was ignored when he called police about a hidden basement within the property.[52]

The police were understood to have taken in for questioning Sergey Malinka, 22, a man of Russian origin, from whose property officers also took away a laptop computer and two hard drives. Malinka had set up a website for Murat and the two exchanged frequent phone calls since Madeleine's disappearance – the reason the authorities started suspecting him.[53][54] Chief Police Inspector Olegário de Sousa reiterated there was insufficient evidence to make any arrests. Police said that Malinka had been questioned as a witness for approximately five hours, which did not, having regard to the "dynamic" nature of the investigation, mean that he could not become a suspect.[55]

Malinka spoke negatively of the coverage of the case in the Portuguese media, which had alleged that he was a convicted sexual offender. He denied he had contacted Murat, and said he was "completely innocent".[56] Inconsistencies in his account of his relationship with Robert Murat emerged: he had said he had not contacted Murat in a year but Murat’s mobile phone records allegedly show he called Malinka at 23:40 on the night Madeleine vanished.[57][58] On 19 May, Portuguese detectives flew to England to interview Dawn Murat, the estranged wife of Robert Murat, and detectives re-interviewed other witnesses connected with Murat.[59][60]

Murat was interviewed for a second and third time on 10 July and 11 July to clarify what detectives described as details and possible contradictions from his previous statement in the light of new information.[61] On the second day detectives from the Polícia Judiciária questioned three friends of the McCanns who were dining with them at the time of the disappearance, Rachael Oldfield, Russell O'Brien and Fiona Payne, "to go over their accounts of events on 3 May". The three were also brought face to face with Murat.[62] As a result of the interviews, police examined discrepancies between statements from the three friends and that from Murat, in particular claims from the friends that they saw Murat outside the holiday complex on the night of the disappearance when he had stated that he was at home with his mother.[62] Murat's mother, Jenny, subsequently corroborated his alibi.[63]

Police, including British detectives, resumed searching Casa Liliana on 4 August.[64] Vegetation was cleared and the grounds were searched but despite the use of hi-tech scanning equipment and a British sniffer dog, no evidence was found that linked Murat with Madeleine.[65]

Reports in the Portuguese press suggested that Murat had met Gerry whilst the latter was campaigning for the Labour Party. Murat denied this on 13 September, describing the reports as "absolutely ridiculous" and saying "I’ve never met the man before".[66] Murat had his computers and other possessions returned to him by the police in late March 2008.[67] He was cleared of any involvement in the disappearance, and his arguido status was lifted on 21 July.[68]

McCanns as suspects

The Polícia Judiciária (PJ), on 6 September, officially interviewed Kate for a second time, at the police station in Portimão with the McCanns' Portuguese lawyer, Carlos Pinto de Abreu, present. The family’s spokeswoman Justine McGuinness said, "Kate will answer every question put to her – she has nothing to hide."[69] Pinto de Abreu made a formal application for the couple’s status to be changed from 'witness' to 'assistant' in the investigation. This is a technical move which would allow the McCanns to have more information about the progress of the investigation.[69] When Pinto de Abreu emerged with Kate from the police station in the early hours of 7 September, after more than 10 hours of questioning, he said Kate "was interviewed as a witness and she still remains a witness. The investigation is ongoing and we cannot say any more."[69]

Kate returned for further interview later on 7 September and was formally declared a suspect by the Portuguese police.[70] During this interview Kate used her right to remain silent.[71] After questioning, Kate was released from the police station just before 16:00 without being charged.[5] Gerry was interviewed at the same police station during the afternoon and evening of 7 September and afterwards Pinto de Abreu announced that Gerry had also been named as a formal suspect.[5] Before she became a suspect Kate said "The police don't want a murder in Portugal and all the publicity about them not having paedophile laws here, so they're blaming us," and Gerry said "We are being absolutely stitched up."[72] Pinto de Abreu said that claims by relatives that police had offered Kate a plea bargain if she admitted to accidentally killing her child were wrong and the result of "a misunderstanding".[73]

The UK Foreign Office is providing the McCanns with assistance.[74] Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said on 9 September "I am clear that the Portuguese police have the objective of solving this crime, and most importantly finding Madeleine, and that is what we in our support of the McCanns have tried to do as well."[75] The McCanns flew home on 9 September via Faro and East Midlands airports.[76]

During the evening of 10 September, Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt, commenting on the analysis of samples returned from the Forensic Science Service, said that "According to police, it shows the presence of Madeleine's body in the boot of the family's hire car five weeks after she disappeared."[77] Shortly afterwards, however, the national director of the Polícia Judiciária, Alípio Ribeiro, cautioned that the tests had not been conclusive and forensic science experts pointed to the dangers of contamination.[78] Earlier, McGuinness had said that Kate told detectives there was "no way" Madeleine's blood could have been found inside the car, which they had hired some 25 days after the disappearance, and continued to protest her innocence.[5] To enable the McCanns to carry out independent scientific tests, the car was being kept in the garage of tycoon John Geraghty at his villa near Praia da Luz.[79]

Sousa stated that at the end of the investigation the case file would be handed to the public prosecutor.[73] The papers were given to the local prosecutor, José Cunha de Magalhães e Meneses, on 11 September. Meneses decided that there was sufficient evidence to pass the case to a judge, who had the power to approve any charges and also decide, within 10 days, on other actions that could have included placing the McCanns under house arrest in the Algarve, ordering further interrogations and authorising further searches.[80] The judge appointed was Pedro Miguel dos Anjos Frias, Portimão's 'juiz de instrução criminal'.[81][82]

In addition to Meneses, a district prosecutor, Luis Bilro Verão, was appointed on 11 September 2007 to oversee the investigation.[83] On 12 September Attorney General Fernando José Pinto Monteiro said that further police action was necessary after which there could be a reassessment of possible bail conditions for the suspects.[84]

Anjos Frias authorised, on 12 September, the seizure of Kate's diary and Gerry's laptop, thought to be at the McCanns' Rothley home, and other items. Leicestershire Police are expected to visit the McCanns, to attempt to implement this warrant.[85] Social workers visited the McCanns on 13 September, at their request.[86] Anjos Frias ruled on 19 September that the McCanns would not be reinterviewed for the time being.[87]

The McCanns have been quoted as believing that their phones have been tapped from fairly early in the investigation.[88] Clarence Mitchell, on 17 September, resigned as director of the Central Office of Information's media monitoring unit to become the McCanns' media spokesman.[89] In his first media appearance, the following day, he said that there was an innocent explanation for any potentially incriminating evidence the police may have found.[90] Then Gerry said that he believed his daughter's kidnapper had been hiding behind a door in their holiday apartment as he checked on his children.[91]

In an effort to rebut accusations that she was on medication at the time of the disappearance, hair from Kate was tested in November. Toxicology tests showed no evidence that she had taken drugs in the past eight months. The twins were also tested for sedatives. No traces of sedatives were recorded.[92] A team of four Portuguese detectives and scientists were briefed by the Forensic Science Service, at Leicestershire Police headquarters in Enderby on 29 November, about the forensic tests that the Birmingham laboratory had carried out. The results were understood to be inconclusive.[93][94] In early February 2008, Alípio Ribeiro, the national director of the PJ, said that there "perhaps should have been another assessment" before the McCanns were declared arguidos.[95]

It was reported on 10 April that parts of the McCanns' interviews with the Portuguese police had been leaked. These were reported to include a statement that Madeleine had remonstrated with her mother for leaving the children unattended when they had been crying the previous night. Clarence Mitchell said that the leak was a "deliberate smear" and commented that it was curious that this should emerge on the day that the McCanns were in Brussels promoting a child welfare initiative.[96][97] The Polícia Judiciária said that it was entirely false that the contents of the report included material from the inquiry. They also regretted Clarence Mitchell's "unfounded comments".[98]

In the judgement from the Tribunal da Relação de Évora, by Judge Fernando Ribeiro Cardoso on 29 April, it was revealed that the McCanns were being investigated for allegedly neglecting their daughter and that the police inquiry covered the possibilities of homicide, abandonment, concealment of a corpse and abduction.[99][100] A judge in Portugal, on 15 May, extended the secrecy on the prosecution files for a further three months.[101] The McCanns were cleared of any involvement in the disappearance, on 21 July, and their arguido status was lifted "due to lack of evidence that any crime was committed by the persons placed under formal investigation".[68]

Other suspects

The Portuguese police disclosed information, on 25 May 2007, about another possible suspect: this was a reference to a middle-build white man, approximately 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) tall. However, the height of the man was subsequently corrected to that given on the Portuguese press release as 170 cm (5 ft 7 in). The man, aged between 35 and 40, was seen at 21:30 on 3 May, by a close friend of the McCanns, but this information was only made public two and half weeks later.[102][103] According to Chief Police Officer Olegário de Sousa, the man was carrying a child, or something which might have resembled a child. He fitted the description of a suspect being hunted by Spanish police for the kidnappings of Sara Morales, 14, and 7-year-old Yeremi Vargas, in the Canary Islands.[104]

Detectives tried to trace a British man who left the harbour in his yacht shortly after the disappearance, after having moored there for two years. A witness reported seeing a man carrying a child in his arms down to the marina, hours after Madeleine disappeared. On 29 May, detectives questioned four boat owners, three of them English, whose vessels were moored at the marina in Lagos, a town about five miles (8 km) from Praia da Luz.[105]

A trace of DNA was found, on 1 June, in the bedroom from where Madeleine disappeared. The DNA did not match that of the McCanns, their three children nor that of Murat. The PJ handed the sample over to the national forensic science laboratories, the Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal, and stated that there is a new suspect.[106] In early August there was a suggested link with Urs Hans Von Aesch who had been on holiday in the area around the time that Madeleine disappeared. Von Aesch, a resident of Benimantell, Spain, who was implicated by Swiss police with the disappearance of five-year-old Ylenia Lenhard from Appenzell, Switzerland, had recently committed suicide.[107][108]

The occupants of the flat above that from which Madeleine disappeared reported an intruder who apparently had entered with a key. There had been a similar burglary in the complex some weeks earlier. On 17 August, search warrants were signed for the home of a new suspect.[109]

Briton Raymond Hewlett, who had been jailed for sexual offences against young girls, was, in May 2009, a person of interest. Hewlett denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance and agreed to meet investigators working for the McCanns.[110][111] Subsequently, he claimed to have seen Madeleine before her disappearance but required payment if he was to help the investigators.[112] He did, though, voluntarily give police in Germany a DNA sample.[113] Hewlett died of natural causes in December 2009.[114]

In August 2009 it emerged that, 72 hours after Madeleine disappeared, two British men were approached in Barcelona by a woman who reportedly asked, "Are you here to deliver my new daughter?" The woman, described as a "Victoria Beckham lookalike," had an Australian accent and spoke fluent Spanish or Catalan.[115] An E-fit picture was released showing a woman with short, spiky hair.[116] Two detectives from the Metropolitan Police flew to Spain in November 2011, apparently to investigate that incident.[117]

In February 2011, a private investigator said he had identified two key suspects in the Madeleine disappearance and believed she had possibly been taken to the United States.[118] A 36-year-old man told a newspaper that he had informed police that McCann was taken by a Portuguese paedophile ring that hunts children in the Algarve region then proceeds to smuggle them out of the country.[118] McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell told media that the paedophile ring lead had to be taken with caution.[119]

Other aspects of the investigation

On 7 June 2007, Spanish police received a phone call from a man claiming to know the whereabouts of Madeleine, using a mobile phone registered in Argentina. The call was described as "credible".[120]

In June, Spanish investigative journalist Antonio Toscano claimed that the four-year-old was abducted by a French sex offender, as part of a Europe-wide paedophile network.[121] Then, on 28 June, Toscano claimed that Madeleine was alive and well in Europe but Madeleine's parents refused to meet with him.[122] Determined to leave no stone unturned, police also examined hundreds of reports from psychics and clairvoyants claiming to know the location of Madeleine. The police said that they decided to check them all in case they might contain a message from the kidnapper.[123]

The investigation was thrown into confusion on 10 June when the detective coordinating the hunt, Gonçalo Amaral, head of the regional Polícia Judiciária, and four other Portuguese police officers, were charged with alleged offences relating to the inquiry into the disappearance of Joana Cipriano, from a village seven miles (11 km) from where Madeleine disappeared.[124]

The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, on 13 June, received a letter that suggested that Madeleine was buried on a hillside, near Arão, nine miles (14 km) north-east from Praia da Luz. After a search of the area, however, the Portuguese police abandoned this lead on 15 June.[125][126]

In early August, the British police team brought in to assist found microscopic traces of blood on the wall of the apartment from which Madeleine disappeared and that had not been detected by the Portuguese police. Using specially trained sniffer dogs and ultraviolet technology they discovered the blood despite the apartment having been cleaned and reoccupied.[127][128] Samples of blood, hair, and fibres were sent to the UK Forensic Science Service in Birmingham for DNA analysis.[129] Examination of the scientific evidential material is continuing and initial findings, described as "significant", were sent to Portugal around 4 September.[129]

Following the publicising of the discovery of the blood spots, Sousa stated "The family are not suspects. This is the official position."[130] Then on 11 August, Sousa added that new evidence had given "intensity" to the possibility Madeleine had been killed.[131] Sousa confirmed on 15 August that the sniffer dogs, which could only pick up the scent of a body which had been in situ for more than two hours, had detected the scent of a dead body.[132] John Barrett, a former Scotland Yard dog handler, said that the dogs used to detect a 'death smell' on Kate's Bible and clothes were brought in too long after Madeleine vanished since the crucial scent lasts for no longer than a month.[74]

The position of the police was clarified on 16 August by Alípio Ribeiro, national director of the Polícia Judiciária, who said that although there was a strong hypothesis that Madeleine was dead, this could not be confirmed and the investigation was nowhere near a breakthrough.[133] António Cluny, president of Portugal's public prosecutor's service, said on 24 September that "Without the little girl's body everything is extremely complicated". He went on to stress that all options from abduction to Madeleine's death were still open.[134]

The Portuguese police investigation team was reduced in October 2007. Following the removal of Gonçalo Amaral as investigation coordinator, other departures decreased the number of people working on the case from a peak of 200 to just six detectives which, with holidays, could mean as few as three working on the case at any one time.[135][136] Paulo Rebelo, an assistant national director of the Polícia Judiciária, took over responsibility for the case on 8 October.[137]

Ribeiro confirmed, during October, that Portuguese police officers were planning to fly to the United Kingdom to assist in the re-interviewing of the friends who dined with the McCanns at the time of the disappearance.[138] To prepare for the re-interviewing, Joannes Thuy, a spokesman for the Portuguese public prosecutor, said on 15 January 2008 that Eurojust had been asked to be the go-between for the Portuguese and the UK authorities.[139] As part of the preparations, Detective Superintendent Stuart Prior, of Leicestershire Police, flew to Portugal for discussions with his counterparts, in early March.[140] The interviews, carried out by Leicestershire Police and attended by the Portuguese Police, began on 8 April.[141]

Alberto Costa, Portugal's Minister of Justice, told a parliamentary committee hearing in Lisbon, on 13 February, that Portuguese police were "at a stage now where we are approaching the conclusion of the process."[142] Luis Antonio, the estranged husband of Murat’s girlfriend Michaela Walczuch, was questioned by police for a second time in early February.[143]

The Portuguese police planned to hold a reconstruction, of the events of the night of Madeleine's disappearance, in May 2008. They asked the McCanns, their friends, and holidaymakers to attend.[144] However, the reconstruction was cancelled after the friends declined to participate.[145]

Alípio Ribeiro resigned as the national director of the PJ on 7 May, citing media pressure. His replacement was José Maria Almeida Rodrigues, a senior detective based in Coimbra

External assistance

On 9 May 2007, Interpol released a yellow notice, issued to help locate missing persons who are not able to identify themselves, to all member police forces.[1] A team of mobile phone experts flew to Portugal on 29 May 2007 to analyse mobile phone data from the area at the time of the abduction. They used triangulation techniques to track mobile phone movements down to a couple of yards.[147]

Experts from the British Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre flew into Portugal on 31 July to assist the local detectives, for whom all leave had been cancelled, by developing a psychological profile of a possible abductor.[148] In early August, British detectives again flew in to assist. They were accompanied by specially trained sniffer dogs and equipment for underground detection and ultraviolet instruments for identifying blood.[65][127]

In March 2010 the British Home Office started a secret scoping exercise to decide whether a new investigation was necessary.[149] In addition, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre sought help from West Yorkshire Police's major inquiry team, which found missing Dewsbury nine-year-old Shannon Matthews, in March 2008.[150] In April 2012, following the review, which to that date had cost British taxpayers £2 million, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood from Scotland Yard's Homicide and Serious Crime Command said they believed there was a possibility that Madeleine was alive. Scotland Yard urged the Portuguese authorities to reopen the search for her because of new "investigative opportunities". An updated age progression image of Madeleine was also released.[151]

Suspension of the official investigation

Fernando José Pinto Monteiro, the Portuguese Attorney General, said on 1 July 2008 that prosecutors had received the final police report.[152][153] He announced, on 21 July, that the case would be closed due to lack of evidence that any crime was committed by the persons placed under formal investigation. However, the files would still be periodically reviewed and could be reopened if new evidence emerged.[68] The police files, running to 17 volumes comprising over 11,000 pages, were made public on 4 August.[154]

Unofficial investigations

At least five firms of private investigators have been engaged to make enquiries. At the end of May 2007 the McCanns hired Control Risks Group.[155] It was announced on 29 September that tycoon Brian Kennedy was paying for private investigators to search in Morocco.[79] Spanish agency Método 3 were engaged with the enquiries led by Francisco Marco.[156] It was disclosed in January 2008 that Hogan International, headed by Noel Hogan, former Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent, was carrying out a cold case review, in conjunction with Método 3.[157] US-based investigation firm Oakley International was hired for six months in 2008 but it was decided in August not to renew their contract. Brian Kennedy, who underwrites the Fund, thought that their fees of around £500,000 were not value for money.[158] Oakley International owner Kevin Halligen, in November 2009, was being sought by the FBI on an indictment for fraud.[159] Allegations included the suggestion that he failed to pay over to investigators £300,000 that he had received from the McCann fund.[160] Another, unnamed, US organisation was engaged in August 2008, also on a £500,000 six-month contract, to lead the investigation. Método 3 were to continue to follow up information from Spain and Portugal.[161]

Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragão Correia paid for the Barragem do Arade reservoir, 35 miles (56 km) east of Praia da Luz, to be searched by divers in early February 2008. He claimed to have received intelligence from underworld sources that Madeleine had been killed and dumped in a lake.[95] The initial search was unsuccessful but it resumed in the middle of March, funded by the Sociedade Portuguesa de Engenharia e Construção.[162][163] Several items were found in the reservoir. Initially discovered were several lengths of cord, some plastic tape and a single white, cotton sock.[164] Then two plastic bags, one containing small bones, were found on 14 March, but the bones were confirmed to be those of a small animal and Correia gave up the search for lack of funds.[165]

Stephen Birch, a South African property developer said, in July 2012, that ground radar scans he had made showed digging, a void and what could be human bones below a gravel driveway in Praia da Luz. The PJ declined to excavate the driveway, a decision that was supported by Kate and Gerry.[166]

Sightings of Madeleine McCann

Main article: Sightings of Madeleine McCann

The last confirmed sighting of Madeleine was in the early evening of 3 May 2007, by Miguel Matias, manager of the beach-side Paraíso restaurant, who saw Gerry dancing with his daughter while the family ate a meal on the terrace.[91] Since then there have been many reported sightings of Madeleine both in Portugal and elsewhere in the world, but none have produced any firm leads. However, several reports have not been conclusively eliminated. The Portuguese police, on 9 July 2007, said that they believed that, if still alive, it was likely that the missing girl was still being held in Portugal.[167] The McCanns gained limited access to police files, concerning possible sightings, on 7 July 2008.[8]

Response to the disappearance

Main article: Response to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann





Tributes in Rothley on 17 May 2007
Over the subsequent months Madeleine's parents implemented a publicity campaign that kept the disappearance in the public eye in many countries though there was criticism that the media attention was excessive and lacked objectivity. The disappearance led the news in the UK for over a week with subsequent daily coverage of events. There was regular coverage in Portugal and periodic coverage in other countries.

An official site for the search was set up and a fund-raising company, known as Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned, was launched. The directors of the company subsequently decided that no money from the Fund would be used to pay the McCanns' legal costs.[168] There were appeals from many political leaders and sporting personalities and over £2.6 million of rewards were offered. The parents had an audience with the Pope and embarked on a tour of key European and North African countries, together with a visit to the United States, to raise and maintain awareness.[169] The publicity spawned attempted scams with fake websites set up, people collecting money on false pretences and others falsely claiming to have information on Madeleine's whereabouts.

Following accusations in the media the McCanns, their friends, and Robert Murat instigated libel actions. The Daily Express and the Daily Star published front-page apologies and agreed to pay the McCanns £550,000 in libel damages.[170] A grouping of British newspapers settled with Murat for a £600,000 payout and issued a public apology.[171] BSkyB also paid him damages in a separate libel case.[172] Sergey Malinka and Michaela Walczuch accepted more than £100,000 each.[171] The friends of the McCanns, known as the Tapas Seven, were awarded around £375,000 in damages and secured printed apologies from Express Newspapers.[173]

Criticism of the parents

The parents have been criticised for leaving their children alone while they ate at a nearby restaurant despite the availability of a babysitting service and a creche.[174][175] There has also been criticism of the parents in the Portuguese media. Diário de Notícias insisted that the McCanns were suspects and claimed that on the night Madeleine disappeared they had not checked on the children, contrary to what they told police.[176] The Daily Telegraph has reported "Portugal has been stung by suggestions that the investigation has been handled ineptly, and while there is much sympathy locally for the McCanns they have also been criticised for leaving their children alone."[177]

Police questioned the couple on 10 May 2007 about why the three children were left alone in an apartment, with the patio doors unlocked, while they dined at the restaurant.[32] In an interview with the BBC on 25 May, the McCanns acknowledged the criticism, and spoke of the guilt they felt.[178] In reply to questions posed to them on 6 June at a press conference in Germany, when radio reporter Sabina Müller suggested that their behaviour was not normal for people whose child had been abducted, they denied involvement in any abduction of their daughter.[179]

On the 10 Downing Street website a petition to the Prime Minister was started on 12 June 2007 requesting that Leicestershire Social Services to "fulfil their statutory obligation to investigate the circumstances which led to three-year-old Madeleine McCann and her younger siblings being left unattended in an unlocked, ground floor hotel room." In response, Leicestershire County Council said it was "discharging [its] duties in ... a full and professional manner," and that "[a]ll agencies are acutely aware of the traumatic ordeal that the McCanns are experiencing." The family declined to comment.[174]

Following criticism in the Portuguese media of the behaviour of the McCanns, on 21 July 2007, the Crown Prosecution Service lawyers held "informal discussions" to consider whether any offence may have been committed under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, which deals with ill-treatment, cruelty, neglect and abandonment of children under 16.[180] The family said the calls to prosecute the McCanns were hurtful and unhelpful.[181]

The lawyer of Robert Murat, Francisco Pagarete, criticised the McCanns in late November. He said that they "deserve to be cursed" for leaving their children alone.[182] Gonçalo Amaral, who had originally headed the police investigation, criticised the parents in his book Maddie, a Verdade da Mentira (Maddie, the Truth of the Lie), published on 24 July 2008.[183] A Portuguese judge issued an injunction, on 9 September 2009, that stopped further publication or sales of the book and also banned Amaral from repeating his claims.[184] The McCanns travelled to Portugal for Amaral's libel trial, but on 11 December 2009 it was postponed for a month due to his lawyer falling ill. The trial had originally coincided with the publication of a second book by Amaral, A Mordaça Inglesa (The English Gag).[185] The McCanns are also asking Amaral for 1.2 million euros in compensation for defamation.[186] On 19 October 2010, it was announced that the Court of Appeal had overturned the ban on Sr Amaral's book, which has now been returned to sale, stating that the ban had broken "a constitutional and universal right: that of opinion and freedom of expression."[187]

Criticism of the police

There has been extensive criticism of the Portuguese police in the British media.[188][189] It was reported that there were delays in obtaining and analysing forensic evidence, neither border nor marine police were given descriptions of Madeleine for many hours after she vanished, and officers had not been seen making extensive door-to-door inquiries. Critics allege that the scene had not been secured as tightly as it would have been in the UK and the lack of appeals for help and information has surprised British police experts.[190]

It has emerged that the police failed to ask for surveillance pictures of vehicles leaving Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance nor of the road between Lagos and Vila Real de Santo António, on the Spanish border.[191] Mark Williams-Thomas, a former Surrey detective and now a child protection expert, on 6 August described the initial forensic tests as "inept" and criticised the three-month delay in the Portuguese acceptance of the British offer of expert help. He said that the police should have sealed the apartment immediately, on day one, and then conducted a thorough forensic examination.[127]

The Portuguese police have, however, been working under legal restrictions. For instance, they cannot release information because they are constrained by Article 86 of the Portuguese penal code that says information must not be released, apart from in exceptional circumstances, while the criminal investigation is still taking place.[190]

Several Portuguese news media and opinion makers have criticised the massive police and law enforcement efforts, comparing it with the efforts used to help national victims in past similar affairs. Taking part were up to 180 Portuguese police officials and civil protection helicopters together with hundreds of villagers and holidaymakers, an effort never seen in the search for other child disappearances in the country.[192][193]

Parallels have been drawn with the case of disappearance of another child, Joana Cipriano, who disappeared on 12 September 2004 from her home in the village of Figueira, seven miles (11 km) from where Madeleine was last seen. Chief investigating officer Guilhermino da Encarnação was also involved in that investigation, in which no body was found, but which ended with the conviction of Leonor and João Cipriano, Joana's mother and uncle.[194] Since then Gonçalo Amaral and four other Portuguese police officers have been charged with offences.[195] A judge decided, in February 2008, that Amaral will stand trial accused of falsifying evidence and covering up for the other four who are accused of torture.[196]

The height of the man being sought by the police was given on the Portuguese press release as 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) but it mistakenly appeared as 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) the English version.[102] Madeleine took a favourite toy to bed with her on the night she disappeared, on which an abductor could have left some trace of DNA evidence, but police did not check it.[197] Then on 1 June 2007, June Hughes, from Glasgow, who had stayed in the apartment the previous week with her husband, expressed surprise that the police had not made any contact with them.[198] Family members, on 9 June, complained of harassment by the police when they tried to put up 'missing' posters at Lisbon Airport. There were suggestions that the Portuguese authorities wanted to prevent these posters being displayed over concerns about damage to their tourist industry.[199]

There was criticism that, on 6 June, two of the senior police officers involved in the case, Olegário de Sousa and Gonçalo Amaral, the head of the regional Polícia Judiciária, took a leisurely lunch and an observer commented that they laughed at what seemed to be an in-joke as the McCanns appeared on a television news broadcast. Olegário de Sousa defended their actions: "It is very, very sad but a person’s free time is for lunch," he said. "The persons are in charge in the day, they are working in the day but they must eat and drink, it is normal. I drink what I want to drink when I can drink."[200] Gonçalo Amaral, in an interview given to the Diário de Notícias in October, said "The British police have only been working on that which the McCann couple want them to and which is most convenient for them."[201] Subsequently the PJ's national director, Alípio Ribeiro, told journalists at a conference in Lisbon on 2 October, that Amaral's "commission of service has ceased".[135] Amaral returned to his post in the PJ branch of Faro, the seat of the district.[202] Tavares de Almeida, the deputy head of the inquiry, asked to be put on unpaid leave shortly before it was announced that he had been indicted over the alleged torture of a suspect in an unrelated investigation.[203][204][205]

Richard Branson stepped into the debate on 15 October 2007. Branson, who has contributed £100,000 to the McCanns' defence fund, criticised the Portuguese police and press for 'overstepping their mark' by accusing the McCanns of involvement in the disappearance.[206]

I just can't comprehend how any responsible parents could leave such young children alone in a hotel room. Even if they are close by eating, isn't the risk of fire or a child waking up and wandering around alone enough to make a caring parent choose to handle things differently than they did? I would never have done that when my children were younger.

I was called for jury duty once on a case where the parents let their child run loose in a casino while they gambled. The child was molested, and the parents wanted to sue the casino. I obviously didn't get picked because of my view that they were just looking for deep pockets.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Soapboxmom

I just can't comprehend how any responsible parents could leave such young children alone in a hotel room. Even if they are close by eating, isn't the risk of fire or a child waking up and wandering around alone enough to make a caring parent choose to handle things differently than they did? I would never have done that when my children were younger.

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I agree,but strangely the McCanns have never admitted to behaving irresponsibly.However,the plot thickens---.



During eleven hours of interrogation, Kate McCann refused to answer 48 specific questions.

Madeleine's mother, who was legally represented in the interview, stayed silent as police threw a series of loaded questions at her that made clear they thought she was involved in her daughter's disappearance.


She answered only once - when accused of harming the hunt for Madeleine by her silence.




1. On May 3 2007, around 22:00, when you entered the apartment, what did you see? What did you do? Where did you look? What did you touch?

2. Did you search inside the bedroom wardrobe? (she replied that she wouldn’t answer)

3. (shown 2 photographs of her bedroom wardrobe) Can you describe its contents?

4. Why had the curtain behind the sofa in front of the side window (whose photo was shown to her) been tampered with? Did somebody go behind that sofa?

5. How long did your search of the apartment take after you detected your daughter Madeleine’s disappearance?

6. Why did you say from the start that Madeleine had been abducted?

7. Assuming Madeleine had been abducted, why did you leave the twins home alone to go to the ‘Tapas’ and raise the alarm? Because the supposed abductor could still be in the apartment.

8. Why didn’t you ask the twins, at that moment, what had happened to their sister or why didn’t you ask them later on?

9. When you raised the alarm at the ‘Tapas’ what exactly did you say and what were your exact words?

10. What happened after you raised the alarm in the ‘Tapas’?

11. Why did you go and warn your friends instead of shouting from the verandah?

12. Who contacted the authorities?

13. Who took place in the searches?

14. Did anyone outside of the group learn of Madeleine’s disappearance in those following minutes?

15. Did any neighbour offer you help after the disappearance?

16. What does 'we let her down' mean?

17. Did Jane tell you that night that she’d seen a man with a child?

18. How were the authorities contacted and which police force was alerted?

19. During the searches, with the police already there, where did you search for Maddie, how and in what way?

20. Why did the twins not wake up during that search or when they were taken upstairs?

21. Who did you phone after the occurrence?

22. Did you call Sky News?


23. Did you know the danger of calling the media, because it could influence the abductor?

24. Did you ask for a priest?


25. By what means did you divulge Madeleine’s features, by photographs or by any other means?


26. Is it true that during the searches you remained seated on Maddie’s bed without moving?


27. What was your behaviour that night?


28. Did you manage to sleep?


29. Before travelling to Portugal did you make any comment about a foreboding or a bad feeling?


30. What was Madeleine’s behaviour like?


31. Did Maddie suffer from any illness or take any medication?


32. What was Madeleine’s relationship like with her brother and sister?


33. What was Madeleine’s relationship like with her brother and sister, friends and school mates?


34. As for your professional life, in how many and which hospitals have you worked?


35. What is your medical specialty?


36. Have you ever done shift work in any emergency services or other services?


37. Did you work every day?


38. At a certain point you stopped working, why?


39. Are the twins difficult to get to sleep? Are they restless and does that cause you uneasiness?


40. Is it true that sometimes you despaired with your children’s behaviour and that left you feeling very uneasy?


41. Is it true that in England you even considered handing over Madeleine’s custody to a relative?


42. In England, did you medicate your children? What type of medication?


43. In the case files you were SHOWN CANINE forensic testing films, where you can see them marking due to detection of the scent of human corpse and blood traces, also human, and only human, as well as all the comments of the technician in charge of them. After watching and after the marking of the scent of corpse in your bedroom beside the wardrobe and behind the sofa, pushed up against the sofa wall, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?


44. When the sniffer dog also marked human blood behind the sofa, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?


45. When the sniffer dog marked the scent of corpse coming from the vehicle you hired a month after the disappearance, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?


46. When human blood was marked in the boot of the vehicle, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?


47. When confronted with the results of Maddie’s DNA, whose analysis was carried out in a British laboratory, collected from behind the sofa and the boot of the vehicle, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?


48. Did you have any responsibility or intervention in your daughter’s disappearance?

A QUESTION SHE DID ANSWER


Q. Are you aware that in not answering the questions you are jeopardising the investigation, which seeks to discover what happened to your daughter?


A. 'Yes, if that’s what the investigation thinks.'