Welcome to the MoroccanCulture Blog

The released files revealed that the apartment at the Ocean Club resort from which Madeleine disappeared was used for nearly two months before police sealed it off Photo: PA

- Detectives knew there was no conclusive evidence against the McCanns three days before they interviewed them and made them suspects.

- Mrs McCann refused to answer 48 questions when quizzed by police in September after she and her husband became formal suspects

- Mrs McCann wrote a letter begging for an end to the "war" that had developed between the family and investigators.

-The Metropolitan Police passed on a tip-off from an informant suggesting Madeleine may have been kidnapped to order by a Belgian paedophile ring.

- A Briton contacted police after seeing a child, whom he said resembled Madeleine, asleep on a train from Brussels to Antwerp, saying she looked like she could have been drugged. She was accompanied by a balding 6ft white man aged about 40.

- Madeleine could have been abducted by a stranger, seen by both a British holidaymaker and a British expat, loitering around the family's holiday resort at the time. Pictures of the stranger and descriptions were not circulated by police.

- In early May last year, Anna Stam, a 41-year-old assistant from an Amsterdam fancy dress shop, said she had spoken to a little girl called "Maddy", who said she had been taken from her mother while on holiday.

-The apartment at the Ocean Club resort from which Madeleine vanished was used by holiday-makers for nearly two months before police sealed it off as a permanent crime scene.

- During the early stages of the search, Portuguese police wanted to bug Mr McCann and his wife Kate, in order to eavesdrop on their conversations. However a judge refused the request.

- British consular officials in Guatemala were forced to apologise to a leading local lawyer after they stopped his daughter in the street, thinking she was Madeleine.

from:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/madeleinemccann/2564721/Madeleine-files-the-key-disclosures.html

Of all the emotions Kate and Gerry McCann have felt over the past year, among the worst must be not knowing what happened to their daughter.

Racked with guilt over leaving their children alone while they dined with friends, plagued by questions of "what if" and even receiving hate mail, one year on the couple still don't know where their daughter Madeleine is.

Madeleine disappeared from the McCann's holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia de Luz on May 3, 2007, just days before her fourth birthday.

With the anniversary looming, her parents have launched a new media offensive, just as they did on a global scale in the days after Madeleine vanished.

As part of their latest publicity campaign aimed at maintaining the child's profile, 40-year-old Kate revealed this week she had clung to other milestones during the search for her little girl.

At 17 days she tried to comfort herself with thoughts of a missing boy who had been found after that time.

An abducted Belgian girl Sabine Dardenne was found after 80 days.

About 277 days into the search, Kate desperately hoped Madeleine could come home just like Elizabeth Smart did nine months after her kidnapping in the US.

At that thought, during a documentary which aired last night, Kate broke down in tears - something she had been criticised for not doing enough in the early days of Madeleine's disappearance.

"You're never going to get to a day where we think, 'OK, we've tried everything now and we're exhausted and we need to start living,' " she told ITV after regaining her composure.

"I just think we need to know because I can't imagine ever getting to that day.

"I just think we need to know because the thought of living like this for another 40 years isn't exactly a happy prospect."

With echoes of baby Azaria Chamberlain's disappearance in Australia in 1980, Madeleine's story has captured attention around the world and with more twists and turns than the McCanns would ever have expected.

Both articulate doctors, they immediately set about publicising Madeleine's image and making appeals for her safe return, hoping someone would recognised her, or her captor(s) would give her up.

That meant making regular appearances before the world's media, which also exposed them to criticism.

According to some, they were too cold and didn't show enough emotion.

People started asking whether they had something to hide.

Kate says psychological profilers told the pair not to show too much emotion in case Madeleine's kidnapper "got a kick out of it".

Witnesses say they saw a man leaving the apartment with a child matching Madeleine's description, but it was months before an artist's impression of the alleged abductor's face was released.

By that time, the McCanns had been declared official suspects by Portuguese police, whom the couple felt were not doing enough to find their daughter.

But damaging leaks, which they claim were from the Portuguese authorities, kept emerging and the frustrated couple returned to England with two year-old twins Sean and Amelie in a bid to give Madeleine's siblings some semblance of a normal life.

The McCanns received huge public support in Portugal and Britain.

But once home in Rothley, Leicestershire, they also continued to face detractors.

They now file many letters they receive in boxes marked Nutty, Psychics, Visions, Dreams and Nasty.

In March this year they won £550,000 ($1.2 million) in libel damages and rare front-page apologies from Express Newspapers in Britain over allegations they were responsible for the death of their daughter.

A few weeks later the McCanns travelled to Brussels armed with a declaration penned by prominent Australian-born human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson, QC, urging the European Union to implement a cross-border alert system for abducted children, similar to one in the US.

Another blow came when the transcripts of their police interviews were leaked revealing that on the morning of her disappearance Madeleine had complained about her mother being absent when she and her brother were crying the previous night.

Kate, who believes the children might have been woken by an intruder, said she was gutted by the timing of the leak and claimed the information had been taken out of context.

She also said she had "persecuted" herself repeatedly for not pressing Madeleine to elaborate on what had happened.

"It doesn't feel like a year since I saw Madeleine," Kate added.

"She's just very much still there and she doesn't seem that far away.

"It feels like she's still with me in some way and I've never felt that I won't see her again."

Gerry agreed: "I do think that she's still out there, very much so.

"A little girl who wasn't even four, who's now nearly five, she's the victim and people should not forget that."

Neither Kate nor Gerry have been charged with any offence and both deny any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance.

AAP

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/where-is-maddie/2008/05/01/1209235021518.html

Madeleine -- one year on... Will the truth ever come out?

By Gemma O'Doherty
Saturday April 12 2008
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/madeleine--one-year-on-will-the-truth-ever-come-out-1345667.html?service=Print
On a notice board in Dublin's Whitefriar Street church, Madeleine McCann's dimpled face beams out from a poster reminding passers-by to say a prayer for the little girl who vanished from sight almost a year ago.

Some stand and stare, trying to make sense of her baffling disappearance from a Portuguese resort last May. Others bow their heads and bless themselves, praying for a miracle that is long overdue.

One year on, in country chapels and cathedrals around Ireland, candles are lit every day for the English toddler, prayers of the faithful are said in her name, tears are shed in her memory. Clergy say the on-going devotion to this little stranger, who would have turned five next month, is remarkable.

But in Praia da Luz, the sleepy Algarve village where she was taken from her bed on a balmy Thursday night last May, the mood is very different.

The 'missing' posters that once blanketed the town are long gone. Some have been ripped away by local people furious that the cloud of suspicion still lingers over their town almost 12 months on; others pasted over with ads for local festivals in a bid for closure on a case that now vies with 9/11 as the biggest human interest story of the decade.

As the chill of winter lifts and a hint of summer fills the air, hoteliers are gearing up for the first of the season's tourists. At the reception desk in the Ocean Club resort, where the Leicestershire family spent their fateful late spring holiday last year, the mood is upbeat.

Bookings are looking good and there is every hope of a full house during May. But privately, staff admit that the bulk of next month's guests are not coming for the sun. Television companies from as far away as Australia and South America, British paparazzi and Portuguese press are more likely to make up the numbers as the world prepares to mark the first anniversary of her disappearance on May 3, 2007.

The flat at the centre of their focus is Apartment 5-A, where Kate and Gerry McCann tucked their children into bed before going for dinner with seven friends in a tapas bar 50 yards away on the night Madeleine vanished.

Since that night, the two-bedroom apartment has lain empty. A flimsy silver chain still hangs around the back garden gate to keep curious onlookers out.

In their determination to get back to normal, local business people are increasingly convinced that the mystery of Madeleine's disappearance will never be explained and it must once and for all be left in the past.

But in her home town of Rothley, where a flame to the local girl still burns in the village square, there are embers of hope that one day she might return.

At Bishop Ellis Catholic School in the village of Thurmaston, close to the McCann's imposing family home, a tiny chair, desk and coat-peg still lie empty, waiting for their missing owner.

Madeleine was due to start junior infants class here last August. Since then, the staff and pupils at the school have vowed the little girl with the angelic smile would never be forgotten.

This week, in an address to the European Parliament, her parents Kate and Gerry pleaded for the introduction of a EU-wide missing child alert system, similar to the so-called amber-alert procedures that operate in the US.

The couple travelled there recently to observe the system, which allows police officers to commandeer the airwaves and television channels in different states if they believe a child has gone missing.

The McCanns are also in the process of setting up a dedicated hotline across Europe to alert police in the event of child abductions.

The coming weeks are expected to take their toll on the couple, as Madeleine's story returns to the headlines. Although detectives involved in what has become Portugal's largest police probe are no longer actively searching for her, a number of potentially critical developments are likely to coincide with the anniversary.

On May 14, police files on the case are expected to be made public when the period of official secrecy imposed by Portuguese law draws to a close. This would mean that the couple may learn why they were made suspects or so-called arguidos in the case, and files could reveal information about the case that has been concealed up to now.

Last month, the McCanns won libel damages worth £550,000 (€690,000) and forced two British newspapers to publish front-page apologies for publishing more than 100 articles on the disappearance of Madeleine, some of which suggested that her parents were involved in her death.

This week, Portuguese police urged the couple to return to the Algarve to stage a reconstruction of the night she went missing, to be televised around the world a fortnight after the anniversary.

But as long as they remain official suspects in the case, the McCanns say they have no desire to return to the Algarve. There are also suggestions that Kate would find the emotional strain too painful to bear.

With the only other official suspect in the case, British expat Robert Murat, thought to be out of the frame, a team of British investigators have started questioning the so-called Tapas Seven, the group of friends who were with the McCanns on the night of Madeleine's disappearance.

Police have refocused their attention on claims by the couple's family friend Jane Tanner, who told them she saw a man walking away from the McCann's apartment with a child in pink pyjamas at 9.15pm on May 3.

The police have on-going concerns that statements given by the group did not fit initially, but claim that after they had discussed the matter as a unit, there was greater harmony in their accounts. But family spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, says this scenario is not at all surprising.

"You had nine people in a bar without watches on, without mobile phones, and absolute panic set in when they realised what had happened. They were running around and then several hours later they were forced to sit down and recount their movements in exact detail and they were at sixes and sevens...

"We would say that, if the police had a perfect time line across nine people, that would be a damn sight more suspicious than the fractured, illogical composite statements they might have got."

As the first anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance draws closer, her parents are struggling to return to normality for the sake of their three-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie. Gerry has gone back to work as a cardiologist with the NHS, while Kate, a GP, has decided to stay at home as a full-time mother. She also works closely with the Find Madeleine campaign.

Friends say she still spends hours weeping in Madeleine's pink bedroom, clutching her sweet-smelling clothes, remembering the last words her daughter told her before she went to bed on that chilling night.

"Mummy, I've had the best day ever. I'm having lots and lots of fun."

Today all she is left with are those cherished memories and a lingering hope that grows more distant with the passing of each day.

- Gemma O'Doherty

By Junia Mink
12:51, April 11th 2008

Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of missing Madeleine, responded with anger to publication of leaked transcripts of interviews with Portuguese police last year. According to BBC News, the transcripts suggested that on the morning she vanished, Madeleine asked her mother why she did not come when the children were crying the night before. McCanns’ spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, named the leak as a “deliberate smear.”

Madeleine’s parents called for the Portuguese Justice Ministry in order to start an investigation into the leak, which breaches the country’s strict judicial laws. Mitchell explained Madeleine told her mother “Why didn't you come to me and Sean [Madeleine's younger brother] when we were crying last night?” and mentioned Kate was puzzled by that, as she was “checking her every half an hour and they had seen no evidence and heard no evidence that she was crying.”

The McCanns have been in Brussels promoting a new EU-wide monitoring system for kidnapped children. They urged the European Union on Thursday to implement a cross-border alert system for missing children, similar to one used in the United States. The system is credited with aiding to find 400 children abducted in the US since 2003, most of them in the 72 hours, Reuters reports.

130,000 children go missing every year in Europe, where only Belgium and France have such a monitoring system. It appears that the EU last year proposed an EU-wide phone hotline for kidnapped children, which is due to be implemented by member states. Kate McCann declared the chances of finding their daughter would have been bigger if the alert system was in place.

“The costs of setting up such a system are relatively low,” Kate McCann said. “Please do not wait for another child and family to suffer as we have,” she added.

Madeleine’s parents are still official suspects in the case. Their daughter disappeared lat May from her bed in a resort hotel in Portugal.
http://www.enews20.com/news_McCanns_Furious_over_Madeleine_Leak_07193.html#

By Lucy Cockcroft
Last Updated: 2:36pm GMT 25/01/2008

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have been accused of wasting money raised by public donations on searching for their daughter in Morocco, despite no firm evidence she was taken there.
# Madeleine sketch man: First photograph
# In full: The Madeleine McCann investigation

Private investigators, who are being paid £50,000 a month to find the girl, have invested huge sums in sending teams to check out reported sightings of her in the Rif mountains of northern Morocco and Marrakech in the south.

New image of Madeleine McCann suspect
Watch: The man seen loitering on the beach at Praia da Luz

One theory is that Madeleine, four, was abducted and brought there after vanishing from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz while on a family holiday on May 3.

The agency Metodo 3 is following the line she was kidnapped by a paedophile gang to take to North Africa, where blonde children are said to be highly prized as a symbol of social status.

More than 40 investigators are working on the case in Morocco, Spain and Portugal.

However, some experts claim the line of inquiry is fruitless and is just being fuelled by tourists who have mistaken blonde local girls in Morocco for Madeleine.

Fair-haired children are rare in the country, but not unheard of among the Berber population.

Mark Williams-Thomas, a former detective and managing director of child protection consultancy WT Associates, said: "It is an astonishing amount of money that is being spent focusing on Morocco.
advertisement

"There is a big difference between a sighting and information. Unless you have definite information that suggests she is in Morocco then it seems pointless.

"The likelihood of Madeleine being taken out of Portugal is very slim. I would be concentrating more on Portugal than anywhere else. To me, it holds the key."

Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann, admitted the search in Morocco was difficult.

"It's a needle in a haystack," he said.

To date, all reported sightings of Madeleine in Morocco investigated by Metodo 3 have drawn a blank.

The country's interior minister Chakib Benmoussa, who met the McCanns when they visited in June, said: "There is absolutely no evidence Madeleine is here."

Meanwhile the Madeleine Fund, set up to find the missing girl, is said to be running out of the estimated £1 million it has received in donations.

Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright

January 27, 2008
Advertisement

KATE and Gerry McCann have been approached to appear on both The Oprah Winfrey Show and for an interview with American network ABC, but their spokesman denies a bidding war is taking place.

It has been reported that the McCanns were at the centre of a £1 million ($2.2 million) bidding war between Winfrey and ABC star Barbara Walters, who both want an exclusive interview with the couple.

The McCanns' three-year-old daughter Madeleine vanished more than seven months ago during a holiday in Portugal.

While their spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said the McCanns had been approached by both chat shows, he insisted no money had been discussed.

He also ruled out any interview of that kind while Madeleine's parents remained arguidos - suspects.

"There is categorically no truth to the suggestion that any sort of bidding war is taking place between American networks or American programs," Mr Mitchell said.

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/01/26/1201157737469.html

By Caroline Gammell

Kate McCann has offered her support to the parents of a five-year-old girl who has vanished in Spain, not far from the Portuguese resort where her own daughter disappeared. Watch: Search for Mari who disappeared 120 miles from where Madeleine vanished The 39-year-old contacted Juan Jose Cortes and Irene Suarez, whose five-year-old daughter Mari Luz went missing from Huelva on Sunday after going out to buy a packet of crisps, to say the couple were in her thoughts. The Spanish border town is just two hours' drive from Praia da Luz in the Algarve where the McCanns were staying when four-year-old Madeleine disappeared from their holiday apartment last May. Mrs McCann, and her husband Gerry, also 39, travelled to Huelva in August to launch a poster campaign and raise the profile of their missing daughter. They sent a message to Mari Luz's parents via the Spanish private detective agency Metodo 3, who have spoken to the couple to see if there are any possible links between the two cases. Spanish police said they were keeping an open mind and have sent dark-haired Mari Luz's picture to Portuguese police amid fears she had been snatched by a child trafficking gang and taken across the border between the two countries. Scores of Spanish volunteers joined more than 150 firefighters in Huelva to search for the little girl, while helicopters and sniffer dogs were brought in to help with the search. Mr Cortes, a 34-year-old former professional footballer turned builder, said: "Kate McCann has been in touch to send her condolences. "She knows what we're going through and I understand them now too." Empathy: The family of missing Mari Luz Cortes have been touched by Kate McCann’s message A family friend added: "Knowing they have the support of Gerry and Kate has been comforting. "They have been touched by the fact someone who is going through her own turmoil can find the strength to think of them in their moment of need." The pledge of support came after Mr McCann wrote on his blog: "Hearing of the probable abduction of Mari Luz Cortes has brought many awful emotions flooding back. We hope and pray that Mari Luz is quickly found and returned safely to her family." Mari Luz's distraught grandmother, whose shares the same name, pleaded for the little girl to be returned safely: "Please give me back my granddaughter, she's the only one I have." Like the McCanns, Mr Cortes said they would set up an appeal fund to raise money to help find Mari Luz: "All I want is to make sure everything possible is being done to look for my daughter and all the money that is needed in the search is available." In Portugal, there were reports the McCanns, who are still formal suspects Madeleine's disappearance, will have to wait another eight months before being allowed access to the police files in the case. Judge Pedro Frias decided last autumn the case should remain private until the first anniversary of Portugal's extensive judicial reform, according to Correio da Manha. The ruling would also affect third suspect, British ex-patriate Robert Murat. A judicial source told the newspaper: "The Madeleine McCann process will never become public before September 15 this year, a year after Portugal’s new penal code came into force. "The decision was taken by Pedro Frias on September 18 2007 who considered that the maintenance of judicial secrecy for a year was required by the rules that emerged from the judicial reform. "The judge felt the deadlines only began to count from the start of the new code." Publishers wishing to reproduce photographs on this page should phone 44 (0) 207 931 2921 or email syndication@telegraph.co.uk

Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright

Portuguese detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have asked for the case's secrecy limit to be extended beyond the usual eight months, officials said.

Portuguese law provides for an eight-month period where documents remain classified after police identify a formal suspect, with the deadline in the McCann case due to expire next week.

Police can ask for an extension and - while a case remains classified - official suspects, police and lawyers can be prosecuted if they discuss it in public.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general's office confirmed investigators had asked for an extension but she declined to provide details, although the Portuguese media said a three-month extension had been sought because of the complexity of the case.

No date has been given for any decision by the attorney general on the request.

Madeleine vanished last May, a few days before her fourth birthday, from her bedroom during a family holiday in the Algarve region.

The first formal suspect in her disappearance was Robert Murat, a British man who lives near the hotel from which she vanished. He has denied involvement.

Weeks later, Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann were also named as suspects. They have denied involvement in their daughter's disappearance and have launched a worldwide campaign to find her.

Murat and the McCanns have complained that they are unable to give their versions of events because of the secrecy laws.

Portuguese detectives met last month with forensic scientists from Britain who have examined evidence in the case.

Hosted by

Copyright © 2008 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

Last updated at 21:52pm on 11.01.08

Add your view

A woman whose modelling agency offers Madeleine McCann lookalikes for hire has been received death threats.

Shona Juliet-Adams, 41, said she had received "threatening phone calls and death threats" since the £600-an-hour lookalike trade was revealed.

Her firm, the Juliet Adams Modelling and Talent Casting Agency, had been contacted by parents who said their daughters looked like the missing four-year-old.

Scroll down for more...

For hire: Madeleine lookalike Kelsey Lynn Kudla. Madeleine McCann lookalikes are being offered for hire by a talent agency at £600 an hour

Three-year-old American girl Kelsey Lynn Kudla was said to bear a "compelling" resemblance to Madeleine, and Ms Adams said she would have a good chance of earning £9million if she played the child in any films about the disappearance.

But her comments triggered a furious reaction after Kate and Gerry McCann's spokesman said the money-making scheme was "disgraceful, hurtful and offensive".

The businesswoman, of Streatham, South West London, refused to apologise and yesterday remained defiant.

Scroll down for more...

Impersonator: Kelsey Lynn Kudla's services are for sale. It was eight months ago that Madeleine vanished

She said: "I wouldn't back away from it because if a film is being made then it's entertainment."

But she added: "I have had threatening phone calls and death threats.

"I am not speaking to anybody until I have spoken to the police about my security - I received death threats."

Ms Adams said Kelsey Lynn's mother had contacted her from the U.S. about the likeness, and said 120 other "doubles" had been sent to her.

Kelsey Lynn's mother Kris Pfister said her daughter was stopped in the street by strangers who commented on her resemblance to Madeleine.

She claimed her daughter had formed an "emotional bond" with the missing girl because of the likeness.

She said: "When we heard a film might be made, Kelsey said, 'Mommy, I could play Madeleine'". "Every night she prays for Maddy. Every morning she gets me to check if she's been found."

Ms Juliet-Adams said playing the lead role in a Madeleine film was "a huge opportunity", adding: "She will become her name in her own right and make it as a child model and actress because she's got her foot in the door."

The McCanns' representatives have met with production companies and Channel 4 about proposals to make a documentary film about their daughter's disappearance, but have stressed it would not be a Hollywood drama.

Shona Juliet-Adams, the woman behind the Madeleine lookalikes, says she was just doing her job

If the proposal goes ahead the film could be released in cinemas worldwide but is thought to be unlikely to feature child actors playing Madeleine or her twin brother and sister.

A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard said: "Brixton police have received a complaint from a 41-year-old woman with regards to threats to kill.

"Brixton CID are investigating, there have been no arrests and our inquiries are continuing."

The agency, based in a council flat in Streatham, South-West London, has scores of lookalikes, including Queen, Elvis and Harry Potter impersonators.

Her modelling and talent agency has offered Kelsey Lynn Kudla a 30-minute photo session costing £300.

A contract for more extensive work was available for a £500 non-refundable payment, plus £1,057 up front and another £3,500 on completion.

Miss Juliet-Adams said: "The entertainment world is an expensive business.

"We've kept them [the Madeleine lookalikes] on our books, but it is not such a sensitive issue now as the McCanns will obviously be looking for someone to play Maddie in the film."

Earlier this week, it was reported that a film about Madeleine's disappearance could raise £2million for the campaign to find her.

Asked if she would apologise to the family, Miss Juliet-Adams said: "I'm just doing my job. I provide lookalikes.

"I've done nothing wrong."

Kate and Gerry McCann are said to be deeply offended by the Madeleine lookalikes

In an email, Miss Juliet-Adams wrote: "Her daughter is completely aware of this missing little girl and also aware that she bears an extreme resemblance to this child.

"The parents are stopped everywhere by numerous people - in shopping centres, grocery stores and many other places and told how much she resembles this missing child."

Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, said: "This is an offensive way to make money out of Madeleine's disappearance.

"This is deeply offensive to Kate and Gerry. I would urge this woman to think again about what she is doing."

It also emerged yesterday that the detective agency hired by the McCanns to locate their daughter is facing the sack.

Metodo 3, which has cost the Find Madeleine fund £50,000 a month since September, has so far failed to turn up any firm evidence of her whereabouts.

Its director, Francisco Marco, has also angered the McCanns by boasting he knew where the four-year-old was.

With the agency's six-month contract running out in March, a McCann family source said: "We will carry on the search for Madeleine but not necessarily with Metodo 3. We are stuck with them to the end of the contracted period.

"The question of whether it is renewed or not has still to be decided.

"They have faced not having their contract renewed ever since Francisco shot his mouth off. It was made clear what they were doing was foolish and unhelpful."

The fund's directors have not ruled out sacking the firm, which represents the not-for-profit company's single biggest expense.

The Barcelona-based agency's investigators have followed up leads and sightings of Madeleine in Portugal, Spain and Morocco.

Mr Mitchell said: "We were unhappy with some of the public comments and that was made very clear to Metodo 3 and, since then, Francisco has made no further comments."

He said the Find Madeleine board members and the McCanns' multi-millionaire backer, double glazing tycoon Brian Kennedy, would meet to discuss the contract next month.

The Find Madeleine fund has raised £1.2million but is expected to run out of cash by June.

In a Vanity Fair interview published this week, Mr McCann, a hospital consultant from Rothley in Leicestershire, admitted he felt guilty over his daughter's disappearance.

She vanished from the family's holiday villa in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3 last year.

The fund yesterday filled two vacancies on its board of directors.

Coming in are Jon Corner, a family friend of the McCanns who has worked in TV production, and Edward Smethurst, a commercial law specialist..

This article is from

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23431920-details/Death%20threats%20for%20woman%20hiring%20out%20Madeleine%20lookalikes/article.do

Jan 6 2008 By Tom Warden

DETECTIVES probing the disappearance of Madeleine McCann say they have enough proof to charge her parents.

Portuguese police plan to travel to the UK to grill the couple and seven holiday pals they dined with when Maddie, four, went missing last May.

But it is claimed they already have the evidence for a case against Gerry and Kate McCann and expat suspect Robert Murat.

A police source said: "Most of the elements of proof have already been collected. We just want to reconfirm the statements made by the McCanns and their friends."

Yesterday a Portuguese newspaper claimed cops still hope to break an alleged "pact of silence" among the holiday group.

The McCanns have attacked Portuguese detectives for smearing them rather than hunting for Maddie's abductor.

The couple, both 39, were named as formal suspects last September.

Murat, 34, is claimed to have been seen near the McCanns' holiday flat the night Madeleine vanished.

from

http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/uk-and-international-news/2008/01/06/madeleine-cops-have-enough-to-charge-parents-78057-20275914/

By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter

Six witnesses have now cast doubt on the alibi of Robert Murat, a suspect over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, after a British barrister came forward to say he saw Mr Murat near the McCanns' holiday flat on the night she went missing. Madeleine McCann: Follow the investigation Mr Murat, 34, has always maintained that he spent the night of May 3, 2007 at home with his mother in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz, but all six witnesses directly contradict his version of events. Murat has denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance Madeleine's mother, Kate McCann, is said to believe that there are "questions that need to be answered" concerning Mr Murat's movements in the hours around Madeleine's disappearance. Mr Murat, a British expatriate, was the first person to be named as an "arguido" or official suspect in the case. He vehemently denies any involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine shortly before her fourth birthday. His mother Jenny, 71, has told Portuguese police that her son was with her all night. But it has emerged that the British barrister who gave a statement to officers told them he saw Mr Murat on a street corner opposite the McCanns' Ocean Club apartment 30 minutes after Madeleine was reported missing. The barrister shared a drink with Mr Murat the following evening, together with Jayne Jensen, a British holidaymaker. He described Mr Murat's behaviour as "odd", saying he went to change his clothes because it had been a long day, even though the barrister was sure Mr Murat had changed his clothes earlier. Mrs Jensen, a 54-year-old businesswoman, has told police she saw Mr Murat smoking a cigarette on the street corner at the time he was seen by the barrister. advertisement Charlotte Pennington, a nanny working at the Ocean Club resort, also claims to have seen Mr Murat in the hours after Madeleine vanished. The other three witnesses who say they saw him that night are all members of the McCanns' holiday group, who are understood to have told police that Mr Murat introduced himself to them on the night of May 3. According to Fiona Payne, Rachael Oldfield and Russell O'Brien, Mr Murat said: "I am Robert. Can I help in the search?" Mrs Jensen contacted police in Portugal within hours of Madeleine's disappearance, but it was not until six weeks ago that police officers from Leicestershire took a formal statement from her, which has now been passed on to Portuguese police. Last month, Jenny Murat said anyone who claimed to have seen her son on the night of May 3 was a liar. Mrs McCann and her husband Gerry, of Rothley, Leics, also remain official suspects in the case. They deny any involvement in their daughter's disappearance.

Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/01/wmaddy101.xml

Monday, December 31, 2007

Four year old Madeleine was last seen at the family's holiday villa in May.

The couple are said to fear she's been forgotten, as posters of her are taken down in the resort of Praia da Luz.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/world/europe/article3295970.ece

By Nick Britten

A witness in the Madeleine McCann case has broken her silence to protest the innocence of the missing four-year-old's parents and recount the haunting night she disappeared. More on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann Madeleine will be home for Christmas, says PI Find Madeleine campaign Bridget O'Donnell and her partner, Jeremy Wilkins, befriended Kate and Gerry McCann during their week-long holiday in Portugal and have now given the most insightful account yet of their agony after the "catastrophic" disappearance of the little girl. Telegraph TV: The private investigator hired by the McCanns said Madeleine could be home by Christmas Miss O'Donnell, who worked as a producer on BBC's Crimewatch programme, said that she has "always believed that Gerry and Kate McCann are innocent". In an interview with the Guardian, she rubbished police theories that Madeleine was killed inside her parent's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz by revealing that on the night of May 3 Mr McCann was as chatty, "calm and relaxed" as ever, until the discovery that his daughter was missing from her bed. She also criticised Portuguese detectives for failing to take a statement from her and her partner, and said police officers did not even recognise a photograph of Madeleine the day after the incident. Speaking about the night Madeleine went missing, Miss O'Donnell said: "Our baby would not sleep and at about 8.30pm, Jes (Mr Wilkins) took him out for a walk in the buggy to settle him. "Gerry was on his way back from checking on his children and the two men stopped to have a chat. "They talked about daughters, fathers, families. Gerry was relaxed and friendly. advertisement "They discussed the babysitting dilemmas at the resort and Gerry said that he and Kate would have stayed in too, if they had not been on holiday in a group. "Jes returned to our apartment just before 9.30pm. We ate, drank wine, watched a DVD and then went to bed. "On the ground floor, a completely catastrophic event was taking place. On the fourth floor of the next block, we were completely oblivious." Confirmation of the conversation between Mr Wilkins and Mr McCann is crucial because police believe at that time Madeleine was already dead and Mr McCann was hiding her body. It also corroborates the timeline of events given to the police by the McCanns and their friends. Miss O'Donnell described how the tragic event led to an immediate, physical transformation in the McCanns after the loss of their daughter. She said during the holiday they got to know them and their group, who they called "the Doctors". "One man was the joker," she said. "He had a loud Glaswegian accent. He was Gerry McCann. He played tennis with Jes. Gerry was outgoing, a wisecracker, but considerate and kind." She added: "Kate was calm, still, quietly beautiful; Gerry was confident, proud, silly, strong." She next saw the McCanns two days after Madeleine's disappearance. She said: "The physical transformation of these two human beings was sickening. "Kate's back and shoulders, her hands, her mouth had reshaped themselves in to the angular manifestation of a silent scream. Gerry was upright, his lips now drawn into a thin, impenetrable line." She revealed that she had debated with the McCanns the childcare arrangements at the Ocean Club resort and recalled admiring them "for not being paranoid parents" by leaving their children alone as they ate at a tapas restaurant every night. She added that privately she was glad she had not been given the McCanns' apartment because, being on a corner by the road "people could see in" and "they were exposed". She said the first she knew about Madeleine's disappearance was when one of the McCanns' friends began banging on their apartment door at 1am. "Jes got up to answer. I stayed listening in the dark. I knew it was bad; it could only be bad. I heard male mumbling, then Jes's voice. "You're joking?" he said. It wasn't the words, it was the tone that made me flinch. "He came back in to the room. 'Gerry's daughter's been abducted,' he said. "I jumped up and went to check our children. They were there. We sat down. "We got up again. Weirdly, I did the washing-up. We wondered what to do. "Jes had asked if they needed help searching and was told there was nothing he could do; she had been missing for three hours. "Jes felt he should go anyway, but I wanted him to stay with us. I was a coward, afraid to be alone with the children - and afraid to be alone with my thoughts." The following morning, she said, there was no news. "People were crying in the restaurant. Mark Warner had handed out letters informing them what had happened in the night, and we all wondered what to do. "Mid-sentence, we would drift in to the middle distance. Tears would brim up and recede." Miss O'Donnell said that while the parents were out looking for Madeleine, she saw no police until one turned up with a "slightly sweaty" translator, who turned out to be Robert Murat, the only other official suspect in the case. She said police failed to ask Mr Wilkins for a statement and when the officer pointed to a picture of Madeleine and asked if it was her daughter, "my heart sank for the McCanns".

Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright

From Monsters and Critics.com

UK News
McCanns: Madeleine home within days - detective agency (Roundup)
By Rich Bowden, M&C Staff Writer
Dec 14, 2007, 13:38 GMT

(M&C) - The head of the Barcelona-based detective agency hired by the McCanns to find their missing daughter says he believes he is just days away from finding her.

Francisco Marco, head of Metodo 3, says he is confident Madeleine McCann, who vanished from the family's holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz on May 3, will be reunited with her parents by Christmas.

"It's the highest pressure case I've ever had to deal with because of the press and because of my own family, Mr Marco said to Spanish newspaper Metro.

He added: "When I get home at night, my children ask me, 'Have you found Madeleine yet daddy?'"

He went on to say the agency knows who kidnapped the four-year-old.

"We have proof of her movements after her kidnap and we know she was alive the day after her disappearance. We are not certain she left Portugal," he said.

"I talk of certainties because we know which group may have her or could have kidnapped her to then sell her on to others."

The detective added: "We know who kidnapped her. We believe she is in an area not very far from the Iberian peninsula and north Africa. And we have a fairly certain idea who she is with."

"I cannot say who she is with because we are putting together conclusive proof we can present to the authorities so they can proceed with their arrests."

He added: "God willing, I hope that she will be back with her parents before Christmas."

McCanns family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the parents were "pleased" at the positive attitude shown by the detective agency and said Metodo 3 "retains our full confidence".

The investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance appears to be in disarray after it emerged that the police chief sacked as head of the inquiry may not be replaced for a week.

Madeleine McCann chief detective sacked In full: The Madeleine McCann case Timeline: how the story unfolded Chief Inspector Goncalo Amaral was summoned back to the regional Policia Judiciaria (PJ) headquarters in Faro and removed from the Madeleine case after launching a furious tirade against British police and the four-year-old's parents. Goncalo Amaral accused UK police of pandering to the McCanns Colleagues said he had been made a "scapegoat" because of the British media attacks on his "honour as a policeman". Portuguese police admitted that a new head of the inquiry – who will also be chief of the Portimao branch of the PJ - will probably not be appointed until next week. Reports in Portugal claimed the investigation had now reached an impasse. The McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell called for the new police chief to "re-energise" the inquiry and said Gerry and Kate would return to Portugal for questioning if required. "What they want now is whoever takes over to refocus the inquiry on to finding Madeleine," he said. "There have been so many distractions, so many unsubstantiated allegations swirling around all of this out there and repeated here in Britain. "Surely it is now time to for all of that nonsense to end and for the search for Madeleine to be re-energised." The outgoing chief tried to downplay his remarks, the Correio da Manha newspaper reported, saying they were directed not at British police but private investigators hired by the McCanns, both 39-year-old doctors from Rothley in Leicestershire. The row was sparked when Diario de Noticias reported Amaral as saying: "British police have only investigated tips and information developed and worked on for the McCanns, forgetting that the couple are suspects in the death of their daughter." Some colleagues believe he broke strict police secrecy rules and may have been behind stories criticising Gerry and Kate, the local papers reported. Others told Portuguese television reporters that the sacking had been inevitable for some time and came as no surprise. Amaral, who turned 48 on the day of his sacking, shrugged off his removal from the inquiry – apparently done by fax by PJ national director Alipio Ribeiro reading: "Transferred to Faro for convenience of the service". He told a reporter from newspaper Jornal de Noticias: "A policeman does not limit himself to one case. There is plenty of work still to be done." Carlos Anjos, president of the Judicial Police Inspectors Union who has also repeatedly criticised the McCanns' actions, said: "He was the victim of personal attacks by the British media which not only questioned his honour as a policeman, but also attacked him as a human being." The corpulent Amaral refused to speak to reporters as he arrived at work in Faro. He left the office at lunchtime in a black Mercedes, accompanied by the overall head of the investigation, Guilhermino Encarnacao, 59, chief of the Algarve Policia Judiciaria and deputy national director. The new head will be handpicked by the national leadership of the force in the capital Lisbon but a police spokesman said the issue remained "unresolved". "We hope the decision-making process will be brief. There is no interview process, it is a case of the national directors choosing a candidate," she said. "But Friday is a national holiday in Portugal, so it is most likely to be next week before the decision is taken." from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/03/nmaddy203.xml

A witness has told police he believes he saw Madeleine McCann in Morocco.

It has been revealed that a British tourist contacted police to say he saw a little girl, resembling the missing four-year-old, at a petrol station in Marrakesh.

His testimony was identical to that of another tourist, Norwegian Marie Pollard, 45, who claimed she was "100 per cent convinced" she saw Madeleine at the same spot.

Both accounts of a little blonde girl standing near a man and asking him in English: "When can I see my mummy?" were given to the police independently without knowledge of each other.

Scroll down for more...

Today: Kate and Gerry McCann with their twins Amelie and Sean after leaving the Catholic Church of Sacred Heart Rothley, near their home

The police failed to follow up either at the time they were reported.

When they did finally check out the leads, they found the garage's CCTV tape had been erased and didn't bother interviewing staff, according to the Sunday Mirror.

The second witness, who is from Yorkshire, was on holiday in Morocco days after Madeleine disappeared in Portugal on 3 May.

It was only when he returned to Britain that he realised the significance of what he had seen and called the police.

Pollard told the Sunday Mirror last night: "I still haven't been interviewed by Portuguese police and we're four-and-a-half months on.

"If this man saw Madeleine as well it adds weight to what I saw and proves I'm not going mad."

Scroll down for more...

Gerry and Kate McCann arriving back at their house in Rothley, Leicestershire, yesterday afternoon

Though both witnesses were guests at the Ibis hotel, there is no connection between Pollard and the Yorkshireman.

"Gerry and Kate McCann have always believed the Morocco sightings were vital," a friend said.

"Kate said her instinct from the start has been that Madeleine was smuggled into North Africa.

"The couple believe the information from the two witnesses is crucial and should have been released to the media immediately."

Pollard, who lives in Fuengirola, Spain, explained: "I didn't know about Maddie's disappearance then.

"I went in the shop to buy some water. My attention was drawn straight to her.

"She was a sweet, blonde-haired girl with a very cute face.

"She was wearing blue pyjamas with a little pink-and-white pattern, maybe flowers, on her top.

"She was standing alone with a man. She looked sad and a little lost.

"The man didn't look like her father. He was between 35 and 40, with dark brown hair, not very tall.

"She looked at me and then spoke to him, something like, 'Can I see Mummy soon?'. I don't think he responded."

Scroll down for more...

Madeleine McCann: Two witnesses claim to have seen the four-year-old in Morocco, just days after she disappeared

This follows reports that British forensic experts have sent Portuguese police an email angrily complaining at the way evidence in the inquiry has been "wildly misused", according to sources close to the investigation.

The Forensic Science Service criticises detectives for overplaying the results of its tests and leaking information - most of it inaccurate, it claims - to the Portuguese media.

The relationship between the FSS and the Policia Judiciaria has now deteriorated to such an extent that it is unlikely any further forensic tests will be carried out in Britain.

What most troubled scientists was the way the Portuguese interpreted "inconclusive" DNA evidence from the Renault Scenic hired by the McCanns 25 days after Madeleine disappeared.

Portuguese police are still understood to want forensic psychologists to analyse Kate's Bible.

They are said to be suspicious that passages relating to 'forgiveness' have been underlined and may be incriminating.

But a source close to the McCanns' legal team said: "Most of the references to forgiveness in the Bible relate to forgiving other people.

In any case, Kate maintains that she did not underline the passages herself.

The Bible was given to her in Portugal and they were already underlined."

Police also want graphologists to analyse handwriting in the Bible's margin which they feel is suspicious and could belong to Kate.

Madeleine McCann's parents have "known for months" that there were two possible sightings of their missing daughter in the same city on the same day, their spokesman has revealed.

Norwegian Marie Pollard gave them fresh hope when she reported seeing her at a petrol station in Marrakech, Morocco, just days after her apparent abduction from their holiday apartment in Portugal on May 3.

There were two 'sightings' of Madeleine McCann in Morocco

It has now emerged that Kate and Gerry McCann were also told of a British tourist contacting police on his return home to say he thought he had also seen the four-year-old.

This second, separate sighting - passed on to the Portuguese and Moroccan authorities but not disclosed to the media - was in the same part of the city and at a similar time on May 9 as the first.

Ms Pollard claimed she saw Madeleine outside a petrol station, while the British witness, unnamed but said to be from Yorkshire, said he saw a young girl with a close resemblance outside the Ibis Hotel opposite.

The Briton was unaware of the other sighting, meaning police had two independent reports in the same place, a source close to the McCanns told reporters.

Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "We have been aware of it for months. It was made known to us when it happened. All I can say is that any possible sightings, if credible, we hope would be examined thoroughly, whether it's in Portugal, Spain or anywhere else."

A top legal team has been assembled to help the couple, who have been named official suspects, or "arguidos" in their eldest child's disappearance.

In Portugal, Robert Murat, the first person to be declared an arguido in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, is reportedly set to be cleared by police.

British expat Mr Murat was taken in for questioning by police 11 days after the youngster vanished from Praia da Luz and later declared a suspect, but he has never been formally arrested or charged. Portuguese newspaper Sol reported that Mr Murat had now been told that police have no case against him.