Media Mayhem - MCCANN MEDIA NONSENSE OF THE DAY

I am rarely shocked by stuff thown out in the media. This production is shocking...so was Crimewatch and the revelation moment.

BBC Panorama's Richard Bilton: 'Supporters of the McCanns asked me to act as a spy - I declined'

Richard Bilton, BBC Panorama

3 May 2017 • 11:40am

It is the story I keep returning to. For ten years, I’ve travelled to Portugal; talked to police officers and contacts; followed developments. But the facts have never changed.

Madeleine McCann disappeared ten years ago today, and we still don’t know what happened to her.

I was sent to Praia da Luz in the first days after her disappearance. The village is a collection of modern villas and apartment blocks sat between fields and a golden beach. Apart from the church and the fort, it’s hard to find anything more than 30 years old. It’s built for families like the McCanns. Middle-class Brits who want time in the sun.

I’ve come to view Luz in a different way. The holidaymakers only see the beach and the restaurants. They don’t think of crime. They’re not aware of their vulnerability.

In the weeks before the McCanns arrived in Luz there had been a mini-crime wave. There had been two burglaries in the apartment block where they were staying. British police still think Madeleine might have gone missing during a burglary that went wrong.

Those early days were hectic: filming searches, briefings, family statements. I was expecting to be in Luz for a week. But it never stopped. There was always more. I spent much of 2007 in Portugal. It changed from being a missing person story to something else. Something approaching a national obsession.

As a reporter, I’m not often recognised or approached. Now, people were coming up to me at petrol stations or in supermarkets. They all wanted an answer to the same question: What had really happened to Madeleine McCann?

I didn’t know then and I don’t know now. But I wanted to know. My relationship with the case was changing. Reporters rarely bring stories home. It’s healthy to leave them in your laptop. But this case was different because I was with it all the time, but there were no answers.

Night after night I’d broadcast live from outside apartment 5a – the last place Madeleine was seen. As I waited in the dark, I’d stare at the windows and doors, turning over the theories. It’s such a bland little flat. It gives up no clues. But something happened in there. A little girl went missing and she has never been found.



There were strange moments. I was offered a deal by supporters of the McCanns. If I spied on the press pack, and passed on any stories I heard about the first suspect, Robert Murat, I’d be given leads from inside the camp. I declined.

The McCann family have said they knew nothing about it. I recently told Robert Murat, who’s long since been cleared. He seemed genuinely upset.

There were a few times when it felt like we were close to a breakthrough. I remember racing to a location in southern Spain. We’d been told the police had a major lead. But it was a gang trying to make money. Madeleine wasn’t there.

Over that first summer, suspicion moved towards her parents. The relationship between local and British journalists altered. At one point a Portuguese crew started shouting questions at me. They wanted the BBC’s reaction. My slightly half-hearted, "I don’t think it’s for me to comment" made the evening news.

Reporting facts had become difficult, as there were none. Just lots of demand. UK tabloid newspapers were lifting unattributed leaks from Portuguese papers and running them as headlines.

When the story of blood being found in apartment 5a broke, it was initially based almost completely on Portuguese leaks. I had to do a live update for the BBC News at Ten.

I thought the viewers would expect me to tell it straight: "I know where these stories are coming from, but they’re rumours, and I don’t know if they’re true."

I got calls from colleagues praising my honesty. A cameraman’s reaction was more straightforward: "Great live. What won’t you know about tomorrow night?"

The story continued to twist and turn. By late summer the McCanns had become the main suspects. I’ll never forget the days they were questioned. They were brought to the town of Portimao. The tight streets around the police station were lined with film crews and journalists from around the world. Locals gathered too, and booed when Kate McCann arrived.

Later in the day, the family’s spokeswoman breathlessly confirmed to a knot of journalists that the police had accused Kate McCann of involvement in her daughter’s death. They were offering her a deal.

It was an extraordinary moment. I had met Kate and Gerry McCann several times. Could they really have had something to do with their daughter’s death? I couldn’t believe it. The Portuguese case against them looked weak then. It looks preposterous now.

I have no relationship with Madeleine McCann’s parents. As I have examined the case over the years, I have received warning letters from their lawyers, Carter Ruck. But I have never seen anything that makes me doubt their innocence, and I have always felt for them as parents enduring an ongoing nightmare.

Two days after they were questioned, the McCanns returned to the UK. I was told in the middle of the night that they were leaving. I went to their villa at dawn. There were scores of journalists gathered by their gates. As the McCanns headed to the airport they were pursued by a snapping, filming pack. Camera crews hung out of windows and sun roofs. It was as dangerous as it was unedifying. But they were home, and the story had moved to a new stage.

Since that first, mad summer I have returned to Luz many times. The village has tired of the attention. Reporters are no longer welcome. But interest in Madeleine McCann has never dipped. The publication of the PJ Files – the records of the Portuguese investigation – and the appearance of websites dedicated to the case have allowed anybody to study the details. People used to ask my view. Now they tell me theirs.

As a journalist, I have tried to look at the case from every angle. We have made three Panorama programmes. I’ve looked for evidence, witnesses and clues. I’ve spent time with police officers from the UK and Portugal. What’s striking is how little is truly known. After so much police hard work, it’s still theories and ideas. Both forces – here and in Portugal – say they continue to investigate. "It isn’t over", they say. I’m glad.

I would love to report on the resolution of this mystery. To finally know what happened on that night ten years ago. But the truth about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann still seems as far away as ever.

BBC Panorama – Madeleine McCann: 10 Years On, BBC One, tonight at 9pm

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/relationships/bbc-panoramas-richard-bilton-supporters-mccanns-asked-act-spy/

MAD THEORY

Maddie McCann’s mum Kate faces ridiculous claim she was an MI5 agent when daughter disappeared

The claims are made by a Portuguese newspaper editor in the run-up to the 12th anniversary of Maddie’s disappearance

MADELEINE McCann’s mum Kate was a secret MI5 agent when she went missing, a Portuguese newspaper has ludicrously claimed.
The slur in the run-up to the 12th anniversary of Maddie’s disappearance on May 3 is not the first time Kate, 51, has been accused of being in the UK’s secret service.

The disgraced cop who led the initial police investigation in Portugal, Goncalo Amaral, has previously made the same claim.
Now veteran journalist and founder of Portuguese newspaper Sol, Jose Antonio Saraiva, has fed the wild conspiracy theories by alleging he was told Maddie’s disappearance was linked to her parents’ “secret activity” because of her mum’s “suspected” MI5 membership.
He wrote in the latest issue of Sol this was why Gordon Brown, then the UK’s Chancellor, decided to dispatch British Ambassador John Buck to Praia da Luz after the youngster vanished from the McCanns’ Algarve holiday apartment.
Saraiva said a female genetics doctor he named only as H. Santos had identified Kate McCann as an MI5 agent and claimed it explained her daughter’s disappearance.
He claimed Maddie’s dad Gerry was also a potential spy.
Writing in Sol, which sells to thousands every week, he fuelled the hurtful claims saying: “This would explain the immediate dispatch to Portugal of a representative of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and future Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
“It was said that Brown did it because he was Gerry’s schoolmate. But this explanation doesn’t wash.
“The English are very formal and there’s not the cronyism there that characterises southern Europe.
“A minister doesn’t send an official representative to find out about the disappearance of a little girl because he went to school with her father.”
In fact Brown and Mr McCann are not believed to have been at school together, and the former Prime Minister is at 68 around 17 years older than Gerry.

Disgraced ex-Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral, who features heavily in the new Netflix documentary on the Maddie case, claimed last year MI5 spies helped to cover up her death and disappearance.
He said British secret agents “for sure had an involvement” in her vanishing.
Kate and Gerry McCann have spoken in the past about the hurt speculation and conspiracy theories have caused to the family.
Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said their refusal to take part in new Netflix series ‘The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann’ was based on their belief it may encourage conspiracy theorists and would do nothing to help with the ongoing search for her.

Kate insisted from the outset her daughter had been abducted and she and her husband took Amaral to court over his claims in controversial 2008 book ‘The Truth of the Lie’ that they had covered up her accidental death in their apartment.
Mr Mitchell revealed last year in an interview one of the “most ridiculous” conspiracy theories he had ever heard was that Maddie was born as the result of a government cloning project.
Gerry said two years ago of the hurt fake accusations had caused them: “I’m sure it is a very small minority of people who spend their time doing it, but it has totally inhibited what we do.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8955532/madeleine-mccann-kate-gerry-mi5-claim/

The ‘Sol’ article, courtesy of ‘Google translate’:
 
Maddie: The Mystery Remains
 
It is very strange the effort that the girl's mother put in the thesis of the kidnapping, saying that she saw the blind of the room open and the curtain to move away in the wind ...
 
 José António Saraiva 22 de abril 2019
 
 
The MADDIE CASE returned to the limelight with the release by WikiLeaks of a PJ report on the disappearance of Maddie McCann, which virtually ruled out the kidnapping thesis.
 
Curiously, two weeks earlier, a lady, a medical geneticist by profession - H. Santos - whom I did not know, had contacted me about this subject. According to her, the abduction hypothesis was also not plausible. This could only happen for two reasons: either to sell the child for adoption, or to rape her.
 
Well, if they were to sell it, they would have kidnapped one of the twins (or even the two), still babies, not a girl who already knew how to speak and would always be harder to hide. And if they were to rape her, parents (even because they were doctors) would know that she would already be dead, because child rapes invariably end up like this: either they die during the sex act or are killed afterwards.
 
SO BEING, H. Santos thought that the motive of the crime would be different. Simply put, it would have to do with the British secret services, MI5. The disappearance of the girl would be related to the secret activity of the parents. One of the couple's members, possibly Maddie's mother, would belong to MI5.
 
That would explain the immediate arrival in Portugal of a representative of Finance Minister and future prime minister Gordon Brown. It was said that Brown did it because he was Gerry's schoolmate. But this explanation does not catch on: the English are very formal and do not reign there the cronyism that characterizes the Latins. A minister does not send an official representative to find out about the disappearance of a girl for having been with her father at school ...
 
BUT THERE ARE OTHER FACTS. There were phrases such as "The spokeswoman for the McCanns, who worked for the British Foreign Office," or that the McCanns had "astounding political connections, showing themselves to be a very special middle class couple with a strange power of influence in the lands of Her Majesty Elizabeth II. "
 
Such a connection to the intelligence services would also explain the immense efforts that the British have engaged in this case - and which are not over yet. Is that if the motive was political, the girl may still be alive. And your recovery may be important.
 
There are weak points in this thesis, such as the corpse odor found at various points in the apartment and in the car. And the dog that spotted him was tested 200 times and never made a mistake.
 
On the other hand, it is very strange the effort that the girl's mother put in the thesis of the kidnapping, saying that she saw the blind of the room open and the curtain to move away in the wind. If she saw this, which alone would induce the abduction, how does the PJ almost rule out this hypothesis? The conclusion to draw is that you do not believe in Kate.
 
Another strange fact is the girl's father having said that she left the restaurant to go to the bathroom of the apartment, and - instead of choosing the shortest way - went by the longest route. Now this is incomprehensible. On the one hand, he could have gone to the toilet in the restaurant. On the other hand, in conditions of need, I would choose the fastest route.
 
And how to interpret the fact that the other friends of the group did not go immediately to the apartments to see if the children were there? After a rapture, it would be the natural reaction ... And why did everyone - parents and friends - refuse to reconstitute?
 
STILL THERE IS ANOTHER incriminating fact of the parents: the mother spent the rest of the night to see if the twin children were breathing. Now, if Maddie had been kidnapped, it had nothing to do with a respiratory problem. The question would only arise if a girl had died of suffocation.
 
And this was probably what happened. Maddie died perhaps as a result of a sedative to sleep. The father discovered the body and, in a panic, hid it - then made it disappear. This would explain the fact that he had said that he had chosen the longest way to go to the apartment to urinate: that was the way to justify the delay.
 
Maybe the mother did not even know - not even know - the whole story. The husband may have given him an explanation - and asked later to speak of the open window and the abduction, to mislead the police.
 
THIS DOES NOT mean that the thesis of the secret services can not have some truth. The arrival of the representative of Gordon Brown, the immediate displacement of the British ambassador to the Algarve, the money that the United Kingdom continues to spend on this case - all this gives rise to thinking.
 
What mystery lies behind the disappearance of Maddie McCann?
 
https://sol.sapo.pt/artigo/654342/maddie-o-misterio-permanece

'WE FEEL THEIR PAIN' Family of Madeleine McCann offer ‘hope and prayers’ to missing teen the same age as Maddie would be now

Tye McNally, 15,from Croydon, South London, was reported missing on Thursday morning

Exclusive
By Tracey Kandohla and Aletha Adu
27th April 2019, 9:06 pm
Updated: 27th April 2019, 10:32 pm

MADELINE McCann's loved ones have offered their hope and prayers to the family of a missing teenage girl who is the same age as Maddie would be now.

Tye McNally, 15, from Croydon, South London, who has long plum coloured hair, was last seen on Thursday at around 9.30am.

She was wearing black trousers, black trainers, a burgundy top and beige jacket.

Madeleine's great aunt Janet Kennedy and uncle Brian are among many have signed up to a Child Rescue Alert.

The potentially life-saving scheme was re-launched by Maddie’s parents Kate and Gerry five years ago.

The couple said: "We know what her family must be going through. We hope and pray she’s found safe and well.”
'WE'RE HERE FOR YOU'

Brian, paying tribute to his niece ex GP Kate and heart doctor husband Gerry, for their input into the CRA awareness project,  said: “Kate and Gerry helped set up this child alert scheme and in some cases it is fortunately working.

"We may not have Madeleine back yet but other families, we hope, are having better news.”

Janet told how they have both signed up to the alerts, saying: “It's important to do so and it just takes one person to recognise someone who is missing."

British charity Missing People, of which Kate is a high profile ambassador, has posted a heartfelt message, pleading: “Tye, we are here for you whenever you are ready: we can listen, talk you through what help you need, pass a message for you and help you to be safe.”
GLIMMER OF HOPE

As Maddie’s family face the harrowing milestone 12th anniversary of her disappearance in a week’s time, relatives have reflected on the positiveness gained from highlighting the plight of missing people.

Maddie vanished as a three-year-old from a holiday apartment in Portugal’s  Praia da Luz in May 2007. She had been left sleeping alone with her younger twin siblings while her parents were dining with pals in a nearby tapas restaurant.

Kate, 51, and Gerry, 50, cling onto a glimmer of hope that their daughter could still be alive. She would now be aged 15, nearly 16.

The McCann’s in May 2004 urged people everywhere to sign up to a system of texts or email alerts sent if a child is abducted or goes missing.

Kate previously said: "When a child is abducted, families are devastated and entire communities are torn apart. The agony of not knowing where your child is is almost impossible to imagine. The helplessness is at times overwhelming.

"But there is now something we can all do to help. Please sign up to receive alerts - you could save a child's life."

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8954211/madeleine-mccann-family-hope-missing-girl-croydon/

 


Olive Oyl - The Daily Tablet [circa. May 2007 - May 2019]

Madeleine McCann: Why Kate claimed only ONE person ‘knows what REALLY happened’

MADELEINE MCCANN’s mother Kate claimed during her book that there is only one person who “really knows” what happened to her missing daughter

By Callum Hoare
PUBLISHED: 18:00, Tue, Apr 30, 2019

Madeleine McCann disappeared on the evening of May 3, 2007, from Apartment 5A of the Ocean Beach resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal. The youngster vanished at around 9:30pm, while her parents enjoyed dinner just metres away at a tapas restaurant with friends. What followed was arguably the most publicised missing-person case in history and, as the 12-year anniversary of her disappearance looms, investigators are still yet to find the youngster.

Kate and Gerry have always supported the theory that Madeleine was snatched by a local criminal, an idea popularised after it emerged several other apartments in the area had been robbed in the weeks leading up to her disappearance.

Ever since, several accounts have been published about the fateful night the youngster went missing.

Kate detailed in her 2011 book “Madeleine: Our Daughter's Disappearance and the Continuing Search for Her” why she felt it was necessary to release the text.

She wrote: “Others have seized the opportunity to profit from the agony by writing books about our daughters, claiming to reveal ‘what really happened’.

“These accounts are extraordinary, considering the only person that knows this is the person who abducted her on May 3, 2007.

“Many of these authors have no first-hand knowledge of the case and have based their theories on the half-truths, speculation and full-blown lies on the internet.”

In March, controversial Netflix series “The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann” was released in a bid to learn more about the 12-year case.

However, like accounts that have come before it, Kate and Gerry do not see how it will help bring their daughter home.

A statement on behalf of the couple argues that the show could actually hinder police investigations.

It reads: "We did not see – and still do not see – how this programme will help the search for Madeleine and, particularly given there is an active police investigation, it could potentially hinder it.

"Consequently, our views and preferences are not reflected in the programme.

"We will not be making any further statements or giving interviews regarding this programme."

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1120859/madeleine-mccan-kate-one-person-know-really-happned-netflix-documentary-spt

Just how desperate can you get when defending the defenseless..

E-FIT FURY Bogus Maddie ‘age progression’ pictures shared online spark agony for Kate and Gerry McCann ahead of 12th anniversary

The official Find Madeleine website said it did not endorse the pictures

By Tracey Kandohla and Corey Charlton
30th April 2019, 8:38 am
Updated: 30th April 2019, 10:32 am

THE parents of Madeleine McCann are facing more anguish as bogus age progression pictures of their daughter have been posted on social media.

Kate and Gerry are warning the new fake images were neither "commissioned nor endorsed" by them or Scotland Yard’s Operation Grange team, which is still investigating her disappearance.

In a rare move the official Find Madeleine website, supported by the McCanns, has been prompted to highlight the rogue activity.

As Kate and Gerry face the agonising 12th anniversary of their daughter’s abduction in just three days, the Facebook page promoting the hunt for Madeleine is appealing to the public to ignore false snaps and view only the official images previously released by experts.

A close friend of the McCanns from Rothley, Leicestershire, urges: "We have received questions about a new age-progression image that was circulated on Instagram. This image was not commissioned by nor endorsed by Gerry and Kate or Operation Grange.

"Any other accounts sharing age-progression images are not from us or Operation Grange. Thank you for helping in the search for Madeleine."

They share links to their official social media accounts, hoping real images could prove the key to helping solving the world’s biggest ever missing child mysteries.

Former GP Kate, 51, and eminent heart doctor Gerry, 50, have suffered a recent torrent of abuse in the wake of streaming giant Netflix’s newly-released documentary re-examining the facts of Madeleine's disappearance from a holiday apartment Portugal’s Praia da Luz in May 2007.
CAMPAIGN OF HATE

Trolls have targeted them after the programme aired false claims from former Portuguese police officers that they were involved in their eldest child’s accidental death and faked her kidnap.

Supporters of the McCanns slammed the new pictures as "shameless and so wrong".

A year ago the McCanns were urged to have new age progression pictures created to show how their daughter - who would now be 15 - may have changed in adolescence.

Experts in America warned she could be “unrecognisable” from the last computer-generated image released of her as a girl of nine in May 2012 - seven years ago.

US forensic scientists suggest pictures of missing kids should be produced every two years.

But so far Kate and Gerry have hesitated in taking up their advice because the procedure is lengthy, costly and emotionally draining, their spokesperson Clarence Mitchell previously revealed.
FINAL LINE OF INQUIRY

Scotland Yard are still chasing "a final line or two of inquiry" into Madeleine's disappearance with a new government cash boost believed to be as much as £150,000 set to be approved. But cops have not yet been pushing the McCann's to update Madeleine photo in a last-ditch bid to help find her.

A family friend said: “If and when the Metropolitan Police advise Kate and Gerry that new images of Madeleine as a mid-teenager could aid their investigation they will strongly consider going through the process again.

"They’ve been reminded by experts in the US that new pictures really should be drawn up. If she’s out there, and her family hope and pray she is, there’s a chance she could have changed so much from the last image put out six years ago."

Madeleine is remembered around the globe as an angel-faced fair-haired toddler wearing a scarlet dress in an iconic picture. It was a favourite snap first released to the media by her frantic parents when she vanished from The Algarve’s Praia da Luz in May 2007.

They also shared the last-ever known photo of their daughter clutching tennis balls during a lesson on court on her doomed family holiday .

Mr Mitchell said: "Those two picture of Madeleine are etched on everyone’s minds. Some people are still searching for that cute little girl dressed in red or with her arms wrapped around tennis balls. At times whenever there are potential sightings they are conjured up of a young Madeleine. It’s as if time’s stood still."

Seven years on from the last computer generated image of her created by FBI experts in America and first unveiled by the Metropolitan Police in London she could still look different.

Mr Mitchell added: "Twelve years is a long time when a child goes from being a toddler to a mid teenager and her features could have changed.The only real tell tale sign is the distinctive blemish in her right eye.

"Kate and Gerry will heed the advise of the police, who they remain extremely grateful to, and will consider new images if needed. No one ever thought she would be missing for so long."

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8968032/madeleine-mccann-age-progression-instagram-pictures-kate-gerry/
..................

Talking of e-fit fury, let's cut to the chase - eh Mr and Mrs McCann Inc..

Madeleine McCann police chasing ‘VITAL leads’ in hunt sparking hope of breakthrough

MADELEINE McCann investigators are chasing significant leads that could signal a major development in the case, an ex-cop has told Daily Star Online.

By Tom Towers / Published 2nd May 2019

Jim Gamble was the UK’s top child protection police officer in the UK and was heavily involved in the initial search for Maddie.

She disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on the evening of May 3, 2007.

British and Portuguese police afterwards launched an enormous operation, but the desperate hunt continues 12 years later.

The investigation has so far cost UK taxpayers approximately £11.75 million, and police chiefs last month reportedly asked the Home Office for an additional £300,000.

Despite no tangible progress, Mr Gamble believes cops are edging closer to the truth.

He said: “What I know for a fact is this: the Metropolitan Police would not be asking for one penny more towards this investigation unless they had meaningful leads.

“I cannot see how this government, during the age of austerity – or the police themselves – would apply for money if there wasn’t something potentially positive that might come from it.

“You come to a point where you don’t ask for more money if there’s nothing more to do.

“There have to still be lines of inquiry to justify further investment. Nobody gives money away these days, they have to justify it.

“I’ve worked in that environment, you have to justify how much money you want, what you are going to use it for, and what impact it is likely to have.”

Mr Gamble believes that Maddie was abducted – as do her parents Kate and Gerry.

He continued: “Either someone took her, or in fact she wandered out that night and came to harm and that her body has never been discovered.”

The ex-detective is also confident that advances in DNA analysis will eventually herald a breakthrough in the investigation.

But those hopes were dealt a blow yesterday after DNA technology failed to identify a potential abductor.

More than 100 samples were recovered from the Portugal flat but their quality was deemed too poor.

Forensics expert Dr Mark Perlin earlier offered to re-test 18 vital samples with a groundbreaking computer programme – but his request was met with silence by Scotland Yard.

If they do co-operate, his US-based lab in Pittsburgh could return a preliminary report in just one to two weeks and potentially identify the culprits.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "We are not prepared to give a running commentary on this investigation."

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/774399/madeleine-mccann-disappearance-2019-dna-evidence-missing-parents-news-police-jim-gamble
_____________

I despair with this farce.

Madeleine McCann: Could investigation be OVERLOOKING one key feature in search?

MADELEINE MCCANN's rare feature could help distinguish her from other teenagers in the search 12 years on, yet photos of the 15-year-old do not include this possibility.

By Callum Hoare

PUBLISHED: 15:55, Thu, May 2, 2019 | UPDATED: 15:58, Thu, May 2, 2019

Madeleine McCann disappeared on May 3, 2007, from Apartment 5A of the Ocean Beach resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal, while her parents – Kate and Gerry McCann – enjoyed dinner just metres away. What followed was arguably the most publicised missing-person case in history, as investigators still try to find the youngster. However, one of Madeleine’s most distinguishing features – the blemish on her right eye – could be key to locating her, as she approaches her 16th birthday.

Known as “the mark of Madeleine” it became an integral part of the early search, appearing in pictures, videos and posters across the world.

The defect is a rare eye condition known as coloboma of the iris, which means the eye is more sensitive to light and vision can be impaired.

Glasses, prescription sunglasses, or eye-patches are used to correct the refractive error – according to the National Eye Institute.

However, sketches of Madeleine released to help the ongoing search for her show a young teenage girl – but none appear to show her with glasses, prescription sunglasses or any visual aid.

Express.co.uk spoke to MACS – Microphthalmia, Anophthalmia and Coloboma Support – a charity which supports children born with underdeveloped eyes.

A spokeswoman explained what challenges a 15-year-old could expect to face if coloboma went untreated.

She said: “There is no cure or treatment for coloboma so it continues to affect people in the same way – which may be increased light sensitivity for iris coloboma or reduced vision for retinal or optic disc coloboma – throughout their lives.

"Many of those living with these conditions face challenges around looking different, which can be particularly difficult in teenage years.

“There is no treatment available that will improve sight if a MACS condition causes visual impairment, but getting the right support makes a huge difference.

“Specialist teachers for visual impairment, mobility and habilitation specialists, and appropriate care and diagnosis can help those affected by these conditions to reach their full potential.”

The condition can be caused by numerous factors – including chromosomal abnormalities and genetic mutations – but, in many cases, the cause is unknown.

There is currently no treatment available that will improve the sight but it is not usually known until later years how much it will affect vision.

As part of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine, different age progression images of how she would have looked have been released.

Maddie’s parents presented an image of how she might have looked in 2009, aged six

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre released updated pictures in 2010, when Maddie would have been seven.

They also showed how she would have looked if she was taken to a warmer climate.

In 2012 Scotland Yard commissioned another age-progressed image of what she would have looked like at nine years old.

However, none of the images appears to take into account that Madeleine may be required to wear glasses or sunglasses.

Express.co.uk put this theory forward to the Metropolitan Police, who refused to comment.

MACS which will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, also provides paramount support to those heavily affected.

A spokeswoman added: “Peer support is provided through national and regional events which facilitate families to meet others in similar circumstances.

“Heavily subsidised respite holidays can be a lifeline for families.

“The charity currently offers holidays in specially adapted caravans in Dorset and the Lake District.

“MACS also offers sailing trips and other activity breaks that allow children to achieve things they never thought possible.

“These activities allow MACS children to grow in confidence and build friendships with other children, while giving their families invaluable opportunities to interact with other families and enabling them to form lasting connections.”

To learn more about MACS and donate, click here: https://macs.org.uk/

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1121858/madeleine-mccann-disappearance-netflix-documentary-coloboma-condition-spt
____________________

What a load of old cobblers - inevitable on the eve of the twelth anniversary but cobblers nonetheless. Step up Olive, you're being left behind in the rush for the first exclusive of the season.

Lest they forget..



They won't go away just because you ignore them.

Men seen lurking near flat ‘may have planned Madeleine McCann's kidnap’

THE abduction of Madeleine McCann could have been a pre-planned operation, the head of the Scotland Yard inquiry said yesterday.
By John Twomey

PUBLISHED: 00:00, Tue, Oct 15, 2013

Elements of the mystery suggest there may have been surveillance or reconnaissance of families with young children at the holiday resort on the Algarve.

Police are now anxious to trace several blond-haired men seen close to the McCanns’ holiday apartment at Praia da Luz on or before the day Madeleine went missing.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood issued descriptions of the men whose e-fit images featured on the BBC Crimewatch appeal last night.

Mr Redwood said: “One reading of the evidence suggest the hallmarks of a pre-planned abduction and elements of surveillance. We see a number of men lurking in and around in the day.”

But the officer stressed this was only one possibility and officers were keeping an “open mind.” Police are particularly anxious to trace:

A man seen by one witness at approximately 8am on April 30, 2007, and around noon on May 2 – the day before Madeleine went missing. Both sightings were near the McCanns’ ground floor apartment 5A.


Suspect: e-fit image of man twice seen near the McCanns’ flat

The man was described as white, 30-35, thin, with short, light-coloured hair and spots on his face possibly caused by shaving. He had thick-framed black sunglasses and was wearing a black leather jacket with silver zips.

A white man seen near the 5A apartment around 4pm on the day Madeleine was snatched. He has blondish hair, described as quite close-shaven, aged between 30-35 years old.

A Portuguese-looking man who approached a property on the Rua do Ramalhete close to the Ocean Club complex where the McCanns were staying.

He had medium-length, wavy hair, and was about 25 to 30. He is said to have spoken good English and was seen with another man.


Suspect: one of the blond men – may be the same person as e-fit above

A charity collector who called at 5A on April 25 or 26 before the McCanns arrived. He was described as Portuguese-looking, aged 40 to 45, with short, dark hair, slightly greying at the sides.

The man was carrying a clipboard or pad, receipt book and an ID card with his photo on it. But in the photo he had a goatee beard.

Police say there were other charity collectors in the area claiming they were raising money for orphans. In reality, they may have been thieves looking for holiday apartments to burgle.

Detectives also want to trace other blond-haired men seen in the area.


Suspect: charity collector who called at the family’s holiday apartment

They include two men seen on the balcony of a nearby empty apartment and a man seen in the stairwell of the McCanns’ block.

Police have also been told about two men speaking with raised voices close to the 5A apartment about an hour after Madeleine disappeared.

When they spotted the witness, they walked away talking in hushed tones.


Suspect: man who went to a property close to the Ocean Club holiday complex

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/436796/Men-seen-lurking-near-flat-may-have-planned-Madeleine-McCann-s-kidnap

Madeleine McCann: Kate McCann refused to answer 48 questions from Portuguese police

After Kate McCann was told that she would be made an arguido, she was asked 48 questions about her daughter's disappearance – all of which she refused to answer.

By Caroline Gammell in Portimao

8:15PM BST 04 Aug 2008

A transcript of her interview on September 7 last year was included in the extensive police files released to the public on Monday.

Mrs McCann, 40, was questioned in detail over an 11 hour period about the night Madeleine went missing.

She was interviewed by Policia Judiciaria (PJ) inspectors Paulo Ferreira, Joao Carlos and Ricardo Paiva at Portimao police station.

She was asked about Madeleine's relationship with her younger twin siblings, her method of parenting, and if she medicated her children.

The GP was then questioned about the blood apparently found in the car and why she had not been able to explain its presence more clearly.

Mrs McCann was also asked why she had said she had "let Madeleine down" after she vanished and why she left the twins to raise the alarm.

The mother-of-three took her daughter's favourite stuffed toy Cuddle Cat along as mascot, a talisman she carried throughout the first months of Madeleine's disappearance.

Here are the questions she was asked:

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 master 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 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

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

- “Yes, if that’s what the investigation thinks.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/madeleinemccann/2500864/Madeleine-McCann-Kate-McCann-refused-to-answer-48-questions-from-Portuguese-police.html

How is anyone supposed to believe the hype of 'No stone unturned' and K & G 'will do anything to get their daughter back' if these questions remain unanswered? I also believe that it is ridiculous for any more funding to be given to the search on the same basis. Being innocent of any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance would be easier to comprehend if these answers had been provided....poor little Maddie is still being 'let down'.

Madeleine McCann family reject ‘psychic offer’ to track down missing daughter

MADELEINE McCann’s parents have rejected help from a psychic to track down their daughter.

By Tom Towers / Published 10th May 2019

The tragic tot disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on the evening of May 3, 2007.

British and Portuguese police afterwards launched an enormous operation, but the desperate hunt continues 12 years on.

Former GP Kate, 51, now a medical worker, and heart worker Gerry, 50, have refused to give up hope.

They recently posted a statement on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign on Facebook and thanked everyone who had supported the investigation, concluding: “For as long as it takes.”

One Facebook user bizarrely suggested employing a spirit medium to assist in the search.

Marianne Pilkington wrote: “I hope that you will find your daughter very soon.

“Like I have suggested before, can you find a good, discreet psychic medium to help you?

“Seeing as the police have made such an absolute balls of it a medium may be more use to you in helping you to locate her whereabouts now.”



The reply read: “Gerry and Kate do not believe in psychics or medium. They have complete confidence in Scotland Yard.”

Police are still trying to trace 13 suspects who were seen acting suspiciously in an around the resort of Praia da Luz before and after Maddie vanished.

One is feared to have carried out up to 28 sex attacks on other children within a 40-mile radius of the apartment from which then-three-year-old Madeleine went missing.

Wearing a surgical mask, he got into bed with a seven-year-old British girl but fled when she woke up and asked: “Is that you daddy?’’

Another suspect was chased from a holiday apartment after a horrified mum caught him standing over her young daughter.

Some scouted out houses pretending to collect cash for an orphanage which did not exist

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/777716/madeleine-mccann-2019-news-disappearance-parents-kate-gerry-reject-psychic-police-latest

In Anthony Trollope's 'Chronicles of Barchester', there features a very ruthless news editor by the name of Tom Towers of 'The Jupiter'

History repeating itself?

Claims Madeleine McCann 'taken by paedo who knew family' not probed says ex-cop

Ex-detective Goncalo Amaral - who led the police investigation into the 2007 Praia de Luz disappearance - detailed the possible line of inquiry on an Australian podcast

By Lucy Clarke-Billings - Deputy News Editor

12:30, 13 MAY 2019Updated13:52, 13 MAY 2019

Madeleine McCann could have been snatched by a paedophile who became close to her family without their knowledge, according to one line of inquiry.

Ex-detective Goncalo Amaral, who led the police investigation into the 2007 Praia de Luz disappearance, detailed the probe while speaking to Australian podcast Maddie.

He said one potential line of inquiry at the time involved the possibility of an international paedophile ring that may have had links to people close to the McCann family, without their knowledge.

He also claimed some statements which may have been relevant to that line of inquiry were initially withheld by British police, who at the time were working in tandem with the Portuguese.

"The British authorities tried to conceal the statement and nothing was done about this statement," Mr Amaral claimed.

"They were not followed up. Nobody investigated anything related to them."

There is no suggestion that Maddie's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were involved in their daughter's disappearance.

Mirror Online has approached the Met Police for comment in regards to Mr Amaral's claims.

It emerged last week that a German child murderer is believed to be a new suspect.

Investigations are being linked to Martin Ney, 48, who is serving life in prison for killing three children.

Known as the “Masked Man”, he closely resembles a photofit of a man said to have been seen with a child in his arms shortly after Madeleine, three, vanished.

And evidence is said to place Ney – now serving life in his native Germany – in the Algarve when the youngster disappeared in May 2007.

Ney, originally from Hamburg, targeted children on holiday – entering their tents or villas wearing a mask and armed with a weapon.

He was first identified by Scotland Yard as a possible suspect by investigators working for the McCanns in 2011 – but Berlin police chiefs then ruled out involvement, saying he was only interested in boys.

Ney was working for an evangelical church on a project for the homeless in Portugal at the time Madeleine vanished.

But he told investigators he did not commit any murders there and denied any involvement in her disappearance.

The former youth worker was convicted in 2011 of killing three boys and was sentenced to 27 years.

His victims, killed between 1992 and 2001, were Stefan Jahrd, 13, Dennis Rostel, eight, and Dennis Kleinfrom, nine.

He was also quizzed over the disappearance of German boy Renee Hasse in Aljezur, Portugal, in 1996, but never charged.

Scotland Yard and Portugal’s Policia Judiciaria have kept the new suspect’s name closely guarded, but Mr Amaral claims he has knowledge a German is being investigated.

He refused to identify Ney by name, but says a German suspect was quizzed by PJ detectives as part of their 2008 probe.

Mr Amaral said he was ruled out of the investigation but jailed in his home country for offences “unconnected” to the Madeleine case.

And he may not be the only suspect in the frame.

In 2015 it was reported British police were “closely following” a second German child killer suspected of murdering a schoolgirl. It is not known what the outcome of the probe was.

Mr Amaral said he believes British police will close the case by making a German suspect their “scapegoat”.

He claimed: “They are preparing the end of the investigation, with a German paedophile who is in prison right now.”

There are also fears Ney may have been part of a paedophile ring operating on the Algarve around the time Madeleine vanished.

Another pervert with links to Germany, British man Raymond Hewlett, was living an hour’s drive from Praia da Luz at the time.

A British couple gave police information that the 64-year-old had told them he spoke to gypsies who were interested in buying youngsters.

They claimed he also boasted of making a “good business trip” with his family to Morocco to make a mystery “sale”.

The pervert was living with his wife and children on a Portuguese campsite when Madeleine disappeared.

Hewlett later moved to Germany and refused to answer questions when confronted by private detectives hired by the McCanns.

But he reportedly wrote to his estranged son saying Madeleine had been “stolen to order” by a gypsy gang.

Hewlett, who was jailed several times for sexually assaulting young girls, died from throat cancer in 2010.

The Policia Judiciaria and Scotland Yard have both refused to comment.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/shock-claims-maddie-mccann-taken-15610176

Garfy, hope you don't mind I've re-posted the Mirror report ^^^ to show the good find is in your name and not a quote from someone else, as it appeared originally. If you get me drift.

Verdi wrote:Garfy,  hope you don't mind I've re-posted the Mirror report ^^^ to show the good find is in your name and not a quote from someone else, as it appeared originally.  If you get me drift.

...so the mirror no longer think GA is "disgraced"????  Suddenly he is a trustworthy source??  A strange volte-face!

The Mirror wrote:Madeleine McCann could have been snatched by a paedophile who became close to her family without their knowledge, according to one line of inquiry.

Ex-detective Goncalo Amaral, who led the police investigation into the 2007 Praia de Luz disappearance, detailed the probe while speaking to Australian podcast Maddie.

He said one potential line of inquiry at the time involved the possibility of an international paedophile ring that may have had links to people close to the McCann family, without their knowledge.

https://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t15902p400-mark-saunokonoko-s-madeleine-mccann-podcasts#402233

I rest my case.

Madeleine McCann: How Kate questioned if THIS was why apartment ‘was a breeze to raid’

MADELEINE MCCANN’S mother Kate questioned in her book “Madeleine: Our daughter’s disappearance and the continuing search for her” why their holiday apartment may have been “a breeze to rob”.

By Callum Hoare
PUBLISHED:  18:30, Mon, May 13, 2019

Madeleine McCann disappeared from Apartment 5A of the Ocean Beach resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007. The three-year-old was inside her room on the ground floor while her parents and their friends enjoyed tapas in the nearby hotel restaurant. During a routine check at roughly 9:30pm, Kate and Gerry McCann discovered, to their horror, that Madeleine was missing.

The pair have always supported the theory that Madeleine was snatched by a local criminal.

This idea was popularised after it was claimed several other apartments in the holiday complex had been robbed in the weeks leading up to Madeleine’s disappearance.

Kate explained during her 2011 book why this idea passed her mind.

She wrote: “It would be some time before we could get far enough past the terrible scenes seared into out minds to think logically about that night.

Once we did begin to function within what felt like an endless bad dream, we started to comb through our memories, searching for anything significant.

“Had Madeleine been specifically targeted, either for herself or because someone knew that Apartment 5A would be a breeze to raid?

“Not only did its corner position allow for easy access and escape, but, unlike many other residences, it had no protective wrought-iron bars at the windows and no security light.”

It is not the first time Kate has discussed the possibility it was a botched robbery attempt.

She previously detailed how she was told by the British police the room was a “prime target”.

Recalling how the family went away with married couple David and Fiona Payne and Mrs Payne's mother Diana Webster, she wrote: “Our apartments were in a five-storey block accessed from the front by a road – Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva. 

“All of us except David, Fiona and Diana had ground-floor flats.

“Ours, 5A, was on the corner of the block.

“Though I envied David and Fiona with their sea view, being on the ground floor meant we didn’t have to worry about the children’s safety on a balcony.

“Later, we were told by the British police that the ground-floor location, access to roads front and side, secluded entrance and partial tree cover made our apartment a prime target for burglars and criminals.

“Never once did this occur to us when we arrived.”

In March, controversial Netflix series “The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann” was released in a bid to learn more about the 12-year case.

However, Kate and Gerry do not see how it will help bring their daughter home.

A statement on behalf of the couple argues that the show could actually hinder police investigations.
 
It reads: "We did not see – and still do not see – how this programme will help the search for Madeleine and, particularly given there is an active police investigation, it could potentially hinder it.

"Consequently, our views and preferences are not reflected in the programme.

"We will not be making any further statements or giving interviews regarding this programme."

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1126612/madeleine-mccann-netflix-documentary-apartment-5a-ocean-beach-portugal-raid-spt
...................

What a pickle all these tabloids find themselves in on this twelfth anniversary of the disappearance of MADELEINE MCCANN by Kate McCann.

Is it all a good marketing ploy to re-launch the book;  is it a good marketing ploy to promote the Netflix production;  is it another attempt to discredit the Portuguese police and nation;  is it just a desperate attempt to report something in the absence of anything new? 

You decide....

Meanwhile..

It felt so safe

"...a breeze to raid"  [Drum Roll!]

Why bother with truth when it's so much easier to spin a lie..

CHILLING LINK

Madeleine McCann ‘was snatched by a paedo who knew the family’ claims shamed cop who led original Maddie investigation

Disgraced detective Goncalo Amaral, who originally worked on the 2007 disappearance, also alleged Scotland Yard officers did nothing about this possible line of enquiry

By Patrick Knox - 14th May 2019

MADELEINE McCann could have been abducted by a paedo who was close to her family without them ever knowing, it’s claimed.


Ex-cop Goncalo Amaral, who led the 2007 disappearance investigation, said a line of enquiry was a paedophile ring with links to people close to the McCann family, but without their knowledge.

Speaking to Australian podcast Maddie, Amaral also claimed a relevant statement to that line of inquiry was initially withheld by British police, who were working alongside Portuguese authorities.

Amaral, who was later removed from the investigation, said: “The British authorities tried to conceal the statement and nothing was done about this statement.

"They were not followed up. Nobody investigated anything related to them."

There is no suggestion Maddie's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were involved in her disappearance or could have done anything to stop it happening.

The Sun Online has contacted the Metropolitan Police for a comment in regards to Amaral's allegations, but they said they do not comment on ongoing investigations.

The British authorities tried to conceal the statement and nothing was done about this statement
Ex Maddie cop Goncalo Amaral

Amaral was removed as head of the investigation after criticising British detectives — claiming they were only following leads the McCanns asked them to pursue.

Maddie vanished 12 years ago on May 3, 2007, when her family, from Leicestershire, were holidaying in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, Portugal.

Gerry and Kate left their three children — including toddler twins Sean and Amelie  — sleeping in their apartment while they dined at a tapas bar 130 yards away.

When Kate returned to check on the kids at about 10pm that evening, she discovered that Maddie was not in her bed and was missing.

Scotland Yard are still chasing “two final lines of inquiry” with an extra £300,000 funding set to be pledged by the Home Office to keep the Operation Grange investigation going until the end of March next year.

Detectives believe she was stolen by child traffickers, sex fiends or during a burglary gone wrong and are understood to be closing in on a suspect.

It emerged last week that a convicted German child murderer currently serving a life term in jail is a new suspect.
Martin Ney, 48, who murdered three children, is said to resemble the photofit of a man seen carrying a child from the Portuguese holiday complex where the youngster vanished.

Ney, 48, emerged as a key suspect in May 2019 — and it is believed he was in Portugal when Maddie went missing.
He was working for an evangelical church on a project for the homeless, it's claimed.

But he told investigators he did not murder there and denied any involvement in Maddie’s disappearance.

Mr Amaral said he believed British police will close the case by making a German suspect their “scapegoat”.

He claimed:  “They are preparing the end of the investigation, with a German paedophile who is in prison right now.”







We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368. You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.


https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9067964/madeleine-mccann-snatched-paedophile-who-knew-family/
....................


This article includes a clip from Mark Saunokonoko's podcast and a rather interesting short video, a sort of virtual reconstruction - in the true sense of the word.

Ahh, so!  GA is back to "Disgraced" Phew!  For a minute there....

How can the cops close the case unless they get a confession?

plebgate wrote:How can the cops close the case unless they get a confession?

Exactly - they can't!

Convicted British paedophile revealed to have been living close to Portuguese resort when Madeleine McCann was abducted

Convicted paedophile David Reid lived in the area at the time of abduction
He moved to Algarve resort in 2004 after being freed from jail in Britain
After this, a man broke into holiday homes and abused five British girls
A tanned, dark-haired man suspected of child sex assaults from 2004-2006
Madeleine McCann, aged three, was taken from Praia da Luz in May 2007
Police say paedophile is suspected of committing 12 break-ins in Algarve
Four were in Carvoeiro, six in the Vale da Parra, and two in Praia da Luz

By Sara Malm and Harriet Arkell

Published: 09:19 BST, 26 March 2014 | Updated: 12:28 BST, 26 March 2014

A convicted British paedophile was living in the same area on the Portuguese coast at the time of Madeleine McCann's disappearance seven years ago, it has been revealed.

David Reid moved to Carvoeiro on the Algarve in 2004, after he was released from prison for sexually abusing young girls.

He was still living in the area in 2007, when three-year-old Maddie was snatched from her family's holiday apartment while her parents were having dinner nearby.

The same year Reid arrived on the Algarve, several British families on holiday suffered break-ins and five young girls were abused in their beds.

Chillingly, just months before Maddie McCann's disappearance, one of his victims had warned that Reid remained a threat to young girls and would offend again.

'It's part of his being. He'll never change,' the victim said, according to The Mirror.

'Get your kids and your family away from him, Never out temptation in front of him. He just won't be able to resist it.

Reid, from Northern Ireland, was living just 30 miles from Praia da Luz, the holiday resort where the McCann family were staying, in 2007.

He was convicted and jailed for gross indecency and indecent assault in Belfast in 1995, but was able to move freely and unmonitored in Portugal as the sex offenders' register was not set up at the time of his release.

ccording to locals in Carvoeiro, Reid died last year aged 61 or 62, but his family in Britain has not been informed of his death, The Mirror reports.

The police investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann took a step forward last week when detective announced that they are looking for a prolific paedophile who sexually abused five girls at holiday homes in the Algarve before the British toddler went missing.

The man, described as tanned, dark-haired and speaking English with an accent, is suspected of breaking into holiday properties where British families were staying and sexually abusing five white British girls aged between seven and ten,

The sex attacks took place between 2004-2006, shortly before Madeleine vanished in 2007, and are among a series of 12 break-ins to holiday homes in the Algarve that police believe were committed by the same man.

In six of the break-ins, the man sat on or got into bed with young girls. On one occasion, he abused two young girls in the same villa.

Two of the attacks were in the resort of Praia da Luz, where Madeleine was staying in a holiday apartment with her family when she was taken.

There were also four in Carvoeiro, where Reid was living, and six in the Vale da Parra, Praia da Gale district.

Most of the attacks took place in low season, police said.

They had previously been discounted by Portuguese investigators because they are spread over a wide geographical area and there were no apparent attempts at abduction.

Nine of the 12 incidents were reported to Portuguese police at the time they happened, and details of three of those became known to British investigators only after they made televised appeals last autumn.

Witnesses describe the man as having dark, tanned skin with short dark unkempt hair. He spoke in English with a foreign accent, his voice was described as slow, or possibly slurred.

He was sometimes bare chested, some describe him as having a pot belly, and three victims said that he had a noticeable odour.

On two occasions in Vale de Parra and Praia da Gale he was wearing a distinctive burgundy long sleeve top, on one of those occasions it was described as having a white circle on the back.

DCI Redwood said: 'This is an offender who has got a very, very unhealthy interest in young, white, female children whom he is attacking whilst they are on holiday in their beds.'

Police said the suspect may have been in the villa or looking round the villa for some time before committing the offences or being disturbed either by a parent, or the child waking up, and said he remained calm, even when disturbed.

On two occasions, they said, the noise of a bin collection lorry could be heard nearby.

DCI Redwood said today that tracing the man is one of his priority lines of inquiry.

He said: 'We need to establish the identity of this man - these offences are very serious and no-one has been charged in connection with them.'

He said some of the offences were previously known about, but three of them, including what is believed to be the first in the series of 12 break-ins, were new reports to police and came about as a result of their appeal for more information last October.



Mr Redwood's team currently have 38 people classed as 'persons of interest' to the inquiry, and are also sifting through details of 530 known sex offenders whose whereabouts they cannot account for.

Of those 59 are classed as high priority, and some of those are British.

British investigators have so far sent three international letters of request to Portuguese authorities over the investigation, covering 41 priority areas for the team, involving 287 separate requests.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt showed his anger at the slow pace of the legal process, saying: 'That's causing us frustration because we know what we want to do and we are ready to go with that. But the process is the process.'

Another 30 letters have been written to other European countries, but the force would not reveal where.

Madeleine, who was then nearly four, disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3 2007 as her parents dined at a nearby restaurant with friends.

British detectives launched a fresh investigation into the youngster's disappearance in July last year - two years into a review of the case - and made renewed appeals on television in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany.

After shelving their inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance in 2008, Portuguese authorities said last October that a review had uncovered enough new information to justify reopening it.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2589664/Convicted-British-paedophile-revealed-living-close-Portuguese-resort-Madeleine-McCann-abducted.html

Madeleine McCann: Portugal police ‘have been used and abused’ by British detectives

SCOTLAND Yard detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have “used and abused” Portuguese police while working in the Algarve, Portugal’s former home secretary claimed yesterday.

By Anil Dawer

PUBLISHED: 00:01, Fri, Jul 4, 2014

Rui Pereira said the Met team should never have been allowed to compromise his country’s national sovereignty to work on foreign soil.

Mr Pereira, now a university lecturer, was Portugal’s home secretary for three years, being appointed shortly after Madeleine disappeared in 2007.

In a vitriolic newspaper article he said: “The Portuguese authorities, especially the Policia Judiciaria, have been used and abused...to carry out work ordered by their British counterparts.”

Claiming “everything” had been done to satisfy British demands, the former politician raged: “Our authorities are working as exclusive outsource workers for another country’s ongoing investigation.

“Would the British police do the same in identical circumstances, working at full speed for the Portuguese? Of course not.”

Mr Pereira unleashed his fury after six senior Met detectives finished a series of interviews with four new suspects and nearly a dozen witnesses.

They have been working on the theory that three-year-old Madeleine was killed during a bungled break-in while her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were at a restaurant near the family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.

The burglars were then thought to have buried her body nearby.

Three of the four suspects grilled this week were asked to explain a series of texts and calls they exchanged on the day Madeleine disappeared.

A fourth man was quizzed about DNA found on a sofa he dumped which appeared to match clues in the apartment.

Last month the Yard team spent 10 days digging up three patches of wasteland in and around Praia da Luz.

Officers are expected to fly home today, without appearing to have made a breakthrough.

The Yard’s investigation, codenamed Operation Grange, has so far cost an estimated £6million.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/486661/Madeleine-McCann-Portugal-police-have-been-used-and-abused-by-British-detectives

Former Ocean Club driver is suspect in McCann case

THE FORMER driver of the Ocean Club was made an arguido or suspect by Portuguese police following a request by Scotland Yard detectives investigating Madeleine’s disappearance.

PUBLISHED: 00:00, Sun, Jul 13, 2014



Jose Carlos da Silva, 28, used to drive guests to their apartments once they had been ferried to the Ocean Club headquarters in Luz from airports, writes James Murray.

He formerly lived in an apartment block overlooking the Ocean Club but has since moved to a nearby run-down flat.

Now he works as a dishwasher in a restaurant and is said by neighbours to suffer poor health because of a lung condition.

The Sunday Express photographed him weeks before he was interviewed by Portuguese detectives in Faro on the Algarve where Scotland Yard officers listened intently to his every word.

We understand that on May 3 2007 there was mobile phone communication between him and a second arguido, Ricardo Rodrigues, at about the time that Madeleine left a creche somewhere near 5.30pm.

It is further alleged that at about 9.25pm he also sent a text to the younger man.

Police say this was around the time that two of the McCann holiday group left the tapas bar at the Ocean Club to check on the children sleeping in apartments nearby.

Further communication on their mobiles came at 9.38pm, around the time that another member of the holiday group went to check on the children.

A short time later there was another mobile call between the men, around the time Kate McCann went to the apartment and discovered that Madeleine, then three, was missing.

He is a very quiet man who leads a simple life

Mr Silva declined to speak to the Sunday Express.

Friends said he is a popular man who was well liked and known in the community and would never do anything wrong.

A woman friend said: “He lives alone and suffers with his health because he has problems with his lungs and he often goes to hospital for checks. He is always very polite and nice and pleasant. He is a very quiet man who leads a simple life.”

Little is known about Mr Rodrigues but he is part of a group of mostly young people in Luz who contribute to an internet site showing pictures of scenic spots in the area. Fresh faced and youthful he is said to resemble a photofit prepared by an elderly British couple of a man who came to their villa with an older man to collect money for a charity on May 3 2007.

The older man is said to resemble Paulo Ribeiro, 51, another arguido. He lives in Luz and is said to be a schizophrenic.

Sources say the police wanted further information from him about a call he allegedly had with Mr Rodrigues the day after Madeleine vanished.

Operation Grange officers are hoping that the detailed questioning will help them to build up a clearer picture of events before and after Madeleine’s disappearance.

A fourth man questioned is believed to be Russian national Sergey Malinka, who ran an internet firm in Luz at the time. He has always denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance and, like the others, was reluctant to speak to journalists.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/488488/Former-Ocean-Club-driver-is-suspect-in-McCann-case