Primed Suspects

by Guest 24.10.18 1:18

The gradual evolution of Morphman..

It all started here with Jane Tanner's phantom abductor ..

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Time and tide never changed but Morphman evolved with more faces than Rod Steiger at his finest..

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It ended here ..

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Not one has been traced nor assisted the investigation in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

thinking

by sar 24.10.18 10:14

"The two Jerries"

by sar 24.10.18 10:16

...one was at the restaurant the other going towards the beach!

by Guest 24.10.18 15:41

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by Guest 24.10.18 15:58

The strange tale of Tannerman..

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The PJ make the first public appeal, 25 May 2007

Detectives issued a description of a man seen on the night the four-year-old went missing in the resort of Praia Da Luz in the Algarve. Officers said the man was "carrying a child or an object that could have been taken as a child".

The man is said to be white, aged 35-40, 5ft 10in tall, medium build with hair that was short on top. He was wearing a dark jacket, beige or golden long trousers and dark shoes. At a news conference, Ch Insp Olegario de Sousa urged the man or anyone who had seen him to come forward.

by willowthewisp 24.10.18 17:01

Verdi wrote:The strange tale of Tannerman..

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The PJ make the first public appeal, 25 May 2007

Detectives issued a description of a man seen on the night the four-year-old went missing in the resort of Praia Da Luz in the Algarve. Officers said the man was "carrying a child or an object that could have been taken as a child".

The man is said to be white, aged 35-40, 5ft 10in tall, medium build with hair that was short on top. He was wearing a dark jacket, beige or golden long trousers and dark shoes. At a news conference, Ch Insp Olegario de Sousa urged the man or anyone who had seen him to come forward.

The Male person in the last photo in (Check shirt) came forward after speaking to DC IAndy Redwood about the clothes he and his Daughter where wearing on the night Madeleine McCann disappeared the same evening according to what the Parents and Tapas 7/9 have stated?

What an amazing coincidence being absent for all those years yet found by Scotland Yards finest,after World wide searches,they found him,then alas he is known to the Tapas 7/9,Kate,Gerry,but No foul play you understand!

The "Moving time Frame" moment to fit a scenario of Abduction,Operation Grange?

by Roxyroo 25.10.18 3:17

The man in the last photo is the spit of Gerry and is even wearing similar clothes!

by **Hobs** 25.10.18 5:54

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That still looks like kate with a 1970's moustache

by Guest 25.10.18 15:49

Holidaymaker and witness Gail Cooper and the creation of cooperman, who featured quite prominently in the gallery of rogues, allegedly connected with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann..

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This the man whom Jane Tanner stated could well be one and the same as the stranger she allegedly saw on the night of 3rd May 2007, carrying a child. With 80% surety - well, there's a coincidence.

Snipped from Gail Cooper's witness statement - 21st May 2007

As I sat with D**** watching the children, I heard the door bell sounding and thinking that it was my husband and son in law returning, I went to the front door and opened it. There is a camera on the Intercom system which I believe activated itself automatically upon the bell being activated however I do not know of any recording facilities that may have captured the image of the person I am about to describe. I opened the door and was surprised to see a person described as olive skinned male roughly 40 ? 45 years of age, 6.0? to 6.02? tall and of slim to medium build. He appeared to be Mediterranean however due to his appearance and mannerism I did not feel that he was Portuguese. I also noticed that he had a Mexican looking moustache which was dark brown or black in colour and was very thick and bushy and drooped down the sides of his mouth. His chin was clean shaven. He wore a khaki coloured waist length heavy cotton jacket and a green or blue round neck T shirt. He also had khaki coloured combat type trousers with pockets on the side of the trousers but they were plain trousers with no other patterns o markings on them . I did not notice his footwear. This man also had a black leather type bumbag around his waist with one zip across the top.

Then, some months later, Gail Cooper gives another statement to Leicester police..

Gail Cooper witness statement - 16th January 2008

On 21st May 2007 I made a statement to the police regarding an incident whilst I was on holiday in Praia da Luz in Portugal. I reported that a male had come to the villa collecting money for an orphanage I made the statement following the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, as I believed he was suspicious and I felt the information could be useful to the enquiry. Since making the statement I never gave it very much more thought until my daughter Ph***** (crossed out in statement) my mother P***** pointed out to me an article in the Daily Mirror newspaper which said something about a man had been approached by a male collecting money for an orphanage. The story related to Madeleine McCann. This then made me think about the man who had visited me at the villa. The article dated in the newspaper was Monday 7th January 2008. My daughter Ph contacted the Daily Mirror newspaper as there was a telephone number asking for people to contact them with any information.

Later on in the day Monday 7th January, I received a telephone call from a man at the Daily Mirror wishing to come and see me. However we decided to discuss the information over the phone. I told him about the man who had gone to the villa and gave him the description as I stated in my original statement. On Tuesday 8th January 2008 the information I passed to him over the phone was printed in the Daily Mirror.

My daughter P*** also saw it and mentioned some further information which I had originally forgotten and it related to further potential sightings of the same man on the beach at P da l which I describe as follows:

On Sunday 22nd April whilst I was on holiday as described in my previous statement, I was with my family at the Bar Habana on the promenade area of P da L. The bar faces out towards the sea and is surrounded by other caf? and bars.

I was with my husband, my son , my daughter, my eldest daughter, her husband, my mother and my two grandchildren. As we were sitting there, my attention was drawn to the sound of children descending onto the promenade area. They all came onto the beach along the wooden boardwalk and there were approximately between six and twelve of them. They ranged from about 5 to 8 years of age. I was also aware that there were adults with them and realised that they were from the Mark Warner holiday complex as the adults had got white shorts and red T shirts on. I believe they had the name Mark Warner on the front of the shirts. All the children went towards a play area where there were some swings. The time was between 11 and 12 midday.

As I watched the children I saw a male walking behind them. He was approximately 10 ? 15 yards away from where I was sitting. He didn?t really do anything, he was just walking behind them and I initially thought he was with the group, but as they got to the beach he turned right towards where I was along the promenade area. He did not stay with the children at all. As he walked in front of me, I was immediately drawn to the fact that he looked exactly like the man who had been to my villa on Friday 20th April 2007. He had exactly the same hair style, dark collar length which was quite untidy looking. He had the same moustache and looked the same age. The only different thing about him was that he had a navy blue T shirt on, round neck style with short sleeves. It was all plain with no logos or anything. His trousers were quite a neutral colour.

He was not carrying anything, he was the same height, between 5.7? and 5.10? and slim medium build. He appeared to be by himself, there was no one else near to him.

He was only in my view for a matter of seconds, but I had a clear unobstructed view of him and the weather was bright and sunny. I saw about three quarters of his face as he walked by, he did not face me full on, but I saw more of his face than just looking at his side profile.

I even commented to my daughter P**** that it was the same man who I had spoken to at the villa.

The man walked away and I did not see him again.
Since all that has happened around Madeleine McCann, I have thought about other things that may have been suspicious. I can recall that on Friday 20th April about 1 or 2 o?clock I was sitting on the beach front again at P da L. This was just before the man came to the villa later on that day. I was sitting at the bar Paraiso. It faces out onto the sea and is near to the bar Habana I mentioned earlier. I was with my friends Trudy and L** Dawkins, my husband, Trudy?s daughter and son. It was raining on this particular day and I recall seeing a man walking alone on the beach. I thought it strange because of the weather. He was only in my sight for a few seconds, and was some distance away. I could not fully see his face but as I have sat and thought about the suspicious man, I feel sure that this is the same man I saw at the villa and again on the beach on Sunday.

He was the same height, age, had the same hairstyle and the only other thing different is that he had a khaki green or stone coloured coat on.

I did not report this information to the police at the time. I made my first statement as I just did not see the full relevance of it until I saw the article in the Daily Mirror in January. It had not even crossed my mind until I started going over what I had done and seen during my stay in Portugal.
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by Guest 25.10.18 15:50

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4003
Fax

Date: 18th January 2008

From: Stuart Prior

To: Ricardo Paiva

Subject: BC4 Memo, Gail Cooper doc. Gail Cooper statement, Iris Morgan doc, report Morgan doc, Rex Morgan doc.

Ricardo,

All the docs attached in this and the next two emails as discussed earlier today.

We are still working on one or two aspects and I will get back to you over this and for any further direction from yourselves over facial recognition.

As we have discussed I have given Gerry a brief update just saying that the other descriptions are different to the artists impressions completed by Gail and identified by Jane. That the witnesses appeared genuine which indicates a number of charity collectors in the area prior to Madeleine being taken. I informed him everything has been forwarded to yourselves.

We have not spoken with Jane at all and will not share our e fits with anybody except yourselves unless you request this from us. It appears there were at least three charity collectors if not more in the area in the weeks prior to Madeleine being taken.

I am told that the artist impression by Gail Cooper is likely to hit the media over the weekend and I will update you on the effects of this next week, although we are not involved in this in any way at all.

Hope all is well.

Spk soon.

Stu

by Guest 25.10.18 15:52

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Leicestershire Constabulary

From: DC Burrows

To: DI Graham Op Task

Date: 17-01-2008

Subject: Gail Cooper

I report with reference to the above.

On Wednesday 16th January 2008 I spoke to the above person in relation to a sighting of a suspicious male on P da L beach on 20th April 2007 and the again on 22nd April 2007.

Gail had previously made a statement to the police regarding a male attending her villa on Friday 20th April 2007 where he was asking for money for an orphanage.
She maintains the information is correct in that statement.

She went on to say that since making that statement she had not given the circumstances much thought and believed that the information she had given the police had been dealt with accordingly and that the male did not feature in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. She believed that he was some sort of con man.

It was not until the 7th January 2008 when her attention was drawn to an article in the Daily Mirror where a report stated that a man had reported a similar incident regarding a male asking for money for an orphanage. The newspaper featured a telephone number asking people with any information to contact them.

Gail stated it was her daughter P***** who contacted the Daily Mirror and gave them Gail?s mobile number. The newspaper then contacted her rather than Gail phoning them herself.

She stated she told them about the incident where a man had come to her villa collecting money for the orphanage on Friday 20th April. (As per her original statement).

I asked Gail why she did not mention the other two potential sightings of the male on Friday 20th April and Sunday 21st (sic) April to either the police when she made her first statement and also when she first spoke to the Daily Mirror.

She said it never crossed her mind and she never gave it a thought on either occasion. It wasn?t until her daughter prompted her about it that she remembered the male on the beach believing it was the same man who had attended the villa. She stated she did not see the full relevance of it until the article in the newspaper appeared.

Gail was asked about further involvement with the media and she stated as far as she was concerned there would be no further publications.

She was advised accordingly in dealing with the media and to date she has not had any problems, other than a photographer was sent to her mother?s address which she did not particularly want.

She mentioned a man called Brian Kennedy who was working for the McCanns. H e had sent an artist down to do a sketch of the man she saw at the villa.

I asked her if she had seen the previous suspect sketch which had been in the media for several months. She said she may have done in passing but had not paid any particular attention to the media and very rarely had a newspaper.

She had been told by the media that it may appear in the News of the World but as far as she was aware there had been nothing in the paper last Sunday (13.01.08).

I asked her about her son who she had mentioned in her previous statement as having health problems. She stated he is a paranoid schizophrenic and has to take strong medication. Although we did not see him, Gail strongly advised us he would not be capable of making a statement because of this.

I submit this report for your attention.

C. Burrows.

by Guest 26.10.18 16:18

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EXCLUSIVE By JASON JOHNSON, RYAN PARRY & GARY O'SHEA Published: 17 November 2013

A MAN on a motorbike tried to snatch a tot yards from where Madeleine McCann vanished only weeks later, The Irish Sun on Sunday can reveal.
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Beast on a bike targeted girl, 4, weeks before Maddie was snatched [size=13][color:8ab8=000000]The Sun on Sunday

McCann suspect's kidnap bid
[/size]

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[size=13]EXCLUSIVE By JASON JOHNSON, RYAN PARRY & GARY O'SHEA Published: 17 November 2013

A MAN on a motorbike tried to snatch a tot yards from where Madeleine McCann vanished only weeks later, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.[/size]
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by Doug D 26.10.18 18:19

Verdi wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

So JT was even more 'certain' that this was Tannerman, than Martin Smith, who was only 60-80% sure that Smithman was GM!

If only we had a picture of the six-year-late-arriving 'Redwoodman', complete with his daughters 'grown out of' pyjamas to illustrate the nonsense of it all.

by **sandancer** 26.10.18 18:46

Tannerman aka Crecheman aka 6 years in a coma man , then another 5 years later

allegedly Totman !

More incarnations than Dr Who ! ( oh yes and JT might actually have seen a woman ?)

Shoulda gone to Specsavers Jane !

by Guest 27.10.18 0:38

Recorded in Jane Tanner's witness statement taken on 10th May 2007..

She swore "by everything most sacred" that what she said is true, namely that she saw an individual with a child in his arms.

Where's conman when most needed?

That's what this all amounts to - conman, or should I say conwo/men !!! A little adjustment here, a little adjustment there - it wouldn't do to be too precise, it arouses suspicion.

Of all the sightings, bogus or otherwise, there are but a few who retain prominence in the grand scheme of things - the McCann strategy aided and abetted by their payed accomplices, their staff. They are the gallery of rogues featured in the opening post to this thread.

Anyone that can't see the obvious link, the evolutionary process, needs to take a step back and look deeper into this web of intrigue. The key clue is the McCanns dodgy hired private dicks, the sightings were 'arranged' ' - why else did they receive so much public exposure but to create confusion.

Anyone who has followed this case for any length of time will know that every single diversion has been planned and implemented by the McCann defence league - a source close blah

.

by NickE 27.10.18 13:58

It took them a half year from they took this photo to tell the public.
Imo. Probably this "father" on this photo could have been found in the O.G team.
I don't believe this man exited at all, MET police had to put forward someone to save Tanner's honour.
Amaral and PJ did not believed Tanner so if MET had said there was no Tannerman they would give Amaral legitimacy and Tanner was a liar, something MET could never do.

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by Guest 27.10.18 23:56

NickE wrote:I don't believe this man exited at all, MET police had to put forward someone to save Tanner's honour

I agree wholeheartedly - although I venture to suggest is was her neck that needed saving, not her honour !!!

In addition, I believe that was also the reason for the introduction of the two e-fits said to be of the same person produced in collaboration with the Smith family. Which also extended the small margin of time allowed for an abductor to abduct.

Yet there are still people out there, of the self-claimed intellectual variety amongst others, who think - or at least claim for some reason, that Operation Grange is a legitimate investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Makes you wonder doesn't it? As I said up-page, of all the sightings - well intended or invented, all the emphasis has been placed on the evolution of eggman to it's end product, the e-fits publicised by former DCI Andy Redwood during the October 2013 Crimewatch production - affectionately known as Smithman.

Not one has assisted the investigation in any way shape or form.

by NickE 28.10.18 11:06

Verdi wrote:
NickE wrote:I don't believe this man exited at all, MET police had to put forward someone to save Tanner's honour

I agree wholeheartedly - although I venture to suggest is was her neck that needed saving, not her honour !!!

In addition, I believe that was also the reason for the introduction of the two e-fits said to be of the same person produced in collaboration with the Smith family. Which also extended the small margin of time allowed for an abductor to abduct.

Yet there are still people out there, of the self-claimed intellectual variety amongst others, who think - or at least claim for some reason, that Operation Grange is a legitimate investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Makes you wonder doesn't it? As I said up-page, of all the sightings - well intended or invented, all the emphasis has been placed on the evolution of eggman to it's end product, the e-fits publicised by former DCI Andy Redwood during the October 2013 Crimewatch production - affectionately known as Smithman.

Not one has assisted the investigation in any way shape or form.

Yes, I can't find all the expressions in english, I could have wrote "save her ass", but I'am too well educated for that:)

by Guest 03.11.18 14:53

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by Guest 15.11.18 0:42

'I saw Maddie' Retired pilot breaks his 10-year silence about one of first sightings

A RETIREE who reported one of the first sightings of missing Madeleine McCann has broken his 10-year silence about what he witnessed.

Michael Havis - 27th April 2017

The McCann family have always believed that their daughter remained near to Praia Da Luz, Portugal, where they last saw her.

Now, nearly 10 years after she vanished, ex-pilot Andre van Wyk has described a strange encounter just 14 miles away.

Mr Wyk, then 66, told Daily Star Online how he saw a suspicious couple trying to hide the face of a little blonde girl.

He said: "I was on the road from Portimao to Lagos when I passed a horse drawn carriage with a couple on it.

"They were possibly middle aged and were dressed like the gypsies normally dress. What caught my attention was the woman.

"She was cradling what appeared like a young girl with blonde hair. Because the Maddie case was the topic of the day, I turned and followed them.

"When they turned onto the old bridge leading to Parchal, the woman had covered the child's head with a cloth of some sort.”

The retiree, who is now 76, said the little girl was then led into a gypsy camp on the Parchal side of the bridge.

After the sighting in June 2007, Mr Wyk, who then lived in St Neots, Cambs, reported it to the authorities.

And though he cannot be sure that the child was Maddie, he maintains that the scenario was strange.

"It was just strange that there was this blonde child with the gypsies," Mr Wyk continued.

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WITNESS: Mr Wyk, centre, now lives in Thailand with his family

"At that time any clue, how insignificant it might appeared at the time, was reported to the police.

"I reported it to the police and they took my statement. Whether they investigated or not, I cannot tell.

"However, two days after my sighting of the blonde child, I passed the gypsy site again and they had moved on."

Brit tourist Jean Godwin would later claim to have seen Maddie with gypsies in Carvoeiro, a town five miles from Parchal.

Mr Wyk’s testimony comes just days after another [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] opened up.

The woman, who asked not to be named, recalled seeing the missing child ask "can we go see mummy now?"

Madeleine McCann vanished from her family’s holiday apartment on May 3, 2007, as her parents dined with friends nearby.

Since her disappearance, people across the world have claimed to have seen her, with large clusters of sightings in Morocco and Portugal.

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by sar 15.11.18 9:09

complete s**te

by sallypelt 15.11.18 10:29

sar wrote:complete s**te

"And though he cannot be sure that the child was Maddie, he maintains that the scenario was strange."

Says it all, doesn't it? No need to ready any of the other garbage.

by sar 15.11.18 10:31

+1 sp, thanks

by **Jill Havern** 15.11.18 10:44

I wonder how much money and police hours the McCanns have cost, not only the UK and Portugal, but other countries around the world on their wild goose chase hoax, whilst fleecing the general public of millions of pounds in donations that they have, according to Kandohla, siphoned off from Maddie's 'search' Fund "which can be used for things like buying a house or building equipment".

huh

I hope, if the McCanns and their kling-ons are ever brought to justice, that all this FRAUD will be taken in to consideration, along with their other crimes of hiding a cadaver and staging an abduction, and they are locked up for a very long time, the smug grins wiped off their faces, and the key thrown away.

by sar 15.11.18 10:52

Fraud investigation in the UK / "hiding a cadaver and staging an abduction" in Portugal how hard can it be?

by Guest 15.11.18 12:18

Jill Havern wrote:I wonder how much money and police hours the McCanns have cost, not only the UK and Portugal, but other countries around the world on their wild goose chase hoax, whilst fleecing the general public of millions of pounds in donations that they have, according to Kandohla, siphoned off from Maddie's 'search' Fund "which can be used for things like buying a house or building equipment".

I hope, if the McCanns and their kling-ons are ever brought to justice, that all this FRAUD will be taken in to consideration, along with their other crimes of hiding a cadaver and staging an abduction, and they are locked up for a very long time, the smug grins wiped off their faces, and the key thrown away.

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As smug as a bug in a rug!

by Guest 15.11.18 14:57

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Witness [Gail Cooper] reveals chilling clues about Maddie suspect: The News of the World

20th January 2008

This is the man suspected of snatching four-year-old Maddie McCann
....................

It would appear someone (could that someone be Kevin Halligan Inc.?) was very busy rounding up potential witnesses in the January 2008. Oddly enough, between the time of the Rothley Hotel inner conclave of interested parties and the pending rogatory interviews conducted by Leicestershire Constabulary in April 2008.

This is no coincidence - everything surrounding this case was done for a reason.

by sar 15.11.18 17:05

“He made my blood run cold”
[Philomena Cunk voice]

“His hair seemed weirdly slick, like a bird had poo’ed in his hair and he’d just styled in in!”
“I looked at his face, ce’tait comme Le Visage sans Yeux!”
“He has a suede “Blouson” style jacket, frightening enough but his arm looked like a haunch of venison! “
“He seemed to be carrying a “lifeless” “PJ clad child!”
He had a weird “Smooth” bum, one leg looked longer than the other!”
“His trousers had no creases then around his shoes they just went mental for no reason!”
“His upper half seemed very well defined! A bit like the scribbly cartoon people from the AHA video “Take me on”, when you got to his feet he was more like a moon-walking ghost!”

Terrifying!!

by Guest 15.11.18 22:39

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by Guest 16.11.18 0:24

Another two to add to the list of questionable persons and the curious case of witness sightings - Jayne Jensen and Annie Wiltshire, both guests at the Ocean Club Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine McCann's disappearance. Not to say I suspect them of having any direct or even indirect involvement, however their story told through the medium of the UK is worthy of inclusion in this saga of 'Primed Suspects'.

There's no evidence to suggest that the two were formally interviewed by the PJ, despite reports to the contrary, it's therefore open to question as to why their story was not told until the end of 2007 and/or beginning of 2008 - again coinciding with the blitz of suspicious sightings being discovered/exposed by the McCann faction, their hired team.

Here goes..

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Fiona Barton, Dan Newling and Vanessa Allen - 31st December 2007

Two British sisters gave a dramatic account of a pair of strangers watching the Ocean Club pool and tapas bar hours before Madeleine McCann vanished.

In an exclusive interview, Jayne Jensen and Annie Wiltshire told how they saw two blond men in their 30s, standing on the balcony of an empty apartment only a couple of doors away from the McCanns' flat in Praia da Luz.

And they provided further evidence that Robert Murat, the first official suspect in the case, lied about his whereabouts on the night Madeleine disappeared.

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Mrs Jensen, a 54-year-old businesswoman, says she saw Mr Murat outside the McCann apartment half an hour after the alarm was raised.

The expatriate estate agent claims he was at home with his elderly mother all night, but it has emerged that a British barrister on holiday with his wife and children has corroborated Mrs Jensen's account.

Although the two sisters contacted Portuguese police within hours of Madeleine's disappearance, their evidence was ignored for six months.

The women met police three times within 24 hours, tried to find out who the strangers were themselves and made several follow-up phone calls to the authorities.

But it was not until six weeks ago that a formal statement was finally taken.

The two women, both divorcees from Maidstone, Kent, spent 11 hours with British police officers providing details of their evidence and later met private detectives from Metodo 3, the agency employed by the McCanns to find their daughter.

They intended to remain anonymous but when their names were leaked to a Portuguese newspaper and they found themselves wrongly accused of waiting eight months before coming forward, they decided to reveal the truth.

The sisters said they were immediately struck by the behaviour of the two men on the balcony.

The pair, tanned and in Bermuda shorts, were standing outside the patio doors of a groundfloor apartment, which had been unoccupied all week, and were looking out over the resort's family swimming pool and restaurant area.

Mrs Wiltshire, 58, a mother of two, said: "It was odd because I hadn't seen them before. In May the resort wasn't busy.

There were only about 60 of us staying in the apartments and you got to recognise all the other people.

"One of the guys was walking down the steps and as I looked at him, he walked back up and started talking to the other one.

"They had a view of the whole Ocean Club and the McCanns' apartment. It just showed how easy it would be for anyone to use those balconies to watch the area. It has haunted me ever since."

That evening - May 3 - Madeleine disappeared from her bed as her parents, Gerry and Kate ate dinner with seven friends in the tapas bar.

The sisters, who helped search for the child that night, went to police the next day to report the sighting of the strangers and their concerns.

Mrs Wiltshire, who went on holiday with her sister to recover from a cancer operation, said: "The theory is that Madeleine could have been targeted. This story proves how easily it could have been done but the Portuguese police were not interested.

"It makes you wonder if there are more of us out there who have tried and not succeeded in reporting things they saw but have given up.

"They might not have been as persistent and tenacious as us but we were determined to get the information to the police somehow."

The two women had been in Praia da Luz for a week before the McCanns - Gerry, Kate, three-year-old Madeleine and two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie - arrived with a party of doctors for a short break.

Mrs Jensen and her sister were in the same daily tennis coaching group as Mr McCann. It was organised by Mark Warner, the tour operator which manages the Ocean Club complex.

"We never met Kate," Mrs Jensen said. "And we never socialised with Gerry. We just played tennis."

On the evening of May 3, the sisters ate in the same tapas restaurant as the McCann party.

Neither of them remembers the doctors being rowdy or drinking heavily that night, as other witnesses have suggested.

Mrs Jensen, a bar manager, said: "They were not noisy or dominating the restaurant. They were just a party of friends enjoying a meal."

The sisters finished their dinner and left to walk down into the village for a nightcap.

"We were on the way to the bar when we heard the hue and cry about a missing child," added Mrs Jensen.

"The Mark Warner staff were being called on their phones and everyone thought it was a child who had wandered out of her room, looking for her parents.

"Apparently it had happened before and there was a drill they carried out. I left Annie in the bar and came back up to the apartments to see if I could help. It was only then I realised the scale of the search.

"I went straight into the creche area and checked the play area and Wendy House but found nothing."

It was then that Mrs Jensen saw 34-year-old Mr Murat for the first time. She saw a man light a cigarette as he stood on the street corner opposite the McCanns' ground-floor apartment.

She said: "I had semi-given up smoking and was thinking I could do with a cigarette when this bloke just along the pavement from me lit up. I noticed him but didn't think anything more of it."

A middle-aged barrister, a near neighbour of Mrs Jensen in the holiday complex, has told police that he spoke to her at the time and also saw Mr Murat.

The next day, said Mrs Jensen, Mr Murat introduced himself to her and her sister.

"It was hideous when we realised that the little girl had not been found. It really began to hit home that something horrible had happened.

"I thought maybe she had fallen down a manhole, or hit her head. I didn't think she had been taken at that point and we helped search bins and scrubland."

As they and the other holidaymakers combed the area, Mrs Jensen met another member of her tennis coaching group, TV producer Jez Wilkins.

"Jez told me it was Gerry's daughter we were looking for. I hadn't realised before that moment.

"Jez said that he knew Gerry had checked the children because he had met him coming back from the apartment."

As the hours passed without any sighting of Madeleine, Mrs Wiltshire became increasingly concerned about the strangers she had seen the day before.

She said: "I didn't know if it was significant or not but I needed to tell the police in case it helped.

"I got a member of Mark Warner's staff to get a policeman to come and see me and told two officers about the men I had seen.

"I told them they were blond and one had curly hair. One was stockier than the other and they had obviously just opened the gate and walked up to the balcony.

"I showed the policemen the balcony and as I was explaining the circumstances, Robert Murat appeared and started translating for me."

Mr Murat was acting as an unofficial interpreter for the police and Mrs Wiltshire assumed he was part of the police force.

Later that day, she and her sister bumped into him again and he asked them if they needed any more help with the police and whether they had remembered anything else.

Mrs Jensen said: "He said he was helping the police because he lived locally and he was very helpful."

That evening, the two sisters joined the barrister and his wife for a glass of wine on the balcony of their apartment.

They were discussing Madeleine's disappearance and the apparent failure of the police to set up a crime scene when Mr Murat walked past, saw them and joined them uninvited.

Mrs Jensen said: "He was wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans and he said he needed to go home and change because it had been a long day, which was odd, because he had already changed out of the clothes he had been wearing earlier."

After Mr Murat left, the barrister told the sisters he found him "odd".

His wife was distraught about Madeleine's disappearance and the couple were desperate to leave the resort. Their names have not been revealed.

Mrs Jensen insists she is not conducting "a witch hunt" against Mr Murat.

"It was only after he was made an arguido (official suspect) that I realised any of this information could be important."

Other witnesses who have placed Mr Murat near the McCann apartment that night include Mark Warner nanny Charlotte Pennington, two tourists who contacted Metodo 3 independently and three of the McCanns' friends, Fiona Payne, Rachael Oldfield and Russell O'Brien.

But friends and family of Mr Murat insisted he was not there. His mother Jennifer, 71, said: "People who say he was outside Madeleine's apartment that night are telling lies.

"I challenge them to tell Portuguese police what they're telling the McCanns' investigators."

When Mrs Jensen got home, she made a number of calls to police and Crimestoppers. She gave them an outline of the sightings and was told someone would call her back but nobody did.

In September, the two women went back to Praia da Luz to try to make direct contact with the McCanns but as they arrived, Kate and Gerry were made official suspects and left to return to Britain.

The sisters admit they might have let things go at that point but the constant mention of Madeleine in the press kept nagging at them.

In desperation they finally e-mailed the McCanns' spokesman, Clarence Mitchell and told him what they knew.

Within days, they were contacted by Leicestershire police who apologised for the delay and sent an officer round to interview them.

"They were there for 11 hours, finishing at midnight and we finally got to sign a statement," added Mrs Jensen.

"All we wanted was to get the information to the right people. It is just ridiculous that no one would help us."

A spokesman for the McCanns said: "We remain extremely grateful to Annie and Jayne for making the efforts they have to get their information to us.

"They have been trying since day one and have only wanted to help Kate and Gerry find Madeleine.

"They are utterly credible witnesses and we are very grateful to them."

? Kate McCann hopes to return to Portugal once she has been cleared as a suspect in her daughter's disappearance, friends said yesterday.

Mrs McCann and her husband Gerry expect to be re-interviewed by police early in the New Year, and hope it will bring them a step closer to being eliminated as arguidos - official suspects.

The couple, both 39, would then be free to continue their campaign work and believe Portugal could still hold the key to finding Madeleine.

Once the lead story on every Portuguese television bulletin and newspaper, the case is now attracting less attention and an appeal by the McCanns would give the coverage fresh impetus.

But the couple cannot speak freely about the case while they remain arguidos as they are bound by the country's strict secrecy laws, which ban witnesses or suspects from talking about the case.

A friend said: "If they were to go to Portugal now it would seem like they were trying to put pressure on the police, and they don't want that.

"But if they were cleared as arguidos then it would change everything.

"They would be cleared in the eyes of the judicial system and technically in the eyes of the world, although they realise that there will always be some people who view them with suspicion."