Dr Gerry McCann - detailed biography

The disappearance of Madeleine McCann occurred on the evening of Thursday, 3 May 2007, when the then three-year-old British girl went missing from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve, Portugal, in which she was staying with her parents. Investigation by the Portuguese Police concluded that Madeleine, who had been left unsupervised in a bedroom with her two-year-old twin siblings, had been abducted.

This disappearance is notable for the exceptional, extended, and extensive media coverage the case has elicited due to the active involvement of the parents, in publicising the case, and several awareness raising campaigns by international celebrities.

The investigation involved the cooperation of the British and Portuguese police and demonstrated the differing methodologies employed by each, with regard to such aspects as the amount of information released to the public and the legal status of those involved in the case.

However, despite a number of reported sightings of Madeleine in Portugal and elsewhere, police investigating her disappearance appear to be without clear leads.

Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003 in Leicester, England) is a British girl, the eldest daughter of Kate McCann, a general practitioner in Melton Mowbray, and Gerry, a cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester. Madeleine, who has a brother and a sister, twins Sean and Amelie, two years old, lived with her family in Rothley, England.

A notable identification feature is her right eye that has a type of coloboma, a complete split in the iris (a black radial strip reaching from the pupil out to the edge of the white) at "7 o'clock" position (i.e. about 30° clockwise from the bottom).

Madeleine, 3 years old at the time, disappeared from a ground floor apartment where the family was staying on the evening of 3 May. At the time, her parents had put Madeleine and her two-year-old twin siblings to bed and, leaving the apartment unlocked, were dining 100 yards away with friends at a restaurant near the Mark Warner Ocean Summer Club. Kate and Gerry McCann reported to the police that they were taking turns checking on their children and that at approximately 21:00 Western European Summer Time Gerry checked on the children and they were all fine. At around 21:45 the couple returned from the restaurant to find an empty bed and the apartment door and window wide open and reported the incident to the police at 22:00. Staff and guests at the complex searched until 04:30 whilst police on the Spanish border and all airports in Portugal and Spain were notified.

Time

Event

3 May 2007

21:00

Gerry says he checked the children.

21:45

The couple say they found that Madeleine was gone.

22:00

Incident reported to the police.

22:10

Police arrive at the hotel at which the McCanns were staying.

22:30

Police investigation unit start the investigation.

4 May 2007

04:30

Initial search called off.

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Portuguese police Polícia Judiciária (PJ) said on 6 May that they had a suspect in mind and believed the child is still alive in the area. Police with sniffer dogs searched the resort village, which has a population of a little over 9000. However, on 8 May, 5 days after her disappearance, the Judiciária admitted they were unsure whether Madeleine was still alive.

On 9 May Interpol released a yellow notice to all member police forces. Portuguese media have reported that the PJ are pursuing two lines of investigation: an abduction by an international paedophilia network[10] or an abduction by an illegal adoption network.[11][12] Experts from Britain were flown out to assist the Portuguese police experts and Leicestershire Police sent family liaison officers to help the McCann family.[13]

On 11 May the local search for the suspect was called off after it had produced no results.[14] Then on 13 May the Portuguese police admitted for the first time that they had no suspects in mind. The only tangible line of enquiry that they were prepared to disclose was that they were examining photographs taken by holidaymakers.[15] Court hearings into the case began on 14 May.[15]

At 07:00 WEST on the morning of 14 May searches began at a villa Casa Liliana, owned by Jennifer Murat, a British citizen, near the apartment where the girl went missing.[16] Police and forensic teams sealed off the house, and at 16:00 the swimming pool was drained.[17] Three people, including her son Robert Murat, were questioned at the main police station in nearby Portimão. Robert, a frequent visitor to the villa,[18] had drawn the suspicion of Lori Campbell, a Sunday Mirror journalist, who informed the police. Former classmate Gaynor de Jesus said: "I do know that he has been the official translator for the police".[19] Murat had said he was deeply concerned about Madeleine’s case because he had recently lost custody of his own three-and-a-half year old daughter who looked like the missing girl. No arrests have been made.[20] Under Portuguese law arrests can only be made when a person has been given arguido (suspect) status officially; prior to being given this status persons are treated as witnesses. On 15 May Robert Murat was given this status but he has not been arrested or charged. It is not clear if Murat or the Police asked for the arguido status, it is thought that Murat might have asked for the status as it gives extra rights such as the right to remain silent. [21] Murat has since gone to an unknown destination.[19]

Chief Inspector Olegário de Sousa told a news conference on 15 May that a 33-year-old had been interrogated, but not enough evidence was found to justify arresting him. Sousa said police had searched five houses on Monday and seized "various materials" from the properties which were being subjected to forensic tests and had questioned two other people as witnesses. The suspect has signed an identity and residence statement which prevents him from moving house or leaving the country, and requires him to regularly report to police.[22] Though no names were mentioned in the conference, the 33-year-old is believed to be Robert Murat and the other two questioned to be Murat's alleged German girlfriend Michaela Walczuch, and her Portuguese former husband Luís António.[23]

Despite Murat's reluctance to make a public statement,[24] he stated that he believed the case to have "ruined his life" and that his only way of survival would be the capture of Madeleine's captor. Murat stated that he was being made a "scapegoat" so that the Police can be seen to have found a suspect.[25]

On 16 May 2007, it was reported that two cars used by the Murats had been examined, and computers, mobile phones and several video tapes were taken away from their villa[26] and it was claimed that, on examination, several links to paedophile websites were found on the computers and that some video tapes showed depraved sexual acts and bestiality[27] though nothing was found to directly link Murat to Madeleine's disappearance.[28] It also emerged that a British architect who built the villa where Murat lives was ignored when he called police about a hidden basement within the property.[29]The police were understood to have taken in for questioning Sergey Malinka, 22, a man of Russian origin, from whose property officers also took away a laptop computer and two hard drives. Malinka had set up a website for Murat.[30] According to the Portuguese media, Malinka is said to be a convicted child sexual offender and a computer technician who is believed to be on good terms with Robert Murat, as the two exchanged frequent phone calls since Madeleine's disappearance—the reason the authorities started suspecting him.[31][32]

The following day, a press conference was held in which Chief Police Inspector Olegário Sousa reiterated there was insufficient evidence to make an arrest. Regarding Sergey Malinka, police said that he had been questioned as a witness for approximately 5 hours, which did not, due to the "dynamic" nature of the investigation, mean the witness couldn't become a suspect.[33]

Malinka spoke negatively of the coverage of the case in the Portuguese media, which had alleged that he was a convicted sexual offender, and denied he had contacted Murat and claimed to be "completely innocent".[34] On 18 May, though, inconsistencies in his account of his relationship with Robert Murat emerged; while the Russian IT specialist had said he had not contacted Murat in a year, he mentioned three months to another reporter while Murat’s mobile phone records allegedly show he called Mr Malinka at 23:40 on the night Madeleine went missing.[35][36]

On 19 May, Portuguese detectives flew to England to interview Dawn Murat, the estranged wife of Robert Murat.[37] On 23 May detectives re-interviewed witnesses connected with Murat; his German lover Michaela Walczuch, and her estranged husband Luís António, which hinted at the police's enduring interest in Murat.[38]

Murat was interviewed for a second time on 10 June to clarify what detectives described as details and possible contradictions from his previous statement in the light of new information.[39]

On 25 May, the Portuguese police disclosed information on a second possible suspect, a middle-build, Caucasian, approximately 5'10"(~178 cm) (the height of the man was subsequently corrected to that given on the Portuguese press release as 170cm (5ft 7in)[40]), aged 35-40 who was seen, at 21:30 on May 3, by a close friend of the McCanns,[41] but this information was only made public two and half weeks later.[42] According to Chief Police Officer Olegário Sousa, the man, who was carrying a child, or something which might have resembled a child, fits the description of a suspect being hunted by Spanish police for the kidnappings of Sara Morales, 14 and 7 year old Yeremi Vargas, in the Canary Islands.[43]

On 29 May, a team of mobile phone experts flew to Portugal to analyse mobile phone data, from the area, at the time of the abduction. Using triangulation techniques, it will be possible to track mobile phones movements down to a couple of yards.[44]

Also on 29 May, detectives questioned four boat owners, three of them English, whose vessels were moored at the marina in Lagos, a town about five miles from Praia da Luz. They were also trying to trace a British man who left the harbour in his yacht about three weeks ago, after mooring there for two years. A witness reported seeing a man carrying a child in his arms down to the marina, hours after Madeleine disappeared.[45]

On 1 June, a mystery sample of DNA was found in the bedroom from where Madeleine disappeared. The DNA did not match that of the McCanns, their three children nor that of Murat. The Portuguese police, Polícia Judiciária (PJ), have handed the sample to the national forensic laboratories, the Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal, and stated that there is a new suspect.[46] Police are also examining hundreds of reports from psychics and clairvoyants claiming to know the location of Madeleine.[47]

Attention switched back to Morocco on 4 June, after GCHQ in Cheltenham picked up phone intercept messages in Arabic referring to "the little blonde girl", a German man, and a ferry from Tarifa in Spain.[48] Then on 7 June, Spanish police received a phone call from a man claiming to know the whereabouts of Madeleine, using a mobile phone registered in Argentina, a call described as "credible".[49]

In early June, Spanish investigative journalist Antonio Toscano claimed that a convicted paedophile was hired by two other people to kidnap Madeleine and that the man was seen in a bar in Seville a week before Madeleine disappeared.[50] Then, on 28 June, Toscano claimed that Madeleine was alive and well in Europe but Madeleine's parents refused to meet with him.[51]

The investigation was thrown into confusion on 10 June, after the detective coordinating the hunt, Gonçalo Amaral, the head of the regional Polícia Judiciária, and four other Portuguese police officers, were charged over the weekend with offences relating to the inquiry into the disappearance of Joana Cipriano, from a village seven miles from where Madeleine disappeared.[52]

On 13 June, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf received a message, with maps, indicating where the body of Madeleine McCann could be hidden.[53] The letter suggested that she was buried on a hillside near Arao 9 miles north-east from Praia da Luz. The Dutch police described the information as reliable, because it resembled a letter they had received accurately indicating where the bodies of two Belgian girls, who went missing last year, were located,[54] but an extensive search by Portuguese police was abandoned on 15 June.[55]

Controversy ensued on 17 June when Chief Inspector Olegario de Sousa said that the presence of so many people in the apartment from which Madeleine disappeared, after she was found to be missing, complicated the work of the forensic team, could have destroyed all the evidence and could prove to be fatal for the investigation.[56]

As of 9 July, the Portuguese police believed further arrests might take place in the near future and that it was likely that the missing girl was still being held in Portugal.[57]

Main article: Response to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

Over the subsequent weeks Madeleine's parents implemented a publicity campaign that kept the disappearance in the public eye in many countries though there was criticism that the media attention was excessive. The disappearance led the news in the UK for over a week with subsequent daily coverage of events. There has been regular coverage in Portugal and periodic coverage in other countries.

An official web site for the search has been set up, a fighting fund, known as Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned, was launched, and the British police called on visitors to the surrounding area, in the two weeks leading up to the child's disappearance, to provide copies of any relevant photographs taken during their stay, in an attempt to identify an abductor.[71][72]

The parents have had an audience with the Pope[73] and have embarked on a tour of key European and North African countries to raise and maintain awareness. There were appeals from many political leaders and sporting personalities and over £2.6 million of rewards have been been offered.

The publicity has spawned attempted scams with fake websites set up and people collecting money on false pretences.

The parents have been criticized for leaving their children alone while they ate at a nearby restaurant despite the availability of a babysitting service and a creche.[74] There has also been criticism of the parents in the Portuguese media. The Diário de Notícias insisted that Mr and Mrs McCann were suspects and claimed that on the night Madeleine disappeared they had not checked on the children, contrary to what they told police.[75] The Daily Telegraph has reported "Portugal has been stung by suggestions that the investigation has been handled ineptly, and while there is much sympathy locally for the McCanns they have also been criticised for leaving their children alone."[76]

The couple were questioned by police on 10 May about why the three children were left alone in an apartment, with the patio doors unlocked, while they dined at the restaurant[15] and in an interview with the BBC on 25 May, Gerry and Kate acknowledged the criticism, and spoke of the guilt they felt. They added that they were sure that Madeleine was still alive, with Gerry saying that he believed that "If anything really bad had happened we would have found her by now".[77]

In reply to questions posed to them on 6 June at a press conference in Germany, when radio reporter Sabina Mueller suggested that their behaviour was not normal for people whose child had been abducted, they denied any involvement in the abduction of their daughter.[78]

On the 10 Downing Street website a petition to the Prime Minister was started on 12 June requesting that Leicestershire Social Services fulfil their statutory obligation to investigate the circumstances which led to Madeleine and her siblings being left unattended in an unlocked, ground floor hotel room.[79] In response, Leicestershire County Council said it was "discharging our duties in... a full and professional manner" but the family has declined to comment on the petition[80]. The petition was rapidly rejected because of the nature of the language used.[79]

There has been extensive criticism of the Portuguese police in the British media.[81][82] It was reported that there were delays in obtaining and analysing forensic evidence, neither border nor marine police were given descriptions of Madeleine for many hours after she vanished, and officers had not been seen making extensive door-to-door inquiries. Critics allege that the scene had not been secured as tightly as it would have been in the UK and the lack of appeals for help and information has surprised British police experts. In response the police have stated that that they cannot release information because they are constrained by Article 86 of the Portuguese penal code that says information must not be released, apart from in exceptional circumstances, while the criminal investigation is still taking place.[83]

Several Portuguese news media and opinion makers have criticised the massive police and law enforcement efforts, comparing it with the efforts used to help national victims in past similar affairs. (Taking part were up to 180 Portuguese police officials and civil protection helicopters together with hundreds of villagers and holidaymakers, an effort never seen in the search for other child disappearances in the country.)[84][85] It has emerged that the police failed to ask for surveillance pictures of vehicles leaving Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance nor of the road between Lagos and Vila Real de Santo António, on the Spanish border.[86]

It has been suggested that the chief investigating officer Guilhermino da Encarnação may have been too keen to focus enquiries on one man, Robert Murat although the police admit no credible evidence has been found against him. Parallels have been drawn with the case of disappearance of another child, Joana Cipriano who disappeared on 12 September 2004 from her home in village of Figueira seven miles from where Madeline went missing. Encarnação was also involved in that investigation which ended with the conviction of Joana's mother and uncle for her murder although no body was found and they never confessed. [87]

The height of the man being sought by the police was given on the Portuguese press release was 170cm (5ft 7in) but it mistakenly appeared as 5ft 10in in the English version.[40] Madeleine took a favourite toy to bed with her, the night she disappeared, on which an abductor could have left some trace of DNA evidence, but police did not check it.[88] Then on 1 June, June Hughes, from Glasgow, who had stayed in the apartment the previous week with her husband, expressed surprise that the police had not made any contact with them.[89]

There was criticism that, on 6 June, two of the senior police officers involved in the case, Olegário Sousa and Gonçalo Amaral, the head of the regional Polícia Judiciária, laughed and joked during a leisurely lunch as the McCanns appeared on a television news broadcast.[90] Then on 9 June family members complained of harassment by the police when they tried to put up 'missing' posters at Lisbon Airport and there were suggestions that the Portuguese authorities wanted to prevent these posters being displayed over concerns about damage to their tourist industry.[91]

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