Kirsty Young  : Live for the next hour tonight.

Journalist : The case that’s fascinated the world, but what really happened to Madeleine McCann? With exclusive access to Scotland Yard’s investigation we can now reveal the most detailed understanding of what took place that night in Portugal.

DCI Andy Redwood : Things that have not been quite as significant or received quite the same degree of attention are now the centre of our focus. The e-fits are clear and I’d ask the public to look very carefully at them.

Journ  : We’ll explain why the images are so critical and debunk the existing theories.

AR : We are almost certain now that this sighting is not the abductor.

VO : And Madeleine’s parents tell us how they’ve coped in the media glare without their beloved daughter.

Kate MC : I kind of knew straight away then that Madeleine had been taken. It’s not us that have committed this crime. It’s a person who’s gone into that apartment and taken a little girl away from her family.

KY : This is Crimewatch. Hello and welcome to Crimewatch. We’re live for the next hour with this month’s latest crime news and appeals. We’re gonna be revealing the latest Madeleine McCann findings in just a moment. And following tonight’s major reconstruction, I’m gonna be speaking live to Madeleine’s parents, Gerry and Kate, for their latest reaction to all these new developments.

...(appeals not related to Madeleine McCann)... 

KY : There must be very few people who don’t know about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. She was just three-years-old when she went missing whilst she was on holiday with her family in Portugal.  That was way back in May 2007. She of course hasn’t been seen since. And whoever took her, well they have yet to be brought to justice. There was widespread criticism of the initial Portuguese investigation and even, at one point, accusations that her own parents were to blame.  Well along with Kate and Gerry McCann, in the studio tonight are the Scotland Yard detectives who are leading this new investigation. We’ve been working closely with them for several months to reconstruct their latest findings, and tonight we can reveal the major revelations that they’ve uncovered, and the true significance of those crucial e-fits you may have seen today if you’ve been watching the news. Now we ask you to cast your preconceptions aside, to examine this new information and to do what you can to help find Madeleine McCann.

Journ  :  The initial Portuguese police inquiry lasted a year. Private investigators have followed up sightings around the world. And the media storm surrounding the story came up with numerous theories.

(snippets and clips)

But what actually happened to Madeleine McCann remains a mystery. In June this year, after reviewing the evidence, officers from the Metropolitan Police began a fresh investigation. Now, for the first time, the lead detective is ready to reveal what they have uncovered.

AR : I would say it was a, it was a revelation moment.

Journ  :  And we speak to Kate and Gerry McCann about how they’ve coped over the past six years.

Gerald MC : When there is a special occasion, when you should be at your happiest and Madeleine’s not there, that’s when it really hits home.

Journ  : Speculation will be cast aside and new leads revealed, as we ask you to help police finally uncover the truth what happened to Madeleine McCann.

(snippets and clips)

KY : Gerry, what are your first memories of Madeleine as a baby?

GMC  : Well she came out screaming. She was a McCann. There’s no doubt about that. She was very loud, but she came out almost perfectly formed. It’s really.. she was instantly beautiful.

KY : : Because you had been through IVF to conceive her that it must have had an extra poignancy when she was born. Can you tell me …

KMC : Very overwhelming and it’s that sort of, that immediate love really. And she did feel special. I mean it did feel like after all we’ve been through wow !

(clip)

KY  : I’ve looked at photographs of your family around about that time. I think not long after the twins had been born. The thing that constantly strikes me – you have this sort of giant smile in every picture, which is like Here we are. This is it. This is all that matters. Is that how you felt?

Kate MC : Yeah. I mean it was all I kind of dreamed of really. I can remember one morning, my mum and dad were there. And we had all piled into their bedroom and the three kids were climbing on top of me. And I just thought we were so lucky, 3 kids And you know, it’s just great. It was perfect, you know.

(clip)

Journ  :  The resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal is popular with families from across the UK and the rest of Europe. But six years ago it became known for a very different reason. It was the place where three-year-old Madeleine McCann was abducted from her apartment. Since then, the mystery of what happened to her has continued to make headlines, but amid the speculation, what are the facts?

(reconstruction begins with actors)

Kate and Gerry McCann arrived at the Ocean Club complex with a group of friends. They brought their three children, two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, and three-year-old Madeleine.

KY : What did Madeleine make of the swimming pool? Was she right in there?

KMC : Yeah, she was. She was desperate to get in there. Yeah I mean, it was then end of April, we went out and it wasn’t that warm. She was straight in, swimming and I really.. yeah

GMC  : … Madeleine loved it. She really wanted to get in that water. 

Journ  :  The McCanns got involved with activities provided by the complex. There were kids clubs for the children. Kate and Gerry signed up for tennis lessons. There was also time for them to be together, as a family.

KMC : And then generally it was probably about 6:30, and we’d all go back to our respective apartments and then it would be the bedtime routine.

Journ  :  In the evenings the adults would dine in the resort’s Tapas restaurant, which was fifty metres from the McCanns apartment. Five days into the holiday, the group was settled into this routine. 

KMC : I think we’ll all woke up around 7:30 and went through to have breakfast. It was at that point that Madeleine said “Where were you when Sean and I cried last night?” And it’s one of those questions that kind of throws you. 

GMC  : We just made a mental note of it. We said, you know, actually we go out tonight, we need to make sure that we are really checking, we wouldn’t like to think they might wake up, be crying and looking for us.

KMC : The time we had by the, the pool and the play area that day was, the five of us, it was a really fun time that day. It was particularly fun.

GMC  : She was sitting in there in her little dress and hat on, and I was paddling my feet.

KMC : And it was sunny and that’s why we’ve got the um, the photograph. The last photograph.

GMC  : We had a, a lesson booked, for the two of us, a tennis lesson. And then I stayed on and Kate went for a run. So at 5 o’clock I went over, em, to meet the kids and Kate came back from her running. Madeleine looked really tired. She was really pale and quite washed out. We decided to take them straight back to the apartment. And just before six, I then headed off back to play tennis and left Kate to get them ready. 

Journ  :  (reading) G... swallowed bravely as he walked toward the floor, but the lions saw him coming and they soon began to roar. 

KMC : Again, it’s quite a nice memory really. Madeleine was sitting on my knee. Sean and Amelie were alongside. We’d had a story, and Madeleine asked if she could put my engagement ring on, which she did quite a bit. So, she had that on. Yeah, it was just a, a really nice moment really. And then Gerry got back pretty prompt at seven.

GMC  : They were sitting all on the couch together. And all had their jammys on. They had their milk.

KMC : We sat on Madeleine’s bed and we had a story. And then, Gerry came through and we kind of put the twins into their travel cots they were sleeping in and said goodnight.

GMC  : We’d a ground floor apartment and the window had a shutter on it outside that was right down. And, eh, the window was closed and we had curtains right across. So it was nice and dark in the room.

KMC : And then as always I just closed the door, not right over but just so it was open a little bit so that the light from the living room would get through. And I have to say it was quiet within seconds I think they were all just so tired, fell asleep.   

Journ  :  The McCanns left their apartment at 8:30 . They were joined at the Tapas restaurant by their friends Matt and Rachael Oldfield, and Jane Tanner and her partner Russell O’Brien. At about 9 o’clock, Matt left to make sure his children were alright. Shortly after he’d gone the remaining 3 people arrived. 

GMC  : A few minutes after 9 I said to Kate – that’s half an hour, I'm gonna go up – and as I walked in I noticed that their bedroom door was open slightly wider than I had left it. So naturally, I went into the room and I stood, I could see the twins clearly in their cot, and Madeleine was lying there, sound asleep.

Journ  :  On his way back, Gerry stopped to have a chat with a fellow guest. At about the same time Jane Tanner went to check on her children. Her route took her past the McCanns apartment.  Jane By the time the starters arrived everyone appeared settled for dinner.

KMC : And then at 9:30, which is the time I thought – right I need to check, I stood up and at the same time Matt stood up. Matt and Rachael actually stayed in the apartment next to us, 5B, (Matt) said I can pop in. So I said Ok, I’ll go next one.

Journ  :  As Matt left the table, Jane’s partner Russell also went to check his children.

GMC  : Matt, em, checked and when he came back, said are they all-right, and he said it’s all quiet.

Journ  : Russell stayed behind as his daughter had become unwell. Jane went to relieve him once she had finished her meal 

KMC : So at ten o’clock, em.. I got up to do the next check. I’d finished eating then so I headed back to the apartment the usual route. And I just stopped and listened in the living area for a bit and it was all quiet but it just caught my eye that the children’s door was quite far open. And at that point I thought it must have been when Matt checked and he’s left it open. And as I was just drawing it over, it was like it had been caught by a draft and it just kind of slammed shut. It was only at that point really that as I kind of opened it a bit, I kind of looked into the room. And I was, I guess I was looking at Madeleine’s bed and I couldn’t, couldn’t make her out. And then I realized actually she’s not in that bed. Aw, I wonder if she’s woken up and gone through to our bed. She wasn’t in our bed. And that was, that was the first time I guess, you know, a panic kicked in. And it was literally at that point the curtains that I said were closed just kinda whoosh... And then I could see that the window had been pushed right open. The shutters were up. So, em, alright, err, so, so I kind of knew straight away that, that Madeleine had been taken.

Journ  :  Within hours of Madeleine going missing the world’s media had descended on the resort. Searches of the local area were carried out. While reporters camped outside the apartment. A day after she disappeared, Gerry gave a statement to the press.

(clip)

GMC  :  Words can not describe the anguish and despair that we are feeling.

Journ  :  Later Kate made an emotional speech after visiting the local church.

KMC : Please continue to pray for Madeleine. She’s lovely.

Journ  :  As the McCanns and their friends tried to piece together that night, Jane Tanner remembered seeing something that was to become the main thread of the investigation. When she walked past the McCanns apartment at about a quarter past nine, she had seen a man. He was carrying a child. Her description helped create this artist’s impression. Was he the man who took Madeleine? A month after her disappearance, the McCanns made an appeal on Crimewatch.

 GMC  : For the Crimewatch viewers at home I think this would be a good time now to review all the information. 

KMC : These are virtually identical to the pyjamas that Madeleine was wearing when she was taken.

(clip)

Journ  :  By now, Madeleine’s abduction was a major news story all over the world. But not all the publicity was welcome.

KY : The day that you yourselves were named as being suspects. Tell me about that day.

KMC : I think Gerry was scared because he knew that we were in a system that we didn’t know. And I think I just lost it actually. I was, I was upset. I was angry and I was.. I just thought, you know, this is just crazy, you know, it’s unjust, we’re never going to find Madeleine.

Journ  :  In July 2008, more than a year after she disappeared, the Portuguese investigation was closed and all suspects, including Kate and Gerry, were formally cleared. The McCanns continued to campaign for police to reopen the case of their missing daughter.

KY : Do you always feel conscious that there’s a, there’s a Madeleine-shaped hole there? 

GMC  : When it’s a special occasion, when you should be at your happiest, and Madeleine’s not there, that’s when it really hits home. Obviously Madeleine’s birthday goes without saying. But it’s when you’re really getting …

KMC : Yeah, when you have big family occasions really. That’s basically it, family occasion and you haven’t got your complete family.

Journ  :  In 2011, the McCanns made a direct appeal to prime minister David Cameron for help in the search for Madeleine. In an unprecedented move, a team from the Metropolitan Police was given the go-ahead to review the mass of evidence that had come from Praia da Luz. Would the UK’s top detectives be able to crack a case that had baffled the world?

Please come in. DCI Andy Redwood is leading the investigation.

AR : Primarily what we sought to do from the beginning is trying to draw everything back to, to zero if you like, try and sort of take everything back to the beginning and then reanalyse and reassess everything, excepting nothing.

Journ  :  The work of detectives in re-examining thousands of documents paid off when they were finally given the green light to launch a full-blown inquiry.

(clips)

Journ  :  What follows is the result of this painstaking new investigation by Scotland Yard’s elite detectives. The truest account yet of what really happened that night.

(to AR) : Tell me now about the crime scene itself.

AR : Yes, I mean the family with their three children were in apartment G five A. This was on the edge of a sort of contained area which was known as the Ocean Club, within which there was a Tapas bar and swimming pools and tennis courts. But the actual apartment where they were staying was outside that perimeter area and it was, effectively, from front and back, accessible to the public. The front door was accessed by a car park and then the rear entrance was aside a set of steps that lead up and into a rear balcony area that go into and through patio doors. Madeleine and her siblings, Sean and Amalie, were staying in the front bedroom which looked out onto the front car park. Errm, Madeleine was in a bed and the two children were in travel cots between Madeleine’s bed and the (another) bed that was nearest to the window.

The careful and critical analysis of the time line has been absolutely key. Primarily, we’re focussed on the area between 8:30 and 10. We know that at 8 thirty, that was the time that Mr and Mrs McCann went down to the Tapas area for their dinner and we know that around 10 pm, that was when Mrs McCann found that Madeleine was missing.

Journ  :  One of the most pivotal events on the time line was Jane Tanner’s sighting of a man carrying a child. He was walking in this spot just meters from where Madeleine had been sleeping. This man was widely thought to be Madeleine’s abductor but the team was taking nothing for granted

AR : One of the things that we picked up very quickly was the fact that there was a night crèche that was operating from the main Ocean Club reception, and 8 families had left eleven children in there and one particular family we spoke to gave us information that was really interesting and exciting. In fact I would say it was a, it was a revelation moment when having discussed with them what they were doing on the night they themselves believed that they could be the Tanner sighting.

Journ  :  The British father had collected his two-year-old daughter from the crèche. He had been walking near the McCanns apartment: This is the actual photograph taken by Metropolitan Police officers of the man dressed in the kind of clothes he wore on holiday. This image was compared to the artist’s impression.

AR : It is uncannily similar, and we know that the pyjamas that their child was wearing that it is again is uncannily striking, the similarity. 

Journ  :  So, what you’re saying is, that the timing that everyone was working on for years in this case was wrong.

AR : We are almost certain now that this sighting is not the abductor but very importantly what it says is that from 9:15, we were able to allow the clock to continue to move forward. And in doing so, things that have not been quite as significant, or received quite the same degree of attention, are now the centre of our focus. 

Journ  :  This was an enormous discovery for the team, an innocent explanation for the suspect who’d been at the centre the case for six years. Their attention quickly turned to another sighting which could now be the key to the entire mystery.

(clip)

It was here at 10 p.m. that an Irish family witnessed another man carrying a child. They saw him come down the hill from the direction of the Ocean Club heading that way towards the beach. Could this have been Madeleine and her abductor?

AR : He was a white man with brown hair. And the child that he had in his arms was described as being about three to four years and with blonde hair possibly wearing pyjamas, a description very close to that of Madeleine McCann.

Journ  : Two of the witnesses helped create e-fits of the man they saw. Today for the first time we can reveal the true significance of these images.

AR : This could be the man that took Madeleine, but very importantly there could be an innocent explanation. The e-fits are clear and I’d ask the public to look very carefully at them. If they know who this person is, please come forward.

(clip)

Journ  : As part of their exhaustive investigation, the detectives are particularly interested in a number of blond-haired men who were seen near the McCanns apartment. Do they hold the answer to her disappearance?

(clips)

Journ  : One witness saw a fair-haired man near the McCanns apartment twice. On the first occasion, she saw him standing on the path that runs behind the block. The second time, near the entrance to the Tapas restaurant looking towards apartment G 5 A. On the day Madeleine disappeared, two men were seen on the balcony of a nearby empty apartment, believed to be 5C, two doors down from the McCanns. A man was also seen in the same area two hours later. At 6 p.m., a man was seen in the stairwell in the McCanns apartment block.  And an hour after Madeleine was reported missing, two men were seen speaking with raised voices. When they saw the witness, they walked away talking in hushed tones.

Journ  : How important are these sightings, do you think?

AR : Madeleine McCann’s disappearance does, on one reading of the evidence, have the hallmarks of a pre-planned abduction. That would undoubtedly have involved reconnaissance, and so we’re really keen to understand who these people were. They may all be separate. So it’s really important this evening to say to the public that if you recognize yourself then please have the courage to come forward, because it’s really important for us to eliminate any sightings that are innocent and nothing to do with Madeleine’s disappearance. 

Journ  : As well as that line of inquiry, and the sighting by the Irish family of a man carrying a child, the police are also looking at a third important strand of their investigation. 

AR : We have noticed that there was, between January and the time Madeleine went missing, a four-fold increase in the number of burglaries that were taking place in the vicinity.

(clip)

Journ  : In the three weeks prior to her disappearance, two incidents took place in the very block when Madeleine slept. In both, windows were used to gain access.

AR : Possibly, there is a scenario where Madeleine could have possibly disturbed somebody trying to commit a burglary.

Journ  : To date, nobody has been caught for these crimes.

(reconstruction clip and Madeleine clip)

KY : You’ve said in the past that there can be nobody who knows your story who can look back on that night as much as you yourself have looked back on it and said What could we have done? What should we have done? How you deal with those feelings now? 

GMC : Maybe I’ll say it first because I think I realised really early on that we could, guilt, ifs, buts, maybes, could just eat away at you and it doesn’t change what’s happened. Ermm, it’s always been a mantra for me is to look forward, and always look forward to what can still be done.

KMC : I think it took me longer to get to that point, you know, I didn’t persecute myself further, our decision to eat at the Tapas restaurant for weeks, months, years, I’d say. 

KY : For years, did you? 

KMC : Yeah, you know (slightly embarrassed) I´d, you know, why did we think that was OK? You know, obviously with eh, with hindsight, but then, as Gerry said, it doesn’t help. It doesn’t help us. It doesn’t help Madeleine. to somehow put And ultimately, it’s not us that’s committed this crime. It’s a person who’s gone into an apartment and taken a little girl away from her family.

(clip Madeleine)

KY : That’s what they’ve done. They’ve taken a little girl away from her family. Let’s speak now live to DCI Andy Redwood who, as you’ve seen, is leading this big investigation, has taken the time to join us here tonight. In front of you and your team has been a massive task. You genuinely feel that you are making significant advances here, do you? 

AR : Yes we do. We are making good progress. There is still much to do. but our revision of the time line and a re-emphasis on events beyond 9:15 means that we are bringing new information this evening to the public. 

KY : OK tell me about that then. Let’s focus on 10 p.m. Let’s focus on this sighting and you tell me what’s important, and what people watching need to concentrate on tonight. 

AR : Well at 10 p.m., we can see a man walking down towards the sea. A white man in his thirties with brown hair, and in his arms is a child three to four years of age, blonde hair, wearing pyjamas, very close description to that of Madeleine McCann.

(e-fits of Smithman)  

Two e-fits that have never been in the public domain of this one individual. Really important for us to understand who he is. 

KY : Andy, another aspect that seems, to me, very important, are all these different sightings of what might be the same fair-haired man, might be a different fair-haired man. Give us a bit more detail on those. 

AR : Well, there is a number of other incidents on either, on both the day that Madeleine went missing and in days leading up to her disappearance where one man or two were seen lurking around the apartments. Now there may be a completely innocent explanation for that but we really need the public to help us to identify these men are.

(e-fits A & B of  one or two fair-haired)

KY : OK, you said to (the journalist) that was there was this spike, this four-fold increase in burglaries around about the time that Madeleine was taken. And also there was a rash of, we are calling them charity collections. Who knows if that’s what they were. You think both of these things also might be something that has an important aspect in terms of the investigation. 

AR : Yes. On the afternoon that Madeleine disappeared, between 3:30 and 5:30 there were four charity collector events, where two men went to residential apartments in streets very close to her apartment. And certainly on one of those events at 4 p.m. – there’s an e-fit that the public can look at of a man with black hair …

(e-fit of C, a black haired)

KY : Right.

AR : ... and we really need to understand more about it and and identify who this person is. 

KY : And just it was about a week before, there was another significant event,again let’s call a charity collection sighting. Tell me about this.

(e-fit of D, a black-haired)

AR : Yes, and this was actually the week before Madeleine disappeared in the apartment where she was staying. A man and the e-fit is in front to the public now, again with black hair went up the rear steps and approached a gentleman on the balcony. And again there are certain elements of both that event and the event on the 4 pm on the day that we’ve shown prior to this that have resonance between each other, really important for us to identify these individuals are. 

KY : That’s for sure. DCI Andy Redwood, thanks very much for taking the time for talking to us. So let’s then join Madeleine’s parents. Lets talk to Kate and Gerry McCann. You saw there for us they were reliving that entire traumatic day and em.  

(Interview live)

Nice to see you again and I’m sure that can’t have been easy. Eh, Gerry if I can come to you first, you said the first time you made a public statement that Words cannot describe the anguish and despair that we are feeling. I wonder tonight having come all the way that you have and having fought as hard as you have for this investigation, hearing the new information what are you feeling tonight?

GMC : I think we’re feeling hopeful and optimistic. Em, all along we’ve said that a review needed done, and I think the Metropolitan Police have done a great job in piecing things together, bringing all the information, and really identifying new pieces of information that really are taking us further forward. 

KY : Kate, I was entirely conscious as I was speaking to you and Gerry, when we were, when I was interviewing you, that of course I was asking you about the most traumatic and awful day of your life. Of course there is a reason for doing that. People watching tonight might say, you know what, Kate, it is six years on. What do you think’s gonna come out of this? You, you, you, you’re putting yourself through all this heartache. What on earth can happen next? What would you say to them? 

KMC : Well, it doesn’t matter how much heartache we put ourselves through, so long as, you know, we get the result that we need. You know, as Gerry said, the Met have made huge progress and that has given us great hope that we can find Madeleine, that we can find out what’s happened to her. 

GMC : As well as all the other cases said over the last few years of children who’ve been found after being taken for a long time. You know these cases can get solved, and I think that’s what the public need to think about tonight, the new information, and really rack their brains and come forward. 

KY : I was very conscious when I spoke to you actually you said something to me that you didn’t say during the interview that you said later on when we were chatting off-camera. And you said, Kirsty, you know, the younger that a child is abducted, the greater chance statistically there is that child will be found alive. Now, obviously you have to become experts in this but I very much got that feeling that for both you there is hope there still. 

GMC : I think that absolutely we don’t know what’s happened to Madeleine. Ermm, we don’t know who’s taken her. Probably our best chance of finding her is identifying that person, and that’s why the e-fits and the sketches and the new information tonight are so important to us, because that’s probably the best chance we’ve got of finding Madeleine. 

KY : can I just ask you briefly Kate, for anybody watching tonight, who thinks, I know something, I don’t know I don’t know if it is worth phoning in. What would you say to them personally tonight if they’re watching. 

GMC : Please, please have the courage and confidence to come forward now and share that information with us and you could unlock this whole case. So please, the general public has being fantastic but please stay with us and come forward.

KY : We wish you and we wish this twins all the very best. Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us. Thank you.

MCs : Thank you. 

KY : Right, there you have it. Now it’s your turn. If you recognise the man that we have shown you tonight in these e-fits, here he is again. Or if you have any single scrap of information. Could be about the sightings of the fair-haired men. It could be about burglaries in the area. I would urge you please to do the right thing and call our studio now. You know the number. It’s 0500 600 600. You can also call the incident room if you prefer. Let me give you the number for that. That’s 0800 09610 double 1.