The purpose of
this site is for information and a record of Gerry McCann's Blog
Archives. As most people will appreciate GM deleted all past blogs
from the official website. Hopefully this Archive will be helpful to
anyone who is interested in Justice for Madeleine Beth McCann. Many
Thanks, Pamalam
Note: This site does not belong to the McCanns. It belongs to Pamalam. If
you wish to contact the McCanns directly, please use
the contact/email details
campaign@findmadeleine.com
A VICTORIA BECKHAM lookalike named in the Madeleine McCann case was tracked down yesterday
and insisted: "I have nothing to do with her disappearance."
Like the e-fit picture released on Thursday by Maddie investigators, Judith Aron does have black spiky hair.
But unlike pop star Posh Spice, 35, she is FIFTY-THREE. Miss Aron also insists she has not left her native
Australia since 2000. Maddie disappeared from Portugal on May 3, 2007, just days short of her fourth birthday.
The dramatic twist in the case came when Nelida Martinez from Sydney recognised the e-fit and went to police
with a photo of Miss Aron. It is believed the pic was taken on a flight from Portugal to Spain in 1997.
Reporters in Australia got wind of the story and tracked down Miss Aron to Melbourne where, bizarrely, she
lives in Madeline Street.
Miss Aron, who has a fair-haired daughter around the age Maddie would be now, told an Oz newspaper: "I'm
53 and I certainly don't look like a Spice Girl. I can honestly say I have no connection to the little girl.
WANTED: The e-fit picture
Agitated
"I haven't left Australia since 2000 and I was looking after my elderly father so I wasn't able to go overseas."
Private investigators working for Kate and Gerry McCann launched the hunt after learning that a Posh double
spoke to a British man in a Barcelona bar just 72 hours after Maddie vanished in Praia da Luz.
It is believed the woman mistook the Brit for a courier and asked in an Aussie accent: "Are you here to
deliver my new daughter?" She seemed agitated during their conversation at 2am on May 7, 2007, continuing: "Have you got got
the child?"
She left the El Rey De La Gamba bar in the Port Olimpic marina when she realised the man, 41, didn't know
what she was talking about.
Investigators led by retired Det Insp Dave Edgar are probing the possibility Madeleine was kidnapped to
order and smuggled out of Portugal by boat. He said the 'Posh' double was "a strong lead. Madeleine could have been in Barcelona."
In a separate line of inquiry, investigators have been given the name of an Australian woman whose powerboat
is thought to have entered the same marina on May 7, 2007.
Records show it left two days later and is registered to a wealthy family from Perth, Australia. Last night
the brother of the female owner said: "She had nothing to do with the disappearance."
Socialite at centre of Maddy mystery, 09 August 2009
A MULTI-MILLIONAIRESS could be interviewed by Madeleine McCann investigators this week over
the movements of her luxury motor cruiser
The Australian socialite, who is believed to be aboard the £5million yacht this weekend, cruising in the Mediterranean,
is aware that she has become embroiled in the international hunt for Madeleine.
It is believed the vessel was berthed in Barcelona's marina in early May 2007 when a woman said to resemble Victoria
Beckham asked a British man: "Have you got her? Have you got the child?"
The conversation took place near El Rey de la Gamba restaurant at the Olympic marina at 2am, some 72 hours after Madeleine,
then three, vanished from her holiday apartment on Portugal's Algarve coast. The Australian-sounding woman apparently mistook
the man for someone she was expecting to meet with a child.
Former detectives hunting Madeleine McCann only became aware of the bizarre conversation six weeks ago when the man came
forward to provide a statement and help produce an e-fit with the assistance of Cheshire Police. Members of the woman's family
have become aware of the interest and have been in contact with her.
The hope is that some time this week she will make herself available to the McCann investigators, possibly during a stop-off
at a Mediterranean port.
The Sunday Express knows the identity of the woman, but she cannot be named for legal reasons.
Investigators are looking into the movement of all motor cruisers and other boats in Barcelona in early May 2007, particularly
focussing on where the vessels had arrived from.
The development comes as details matching the identity of the woman being sought by detectives over Madeleine's disappearance
have been passed to police in Australia. A woman has told New South Wales officers that she knows the name of the person who
spoke to a British man outside the bar in Barcelona.
The woman who provided the crucial new lead was interviewed in Sydney by police on Friday afternoon, 18 hours after investigators
working for the McCann family released the e-fit, since widely published in Australian newspapers. Police would not say if
they had received any other calls.
A spokeswoman for New South Wales Police said last night: "A Sydney woman provided a formal statement to detectives.
She claims to know the identity of the woman being sought by the private investigators attached to the McCann family."
David Edgar and Arthur Cowley, retired detectives working for the McCanns, are expected to contact the Australian federal
authorities tomorrow.
Among the pieces of information passed to the investigators from people in Europe and Australia are "dozens" of possible
names for an e-fit of the woman, described as a Victoria Beckham lookalike.
Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, said: "Since the appeal on Thursday investigators
have had more than 600 pieces of information come into the inquiry via e-mail and telephone calls.
"Among it all are a number of viable leads, all of which are being assessed and prioritised as necessary."
Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing from the holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, while her
parents dined with friends nearby.
Two British men who saw the woman in the e-fit said she was well-dressed but appeared agitated as if she was waiting
to meet somebody.
Maddy's mother photographed boat she believes snatched girl, 09 August 2009
Maddy's mother photographed boat she believes snatched girl Sunday Express
Kate McCann took her friend's vision seriously
By James Murray
Saturday August 8, 2009
KATE McCANN went to see a boat she believes was used in the abduction of their daughter,
the Sunday Express can reveal today. Just a few days after Madeleine was snatched from the family's holiday apartment, a family
friend had a "strong vision" that the child was on a boat moored in a nearby marina.
Kate went to Lagos marina, a few miles along the coast from Praia da Luz where her daughter vanished on May 3, 2007,
and photographed the boat and the man on board, a hand-written note in police files reveals.
The note, headed "information from the family" and apparently from an officer with the Leicestershire Police as it was
written on the force's notepaper, reads: "I spoke to Kate McCann on Tuesday 8th May 2007.
"She told me that a friend of her aunt and uncle had a friend that had a strong vision that Madeleine was on a boat with
a man in the marina in Lagos."
It reveals that the "person" arrived in Portugal and spoke to Kate, adding: "They have visited the marina and identified
the boat."
The officer spoke to a colleague who made some enquiries about the cruiser, which was registered to a Canadian national.
Enquiries were also made on the police national computer.
The note goes on: "I spoke with Kate today and she has given me photographs of the boat.
"She has also given me photograph of a man who had been on the boat.
"This is not the man that the woman saw in her vision. This matter is very important to her and she is very pleased that
we are making enqs (enquiries) into the matter."
In the Portugese police file there are pictures of the marina and the cruiser along with a letter from the marina to
the registered owner saying that the six months' mooring contract would run out on April 8 of that year.
Whether the astonishing enquiries made by Kate herself led anywhere is not clear but the episode shows how seriously
she took the suggestion that her daughter was abducted by sea.
In the early days of Madeleine's disappearance Portugese detectives investigated the ownership and movements
of many boats on the local coast, but don't appear to have come up with strong suspect.
However, with the feverish speculation that a woman with an Australian accent was apparently waiting for the delivery
of a child in Barcelona 72 hours after Madeleine vanished has turned the spotlight back on the movement of boats in May 2007.
Private detectives working for Kate and Gerry McCann are working on the theory that Madeleine was smuggled on to a boat,
then spirited 800 miles along the coast to Barcelona for collection by the woman, who is said to bear a resemblance to Victoria
Beckham.
A British man had a conversation with the woman outside a restaurant 72 hours after Maddie, then three, was taken.
Tragically for Madeleine, these sporadic bouts of excitement have in the past failed to produce a direct lead to who
actually took her and where she is now, dead or alive.
Unfortunately, the whole investigation was also compromised in the early days by the sheer incompetence of the Portugese
police investigation.
From the outset officers allowed people to trample over the crime scene at the McCann’s apartment.
And though Jane Tanner, one of the McCann's holiday companions, dubbed the Tapas Seven, said she saw a man carrying a
child in his arms around the time Madeleine disappeared, it was left to the McCanns to get an artist to do a drawing months
later instead of a professional, Scotland Yard e-fit.
Another key area woefully handled by the Portugese was the vital accounting for all the known paedophiles in the area
at the crucial time.
Retired detectives David Edgar and Arthur Cowley are doing the extremely difficult job of trying to track the
alibis of these people more than two years after the kidnap.
The last time there was such concentrated interest was when a newspaper discovered that British paedophile Raymond
Hewlett had been in Portugal at the relevant time. Now dying from cancer, he has consistently denied any involvement.
Now the Madeleine hare is up and running in Australia.
Television programmes have been urging millions of residents to track down the woman who allegedly had a snatched
conversation with a British man who waited more than two years to contact the Madeleine investigators, apparently unaware
that he may possess vital information.
Right from the beginning allegations have been bandied about to the detriment of the inquiry.
The innocent and well meaning Robert Murat suffered months of suspicion when fingers were wrongly pointed at
him and both Kate and Gerry McCann suffered when Portugese police wrongly made them arguidos for a time.
As the searchlight turns on boat-owners, those conducting the inquiry should be aware of the damage they could cause
to people they regard as "persons of interest" to the inquiry.
In all likelihood the Australian woman seen at the bar in Barcelona will be tracked down, named, spoken to and then eliminated
from the inquiry.
Everyone can understand the despair felt by the McCanns, but their honourable and understandable quest for answers must
be expertly focused to avoid another media frenzy which fails to provide what we all want: the discovery of Madeleine alive
so she can return to her tormented family.
Witness statement related to vision of boat
Rental agreement on the "Shearwater" yacht
PJ Files: Inquiries made, by the PJ, into
the 'Shearwater' boat
PJ Files: Outros Apensos VIII Vol II a, Pages 322 –
330
Policia Judiciaria
Date: 2007-05-18 Service Information
To: The Coordinator of the Criminal Investigation in Portimao, Dr G. Amaral
From: Inspector José Luís
Subject: Inquiries Made
I inform you that in accordance with superior orders, an investigation team
consisting of myself and Inspectors Santos Martins and Marques Bom went to Lagos Marina today at about 11.00 with the aim
of collecting elements relating to the occupants of a vessel that was moored there at the mooring post B40, registered under
the name of "Shearwater".
Due to the absence of Engineer Martinho Fortunado, Director of Lagos Marina,
contact was made with Sra Ingrid who clarified the following in her capacity as Administrator of the complex:
The
"Shearwater" vessel is registered under the number 30E11386, has a Canadian flag and has been "tightly"
moored at the marina since 19-10-2006 when it entered the marina in provenance from Portimao marina where it had undergone
some repairs.
The vessel's owner is B. Cook, born in Ontario, Canada, (Canadian address and 2 telephone numbers
supplied).
B. Cook is a frequent client of Lagos Marina. He has used the marina for the past 8 years and remains
here for long periods, he lives on the vessel, being a solitary, easy going person.
Whenever he needs to leave
the marina he uses a bicycle for transport, which is usually situated on top of the vessel, perfectly visible from the outside.
When the vessel arrived from Portimao, it was manned by R. Barker, identified by document ****, a British citizen
and friend of B. Cook and who is currently in Turkey.
The "Shearwater" hardly ever sails, in spite of
appearing to have all the necessary conditions for regular use.
Although it is an 8.10 metre long vessel, it has
a central mast the dimensions of which require the mobile bridge to be raised. When the employees of the marina were asked
about boat movements requiring the raising of the mobile bridge (manual registers) it was established that the bridge had
not been raised during the months of April or May of 2007.
Whilst the team of investigators was present at Lagos
Marina, Mr Cook who was next to his vessel, was pointed out to them to them. He was immediately approached, the investigators
using a cover story, as if they were just carrying out a routine check.
Under these terms a brief conversation
was held with B. Cook who presented his identification and placed the vessel at the officers’ disposal for any check
they cared to make.
There was nothing strange about the situation nor anything that aroused any interest.
A photographic register was made of the vessel (interior and exterior) as well as of B. Cook himself and is attached to
this report.
A £3MILLION superyacht has become the latest focus in the two-year hunt for Madeleine McCann.
It was moored at a Spanish marina three days after Maddie vanished when a woman with an Australian accent asked a man:
"Are you here to deliver my new daughter?" The luxury boat - named Willpower - is owned by mega-rich Aussie socialite Rhonda
Wyllie.
But the 52-year-old is said to be "devastated" by the news and has vowed to do all she can to help investigators.
There is NO suggestion Rhonda - widow of property tycoon Bill Wyllie - is connected to Maddie's disappearance.
Willpower, which is currently for sale, is a 105ft Sunseeker big enough to sleep six guests and carry four crew.
Last night Rhonda's brother Wayne McGrath said: "I have spoken to my sister and she is absolutely devastated.
"She doesn't know anything about this.
"She does go to Spain - she's been there for the last two or three years. But the only reason she goes is to entertain
friends."
Wayne added: "She is happy to co-operate with and help any investigation."
The People has learnt most of the crew who have worked on Willpower in recent years have been Australian.
It's believed investigators want to find out all they can about anyone connected to the yacht to rule them out of the
probe.
Records show Willpower was at the Port Olimpic marina in Barcelona when a woman - said to look like Posh Spice Victoria
Beckham - approached a British man and asked about the child.
It is believed she had mistaken him for a "courier".
A source close to the worldwide Hunt for Maddie said: "Any information the yacht's owners can give would be very helpful."
Willpower is thought to be in the south of France at present.
Madeleine vanished from a Portuguese apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007 - just before her fourth birthday.
She was on holiday with mum Kate, dad Gerry and the couple's twins Sean and Amelie, then aged two.
The children were alseep in the flat while their parents dined with friends at a nearby restaurant when Maddie was last
seen.
Since then, heart specialist Gerry and GP Kate, of Rothley, Leics, have campaigned tirelessly around the world to find
their missing daughter.
A new global appeal was launched in London on Thursday after the possible "Aussie Spice" link came to light.
Kate and Gerry, both 41, have already had more than 600 calls after an E-fit picture of a suspect was released.
Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "There has been an overwhelming response.
"Kate and Gerry are very pleased and grateful to people for making such an effort to help them."
But a woman named as a match for the E-fit claims she has not left Australia for years.
Judith Aron, of Glen Iris, Victoria, said: "I'm 53 years old and I certainly don't look like a Spice Girl.
"I'm totally shocked anybody may have thought I have some connection to the case.
"I have been looking after my sick father and I haven't left the country since 2000."
Byron Bay Maddy sighting 'unlikely', 09 August 2009
POLICE investigated a possible sighting of the missing British girl Madeleine McCann near Byron Bay yesterday after a
person reportedly mentioned to an officer they saw a child who resembled the missing girl near Suffolk Park.
The sighting was unconfirmed but police said the report was unlikely to be legitimate.
A NSW police spokeswoman said it was likely Maddy sightings would increase as a result of publicity surrounding the possible
Australian link to her disappearence.
Meanwhile a family spokesman said detectives have 'a number of viable leads' for an Australian woman believed to hold
vital clues to the girl's disappearance.
Clarence Mitchell says there are several tips worth pursuing out of the hundreds of leads sent in from the public about
the woman wanted in connection with the British child's disappearance in Portugal in 2007.
"An awful lot of these tip-offs and bits of information are well-meaning but ultimately come to nothing," he said.
"But we have had dozens of names given to us for the woman we're looking for."
Yachts targeted in Madeleine McCann search, 09 August 2009
AT least four yachts and motor cruisers, including one belonging to an Australian socialite,
are being hunted across the world in possible connection with the disappearance of British child Madeleine McCann.
The team of former British police detectives hired by Kate and Gerry McCann has reopened Portuguese police files created
after the 2007 disappearance of the then three-year-old from a Portuguese resort.
The Portuguese police long theorised Madeleine's abduction was possibly from offshore, and their reports included details
of vessels off the Algarve coast at the time of her disappearance.
The files are only now being given close scrutiny, with new evidence linking an Australian woman, a motor cruiser registered
in Australia and a desperate early morning conversation at a marina in Spain shortly after the toddler's disappearance.
"It makes sense that if you are going to take a child the easiest way would be to use a discreet vessel and take your
time wandering the world," a McCann team member told The Courier-Mail yesterday.
"It's an option we looked at, but this new information about the woman in Barcelona is allowing us to fill in a few holes."
One British newspaper reported a multimillionaire Australian socialite currently cruising the Mediterranean in a vessel
that matched McCann files would be spoken to this week. She is aware she has become embroiled in the case.
The McCanns have investigators working in Australia, Britain and Portugal tracing all the vessels and details of the
mystery Australian woman, said to look like Victoria Beckham.
The McCanns have received more than 600 emails and calls since a sketch of a Spanish-speaking Australian woman was released
on Thursday.
The woman was allegedly pacing up and down a marina in Barcelona at 2am, three days after Madeleine disappeared, when
she mistook a British tourist for someone else and asked him had he "brought my new daughter".
Evidence of the short conversation only came to light seven weeks ago, and is being treated as one of the strongest leads
into the disappearance of the girl.
Investigators tracing yachts have looked at a motor cruiser from Australia, a $10 million yacht sailed by the Australian
socialite, a vessel from Sweden and one from Canada.
Between 12.40pm on May 6, 2007, and May 9 there were nine movements in the Barcelona marina. The Australian-flagged cruiser
was the only foreign vessel without a permanent mooring.
McCanns grateful for Aussies' input
THE parents of missing British girl Madeleine McCann have thanked Australians for joining the hunt for their daughter,
and have spoken of their joy at the apparently viable new leads into her disappearance.
The McCanns receive at least two updates a day from detectives hired to find the now six-year-old, and also from their
spokesman Clarence Mitchell.
Mr Mitchell said yesterday the McCanns were in good spirits and were grateful for the response from Australians to their
latest appeal for information.
"They said: 'It gives us hope, it is substantial and gives us great strength when you feel there is a bit of momentum,' "
he said.
"They will never give up until they know what has happened to her."
The investigation phone number is 0011 44 845 838 4699 or email investigation@findmadeleine.com
Millionaire socialite 'devastated' as her £3m superyacht is linked to hunt for Madeleine
McCann, 09 August 2009
Millionaire socialite 'devastated' as her £3m superyacht is linked to hunt for Madeleine
McCann Daily Mail
By VANESSA ALLEN
Last updated at 7:49 PM on 09th August 2009
A millionaire socialite whose luxury yacht has been linked to the latest clue in the Madeleine McCann hunt has offered
to help the two-year investigation.
Relatives of Rhonda Wyllie said today that she would do all she could to help Kate and Gerry McCann's detectives, after
it emerged that her £3million superyacht could be linked to the mystery.
Investigators revealed last week that a new British witness had come forward with information about a woman he spotted
in Barcelona's Port Olimpic marina on May 6, 2007 - three days after Madeleine's disappearance.
He said the well-dressed woman spoke with an Australian accent and said she asked him: 'Are you here to deliver my new
daughter?'
Mrs Wyllie's 105ft Sunseeker was the only Australian-registered vessel moored in the Spanish marina that night and the
private investigators now hope to speak to its captain.
There is no suggestion that Mrs Wyllie, a 52-year-old widow, is connected to Madeleine's disappearance.
But detectives will want to speak to crew who could have been aboard the boat, and to check if they hold any information
which could provide new clues in the search.
Relatives of the Australian socialite said she would do all she could to help the worldwide hunt for the missing child.
Her brother Wayne McGrath told the People newspaper: 'I have spoken to my sister and she is absolutely devastated. She
doesn't know anything about this.'
He added: 'She is happy to co-operate with and help any investigation.'
The British witness described the woman he saw as slim, glamorous and around 5ft 2in tall with short spiky brown hair.
She was described as resembling celebrity Victoria Beckham and was said to be aged between 30 and 35.
The yacht's former skipper, a British man who asked not to be named, confirmed the Willpower was moored in the marina
on May 6, but said there were no Australians onboard.
He said: 'There is absolutely no link between the boat and Madeleine... I'm afraid this is a total red herring.'
He added: 'The owner and her guests had left for the South of France a day or two previously. The only people onboard
were myself, my girlfriend, who is blonde and as British as they come, and an American couple who were working as crew.
'I am happy to speak to the private investigators and will do anything I can to help the investigation. I completely
understand that the McCanns want to follow up every lead, no matter how tenuous.'
Investigators unveiled an artist's impression of the woman spotted in the marina and have received up to 600 calls about
her.
But one Australian woman named as a match for the image said she had not left Australia for years.
Judith Aron, of Glen Iris in Victoria, was said to bear a striking resemblance to the woman but said: 'I'm 53 years old
and I certainly don't look like a Spice Girl.
'I'm totally shocked anybody may have thought I have some connection to the case. I have been looking after my sick father
and I haven't left the country since 2000.'
Madeleine vanished from her family's rented holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz just days before
her fourth birthday.
There has been no confirmed information about her since then, despite a worldwide publicity campaign which has triggered
countless potential sightings.
Her parents Mr and Mrs McCann, 41, have vowed never to give up their search for their missing daughter.
Their investigators were said to be willing to speak to Mrs Wyllie and the yacht's captain, but sources said they believed
the boat's presence in the marina was 'a bizarre coincidence'.
McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell refused to comment about Mrs Wyllie, but said the McCanns were grateful for
any offers of help to the investigation.
Maddy gran: 'Posh' e-fit gives us hope, 09 August 2009
A new 'Posh Spice lookalike' e-fit issued in the search for Madeleine McCann has given her mother and father new hope,
the family have said.
The missing girl's grandmother, Susan Healey, said parents Gerry and Kate McCann, both 41, believe the image could provide
a crucial breakthrough.
The woman who bears a resemblance to Victoria Beckham, was seen acting strangely in Barcelona three days after Madeleine
disappeared from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007.
She apparently said to a British man she mistook for a trafficker: 'Are you here to deliver my new daughter?' 'Kate and
Gerry are usually very measured about new "evidence" but this has given us all renewed hope,' Ms Healey told Hello! magazine.
'It would be so wonderful if it helps us find Madeleine. You can imagine what it's been like for us since she vanished.'
She also said the family from Rothley, Leicestershire, would never give up hope of finding Madeleine who was three when
she went missing.
'We just have to keep hoping like hell, there's no alternative,' she added. Investigators have received more than 600
calls and e-mails after issuing the e-fit of the well-dressed woman who spoke with an Australian accent.
They are looking into the possibility Madeleine was taken from Portugal to Spain on an Australian-registered yacht.
Agony for McCanns as 2 new leads flop, 10 August 2009
MADELEINE McCann's parents faced double heartache last night.
Two new clues to the youngster's disappearance have been ruled out of the inquiry.
An Australian woman who matched the "Posh Spice lookalike" e-fit appeared to be entirely innocent of any involvement.
Judith Aron, 53, of Melbourne, said: "I have no connection to the little girl.
"I haven't left Australia since 2000, so there's no way I could have been in Portugal or Spain around the time she went
missing."
Ms Aron resembles the drawing of an Aussie woman who asked a stranger in Barcelona, shortly after Madeleine vanished
two years ago: "Are you here to deliver my new daughter?"
In another disappointment to the McCanns, a £6million superyacht was also ruled out. Detectives hired by doctors Kate
and Gerry McCann, both 41, had been hunting for the vessel.
Three days after Madeleine disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal, it was moored in a Barcelona marina where the mystery
woman was spotted.
The Sunseeker Yacht 105, called Will Power, flies an Australian flag.
But last night the Brit skipper insisted it was a "coincidence"’. Its owner, £250m socialite Rhonda Wyllie, 52,
was not on board at the time.
The skipper said he had dropped off her and her guests in Monaco. There were no Australians on board in Barcelona and
he had never taken it to Portugal.
The captain, who asked not to be named, said: "There is absolutely no link between the boat and Madeleine."
Port authority records back up his account of the boat's movements.
Madeleine: Aussie police close in on hunted woman, 10 August 2009
Madeleine: Aussie police close in on hunted woman Daily Express
By David Pilditch
Monday August 10, 2009
DETECTIVES searching for Madeleine McCann were following up a series of new "viable leads"
last night as the hunt for the missing girl focused on Australia.
Police in New South Wales are trying to track down a woman who matches the description of a Victoria Beckham lookalike
at the centre of a fresh probe.
Private detectives working for Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry, last week issued an e-fit picture of the woman who
spoke to a British man in the marina area of Barcelona 72 hours after Madeleine vanished from her parent's holiday villa in
Portugal.
The agitated, well-dressed woman with an Australian accent raised suspicion after asking the tourist: "Are you here to
deliver my new daughter?"
Now police in Sydney have taken a detailed statement from a witness who believes she knows the woman being sought. The
Sydney witness has handed officers a photograph of the woman taken on a plane returning from Portugal.
A police source told local media: "She showed us the picture and we got goosebumps. It looked exactly like the identikit
picture."
A spokesman for the New South Wales Police Force said: "She claims to know the identity of the woman being sought by
the private investigators attached to the McCann family.
"New South Wales Police Force will forward the information received to the Australian Federal Police."
The McCanns' private detectives are following up more than 600 calls and emails after the new revelations. Family spokesman
Clarence Mitchell said: "Out of all this we have had dozens of names for the woman we're looking for. Out of that the detectives
have a number of viable leads they are pursuing as a priority."
An Australian-registered super-yacht moored in Barcelona's Port Olympic marina at the time of the sighting by the new
witness appeared last night to have been ruled out of the inquiry. The former skipper of the £6million Sunseeker owned by
the daughter of an Australian property tycoon insisted it had never been to Portugal.
The British man, who offered to give investigators a statement, insisted the owners weren't on board at the time.
A second Australian woman, Judith Aron, 53 – another Victoria Beckham lookalike – told how she had been wrongly
linked to the inquiry.
Ms Aron, of Melbourne, said she had been interviewed by Australian police after a friend tipped them off that she resembled
the woman being sought.
New Madeleine Lead Gives Family Fresh Hope, 10 August 2009
New Madeleine Lead Gives Family Fresh Hope Sky News
12:18am UK, Monday August 10, 2009
A new lead in the search for Madeleine McCann has given her family new hope, her grandmother has said.
Madeleine's family have 'good days and bad days'
Investigators last week issued an e-fit of a woman described as an Australian Victoria Beckham lookalike.
She reportedly asked a witness if he was there to deliver her "new daughter" just days after the little girl's disappearance.
They are said to have received hundreds of calls from the public and been given dozens of possible names since then.
Madeleine's grandmother Susan Healey told Hello! magazine: "Kate and Gerry are usually very measured about new 'evidence',
but this has given us all renewed hope."
The family had "good days and bad days", she added.
"Although we try to be hopeful, there are times when we think, 'But it's been such a long time'," she said.
"Sometimes it feels almost unbearable. Then there's a new lead or clue, or you hear about another child that went missing
who's been found alive and it gives you a lift."
Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on
May 3, 2007 while her parents dined with friends nearby.
Just over 72 hours later, in the early hours of May 7, two British men saw the Victoria Beckham lookalike while on a
night out in the popular Port Olimpic Marina in Barcelona.
After speaking to one of the witnesses the woman went into a bar next door, where she had a heated conversation with
a local in what seemed to be fluent Spanish.
The search for Madeleine is focusing on Australia after a Sydney woman provided a formal statement to detectives at a
Sydney police station.
New South Wales Police Force said she had claimed to know the identity of the woman being sought.
Madeleine McCann hunt: Investigators off to Australia, 10 August 2009
Madeleine McCann hunt: Investigators off to Australia Daily Mirror
By Paul Byrne
10/08/2009
Investigators searching for Madeleine McCann are flying to Australia to follow up "viable leads".
The move comes after the release of an e-fit of a woman with an Australian accent who spoke to a Briton in Barcelona
72 hours after Madeleine vanished.
The Victoria Beckham lookalike is said to have asked him: "Have you got her? Have you got the child?" Clarence Mitchell,
speaking for Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, said it could be "significant".
Australian police had a flood of calls after publication of the e-fit. A source from the New South Wales force said they
had been given a picture of a woman who looked "exactly like the identikit."
Meanwhile, Judith Aron, 53, from Melbourne, who was linked to the inquiry, has said she had no connection to the disappearance.
Madeleine was nearly four when she vanished in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.
Madeleine McCann: tycoon's family 'perplexed' by investigation, 10 August 2009
Madeleine McCann: tycoon's family 'perplexed' by investigation Telegraph
Rhonda Wyllie and Melissa Karlson, the widow and daughter of an Australian property tycoon, have said that they are "perplexed"
by reports linking their luxury yacht to the Madeleine McCann investigation.
Published: 11:35AM BST 10 Aug 2009
Melissa Karlson's mother owns the £6million vessel, Willpower Photo: SPLASH
The vessel, Willpower, was moored at Barcelona in Spain around the time when a woman with an Australian accent reportedly
asked a British man if he was there to deliver her "new daughter".
The McCanns' private detectives last week launched an appeal for information about the mysterious woman, described as
a Victoria Beckham lookalike.
Rhonda Wyllie and Melissa Karlson, the widow and daughter of the late Australian multi-millionaire Bill Wyllie, insisted
they were not in Barcelona at that time.
A Wyllie Group spokesman said: "Rhonda and Melissa are perplexed by the media coverage of the past 24 hours, especially
given that neither of them was actually in Spain on the night in question."
There is no suggestion that they or any of their yacht's crew had anything to do with Madeleine's disappearance.
The little girl was nearly four when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal
on May 3 2007 while her parents dined with friends nearby.
Just over 72 hours later, in the early hours of May 7, two British men said they saw the Victoria Beckham lookalike while
on a night out in the popular Port Olimpic Marina in Barcelona.
When one of the British men approached and spoke to her, she reportedly asked him: "Are you here to deliver my new daughter?"
After speaking to the witness, the woman went into a bar next door, where she had a heated conversation with a local
in what seemed to be fluent Spanish.
McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the private detectives were investigating boat movements around Portugal
and Spain.
They are also going through information provided by the public in response to the appeal, including "dozens" of possible
names of the woman seen in Barcelona.
Mr Mitchell said the investigators were ready to travel to Australia at short notice.
"If anything urgent happens and they need to go to Australia quickly, they will. But they're not on the verge of setting
off," he said.
The new lead has given Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, "renewed hope", her grandmother said.
Susan Healey, Mrs McCann's mother, told Hello! magazine: "Although we try to be hopeful, there are times when
we think 'But it's been such a long time'.
"Sometimes it feels almost unbearable. Then there's a new lead or clue, or you hear about another child that went missing
who's been found alive and it gives you a lift.
"News of missing children being found safe and well years later has helped Kate and Gerry remain positive too."
Damn Madeleine McCann witness for delay, 10 August 2009
WHY did a British man wait two years before coming forward with possibly crucial evidence
about missing Madeleine McCann?
If little Madeleine is dead, the blood must be on his hands.
This man who wishes to remain anonymous has unleashed a search for an Australian woman who may know something of the
little girl's disappearance.
But it is two years too late. The man who could have saved Madeleine - but didn't - should now hold himself responsible.
What possible reason could he have for failing to tell police he met a woman who sounded Australian who asked him "Have
you got her? Have you got the child?"
He got a good look at the woman, heard her speak Spanish and saw her head off in the direction of the marina. All this
happened within a few days of Madeleine's disappearance and could have been a crucial tip in tracking her abductors.
And yet he said nothing, scared his wife would think he was chatting up the woman in question. What a dirt bag.
Not only did he jeopardise Madeleine's return, he also harshly judged his wife, who surely would have understood there
were bigger issues at stake.
The man's evidence, passed on to investigators only recently, has sparked an international hunt for the Australian (or
New Zealand or South African) woman that is both divisive and distressing.
All sorts of women are being singled out for their superficial resemblance to the identikit woman.
Perth woman Rhonda Wyllie, whose yacht was moored in Spain at the time Madeleine disappeared, is just one who has been
named and is reportedly "devastated".
But I'd prefer innocent people were identified - and cleared - if it means there's a chance of Maddie being found.
But the reality is that as each day passes it is less likely she will be.
The British man would have known this and did nothing for two years. No wonder he wants to stay anonymous.
The tip reflects the heartache that has followed this case every step of the way. Every time we hear of a new lead we
hardly dare to think that maybe, just maybe, Madeleine is still alive and could be found.
As a mother with one child the age Madeleine was when she disappeared and another the age she is now, I'm particularly
affected by the story.
It could be my husband and myself living the nightmare of the McCanns. It could be our daughter who is missing.
Spurred on no doubt by the guilt of leaving their children alone while they went to dinner, Kate and Gerry McCann have
never stopped searching for their beautiful girl. Some have questioned the point of the McCanns using the public to find her.
It's labour-intensive and expensive, with every plea generating hundreds of possible leads to assess.
It has also come at a great personal cost, particularly when they were viewed as suspects for a short time. But what
choice does the family have? Two years on and there's no official search for her still going. Portuguese and British police
have given up.
Rationally, it is most likely that after this amount of time she is dead.
And yet stranger things have happened. Natascha Kampusch, of Austria, survived eight years of captivity in an underground
cell after being abducted in 1998.
And in 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was abducted at knifepoint from her Utah bedroom in the middle of the night
while her parents slept.
A huge investigation failed to find her, but nine months after she disappeared she turned up alive.
Remember the abduction of three-week-old baby Montana in Melbourne in 2004, snatched from her mother at a supermarket?
She was found a few days later by chance after a granny jogging by heard her cries from inside a derelict building. The
passer-by, a seasoned babysitter, knew the cries of a baby in distress and was smart enough to act immediately.
So it does happen. It can happen.
Our heart leaps at the thought of fresh evidence and we continue to wonder: Where is Maddie? What is she doing now? Is
she happy? Is she being treated well?
There are people out there who can answer these questions.
They must come forward and help save this little girl.
Madeleine's grandmother: McCanns have been given new hope,10 August 2009
Madeleine's grandmother: McCanns have been given new hope ITN
Madeleine McCann's grandmother has told Hello! magazine that the family have been given renewed
hope by the latest lead in Australia.
(00:02:21)
Screenshots from ITN video above, originally
taken October 2007
EXCLUSIVE MADELEINE MCCANN: Her grandmother tells us how a dramatic new lead has given the
whole family hope, 11 August 2009
Hello! magazine No. 1085, 17 August 2009 (issue date: 11 August 2009) (article not available online)
EXCLUSIVE
MADELEINE MCCANN
HER GRANDMOTHER TELLS US HOW
A DRAMATIC NEW LEAD HAS GIVEN
THE WHOLE FAMILY HOPE
Interview: Sally Morgan
The grandmother of missing tot Madeleine McCann has told how a dramatic new
lead in the hunt for the little girl has refreshed the family's dream that she will soon be found.
Talking exclusively to HELLO!,
Susan Healy said: "[Madeleine's parents] Kate and Gerry are usually very measured about new 'evidence', but this has given
us all renewed hope. It would be so wonderful if it helps us find Madeleine."
Susan, Kate's mother, spoke to us after a new witness came forward to tell
investigators that a "Victoria Beckham lookalike" might provide the key to finding the girl, who went missing two years ago,
aged three, while the family was on holiday in Portugal.
A British businessman told two detectives drafted in by Kate and Gerry that
he had encountered the woman at 2am in Barcelona, three days after Madeleine vanished. According to reports, the woman asked
him: "Are you here to deliver my new daughter?"
As detectives believe that Madeleine could easily have been transported to
Barcelona in the 72 hours after her abduction, the woman could provide potentially significant information.
"You can imagine what it's been like for us over the two years since she vanished,"
Susan 63, told us. "There's a battle going on in our heads all the time. We have good days and bad days, and although we try
to be hopeful, there are times when we think, 'But it's been such a long time.'
"Sometimes it feels almost unbearable. Then there's a new lead or clue, or
you hear about another child that went missing who's been found alive and it gives you a lift. News of missing children being
found safe and well years later has helped Kate and Gerry remain positive, too."
Twins starting school
Susan said Madeleine's siblings, four-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, have
given the family a focus. "The twins are absolutely delightful," she said. "They'll be starting school in September. That's
going to be such a hard milestone for Kate; Madeleine had been due to start shortly after she was taken."
Inevitably, the family have thought of little else but finding her since then.
"It has taken over everyone's lives," said Susan. "That won't change until we know what happened or have her back. We just
have to keep hoping like hell, there's no alternative.
"Unless you have proof that a child is no longer alive you can't stop. We won't
stop until we know where our little Madeleine is."
Perth socialite yet to be contacted over Maddie case, 13 August 2009
Perth socialite yet to be contacted over Maddie case WAtoday.com.au
August 13, 2009 - 6:05PM (Australian time)
Private detectives searching for Madeleine McCann have not yet contacted Rhonda Wyllie, owner of a luxury yacht at the
centre of fresh speculation about the British toddler's disappearance.
The yacht became a new focus in the hunt for Madeleine after British newspapers revealed last Sunday it was moored at
a marina in Barcelona, Spain, when a woman with an Australian accent asked a man if he was delivering her new daughter.
The conversation between the woman, who is being sought by investigators, and the British man was at the same marina
where the WillPower was docked and occurred just 72 hours after Madeleine vanished from a Portuguese resort in May 2007.
Details about the yacht sparked headlines around the world and reports about how the team of private detectives searching
for Madeleine wanted to interview its owners, Perth socialite Rhonda Wyllie and her daughter, businesswoman Melissa Karlson.
However, despite five days of speculation about the yacht, neither woman has been approached by anyone from the McCann
investigation team.
"There's been no contact from the investigators," a spokesman for the family told AAP.
Both women say they are happy to cooperate with investigators to clarify that while their multi-million dollar yacht
was moored in Barcelona at the time, neither woman was on board.
In a statement released on Thursday, the women said they remained "perplexed" by the links between their yacht and the
investigation but were "unable to provide any relevant assistance" in the search for the four-year-old girl.
"In fact, members of the Wyllie family were in Antibes, France, that evening, not in Barcelona," the statement said.
"The Wyllie family appreciates that the McCann family needs to pursue every possible inquiry and will cooperate with
police investigators to confirm any facts."
Mrs Wyllie was reportedly "devastated" by the media reports about the possible connection between her 32-metre yacht
and the search for Madeleine.
The yacht, which is up for sale in the south of France, can sleep six guests and carry four crew.
At the time it was moored in Barcelona, it was crewed by American and English personnel.
Madeleine vanished from her family's rented holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, while her parents dined
with friends at a nearby restaurant.
Investigators working for the McCann family last week released a sketch of the woman - described as a Victoria Beckham
look-alike - who spoke to the British man at the Barcelona marina.
They said they believed it was possible Madeleine could have been taken by boat from Portugal to Spain.
Article above subsequently replaced by the following:
Wyllies say they have nothing to offer Maddie investigators WAtoday.com.au
August 13, 2009 - 7:27PM (Australian time)
A wealthy Perth family says it cannot offer any real assistance to authorities investigating the disappearance of British
girl Madeleine McCann.
Private detectives searching for Madeleine on Sunday said they wanted to interview Perth socialite Rhonda Wyllie, the
widow of Australian property tycoon Bill Wyllie, and their daughter Melissa Karlson.
A multi-million dollar luxury yacht owned by Mrs Wyllie was moored in Barcelona, Spain, three days after Madeleine disappeared
from a Portugal holiday report in May 2007.
About the same time, a woman aged in her 30s with an Australian or New Zealand accent reportedly asked a British businessman
at the marina if he was there to "deliver my new daughter".
Private detectives working for Madeleine's parents said they wanted to speak with Mrs Wyllie and Ms Karlson, to find
out why the vessel was in Barcelona and if either woman was travelling aboard.
On Thursday, the Wyllie Group said the family was unable to provide any relevant assistance to authorities but would
cooperate with police investigators to confirm any facts.
"British media reports on Sunday ... raised suggestions that Wyllie family members may be able to assist investigations
in relation to an incident at Port Olympia, Barcelona, on the night of May 6, 2007," the family said in a statement.
"The Wyllie family is perplexed with these media reports. In fact, members of the Wyllie family were in Antibes, France,
that evening, not in Barcelona."
The vessel was crewed by American and English personnel, the family said.
A spokesman for the family told AAP they had not spoken to police or investigators.
The yacht, named Willpower, which is up for sale in the south of France, can sleep six guests and carry four crew.
Australian millionaire 'cannot help with Madeleine McCann investigation, 13 August 2009
Australian millionaire 'cannot help with Madeleine McCann investigation Telegraph
An Australian millionaire socialite and her daughter are unable to provide any
''relevant assistance'' to investigators searching for Madeleine McCann, they have said.
Published: 10:32AM BST 13 Aug 2009
The luxury yacht owned by Rhonda Wyllie and Melissa Karlson, the widow and daughter of the late Perth property tycoon
Bill Wyllie, was linked to the inquiry in reports.
The boat, named WillPower, was moored at a marina in Barcelona, Spain, where a woman with an Australian accent reportedly
asked a bystander if he was there to deliver her ''new daughter'' days after Madeleine disappeared.
Private detectives for the little girl's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, launched an appeal for information last week
about the mysterious woman, described as a Victoria Beckham lookalike.
Mrs Wyllie and Ms Karlson insisted today they were in Antibes, France, on the night in question and said they could not
help the investigators.
They said they would co-operate with the police to confirm the facts.
A statement released through their company said: ''The Wyllie Group today confirmed that the Wyllie family were unable
to provide any relevant assistance to authorities investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal in 2007.
''British media reports on Sunday August 9 2009 raised suggestions that Wyllie family members may be able to assist investigators
in relation to an incident at Port Olympia, Barcelona, on the night of May 6 2007.
''The Wyllie family is perplexed with these media reports. In fact, members of the Wyllie family were in Antibes, France,
that evening, not in Barcelona. The Wyllie yacht WillPower was docked in Port Olympia on May 6 2007, crewed by American and
English personnel.
''The Wyllie family appreciates that the McCann family needs to pursue every possible inquiry and will co-operate with
police investigators to confirm any facts.''
There is no suggestion that Mrs Wyllie, Ms Karlson or any of their yacht's crew had anything to do with the little girl's
disappearance.
Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May
3 2007 while her parents dined with friends nearby.
Just over 72 hours later, in the early hours of May 7, two British men saw the Victoria Beckham lookalike while on a
night out in the popular Port Olimpic Marina in Barcelona.
When one of the British men approached and spoke to her, she reportedly asked him in an Australian accent: ''Are you
here to deliver my new daughter?''
After speaking to the witness, the woman went into a bar next door, where she had a heated conversation with a local
in what seemed to be fluent Spanish.
The McCanns' private investigators received hundreds of calls and emails from the public in response to their appeal,
including ''dozens'' of possible names for the woman.
They are now going through the information and, if necessary, will travel to Australia to follow up leads.
Luxury Yacht Pair 'Can't Help' Madeleine Case, 13 August 2009
Luxury Yacht Pair 'Can't Help' Madeleine Case Sky News
12:26pm UK, Thursday August 13, 2009
An Australian socialite and her daughter say they are unable to provide any "relevant assistance" to investigators searching
for Madeleine McCann.
Mother and daughter Rhonda Wyllie, left, and Melissa Karlsson
The luxury yacht owned by Rhonda Wyllie and Melissa Karlson, the widow and daughter of the late Perth property tycoon
Bill Wyllie, was linked to the inquiry in reports.
The boat, named WillPower, was moored at a marina in Barcelona, Spain, where a woman with an Australian accent reportedly
asked a bystander if he was there to deliver her "new daughter" days after Madeleine disappeared.
Private detectives working for the girl's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, launched an appeal for information last week
about the mysterious woman, described as a Victoria Beckham lookalike.
But Mrs Wyllie and Ms Karlson said they were in Antibes, France, on the night in question.
The pair said they could not help the investigators with the investigation but would co-operate with police to confirm
the facts.
A statement released through their company said: "The Wyllie Group today confirmed that the Wyllie family were unable
to provide any relevant assistance to authorities investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal in 2007.
"British media reports on Sunday August 9, 2009, raised suggestions that Wyllie family members may be able to assist
investigators in relation to an incident at Port Olympia, Barcelona, on the night of May 6, 2007.
"The Wyllie family is perplexed with these media reports. In fact, members of the Wyllie family were in Antibes, France,
that evening, not in Barcelona.
"The Wyllie yacht WillPower was docked in Port Olympia on May 6, 2007, crewed by American and English personnel.
"The Wyllie family appreciates that the McCann family needs to pursue every possible inquiry and will co-operate with
police investigators to confirm any facts."
There is no suggestion that Mrs Wyllie, Ms Karlson or any of their yacht's crew had anything to do with the Madeleine's
disappearance.
The youngster was nearly four when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on
May 3, 2007, while her parents dined with friends nearby.
Just over 72 hours later, in the early hours of May 7, two British men saw the woman while on a night out in the popular
Port Olimpic Marina in Barcelona.
After speaking to the witness, the woman went into a bar next door, where she had a heated conversation with a local
in what seemed to be fluent Spanish.
McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "We are grateful to the Wyllie family for clarifying their position.
"Our investigators have spoken to some of the crew members at the time, and we are very grateful to them for their assistance
in this matter."
There have now been more than 800 responses to the appeal for information about the woman seen in Barcelona and it is
understood the McCanns' private detectives are pursuing lines of inquiry within Europe.
YOU can tell the silly season has begun - there is a "development" in the Madeleine McCann story.
More than two years after the little girl vanished in Portugal, a report emerges of a mysterious woman who, three days after
the 2007 abduction, asked a tourist in Barcelona (700 miles away) : "Are you here to deliver my new daughter?"
As you do.
The "stunned tourist" kept quiet about this conversation for so long "for personal reasons".
As you do.
It's just another Maddie fairytale. Take a huge pinch of salt with it. As you do.
Why did Madeleine McCann detectives ask so few questions?, 15 August 2009
Why did Madeleine McCann detectives ask so few questions? Mail on Sunday
By TOM WORDEN, MARTIN DELGADO and ANDREW CHAPMAN
Last updated at 11:33 PM on 15th August 2009
Private detectives leading the hunt for Madeleine McCann faced questions last night after a Mail on Sunday investigation
revealed apparent shortcomings in chasing a 'strong lead'.
The detectives failed to make even rudimentary inquiries before announcing a 'significant' development in the worldwide
search for the six-year-old.
At a Press conference in London, lead investigator David Edgar appealed for help in finding a 'bit of a Victoria Beckham
lookalike' whom a British tourist saw looking agitated outside a dockside restaurant in Barcelona three days after Madeleine
disappeared.
Retired Cheshire Detective Inspector Mr Edgar said it was possible that Madeleine had been smuggled into the Spanish
port by yacht from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, where she vanished on May 3, 2007.
The agitated woman, thought to be Australian, made a remark to the tourist which suggested she was waiting for the arrival
of a child.
Mr Edgar, 52, told the 50 journalists from several countries: 'It's a strong lead. Madeleine could have been in Barcelona
by this point. The fact the conversation took place near the marina could be significant.'
As a result of his appeal for information and the issuing of an e-fit image of the woman, the search switched to Australia,
where a woman in Sydney made a statement to police claiming to know the identity of the mystery female seen in Barcelona,
although this apparently came to nothing.
The Mail on Sunday, however, has established that members of Mr Edgar's team who had visited Barcelona:
Failed to speak to anyone working at the seafood restaurant near where the agitated woman was seen at 2am.
Failed to ask the port authority about movement of boats around the time Madeleine disappeared.
Failed to ask if the mystery woman had been filmed on CCTV.
Knew nothing about the arrival of an Australian luxury yacht just after Madeleine vanished until told by British journalists,
who gave them the captain's mobile phone number.
Failed to interview anyone at a nearby dockside bar where, according to Mr Edgar, the mystery woman was later seen drinking.
Failed to ask British diplomats in Spain for advice before or during the visit.
Also, Spanish police could not confirm that they had been contacted by the British investigators.
Last night Mr Edgar said: 'We are not above criticism and I take responsibility for any shortcomings. If somebody has
not done what they should have done, that's my job to deal with that.'
Conversation: The bar belonging to Jose Luiz Lopez where the key conversation
between a tourist and an Australian woman allegedly took place
He was hired by Kate and Gerry McCann after Portuguese authorities shelved their investigation last year.
According to the Find Madeleine Fund website, 'the majority of the fund money has been and continues to be spent on investigative
work to help to find Madeleine'.
The McCanns, doctors living in Rothley, Leicestershire, originally hired Barcelona-based detective agency Metodo 3 to
look for Madeleine in 2007 as they were convinced that Portuguese police had given up the search.
Metodo 3 reportedly charged £50,000-a-month and its director, Francisco Marco, was criticised after making a series of
boasts about his team’s ability to find Madeleine.
In December 2007, he caused a sensation by claiming he knew who had kidnapped her and hoped to have her home by Christmas.
Metodo 3's six-month contract ran out in January 2008, although it has continued to help with the search.
The Mail on Sunday's inquiry by a Spanish-speaking reporter in Barcelona last week has exposed worrying gaps in the British
detectives' strategy, including failure to question several people who might have vital information.
Appeal: Clarence Mitchell, left, and David Edgar with their e-fit of the 'Victoria Beckham
lookalike'
Jose Luis Lopez, owner of the El Rey de la Gamba restaurant where the mystery woman was seen, said: 'The private detectives
did not make any enquiries at my restaurant.
'I am almost always here when the restaurant is open and my staff would have informed me if anyone had approached them
about such an important matter. You are the first person to ask about this Australian woman.'
The manager of the bar next door, Kennedy's Irish Sailing Club, where the woman was later seen drinking, said: 'You are
the first person to ask about this Australian woman or the Madeleine case. If someone came into the bar asking questions about
Madeleine, I would hear about it very quickly.'
Barcelona port director Joan Guitart said: 'Nobody has been here asking questions about Madeleine or this Australian
woman. This is the first I have heard about any possible link to the port. We would be happy to help the investigation in
any way possible.'
Riddle: Was Madeleine taken to Barcelona marina?
A senior port authority worker added: 'There are several security cameras monitoring the port but we have not been approached
about footage from the night in question.
'The footage is not available, as it was over two years ago that this conversation is said to have taken place. But I
would have expected anyone carrying out the investigation to at least have asked about it.'
A source at the British Embassy in Madrid said: 'The detectives did not inform us or the consulate in Barcelona that
they were coming to Spain, nor request any assistance in their investigation.'
Jewellery designer Hannah Tait, 35, from London, who lives on a 34ft yacht yards from El Rey de la Gamba, said: 'This
place is like a small village so news travels very fast.
'Nobody has been here asking about Madeleine or the Australian woman.
'The first I heard was when I read about this on the internet. If someone had been investigating something so important
here in the port, I would have heard about it.'
A Barcelona-based private detective with more than 20 years' experience of missing persons cases said: 'I cannot understand
why the Madeleine detectives would have released this story and e-fit to the public without first making their own investigation
in the port.
'It beggars belief that they did not even speak to the owner of the restaurant or the port authorities.'
One of the most significant pieces of information about a possible Barcelona connection to Madeleine's disappearance
was uncovered by British journalists.
Later, The Mail on Sunday gained access to port records for the key dates of May 6 and 7, 2007.
They revealed that nine boats arrived in the marina in the 48-hour period, only one of which was unfamiliar to harbour
authorities.
It was the £6million Sunseeker powerboat Willpower, owned by the Australian multi-millionairess Rhonda Wyllie.
When the then captain of the boat was eventually found, he said he had not been approached by any British detectives.
Although he has since been contacted by Mr Edgar's team, the investigators are in the embarrassing position of having
to explain why it was left to reporters to discover the boat's presence in Barcelona and trace its former captain.
There is no suggestion that Mrs Wyllie, widow of property tycoon Bill Wyllie, is connected in any way with Madeleine's
disappearance.
The Barcelona stage of the inquiry was led by Mr Edgar's assistant, former Merseyside Detective Sergeant Arthur Cowley,
and an interpreter.
Mr Cowley, 57, is sole director of Alpha Investigation Group, based in Flintshire, North Wales.
He declined to discuss the details of his visit to Barcelona.
Asked last night why Mr Cowley and his colleague had not spoken to the port authorities, Mr Edgar said: 'My instructions
were that they couldn't get through security at the marina at the time. I've got to take that at face value. We are a small
team. We are dealing with finite resources and will have to manage with that.'
He said Mr Cowley's company had no connection with the Madeleine investigation. 'I am employed by the McCann family and
I pick my staff,' he added.
Madeleine was nearly four when she disappeared from a holiday flat while her parents dined with friends in a nearby restaurant.
Last night the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: 'The private investigation into Madeleine's disappearance
is being conducted entirely professionally and thoroughly under the direction of Dave Edgar.
In the dark: Jose Luiz Lopez, the bar owner who was not spoken to by private detectives
'Upon receipt of the new witness information, two members of the investigative team travelled to Barcelona to conduct
preliminary inquiries during a brief initial visit.
'This included identifying the exact marina where the witness had been and all relevant locations within it. At that
stage, the precise bar involved had not been identified by the witness. Nevertheless, inquiries were conducted at a number
of bars, with staff members being interviewed.
'However, not all of the bars were open during the investigators' visit. Because of the transient nature of bar work,
it was also found that many of the workers who were spoken to were not present at the marina in May 2007.
'Other relevant personnel in the area were also interviewed, although we will not discuss the detail of who was
spoken to for operational reasons.
'The information, once gathered, including photographs, was brought back to the UK for witness confirmation. Both British
and Portuguese police were kept fully informed of the investigators' visit to Spain.
'The news conference was then held for the simple reason that public assistance was needed once the e-fit had been drawn
up from the witness account. The public appeal does not preclude further enquiries being conducted in Barcelona as appropriate.'
He declined to say how much the private detectives were being paid, adding: 'We will not discuss contractual matters
concerning the investigation costs nor the investigator remuneration.'
*
Update to title of article:
So why did Madeleine McCann detectives ask so few questions after major breakthrough? Daily Mail
By TOM WORDEN, MARTIN DELGADO and ANDREW CHAPMAN
Last updated at 12:58 AM on 16th August 2009
(Body of article remains unaltered)
Maddie: the failures of the private detectives, 16 August 2009
The private detectives that were hired by Kate and Gerry McCann to try to find the little girl that disappeared in Praia
da Luz in May 2007 are under huge pressure from the British press, that doesn't forgive them the failures while investigating
a lead.
That lead was related to an Australian woman, "a Victoria Beckham look-alike", that British tourists spotted in agitation
at the Marina of the Olympic Port in Barcelona, waiting for a child, three days after Maddie disappeared.
The head of the private investigation, David Edgar, even presented a photofit and revealed that, in Australia, a woman
had told the police that she knows the woman that was seen in Barcelona. Nevertheless, the lead led to nothing.
The Mail on Sunday doesn't forgive the detectives and lists their failures: "They didn't speak to anyone who works at
the restaurant near the spot where the woman was seen. They didn't speak to the port authorities about the boats' arrivals
and departures. They didn't speak to anyone who was at the bar where the woman was seen, later, having a drink."
The list continues, with the British press recalling that, if it wasn't for the journalists, the investigators wouldn't
have heard about the arrival of a luxury yacht shortly after Madeleine's disappearance, and that there was no contact with
the British diplomats in Spain, or with the authorities in Barcelona.
"We are not above criticism and I take responsibility for any shortcomings," said David Edgar.
