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    

SY Mobile Phone Traffic Announcement*

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NEWS REPORTS INDEX MCCANN PJ FILES NEWS MAY 2007
 

Hard work: Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood in the incident room
Hard work: Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood in the incident room

 

Scotland Yard reveal they are trawling through a vast log of mobile phone traffic identified in Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

At the same time, it is announced that Kate and Gerry McCann are to make a significant television appeal in light of the "fresh, substantive" material unearthed as part of the British police investigation into their daughter's disappearance.

Update on the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, 04 October 2013
Update on the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann Metropolitan Police

04 October 2013

Scotland Yard

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley and Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood held a media briefing to discuss Operation Grange, the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The briefing, held on Thursday, 3 October at New Scotland Yard, was an update on the investigation so far, and included the following points.

The Metropolitan Police Service is receiving increasing co-operation from the Policia Judiciaria and Judicial Authorities.

The Policia Judiciaria and Judicial Authorities received the International Letter of Request (ILOR) from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

They have appointed a team of six officers in Faro, Portugal to carry out inquiries on our behalf. Accepting and then sanctioning the ILOR for action does not mean the Portuguese authorities will or have reopened the investigation.

DCI Redwood, the senior investigating officer in the UK, has just returned from a positive visit to Faro last week, and we are to revisit in a few short weeks.

AC Mark Rowley said today: "We very much look forward to developing a closer working relationship with the new team. We do respect the differences in our systems and understand that the work we have requested will be conducted by Portuguese colleagues. They have invited us to a meeting in a few weeks time to receive an update on those inquiries, prior to completion which is most helpful."

There remain a total of 41 persons of interest, 15 of which there are UK nationals. The work on three of those 15 UK Nationals nears completion with indications that they are not of any further interest to Op Grange.

Of note, we currently have 30 ILORs (31 including Portugal) in various countries following up requests for information concerning telephones used in Praia da Luz at the material time.

We have engaged with Crimewatch to assist us in a public appeal in their October programme, and have expanded our appeal for information to Germany, Holland and Ireland.

The appeal will piece together new lines of enquiry, and DCI Redwood will be appearing alongside Mr and Mrs McCann to appeal for information.

DCI Andy Redwood said: "The information and purpose of this broader appeal is based on phone traffic analysis we have examined, which determines the footfall of people in the resort at that time. Our investigation in the UK remains ongoing. The total number of documents we have to go through is 39,148, of which we have processed 21,614 so far. Out of those, 4,920 have resulted in actions to complete of which 2,123 have been."

"We continue to appeal for information. If you were at the resort of Praia da Luz between 28 April and 3 May 2007, either on holiday or in residence in the resort during this period, particularly in the vicinity of the Ocean Club, and you have not been spoken to by police either here or in Portugal then please call us on 0800 0961011 if you are within the UK. The number for non-UK residents is +44 207 1580 126. Alternatively if you do not want to speak to us directly you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."

Madeleine police scour thousands of telephone records, 04 October 2013
Madeleine police scour thousands of telephone records The Times (paper edition)

 
The Times, 04 October 2013

Fiona Hamilton Crime Correspondent
Friday 04 October 2013
[Front page appeared online 03 October 2013 22:30]


The phone data of holidaymakers from 30 countries could hold the key to solving the mystery of Madeleine McCann's disappearance in Portugal, police believe.

Thousands of tourists who were in Praia da Luz in May 2007, when the three-year-old disappeared from her holiday apartment, were warned yesterday to expect a phone call from detectives.

For the first time, a vast log of mobile phone traffic, relating to activity in the resort at the time of Madeleine's disappearance, is being examined.

It comes as Kate and Gerry McCann prepare for a television appeal in light of "fresh, substantive" material that has emerged in Scotland Yard's new criminal investigation. A new theory in the case is expected to be outlined when the couple appear alongside detectives on an episode of the BBC's Crimewatch programme on Monday, October 14.

Mark Rowley, Assistant Commissioner at the Met, said: "It's substantially different. This is not a bland 'come and help us' appeal. There is different material and a different understanding to be presented."

The Met announced during the summer that its £5million review of the case, which was ordered by the Prime Minister, was being turned into an official investigation codenamed Operation Grange.

It is now examining 41 persons of interest, up from 38 in July, although no one has yet been arrested. The group includes 15 UK nationals, although detectives expect to soon eliminate three of them from their inquiries.

It had been anticipated that a small team of Scotland Yard detectives would be based in the Algarve but that has not yet transpired. Mr Rowley said that a team of six Portuguese

Continued on page 2, col 3

Madeleine McCann case: Police launch huge trawl to trace phones of people who were in Praia da Luz when she went missing in 2007, 04 October 2013
Madeleine McCann case: Police launch huge trawl to trace phones of people who were in Praia da Luz when she went missing in 2007 The Independent

PAUL PEACHEY FRIDAY 04 OCTOBER 2013 [appeared online 03 October 2013 23:00]

Police are attempting to trace mobile phones linked to 31 countries to identify thousands of people who were in the Algarve town of Praia da Luz when Madeleine McCann went missing six years ago, Scotland Yard said.

The scale of the huge trawl emerged as police said that they had identified 41 people of interest, including 15 Britons, during an investigation by the country's biggest police force after an appeal by the family to Home Secretary Theresa May in 2011. The girl, then aged three went missing from a holiday apartment on May 3, 2007 as her parents Kate and Gerry dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.

"What we're trying to do is to use every route available to us to identify as many of them as possible and the phone data is one route into that," said Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Andy Redwood, the senior investigating officer on the inquiry. "If you were in Praia da Luz at the time, you may get a routine phone call from the police."

The girl's parents are to make a new television appeal in light of "fresh, substantive" material unearthed as part of a British police investigation. In the week Crimewatch airs, equivalent programmes made in Holland, Germany and possibly Ireland, are expected to be broadcast.

Detectives have issued 31 international letters of request to mostly European countries in relation to some of the persons of interest as well as accessing phone records. A large but "manageable" list of phone numbers identified as being present in Praia da Luz - though not necessarily used to make phone calls - has been drawn up by detectives with a "significant" number unattributed to any named person.

And significantly, police officers are now able to create a log showing calls being made at the time of Madeleine's disappearance. Mr Redwood said his team could never say for certain that it knew everybody who was in Praia da Luz when Madeleine disappeared. He said 99% of the phone numbers are likely to belong to "completely unaware and innocent individuals".

Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, said: "Kate and Gerry remain very grateful to the Met for the work they are doing in liaison with the Portuguese authorities.

"Their forthcoming appearance on Crimewatch is an important stage in that ongoing process. Naturally, they hope it will lead to information that will provide the breakthrough to finding Madeleine."

McCanns in 'substantive' TV appeal, 04 October 2013
McCanns in 'substantive' TV appeal The Press Association

Kate and Gerry McCann will make a fresh "substantive" TV appeal over the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine.

Kate and Gerry McCann will make a fresh "substantive" TV appeal over the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine.

----------------------

By Jamie Grierson, Press Association Home Affairs Correspondent
Friday 04 October 2013 00:01

Kate and Gerry McCann are to make a significant television appeal in light of "fresh, substantive" material unearthed as part of a British police investigation into their daughter's disappearance.

Scotland Yard is for the first time trawling through a vast log of mobile phone traffic identified in Praia da Luz, in Portugal, at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

In a process detectives say could be key to discovering what happened to the-then three-year-old, any person who was present in the Algarve town on or around May 3 2007 could receive a phone-call from the Metropolitan Police.

The McCanns will appear live in the studio during an episode of BBC Crimewatch on Monday October 14, which will also feature a reconstruction and pre-recorded interviews with the couple.

Describing the programme, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, of the Metropolitan Police, said: "It's substantially different. It's not just a bland 'can you help us' appeal, there is some different material and a different understanding to be presented."

And Scotland Yard has revealed that since launching its own investigation, 41 people of interest have been identified, including 15 UK nationals, up from 38 people of interest including 12 UK nationals established in July.

Detectives have issued 31 international letters of request (ILOR) to mostly European countries in relation to some of the persons of interest as well as accessing phone records.

A large but "manageable" list of phone numbers identified as being present in Praia da Luz - though not necessarily used to make phone calls - has been drawn up by detectives with a "significant" number unattributed to any named person.

And significantly, police officers are now able to create a log showing calls being made at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

Asked if this move could be key to the investigation, Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Andy Redwood, the senior investigating officer on the inquiry, said: "It could be."

He added: "We've got a data set of phone traffic. Within that phone traffic you can see we've got some of those numbers we can attribute to people, but a large number of them we can't.

"So in a targeted way, we're trying to say in a particular moment in time, that is around the moment of opportunity, who’s there. It's really as simple as that."

He went on: "A lot of the focus is not necessarily to find a suspect, but also witnesses. We're trying to understand who was there for a range of reasons."

Mr Redwood said his team could never say for certain that it knew everybody who was in Praia da Luz when Madeleine disappeared.

He went on: "What we're trying to do is to use every route available to us to identify as many of them as possible and the phone data is one route into that, as are appeals. If you were in Praia da Luz at the time, you may get a routine phone call from the police."

Mr Redwood said the phone data shows a timeline with "calls made and where they went to as a running log".

He said 99% of the phone numbers are likely to belong to "completely unaware and innocent individuals".

Portuguese Police already had access to the list of phone numbers but it has not previously been as closely scrutinised.

In the week Crimewatch airs, equivalent programmes made in Holland, Germany and possibly Ireland, are expected to be broadcast.

Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, said: "Kate and Gerry remain very grateful to the Met for the work they are doing in liaison with the Portuguese authorities.

"Their forthcoming appearance on Crimewatch is an important stage in that ongoing process. Naturally, they hope it will lead to information that will provide the breakthrough to finding Madeleine."

Mr Rowley added: "It's important to stress, the Crimewatch appeal is not simply 'this is a live investigation has anyone got any information?'. It is more than that.

"There is new information not previously presented. Fresh, substantive material upon which to make an appeal.

"It will be a substantive and substantial programme rather than a broad implication that people can help us."

Madeleine went missing from a holiday apartment as her parents Kate and Gerry dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.

The Portuguese investigation officially closed but authorities there are backing the Scotland Yard inquiry and officers from both countries will work together in pursuing new leads.

The Scotland Yard investigation, which started as a review, has amassed 39,148 documents, of which 21,614 have been processed, relating to information from Portuguese Police, eight private investigators and other British forces, such as Leicestershire Police.

It now has a team of six Portuguese detectives based in Faro, who are carrying out inquiries on Scotland Yard's behalf.

The McCanns are currently suing former police chief Goncalo Amaral for libel over claims in the book The Truth Of The Lie.

Madeleine McCann investigation to target phone records, 04 October 2013
Madeleine McCann investigation to target phone records Channel4 News

SIMON ISRAEL
Home Affairs Correspondent
Thursday
03 October 2013 [appeared online 04 October 2013 00:01]

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are, for the first time, to target mobile phone records of thousands of holidaymakers in the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz.

Kate and Gerry McCann

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are, for the first time, to target mobile phone records of thousands of holidaymakers in the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz.

Letters requesting such records have been sent to authorities in 31 different countries throughout Europe. Some of them contain specific names but police will not reveal identities.

Senior officers say the aim is to try to establish the footprints of the resort's population during the week in May and June 1988 when three-year-old Madeleine vanished.

A team of six detectives in Portugal have been appointed to help in the fresh investigation run by Scotland Yard.

Senior officers say there's a list of 41 potential suspects, including 15 British nationals.

Mobile phone records were not analysed to the same extent in the original Portuguese investigation.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said that a "significant" number of phones are "unattributed" and one problem will be tracking ownership of "pay as you go" numbers.

New theory

A major appeal will be launched in five different countries in the week after next - the UK, Ireland, Germany, Holland and Portugal - when they will reveal new information and a new theory as to how the little girl may have disappeared.

This new investigation began three months ago follow a two year review of evidence gathered from the Portuguese judicial authorities, and from seven private detectives agencies hired by Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.

Madeleine McCann inquiry focuses on mobile phone data, 04 October 2013
Madeleine McCann inquiry focuses on mobile phone data The Guardian

Madeleine's parents to make appeal on Crimewatch as British detectives cross-reference phone records against other evidence

Sandra Laville, crime correspondent
Friday 4 October 2013

Madeleine McCann disappeared in Praia da Luz in May 2007. Photograph: PA

British detectives say the key to Madeleine McCann's disappearance could emerge from a "targeted attack" on mobile phone data from thousands of people who were around the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz at the moment she went missing.

The line of investigation was disclosed as it was announced that Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate, would appear on the BBC's Crimewatch programme with the British detective in charge of the case.

The programme will broadcast a reconstruction of the events before Madeleine disappeared and the McCanns will make an appeal for anyone who was in the resort at the time, and has yet to come forward, to contact police.

Similar appeals will be broadcast in Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland.

The "footprints" from the phones of holidaymakers, staff and local people who were in the vicinity of the McCanns' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz when the three-year-old disappeared in May 2007 are being examined and cross-referenced with other information coming into the British inquiry team, officers have said.

Forty-one individuals from several countries including the UK are being investigated as persons of interest by the Metropolitan police, and official requests for assistance have been sent to 31 countries including Portugal to identify other people whose mobile footprints have emerged in the sifting and resifting of tens of thousands of documents, communications data and eyewitness statements.

The new British investigation began as part of a £5m review of all the evidence after an appeal for help by Madeleine's parents to David Cameron.

It is not known how many of the 41 individuals – among them 15 Britons – are considered suspects.

Many are people who need to be questioned in order to be eliminated from the inquiry. But detectives are known to have uncovered new leads and theories about what happened to Madeleine while her parents were eating a meal with friends at a restaurant in the resort.

It is known that some of the people of interest are sex offenders who were in the area at the time.Police will analyse mobile phone data to track any calls that might have been made from the resort to others outside it, as they investigate whether there was any kind of ring involved in the girl's suspected abduction.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the investigation, said the analysis of mobile phone data originally collected by the Portuguese had gone beyond the stage of a general trawl, and was now being cross-referenced with other information.

His team have been cross-referencing tens of thousands of documents, communications data and witness statements from the Portuguese investigation, from eight private detectives and from the Leicestershire force.

"The mobile phone data is a substantial amount of data and a significant amount of it is unattributed. Putting this with layers and layers of other information, we are carrying out a targeted attack on the information. We are doing this in a focused way, working back from the moment that Madeleine was found to have gone. It is like pulling back the layers of an onion. Every hour my officers work on this case is designed to get to that very moment and find out what happened," he said.

Six detectives in Portugal are working with the Met and making inquiries on their behalf. But the plan to send a team of Met officers to work out of Portugal has yet to be acted upon, as delicate negotiations continue with the Portuguese authorities, who closed their investigation and have refused all appeals to reopen it.

Madeleine McCann: Phone records may hold key, UK police say, 04 October 2013
Madeleine McCann: Phone records may hold key, UK police say BBC News

Madeleine was three when she disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in the Algarve in 2007

 

By Danny Shaw
Home affairs correspondent, BBC News
4 October 2013 Last updated at 00:29


Mobile phone records may hold the key to solving the Madeleine McCann case, Scotland Yard detectives believe.

Three-year-old Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, vanished on holiday in Praia de Luz, Algarve, in 2007.

Police are analysing data from thousands of phones belonging to people in the village at the time. There are 41 potential suspects, they say.

A major appeal based on "substantive" new information will be broadcast on the BBC's Crimewatch on 14 October.

Madeleine was days away from her fourth birthday when she disappeared from her family's holiday apartment.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the inquiry, said officers were examining a "substantial amount of data" from mobile phones thought to belong to people who were in the resort of Praia de Luz in the days just before, during and after Madeleine's disappearance.

Police are trying to identify the owner of each phone to build up a picture of exactly who was in the area. More than 3,000 people live in Praia de Luz, while holidaymakers and seasonal workers visit from countries across the world.

"This is not just a general trawl," said Det Ch Insp Redwood.

"It's a targeted attack on that data to see if it assists us to find out what happened to Madeleine McCann at that time."

'Timeline'

Det Ch Insp Redwood said officers had so far been unable to attribute a "large number" of mobile numbers and admitted that it was difficult to do so with phones bought six years ago on a pay-as-you-go basis.

The records also contain information on which phone numbers were dialled and when calls were made. It is thought some phone numbers might appear on police intelligence systems or be linked to criminals.

"We can see what the phone is doing, but we can't see the text messages," said the detective. "It shows a timeline of the call data."

According to Scotland Yard, the phone records had been "looked at" during the initial Portuguese police investigation but not in detail.

Asked by reporters if the information held the key to the investigation, Det Ch Insp Redwood replied "It could do."

He said there was no CCTV available - evidence which is often used to help solve missing persons inquiries in the UK.

Scotland Yard announced it was launching an investigation into Madeleine's disappearance in July - after spending two years reviewing the case, under the codename Operation Grange.

At that time, detectives said there were 38 "persons of interest" from five different countries - Portugal, the UK and three others that were not named.

Police said the number had now gone up to 41, of whom 15 were UK nationals.

However, detectives said work was "pretty now complete" on three of the Britons and they were likely to be struck off the list in the near future.

No one has been arrested.

'Gathering momentum'

Police issued a computer-generated image (r) of how Madeleine might have looked aged nine

Since July, police have formally requested the co-operation of the Portuguese authorities and a team of six senior detectives from Faro, in the Algarve, has begun working on the inquiry. Portuguese authorities dropped their investigation into her disappearance in 2008.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said it was a "good and professional" relationship and it was hoped that in future a small group of Scotland Yard detectives would be based in the Algarve to work with the Portuguese.

"It's easier to do it alongside than at a distance," he said.

Law enforcement agencies in 30 other countries - most of them in Europe - have also been asked for their assistance, principally to trace people thought to have been in Praia de Luz at the time.

Detectives said "fresh and substantive" information would emerge on 14 October, when the BBC broadcasts a Crimewatch appeal.

Mr Rowley said: "It's not just a bland 'can you help us?' appeal. There is different material and a different understanding to be presented."

Appeals for witnesses and information are also expected to air in Germany, the Netherlands and, possibly, the Republic of Ireland - the countries where most of the tourists in Praia de Luz came from.

The Crimewatch programme will feature a reconstruction and interviews with Kate and Gerry McCann, who, for the first time, will appear alongside detectives working on the investigation.

Police said the investigation was "gathering momentum", though much work was still to be done.

Of 39,148 documents from the various police and private investigator inquiries detectives from Operation Grange have processed 21,614 of them.

The number of police tasks, known as "actions", to be carried out by the new 37-strong investigative team numbers 4,920, of which 2,123 have been completed.

Det Ch Insp Redwood said police were working backwards from the moment Madeleine went missing to understand what happened to her.

"It's like peeling back the layers from an onion," he said.

Cops' new clues in the hunt for Madeleine McCann, 04 October 2013
Cops' new clues in the hunt for Madeleine McCann Daily Star

A BOMBSHELL police theory about Madeleine McCann is to be revealed by Crimewatch.

By Jerry Lawton / Published 4th October 2013

A BBC show about Maddie is set to give the public a "different understanding" of the mystery [PA]

 

Police say the special show will contain new evidence.

They claim the BBC One show will give a "different understanding" of the mystery.

It will include a never-before-seen reconstruction of events in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on the night the then three-year-old disappeared on May 3, 2007.

It will highlight fresh leads unearthed by a team of 37 Scotland Yard detectives.

And Madeleine's doctor parents Kate and Gerry, both 45, will make an appeal for information about a new line of inquiry.

Today we can reveal police are to contact 10,000 people in the resort when Madeleine vanished.

Kate and Gerry McCann are set to make a new appeal for information [PA]

Det Chief Insp Andy Redwood said: "We are trying to establish precisely who was nearby when Madeleine disappeared.

"A lot of the sources of information we would use to solve a crime in London are not available to us in Portugal.

There is no CCTV footage. So we are having to do it the hard way.

"We are working outwards from the spot where Madeleine was last seen.

"It is like unpeeling the layers of an onion."

The Crimewatch special goes out on Monday, October 14, at 9pm.

Met Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said: "It’s not just a bland 'come and help us' appeal.

"There is different material and a different understanding to be presented."

Madeleine McCann: Police using phone data to track EVERYONE who was in Praia da Luz on night girl disappeared, 04 October 2013
Madeleine McCann: Police using phone data to track EVERYONE who was in Praia da Luz on night girl disappeared Daily Mirror

By Tom Pettifor | 4 Oct 2013 00:00

In tracing thousands of mobile numbers, 41 potential suspects have already been identified - 15 believed to be Britons

Missing: Madeleine was taken from Praia Da Luz Ocean Club Resort

Scotland Yard detectives hope to solve Madeleine McCann's disappearance by using phone data in the biggest hunt for witnesses so far.

They are painstakingly tracing thousands of mobile numbers belonging to people from 31 countries in Praia da Luz, on the night the three-year-old vanished.

Already, since launching the new UK probe, 41 potential suspects have been identified – three more than before.

Fifteen are believed to be Britons.

Anyone present in the Algarve town on or around May 3, 2007, could receive a call from the Met, either because their phone was active, or they were with someone who had their phone switched on.

The news comes as detectives revealed they have a new theory about what happened to Madeleine and will reveal it on a BBC Crimewatch show this month.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, said: "It's not just a bland appeal, there is some different material and a different understanding to be presented."

Parents Kate and Gerry McCann will appear in the studio during the special episode which will feature a reconstruction and pre-recorded interviews with them.

Similar programmes are due to be shown in Holland, Germany and Ireland.

Formal requests have been issued to 31 countries for official assistance in the police search for suspects and witnesses which is on an unprecedented scale.

Six senior Portuguese detectives are now working full time on the case in partnership with 35 British officers. A team of UK detectives visited the new police base in Faro, southern Portugal, last week.

Det Chief Insp Andy Redwood, spearheading it, said his team have examined 39,148 documents from Portuguese and British police and private investigators.

They have uncovered 4,920 leads of which 2,123 have been followed. A number of new witnesses have been found.

DCI Redwood added: "We're trying to say in a particular moment in time, around the moment of opportunity, who's there.

"We have identified new people in who were in Praia da Luz and we have a significant number of phones that are unattributed."

He said much of the focus is on finding witnesses as well as suspects. Portuguese police already had access to the list but has never analysed the grainy detail.

Police are convinced Madeleine, who would now be aged 10, was abducted by a stranger and have uncovered no evidence that she was murdered.

Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, said: "Kate and Gerry remain very grateful to the Met for the work they are doing with Portuguese authorities."

Madeleine went missing from a holiday apartment as Kate and Gerry dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.

The Portuguese probe closed but authorities are backing Scotland Yard's inquiry.

The McCanns are suing ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral for libel over claims in the book The Truth Of The Lie.

Madeleine: Police close to breakthrough, 04 October 2013
Madeleine: Police close to breakthrough Daily Express (paper edition)

 
Daily Express, 04 October 2013

 

Detectives identify 3 new suspects as hunt reveals string of clues

By David Pilditch
Friday October 4, 2013

DETECTIVES investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann raised hopes of a breakthrough yesterday after revealing a major new line of inquiry.

A Scotland Yard squad is trawling through mobile phone calls made in the days before she vanished.

Officers are building up a detailed picture of who was in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz at the time and the contact between them.

They believe the investigation could be the key to solving the six year mystery.

The Yard yesterday revealed new evidence had been uncovered about the fate of the youngster and announced that three more suspects or "persons of interest" had been identified.

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry will take part in a Crimewatch special and make a new appeal for information in the light of the "fresh, substantive" material unearthed.

Investigators will reveal a new theory that they say will give a "different understanding" about the case.

The programme, which will be screened on October 14, will feature a reconstruction of events in the Portuguese resort on the night of May 3, 2007. And it will highlight a series of new leads found by the team of 37 Yard detectives.

The squad has identified 41 potential suspects - up from 38

TURN TO PAGE 5

--------------

Madeleine McCann investigation police vet every phone call made from resort Daily Express

DETECTIVES investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann raised hopes of a breakthrough yesterday after revealing a major new line of inquiry.

By: David Pilditch
Published: Fri, October 4, 2013

Madeleine McCann on the day she disappeared while on a family holiday in the Algarve

 

A Scotland Yard squad is trawling through mobile phone calls made in the days before she vanished.

Officers are building up a detailed picture of who was in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz at the time and the contact between them.

They believe the investigation could be the key to solving the six-year mystery.

The Yard yesterday revealed new evidence has been uncovered about the fate of the youngster and announced that three more suspects or "persons of interest" have been identified.

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry will take part in a Crimewatch special and make a new appeal for information in the light of the "fresh, substantive" material unearthed.

Investigators will reveal a new theory that they say will give a "different understanding" about the case.

The programme, which will be screened on October 14, will ­feature a reconstruction of events in the Portuguese resort on the night of May 3, 2007. And it will highlight a series of new leads found by the team of 37 Yard detectives.

The squad has identified 41 potential suspects – up from 38 – including 15 UK nationals. Three of the British suspects are expected to be cleared in the next few days.

Senior officers revealed yesterday that any person who was in Praia da Luz on or around May 3 could receive a phone call from the Metropolitan Police. Last night detectives appealed for anyone who was in the resort in the days running up to Madeleine's disappearance who has never before been contacted by police to come forward.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the inquiry, said: "We are trying to establish precisely who was nearby when Madeleine disappeared.

"A lot of the sources of information we would use to solve a crime in London are not available to us in Portugal. There is no CCTV footage so we are having to do it the hard way.

"We are working outwards from the spot where Madeleine was last seen. It is like peeling the layers of an onion.

"Everything is designed to bring us to that core moment when she disappeared. We hope to speak to everyone who was in Praia da Luz at the time.

"The majority will be entirely uninvolved in what happened but some will be witnesses and others may be suspects.

"This is not just a general trawl. This is a targeted attack on the mobile phone database. It has not happened before."

Madeleine McCann's parents Kate and Gerry [GETTY]

The vast log of mobile phone traffic is made up of thousands of calls from people who live in 31 countries.

In an international operation, detectives have contacted police forces around the globe in their attempt to identify everyone who was in the resort at the time Madeleine disappeared.

Police say 99.9 per cent of those who left their phone footprint will be innocent residents, holidaymakers or workers. But they could lead to new witnesses and potentially unearth an abductor.

Officers have established the majority of foreign nationals in the resort are from the UK, Ireland, Holland and Germany.

Madeleine was three when she vanished from her family's Ocean Club apartment while her parents were dining with friends in a nearby tapas bar.

When worldwide appeals failed to produce any positive sightings, Portuguese police named her parents as suspects but later backtracked, lifted the couple's "arguido" status and closed the investigation.

Since then Kate and Gerry, both 45, of Rothley, Leicestershire, have fought for the case to be re-opened.

A direct appeal to David Cameron prompted the launch of the UK police review which uncovered so many new leads it has turned into an active investigation.

Last night the couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry remain very grateful to the Met for the work they are doing in liaison with the Portuguese authorities.

"Their forthcoming appearance on Crimewatch is an important stage in that process. Naturally, they hope it will lead to information that will provide the breakthrough to finding Madeleine."

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said the revelations in the Crimewatch documentary would throw a "substantially different" light on the case.

He said: "It's not just a bland 'can you help us' appeal. There is different material and a different understanding to be presented. There is new information not previously presented – fresh, substantive material."

Mr Rowley said the documentary was "significant" for the McCanns because it would show the couple working with police.

He said: "In view of the history of this case and how the McCanns were presented originally this is the first time they will have sat alongside police officers. From their perspective it is quite significant."

Cameron forces the investigation into the Maddie case, 04 October 2013
Cameron forces the investigation into the Maddie case Correio da Manhã

Direct pressure from the English Prime Minister

Six elements of the PJ sent to investigate in the Algarve after paedophilia lead

By Henrique Machado and Catarina Gomes Sousa
Friday 01h00
With thanks to
Joana Morais for translation

Kate and Gerry McCann, Maddie's parents were considered suspects in the initial PJ investigation

 

The Judiciary police have deployed six inspectors to carry out inquiries in Portugal, in connection with Maddie's disappearance in Praia da Luz, Algarve, in May 2007, as a result of the investigation that Scotland Yard is undertaking in England. The decision follows a rogatory letter sent to the Attorney General's Office last month - and these inquiries, as the CM found out, relate to an avenue of investigation that points to paedophile rings operating in the area of the Algarve.

The relaunch of the whole investigation results from the direct intervention of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, which led to 'Operation Grange' conducted by the London Metropolitan Police. Portugal was one of 31 countries to receive a rogatory letter to carry out investigations.

-----------------

CM asks [Poll]
Do you believe that Maddie can still be found?

Kate and Gerry McCann, Maddie's parents were considered suspects in the initial PJ investigation

------------------

"The British authorities have dispatched a rogatory letter to Portugal, that was forwarded from the Portuguese Attorney General to the Judiciary Police in order to be fulfilled according to the usual procedures," explained the Judiciary Police national deputy director Pedro Carmo to CM without advancing further details.

Thus, inspectors from the Directorship of the Judiciary Police from Faro were deployed to carry out inquiries which may include questioning witnesses.

Scotland Yard's avenue of investigation points towards the abduction theory, in a context of paedophilia. For months, investigators have reviewed all the leads and cross-referenced all the data about the case, in order to ascertain what really happened on May 3, 2007. It was under the scope of new results that came the need to listen to about 40 people, some of whom are Portuguese.

In Portugal, however, the process can only be re-opened by the Attorney General, if there is new evidence after the witnesses are questioned.

Maddie McCann was snatched by an Algarve paedo ring according to police, 04 October 2013
Maddie McCann was snatched by an Algarve paedo ring according to police Sunday World

By Gerard Couzens
Friday 4th October 2013

 
Madeleine McCann
Madeleine McCann

PORTUGUESE cops working on behalf of the Metropolitan Police in the UK are focusing on the theory Madeleine McCann was snatched by an Algarve-based paedophile ring, it was claimed on Friday.

A team of six Portuguese detectives are taking statements, searching police records and making other inquiries following a British police request for help, Met Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley revealed on Thursday

Local reports said they were working on the premise Madeleine, who was three-years-old when she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, may have been a victim of paedophile rings operating in the area.

Respected Portuguse daily Correio da Manha, quoting unnamed sources, said: "The work of the Policia Judiciaria inspectors is based on a line of investigation which points to paedophile rings operating in the Algarve."

The reports came as Met police raised hopes of a breakthrough in the case by revealing they had identified three new potential suspects after trawling through the phone data of holidaymakers from 31 countries who were in the Praia da Luz area when Madeleine disappeared.

The Met, which announced a £5million review of the case codenamed Operation Grange during the summer, is now examining 41 "people of interest" including 15 from the UK and said new evidence had been uncovered.

It also emerged on Thursday that Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate will make a new appeal for information in the light of the "fresh, substantive material unearthed".

Investigators are expected to reveal a new theory that they say will give a "different understanding" about the case.

The programme, which will be screened on October 14, will feature a reconstruction of events the night of May 3, 2007, when Madeleine disappeared.

Equivalent programmes in Germany and the Netherlands, where most other tourists in Praia da Luz come from, will broadcast the material.

Kate McCann wrote of her fear her daughter was kidnapped by a paedophile in her May 2011 book on Madeleine's disappearance and the search for her.

She accused Portuguese police of covering up a series of child abuse sex cases before Madeleine went missing.

 
Kate and Gerry McCann
Madeleine McCann

The McCanns were first warned of an alarming number of cases in the Algarve by British consul Bill Henderson.

When police made public their files on the case in the summer of 2008, Kate discovered five cases of British children being sexually abused in their beds while on holiday and while their parents slept in another room.

She wrote in her book: "It broke my heart to read the terrible accounts of these devastated parents and the experiences of their poor children.

"What these cases do demonstrate however, is that British tourists in holiday accommodation were being targeted.

"It is so hard not to scream from the rooftops about how these crimes appear to have been brushed under the carpet."

She has also revealed she is tortured by a belief an abuser is responsible for her daughter's disappearance.

She wrote in the book: "When Madeleine was first stolen, paedophiles were all we could think about, and it ate away at us.

"The truly awful manifestation of what I was feeling was a macabre slideshow of vivid pictures in my brain that taunted me relentlessly.
"I was crying out that I could see Madeleine lying, cold and mottled on a big grey stone slab.
"The idea of a monster like this touching my daughter, stroking her, defiling her perfect little body, just killed me over and over again."

Three paedophiles thought to have been in Portugal when Madeleine McCann vanished were said to have been put on a list of suspects British police drew up after announcing their review.

They included two Brits. One, child molester Raymond Hewlett, died in 2010 from throat cancer after refusing to speak to investigators hunting for Madeleine McCann.

One theory officers were said to be investigating was that Hewlett (64) snatched Madeleine to sell her to gypsies who were apparently trafficking children to Morocco. Scotland Yard has refused to discuss him.

Urs Hans von Aesch, who shot himself dead after kidnapping and murdering five-year-old Ylenia Lenhard in his native Switzerland, has also been put in the frame over Madeleine.

A new Portuguese police team was mobilised to make inquiries on missing Madeleine after Home Secretary Theresa May sent an official request for assistance to Portugal's Attorney General's office in July.

The Algarve-based officers are understood to work for the Policia Judiciaria's Faro-based southern division, the same division tasked with the original probe into Madeleine's disappearance headed by disgraced former police chief Goncalo Amaral.

He is currently being sued by Kate and Gerry over a controversial July 2008 book he wrote accusing them of covering up their daughter's death in their apartment by faking an abduction.

British police were expected to work along Portuguese police on the new inquiries but that has so far failed to materialise.

Pedro do Carmo, the Policia Judiciaria's National Deputy Director, refused to discuss the work Portuguese police were doing.

He said: "British authorities sent a rotatory letter to Portugal which was forwarded by the Public Prosecution Service to the Policia Judiciaria so it could be complied with in the normal way."

Police set to reveal new theory about what happened to Madeleine McCann in Crimewatch special on the case, 04 October 2013
Police set to reveal new theory about what happened to Madeleine McCann in Crimewatch special on the case Twitter - Jerry Lawton

Jerry Lawton is the Daily Star chief crime reporter

 
Jerry Lawton tweets, 04 October 2013

Text version of above:

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
7:52 AM - 4 Oct 13
Police set to reveal new theory about what happened to Madeleine #McCann in Crimewatch special on the case http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/342760/Cops-new-clues-in-the-hunt-for-Madeleine-McCann …

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
8:08 AM - 4 Oct 13
Police using data from mobile phone cell sites to track up to 10,000 people in Praia da Luz when Madeleine #McCann disappeared

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
8:09 AM - 4 Oct 13
Police appeal to anyone in Praia da Luz from April 28 to May 3 2007 who has not already spoken to cops to come forward #McCann

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
8:10 AM - 4 Oct 13
Met Police have 41 "persons of interest" in Madeleine #McCann probe - inc 15 Brits - though 3 Brit suspects likely to soon be eliminated

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
8:12 AM - 4 Oct 13
Met Police say Madeleine #McCann parents will appear on Crimewatch sitting "alongside" detectives for the first time

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
8:12 AM - 4 Oct 13
Madeleine #McCann parents have filmed pre-recorded segments for Crimewatch and will be live in studio

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
8:14 AM - 4 Oct 13
Portuguese police has appointed team of 6 senior detectives based in Faro to assist Met 37-strong squad with Madeleine #McCann investigation

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
8:15 AM - 4 Oct 13
Up to 10,000 people who were in Praia da Luz when Madeleine #McCann vanished spread out across 31 countries

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
8:18 AM - 4 Oct 13
Police sent letters to forces in 31 countries asking for help to trace owners of all mobiles in Praia da Luz when Madeleine #McCann vanished

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
8:21 AM - 4 Oct 13
Police say Crimewatch special on Madeleine #McCann - to be aired on Monday Oct 14 - will feature a reconstruction of her disappearance

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
8:40 AM - 4 Oct 13
Police say the Crimewatch doc on Madeleine #McCann will present a "dfferent" theory about what happened to her

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
8:56 AM - 4 Oct 13
Met Police say their relationship with Portuguese officers assigned to Madeleine #McCann case is "good"

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
8:57 AM - 4 Oct 13
Met police say relationship with Portuguese officers on #McCann case unaffected by McCanns' on-going libel action against Goncalo Amaral

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
8:59 AM - 4 Oct 13
Met Police stress they are conducting #McCann probe with Portuguese assistance - case has not been re-opened in Portugal

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
9:08 AM - 4 Oct 13
Police say no-one has been arrested yet in Madeleine #McCann case

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
10:33 AM - 4 Oct 13
Met Ass Com Rowley: In view of 'history' of case & how#McCann 'presented originally' this will be 1st time they've 'sat alongside' police

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
10:39 AM - 4 Oct 13
DCI Redwood, leading #McCann probe, says Madeleine's parents are 'very supportive' and police's relationship with them is 'very strong'

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
10:41 AM - 4 Oct 13
Met Police say they have 'unique' knowledge of #McCann case - studied original police files from Portugal/Leics & info from 8 PI firms

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
10:44 AM - 4 Oct 13
Mobile phone database in #McCann case was compiled for Portuguese police but has been analysed in minute detail for 1st time by Met police

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
3:54 PM - 4 Oct 13
Met so far examined 21,614 of 39,148 documents in #McCann case - completed 2,123 of 4,920 planned 'actions' resulting from study of files

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
4:00 PM - 4 Oct 13
Portuguese newspaper source claims police probing if Madeleine #McCann was snatched by Algarve paedophile ring - report unconfirmed by Met

Madeleine McCann: Police Probe Phone Records, 04 October 2013
Madeleine McCann: Police Probe Phone Records Sky News

9:47am UK, Friday 04 October 2013

Investigators from Operation Grange want to check mobile phone data from tourists who were in Praia Da Luz in May 2007.

Video: McCann Probe Looks At Phone Records

By Ian Woods, Senior Correspondent

Scotland Yard detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007 are analysing the mobile phone details of everyone who was in the Portuguese holiday resort from where she disappeared.

They are set to reveal new information about the hunt for the missing girl in a televised appeal in 10 days.

There are around three dozen British police officers working on what has been designated Operation Grange, but the officers leading the investigation say there has been increasing cooperation with the authorities in Portugal.

Six Portuguese police officers based in Faro have been appointed to liaise with officers in London.

The Metropolitan Police stress that they are "professional and committed" and were not involved in the original investigation, which remains closed.

Assistant Commissioners Mark Rowley and Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood are also sending formal International Letters Of Request to 30 other countries asking for assistance with their inquiry, reflecting the range of nationalities likely to have been in the town on May 3, 2007.

Detectives want to cross reference mobile phone data with other lines of inquiry, especially with individuals they have previously identified as "persons of interest".

Madeleine was three-years-old when she vanished from her parents' rented apartment in the Algarve seaside town of Praia Da Luz.

The Portuguese authorities closed their investigation after initially investigating her parents Kate and Gerry as possible suspects.

The Home Office agreed to order a review of the case by the Metropolitan Police and in July it became a full blown investigation.

Officers have been looking into the backgrounds of 41 individuals, 15 of whom are UK nationals.

Assistant Commissioner Rowley said three of these British citizens are on the verge of being eliminated from the inquiry.

It is a huge undertaking requiring extensive international cooperation.

The phone data has always been available, and some of it has been examined before, but the trawl through thousands of phone numbers is the most thorough yet undertaken.

DCI Redwood said the phone records could be the key to solving the mystery and he that it is not a "general trawl" for information but a "targeted attack" on possible key numbers.

"We've got a data set of phone traffic. Within that phone traffic you can see we've got some of those numbers we can attribute to people, but a large number of them we can't. So in a targeted way, we're trying to say in a particular moment in time, that is around the moment of opportunity, who's there."

"What we're trying to do is to use every route available to us to identify as many of them as possible and the phone data is one route into that, as are appeals. If you were in Praia da Luz at the time, you may get a routine phone call from the police."

The Metropolitan Police team say they have collated 39,148 documents from previous inquiries by both the Portuguese authorities, and eight different teams of private detectives hired by the McCanns.

So far 21,614 have been processed. Some 4,920 of those have necessitated follow up action and 2,123 lines of inquiry have been completed.

The new lines of inquiry will be publicised in a BBC Crimewatch programme on Monday, October 14.

The police will not confirm if new photo-fits or artist impressions of possible suspects will be issued, but there will be a reconstruction of events in Praia Da Luz, and Madeleine's parents will be interviewed during the programme.

Mr Rowley said: "It's important to stress, the Crimewatch appeal is not simply 'this is a live investigation has anyone got any information?' It is more than that. There is new information not previously presented. Fresh, substantive material upon which to make an appeal."

The McCanns will be accompanied by DCI Redwood, making it the first time the couple have made an appeal for information alongside an investigating officer.

Every other public appeal they have made during the past six years has been on their own initiative.

Press conferences in the days immediately after their daughter's disappearance were not organised by friends and advisers rather than the Portuguese Judicial Police.

It will be a symbolic moment in the long inquiry , with Kate and Gerry McCann, once labelled "aguidos" in Portugal, and investigated as possible suspects, now officially supported by detectives investigating the case.

DCI Redwood said: "I have no reason to be anything other than confident in the McCanns. They have been thoroughly supportive of our inquiry and our relationship is very strong."

There will be similar appeals on TV programmes in Germany and the Netherlands, reflecting the high number of tourists from those countries who were in Praia Da Luz when Madeleine went missing.

--------------

Transcript of video

By Nigel Moore

Ian Woods: (voice over) Thousands of people from at least 31 countries were in Praia da Luz on the day Madeleine McCann vanished.

Now British police are trying to cross-link all their mobile phone records with possible suspects in the inquiry.

It's the latest attempt to pinpoint who may have abducted the missing girl.

Madeleine disappeared from her parents rented apartment while they were dining with friends at a nearby restaurant.

The original Portuguese police inquiry was closed but now six local officers are working with the Metropolitan Police team, who began their own official investigation earlier this year.

Scotland Yard say their Operation Grange has now identified 41 persons of interest, whose background and movements are worth looking into. 15 of those are UK nationals but 3 of them are on the verge of being eliminated from the inquiry.

No arrests have been made.

The phone data may change that.

(to camera) Detectives have so far ploughed through half of the nearly 40,000 documents accumulated during previous investigations by both the Portuguese police and the teams of private detectives hired by the McCanns.

They acknowledge the passage of time makes their job more difficult but say it's like peeling the layers of an onion, working back from the moment Madeleine McCann disappeared.

(voice over) Over the years there have been attempts to show how Madeleine may look today but a new reconstruction and appeal for information is to be broadcast on the BBC Crimewatch programme later this month.

The police promise it will be 'substantive' and contain new details.

Kate McCann: (archive footage) We would like to say a few words to the person who is with Madeleine...

Ian Woods: (voice over) And it will be the first time Kate and Gerry McCann will take part in an official police appeal.

All their previous media appearances were organised by themselves and their advisors.

Suspects no more.

Now they have the police on their side.

Ian Woods, Sky News.

Madeleine McCann: Mobile data 'was not interrogated', 04 October 2013
Madeleine McCann: Mobile data 'was not interrogated' BBC News (audio)

Madeleine McCann: Mobile data 'was not interrogated'

04 October 2013 10:10 AM

Mobile phone records may hold the key to solving the Madeleine McCann case, Scotland Yard detectives believe.

Three-year-old Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, vanished on holiday in Praia de Luz, Algarve, in 2007.

Police are analysing data from thousands of phones belonging to people in the village at the time. There are 41 potential suspects, they say.

Jim Gamble, the former chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online protection centre who reviewed the case in 2009, told the Today programme's Justin Webb that mobile data was collected at the time, but it "was not appropriately interrogated".

Peter Sommer, an expert on cyber security, explained the difficulties in collating the data.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's
Today programme on Friday 4 October 2013.

-------------

Transcript

By Nigel Moore

Justin Webb: We live in an era of big data. Increasingly everything we do is available to be captured in digital form and stored, including, of course, our 'phone calls and the places we visit with a phone in hand. Which leads the police to the view that 'phone records may hold the key to solving the case of Madeleine McCann. The four-year-old who disappeared from a holiday villa in the Algarve, six years ago.

Jim Gamble is the former chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online protection centre. He reviewed the case, errr... back in 2009.

Peter Sommer is, errr... an expert on cyber security and, errm... both of them join us now.

Errm... Jim Gamble, first of all. On the issue of... of... of this data that the police are now interested in. When you conducted your review, were you aware of it? Did you become aware of it? Wher... where's it come from?

Jim Gamble: Well, when we carried out was... what was a scoping review, errr... looking at any, errr... areas where there may have been gaps or things that... that could have been, and should have been, done, errr... this was one of them and the report was actually compiled in early 2010, errr... by myself and... and a team, and one of the key issues that was highlighted in that was that there had been a cell dump. So, a dump of information on the relevant days, errr... captured at the time but it appeared that it had never been properly, or appropriately, interrogated. So that was part of the report that... that we placed... or I placed before, errr... the current Home Secretary.

Justin Webb: And why had it not been?

Jim Gamble: Well, that's a question that... that I think others will have to reflect on now. The difficulty would have been at the beginning of the investigation they may have been extremely focussed on... on what they knew on the site. They may have followed particular lines of inquiry that led them to believe they didn't need to do it. I mean, this is going back over a period of time. It's complex, it was made more complex by the fact that you had a British family in Portuguese territory - the geography made it more difficult. In a... in an investigation in the UK, I would have expected this to have been done, errr... almost immediately.

Justin Webb: How useful, Peter Sommer, is this material, potentially?

Peter Sommer: Well, what you get, errr... what Jim Gamble referred to as a 'cell dump' - they're called 'call data records' - what you get in them, obviously you get the phone number, you get the identity of the SIM, the identity of the... the hardware identity of the, errr... handset, you obviously get the corresponding number whether you were calling it, or it was calling you, the start, the duration, but, in particular, the location of the cell site while your phone is working.

Justin Webb: Ahh, and you do get that, even though it's 2007? Which, I mean, it wasn't that long ago...

Peter Sommer: Yes, it's...

Justin Webb: ...but light years ago in terms of technology.

Peter Sommer: It's fundamental to how, errm... GSM works, errm... errr... errr... even then they would have recorded it, errm... under the EU Data Retention Directive, errm... all European mobile 'phone companies should be retaining this stuff for a period. Here in the UK at the moment it's retained for a year by the mobile 'phone company and can then be obtained by the police, so...

Justin Webb: Just to be absolutely clear on this, you are saying that material should be there which will link a 'phone to places. In other words, including to the... the place where Madeleine disappeared?

Peter Sommer: To the place. But the other problem is you then need to link the 'phone number to a real person and that's another set of problems. Errm... If it's a regular monthly... paid monthly contract, that's probably straightforward because the mobile 'phone company will have it. If it's a 'pay as you go' SIM, it's going to be difficult, errm... bear in mind that this is a tourist area, so you've got tourists, you've got hotel workers, as well as people who live there all the time. So there's going to be lots and lots of different mobile 'phone companies and lots and lots of different, errr... countries, errm... who may know the subscription... the subscribers of the individual 'phones but may not go... if it wasn't collected at the time, they may not necessarily know who had, errr... which 'phone number, errm... back in 2007.

Justin Webb: Yeah, that's going to be so important, isn't it, Jim Gamble?

Jim Gamble: Yeah, I mean, to be clear, errr... the Data Retention Directive for Europe, errr... was still at a very mat... errr... immature stage then.

Peter Sommer: Yeah.

Jim Gamble: The fact of the matter is that this data was collected at the time. So we're not going back and trying to find stuff, you know, historically by searching though 'needle in a haystack'. Over the period, the direct period, errr... when Madeleine McCann went missing, errr... this information... there was a... a cell site dump, there was comms data captured, as you would expect. The concerns that we had in the scoping review were that it had never been appropriately interrogated and I think that's the key here. The Metropolitan Police are now going to go back and go through this and use what was contemporary data, errr... probably in an appeal to get people to come forward.

Justin Webb: Strange that it wasn't properly interrogated way back, errm... Jim Gamble, but also strange that it wasn't after you... you conducted your review and... and... drew the attention of people, including the Home Secretary, to... to these facts.

Jim Gamble: Well, yeah, that's something that... that concerned me when the Prime Minister announced the... the, errr... review into the case by the Metropolitan Police and the... my report had been on the government's desk for almost a year, errm... all of the... the issues that we recommended i.e. that the Metropolitan Police carry out a review because they had the capacity and the capability, the issues around cell site, the issues around other forms of data that needed to be aggregated together. But we are where we are. I think there's a good working relationship between the Metropolitan Police and the Portuguese - that's a positive. And... and I think moving forward, Andy Redwood is an extremely professional senior investigating officer and it's looking more hopeful than it has for a long time.

Justin Webb: Very briefly, Peter Sommer, you're... well, optimistic is a silly word to use but you... you think this... this use of this data can work? It has worked in previous cases.

Peter Sommer: Well, it... as Jim says, errm... if this was a pure UK case it would be done, errr... almost instantly. If you go into, errr... any criminal court, errm... errr... look at the evidence bundles, errr... I would think in a very large number of cases you will find that cell site data is important, errm... to building up, errr... movements of people. It's a very, very important area. The problem is the, errm... multi-jurisdictional nature of it and, errm... gap of time and, errr... all one can do is, errm... wish Godspeed to the investigators.

PJ in Faro is carrying out investigations requested by England in the Maddie case, 04 October 2013
PJ in Faro is carrying out investigations requested by England in the Maddie case Sic Notícias

04.10.2013 15:19

With thanks to Joana Morais for translation/transcript

For about about a month and a half the Judiciary Police of Faro has been carrying out the requests asked in the rogatory letter sent by the British authorities within the scope of the Maddie case. Although elements of the English police have already attended meetings in the Algarve, their presence in the investigations in the field is something that, at least for the time being, is out of question.

 
José Maria de Almeida Rodrigues and Joana Marques Vidal

Transcript

By Joana Morais

Journalist: (voice over) Six officers from the Judiciary Police have been, since August, entrusted to fulfil the requests of the rogatory letter sent by the English authorities to the Attorney General's Office. Almeida Rodrigues, the Judiciary Police National Director, did not give more details but confirmed the creation of the team.

Lower Third Screen [LTS] - PJ has been since August carrying out the requests asked in the rogatory letter sent by the British authorities.

José Maria de Almeida Rodrigues: [Judiciary Police National Director] We designated a team that will carry out the requests made by the English authorities. Regarding the timing and as to the proceedings themselves, as you can understand, I will not make a comment.

LTS - Team of six inspectors from PJ in Faro appointed to fulfil rogatory letter

Journalist: (voice over) SIC knows that the proceedings now requested by the English involve exclusively Portuguese citizens, however in the rogatory letter there isn't any request for any interrogations. Even though 3 to 4 elements of the Metropolitan Police have already attended meetings in Faro - one of those meetings was with the head of the PJ directorship of the southern area of Portugal - the English officers presence in the investigations in the field is something that, at least for the time being, is out of question. Nevertheless, in the spirit of good cooperation between the two police forces it is possible that in a near future, in one-off situations, English officers will be allowed to be present in one or another action of the Judiciary Police (PJ). In a few weeks time, elements of the two countries authorities will meet again to discuss the items in the rogatory letter and the steps carried out till then. Besides the Judiciary Police inspectors from Faro that have exclusively in their hands the fulfilment of the rogatory letter another team of PJ inspectors from Porto continues to analyze the whole process in order to detect any eventual mistakes and verify if there is any lead worth following that could justify reopening the process.

LTS - Proceedings requested in the rogatory letter do not include interrogations. Elements of the Metropolitan Police were in meetings with PJ in Faro. Even though there were meetings between the two police forces, Judiciary Police has been working alone. In one-off situations, in the future, English Police may attend to some proceedings. PJ of Faro complies exclusively with what is requested in the rogatory letter. Review continues to be done by PJ inspectors from Porto.

José Maria de Almeida Rodrigues: That team reviewing the process continues to work and are doing their best, as you know, cases of child disappearances, for us, they are never truly closed.

LTS - Faro and Porto teams in close cooperation.

Joana Marques Vidal: [Attorney General] The process that existed in Portugal has a final dispatch, that can only be and should only be reopened in agreement to what is stated in the Law - new facts, etc. It's not reopened at the moment. Meanwhile, the English have a process ongoing in England since they consider that there were proceedings within their remit, a process of criminal investigation according to the English law, in the scope of which they requested the Portuguese state or the police and judicial Portuguese authorities some proceedings to be carried out for the process that is in England.

LTS - So far, proceedings in the scope of the rogatory letter did not need the intervention of a judge. 

Journalist: (voice over) At the same time in England about four dozen Metropolitan Police officers are also reviewing Madeleine's disappearance. In a press statement, published this Friday, they also refer to the existence of 41 persons of interest that need to be heard, of which 15 are British. The United Kingdom, has sent 31 rogatory letters requesting for proceedings to be carried out in several countries, including Portugal. The investigation is focused on phone calls made in Praia da Luz at the time of Maddie's disappearance. The case should regain high media exposure on the 14th of October, when the Metropolitan Police and the McCann couple will together make a public appeal on the BBC, extendable to Germany, Netherlands and Ireland so whomever has some information about the case comes forward. Six years ago, Madeleine disappeared during a holiday in Praia da Luz.

Exclusive: Inside Scotland Yard's new Madeleine McCann hunt incident room, 04 October 2013
Exclusive: Inside Scotland Yard's new Madeleine McCann hunt incident room Evening Standard

Hard work: Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood in the incident room

 

Hard work: Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood in the incident room

-------------------

JUSTIN DAVENPORT, CRIME EDITOR
Published: 04 October 2013 | Updated: 16:00, 04 October 2013


This is the nerve centre of Scotland Yard’s £5 million investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The Standard was today allowed exclusive access to the incident room in London where detectives are running the world-wide inquiry into the missing child.

Restricted access: The door to the incident room

 

Restricted access: The door to the incident room

----------------

Located on the second floor of Belgravia police station, the room is the centre of a massive inquiry involving tens of thousands of documents and files. Detectives work surrounded by shelves stacked with 39,000 or so documents from the Operation Grange inquiry. A separate room contains more files from police and private detectives.

Detectives are poised to release a new appeal with "fresh substantive" material and a new theory of what happened when the three-year-old vanished.

Officers are combing through a huge log of mobile phone traffic identified in Praia da Luz, in Portugal, at the time of Maddy's disappearance while she was on holiday in the Algarve with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann and her twin siblings six years ago. Detectives are focusing on a list of 41 so-called "persons of interest" including 15 British nationals.

Missing person files: A staff pores over case files in the incident room

Missing person files: A staff pores over case files in the incident room

----------------

The McCanns will appear live in the studio during an episode of BBC Crimewatch on Monday October 14 which will also feature a reconstruction of the night Madeleine disappeared in Portugal — and equivalent programmes are expected to be broadcast in Holland, Germany and possibly Ireland.

Detectives said new material uncovered by the inquiry does not implicate the family or their friends.

Was Maddie abducted by burglars she disturbed at holiday flat? Scotland Yard probes new theory as McCanns prepare to make 'significant' TV appeal, 05 October 2013
Was Maddie abducted by burglars she disturbed at holiday flat? Scotland Yard probes new theory as McCanns prepare to make 'significant' TV appeal Daily Mail

By STEPHEN WRIGHT
PUBLISHED: 01:40, 5 October 2013 | UPDATED: 10:22, 5 October 2013

Abducted by burglars? Scotland Yard is looking into claims that Madeleine McCann was snatched during a break-in at her Portuguese holiday apartment

 

Madeleine McCann may have been abducted after disturbing burglars in her family's holiday apartment, Scotland Yard believes.

Detectives think her disappearance could be linked to a series of break-ins at the Portuguese resort from which she vanished, the Daily Mail can reveal.

The burglaries – thought to be the work of a 'team' of thieves – happened in the months leading up to Madeleine's disappearance from the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz in May 2007.

One theory – now being taken seriously by British police – is that burglars panicked after Madeleine awoke from her sleep.

Sources in the Algarve – where the authorities are working closely with Scotland Yard – confirmed yesterday that detectives are investigating a series of thefts from the Ocean Club and elsewhere in Praia da Luz.

One local source said: 'It is a very serious line of inquiry.'

The break-ins came to light during the Metropolitan Police's two year long, £5million review of Madeleine's abduction.

Details of the new theory emerged as Kate and Gerry McCann prepare to make a 'significant' new TV appeal in light of ‘fresh, substantive’ material unearthed as part of the Met’s review.

On Thursday, Yard chiefs revealed detectives are trawling through a vast log of mobile phone traffic identified in Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance.

In a process detectives say could be key to discovering what happened to the then three-year-old, any person who was present in the town on or around May 3 2007 could receive a phone call from the Metropolitan Police.

The McCanns will appear live in the studio during an episode of BBC Crimewatch on Monday next week, which will also feature a reconstruction.

It is understood police are anxious to hear from any other holidaymakers who might have been a burglary victim in Praia da Luz prior to Madeleine’s disappearance.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, of the Metropolitan Police, described the programme's content as 'substantially different'. 'It's not just a bland 'can you help us' appeal, there is some different material and a different understanding to be presented,' he said.

The comments of Mr Rowley, who as chief constable of Surrey oversaw the successful re-investigation into the abduction and murder of schoolgirl Milly Dowler, prompted fevered speculation.

Well-placed sources in Portugal dismissed local reports that police believe a local paedophile gang was responsible.

Mystery: Portuguese police at the apartment in Praia da Luz in 2007 from where Madeleine went missing on May 3 of that year

 

Mystery: Portuguese police at the apartment in Praia da Luz in 2007 from where Madeleine went missing on May 3 of that year

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Instead, they revealed, British detectives are focusing their inquiries on a series of break-ins at Algarve resorts.

It was not clear yesterday whether the McCann's holiday apartment, by a public road, had been previously targeted by burglars.

But police are continuing to look at a large but 'manageable' list of phone numbers identified as being in Praia da Luz.

A 'significant' number have not yet been attributed to anyone. However, officers are now able to create a log showing calls being made at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

Details of the new theory emerged as Kate and Gerry McCann (pictured at a previous TV appeal) prepare to make a 'significant' new TV appeal in light of 'fresh, substantive' material unearthed as part of the Met's review

Details of the new theory emerged as Kate and Gerry McCann (pictured at a previous TV appeal) prepare to make a 'significant' new TV appeal in light of 'fresh, substantive' material unearthed as part of the Met's review

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Asked if this move could be key to the investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, the senior investigating officer, said: 'It could be.'

But Mr Redwood said they may never know everybody who was in Praia da Luz at the same time as Madeleine, who vanished as her parents dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.

Much of the focus now is to find witnesses as well as suspects. 'We're trying to understand who was there for a range of reasons,' he added.

Since the review has been launched, Scotland Yard has identified 41 potential suspects, including 15 Britons.

Six suspects are in the Algarve, 05 October 2013 
Six suspects are in the Algarve Correio da Manhã (online and paper edition)

 
Correio da Manhã, paper edition, 05 October 2013

British authorities say that six suspects of Maddie's disappearance are in the Algarve

Proceedings requested of Portugal will focus on these individuals, of English and Portuguese nationalities, who had already been investigated


By Rui Pando Gomes/Ana Palma
05 October 2013
With thanks to
Joana Morais for translation/scan

Of the 41 suspects that the British authorities believe to have an interest towards clarifying the Maddie case, six are in the Algarve. The CM found out that most of the proceedings requested by the English police of the Portuguese authorities, within the scope of the new investigation opened in England over Madeleine's disappearance, will focus on these individuals.

CM learned the suspects are of English and Portuguese nationalities and were in the vicinity of Praia da Luz, in Lagos, at the time of the disappearance, in May 3, 2007.

They had already been investigated by the Judiciary Police (PJ), however the British police guarantees that they have new data, following the analyses of several phone records. It will be the cross-examination of that data that the investigation, which began with the pressure of the prime minister David Cameron [see on the side], is now focusing, leading to requests of judicial cooperation sent to several European countries, among them Portugal.

In order to fulfil the request, a team of six officers, from the Judiciary Police directorship of the Southern area of Portugal, was deployed to carry out all the steps asked by the British police based on Portuguese law. The National PJ Director, Almeida Rodrigues, confirmed yesterday that the Portuguese authorities received a rogatory letter from the English authorities which is "being applied in accordance to the usual process". He also stated that the existing PJ team in Porto, headed by the Superior PJ Coordinator Helena Monteiro, reviewing the process will "continue to do their job" since "the situations of children who disappear are never truly closed while it is not determined what has happened".

The Attorney General, Joana Marques Vidal, also confirmed yesterday that "there is a process in England" and that it was asked to Portugal, within the scope of international judicial cooperation, "to carry out some proceedings".

The Portuguese team will support the British unit in charge of 'Operation Grange', from the Metropolitan Police, who are reviewing all the leads.

Praia da Luz wants to forget the Maddie Case

In Praia da Luz, in Lagos, is where the tourist resort of the Ocean Club is, where the McCanns were staying at the time when Madeleine disappeared - the people of Luz want to "forget" about the case that has placed the locality in the eyes of the world for the "worst reasons". In their opinion, the case has affected local tourism adversely. "We have been severely damaged" guarantee the population.

Pressure from David Cameron opened inquest

PJ inspectors will support the British unit in charge of 'Operation Grange', an inquest initiated following the direct intervention of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron. "It's a dedicated team. We have surpassed the first series of judicial obstacles, and the investigation is moving forward", affirmed Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, from the metropolitan police, who assures that there is a good cooperation between both police forces.

McCann couple demands 1.2 million euros for damages from former inspector

The announcement of the relaunching of the investigation of the Maddie case happened at a time when the trial against the former Judiciary Police inspector Gonçalo Amaral, accused of defamation by the McCanns, is taking place in the Pálacio de Justiça, in Lisbon. In this civil action the couple are demanding 1.2 million euros. In the book 'The Truth of the Lie", Amaral, who led the investigation to Maddie's disappearance, defends the thesis of the concealment of the cadaver by her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.

Window was open

Madeleine McCann disappeared on May 3, 2007 from an apartment in a tourist resort. She had been left in the bedroom with her siblings, the 2 year old twins, Sean and Amelie, while the parents went out to have dinner in a restaurant of the resort. About 22h Kate McCann found Madeleine's bed empty and the shutters up. In the first official statement made by Guilhermino Encarnação, on May 5, the PJ revealed that there were suspicions of a crime of abduction and about the existence of a sketch of an eventual suspect.

Details

Parents arguidos
Kate and Gerry McCann were constituted as arguidos in September 2007. The process was archived due to lack of evidence in July 2008.

Reopening
The process can only be reopened by the Attorney General's Office if there are new and credible evidence regarding Madeleine's disappearance.

Murat a suspect
Robert Murat, a neighbor of the Ocean Club, who helped the searches to find Maddie, aroused suspicions, the PJ searched his property and nothing was found.

Parents defend abduction
The couple has always defended the thesis of abduction of their 3 year old daughter. In 2011 they wrote to David Cameron affirming that not enough was being done to find her.

Box

Madeleine sightings
Since the disappearance of the child the authorities have registered numerous sightings of the child, in opposite places of the planet.

Family thinks she is alive
The McCann family still believes the child is alive. That was stated again last Wednesday by the aunt of the child, Gerry's sister, Patricia Cameron.

Top bar

Site: renewed image
The McCann couple show on their site age progressed images of their daughter, who would be now 9 [sic, 10] years old.

England: petition
In England, about 17 thousand people signed a petition for the Social Services so they would investigate why the McCanns had left alone their children.

Mediums: leads followed
The police even followed leads supplied by mediums, who guaranteed that Maddie was dead and pointed to the location of the cadaver.

Can the media help find Madeleine?, 05 October 2013
Can the media help find Madeleine? Algarve Newswatch

Posted by Len Port
Saturday, October 5, 2013 at 9:54 AM

The media hype that has surrounded the Madeleine McCann mystery for the past six years has been unleashed with renewed vigour by none other than Scotland Yard.

On announcing that their 'Operation Grange' review of the case had been elevated to a full-scale inquiry in July, Scotland Yard asked for "media restraint" in the coming weeks and months as it began what was interpreted as the last chance to find out what happened to Madeleine.

So much for 'restraint' on the part of either the media or Scotland Yard. The media have just been treated to a string of statements that has left readers and listeners intrigued and hungry for more. The Scotland Yard PR machine is obviously working well.

All of the major British news outlets have reported that Scotland Yard has an important 'new theory'. It is to be unveiled in a BBC Crimewatch appeal featuring what they call "a reconstruction of Madeleine's disappearance."

What form the reconstruction will take remains to be seen but it will come amid the irony that Madeleine's parents and their holidaying friends refused to take part in a reconstruction at the behest of the Portuguese police all those years ago.

On top of the 'new theory', Scotland Yard has announced it believes that "a vast database of mobile phone traffic" in Praia da Luz around the time Madeleine went missing "could hold the key" to solving the mystery of her disappearance.

Detectives admit it will be like "finding a needle in a haystack" because the phone log involves searching the phone and perhaps criminal records of thousands of people scattered over 31 countries.

Intriguingly, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood is quoted as saying of the mobile search: "We are doing it the hard way quite frankly. This is not just a general trawl; this is a targeted attack in relation to that database to see if it assists us in finding out what happened to Madeleine McCann at that time.

"A lot of the focus is not necessarily to find a suspect, but also witnesses. We're trying to understand who was there for a range of reasons. If you were in Praia da Luz at the time, you may get a routine phone call from the police."

The reason for the joint announcement and the precise connection between looking for the 'needle in the haystack' and the important 'new theory' is unclear. Indeed, it all sounds a bit strange and maybe even a bit desperate, but it has provided good copy for the media while unintentionally handing out fodder to the anti-McCann internet nasties.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley was captivating in his choice of words in referring to the 'new theory.'

"There is new information not previously presented. Fresh, substantive material upon which to make an appeal. It's substantially different. It's not just a bland 'can you help us' appeal; there is some different material and a different understanding to be presented."

To add to the mix, it is said that Kate and Gerry McCann will be in the studio and, for the first time, will appear alongside detectives in the Crimewatch programme to be broadcast on October 14. They are said to be very grateful to Scotland Yard for the work they are doing in close liaison with the Portuguese police.

Perhaps the timing is coincidental, but all this suspense rather overshadows the McCanns vs Amaral libel action, which is still in progress in Lisbon and only due to be concluded on November 5.
The Crimewatch presenters:

 
Crimewatch presenters

McCanns 'encouraged' by information, 06 October 2013
McCanns 'encouraged' by information The Press Association

06 October 2013 - 00:02 AM

A new Crimewatch appeal is being launched for information on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann
A new Crimewatch appeal is being launched for information on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

-----------

Madeleine McCann's parents are "greatly encouraged" by new information about the disappearance of their daughter, they said in a statement.

A reconstruction of the "latest, most detailed understanding" of the events around the time she went missing will be shown on BBC Crimewatch on Monday October 14.

It comes after the Metropolitan Police revealed a vast log of mobile phone traffic could be the key to finding out what happened to the-then three-year-old.

Scotland Yard detectives, who have interviewed 442 people as part of their review-turned- investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, hope to track down as many people present in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on or around May 3 2007 as possible.

Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, said: "We are greatly encouraged by new information coming to light with pieces of the jigsaw now fitting together. We are really hopeful that the forthcoming appeal on Crimewatch will bring further new evidence which will take us a step closer to finding Madeleine and to bringing those responsible for her abduction to justice."

A three-year-old actress is to play Madeleine in the Crimewatch reconstruction, as a small production team from the programme spent a week filming abroad for the new appeal.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, the senior investigating officer, said: "We now believe we have the most complete picture to date of the events surrounding her disappearance.

"We are now making targeted and new appeals for help from the public. I truly believe there are people out there who hold the key to Madeleine's disappearance, and that so far they may be completely unaware of that fact."

Crimewatch presenter Kirsty Young speaks to the McCanns in the new programme, while presenter Matthew Amroliwala has been to Praia da Luz to explore the new focus of the police investigation.

The McCanns and Mr Redwood will also be speaking to Kirsty live in the studio.

Crimewatch editor Joe Mather said: "We've been working very closely with the Metropolitan Police on a new Madeleine McCann appeal for several months.

"We're very hopeful that this major reconstruction along with the substantial new lines of enquiry will prompt viewers with vital information to get in touch with the officers in studio on the night of the programme."

Earlier this week, Scotland Yard revealed that since launching its own investigation, 41 people of interest have been identified, including 15 UK nationals, up from 38 people of interest including 12 UK nationals established in July.

Detectives have issued 31 international letters of request (ILOR) to mostly European countries in relation to some of the persons of interest as well as accessing phone records.

A large but "manageable" list of phone numbers identified as being present in Praia da Luz - though not necessarily used to make phone calls - has been drawn up by detectives with a "significant" number unattributed to any named person.

And significantly, police officers are now able to create a log showing calls being made at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

The latest appeal will also be broadcast in Holland and Germany.

Madeleine went missing from a holiday apartment as her parents dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.

The Portuguese investigation officially closed but authorities there are backing the Scotland Yard inquiry and officers from both countries will work together in pursuing new leads.

The Metropolitan Police now has a team of six Portuguese detectives based in Faro, who are carrying out inquiries on its behalf.

The McCanns are currently suing former police chief Goncalo Amaral for libel over claims in the book The Truth Of The Lie.

I saw Maddie ALIVE just weeks ago, 06 October 2013
I saw Maddie ALIVE just weeks ago Sunday Mirror (paper edition)

 
Sunday Mirror, 06 October 2013

 

EXCLUSIVE: MCCANN SENSATION

Cops launch new hunt after 'credible tip'

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New Madeleine McCann sensation: Witness tells barrister he saw girl ALIVE just weeks ago Sunday Mirror

By Simon Wright, Dominic Herbert | 6 Oct 2013 00:00

In a sensational development, he said he was stunned when the man confessed he had met the girl on a ­Mediterranean island

Missing: Madeleine McCann

 

A shaken barrister has told police how a man boasted to him that he had seen missing Madeleine McCann just weeks ago.

In a sensational development the witness said he was stunned when the man confessed he had met the girl on a ­Mediterranean island.

The conversation took place at a party and breaking down in tears, the lawyer, who we are not naming, said: "I can't tell you exactly why I believe what I was being told. It was just a gut feeling."

He said he had no option but to tell the police because of the level of detail the man gave when talking about his disturbing encounter.

The witness added: "I knew that by reporting it, it would ­compromise me in all sorts of ways. But it was something that I couldn't ignore. If I hadn't said anything I couldn't have lived with myself."

He said he was convinced the confession was genuine, despite many other people coming forward with unconfirmed sightings and false leads since she disappeared in Portugal, aged three on May 3, 2007.

When asked exactly what it was about the description he was given that forced him to act, the lawyer said: "I have told the police ­everything that I was told about her.

"They know what that was and that is why they have acted. I was able to be a bit more specific than just the island but I haven't been able to tell them exactly where the man said she was. I am now terrified that she has been moved elsewhere."

The confession was made at a party in the North West of England in August and the lawyer gave a full statement to his local force, Greater Manchester Police, the following day.

Officers are taking the information seriously and are set to prepare a file for Scotland Yard's Operation Grange team, leading the hunt.

According to a source, the informant is being treated as a credible witness because of his profession as a barrister and a pillar of the community.

He has been in contact with detectives within the last few days as they act on his crucial statement.

Last night a Greater Manchester Police spokesman said the force was unable to comment on the development.

Our revelation comes as parents Kate and Gerry revealed their hope their daughter would be found thanks to new evidence uncovered by a separate police probe.

The couple will appear live on BBC's ­Crimewatch on October 14 to plead for ­information about their daughter's ­abduction.

Appeal: Kate and Gerry McCann will appear on Crimewatch

 

And detectives will release a new line of inquiry that they hope will lead to finally solving the six-year mystery of what happened in Praia da Luz when she vanished from the holiday villa the family – including her younger twin siblings – were staying in.

Kate and Gerry said they were spurred on by the chance a push for information could lead to catching her kidnapper.

In a ­statement they said: "We are greatly encouraged by new information coming to light with pieces of the jigsaw now fitting together.

"We are really hopeful that the ­forthcoming appeal on Crimewatch will bring further new evidence which will take us a step closer to finding Madeleine and to bringing those responsible for her abduction to justice."

Scotland Yard yesterday revealed they had interviewed 442 people, including new witnesses, since Operation Grange began in May 2011.

Those questioned include carers, residents and workers who were at the resort at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, the senior investigating officer, said: "We now believe we have the most complete picture to date of the events surrounding her disappearance. We are now making targeted and new appeals for help from the public.

"I truly believe there are people out there who hold the key to Madeleine's disappearance and that, so far, they may be completely unaware of that fact.

"Through this latest round of publicity we hope to take the next step forward in this investigation. There is a huge public desire out there to help us."

Scene: Praia Da Luz where Madeleine McCann went missing

The police said they had generated 4,920 "actions" for the investigation team so far, with 2,123 having been completed.

Scotland Yard raised hope of a ­breakthrough last week after police made an "unprecedented attack" on the phone data of holiday makers in the Portuguese resort.

They also revealed that there were currently 41 "persons of interest" being looked at by detectives.

Next Monday's Crimewatch will also be broadcast in Holland and Germany.

It will reveal a "new focus" for the investigation team as well as ­interviews with Kate and Gerry plus DCI Redwood.

Actors, including a three-year-old girl, were used to create a reconstruction of the shock moments when Madeleine ­disappeared.

It is not the first time Crimewatch has featured the ­disappearance of Madeleine after the show ran a brief appeal in 2007.

BBC Crimewatch editor Joe Mather said: "We've been working very closely with the Metropolitan Police on a new Madeleine McCann appeal for several months.

"We're very hopeful that this major reconstruction along with the ­substantial new lines of enquiry will prompt viewers with vital information to get in touch with the officers in studio on the night of the programme."

On Thursday it was revealed that the Met were trawling through a massive log of mobile phone traffic identified in Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

DCI Redwood said officers had so far been unable to attribute a "large number" of mobile numbers and admitted it was difficult to do so with phones bought six years ago on a pay-as-you-go basis.

The records also contain information on which phone numbers were dialled and when calls were made.

It is thought some phone numbers might appear on police intelligence systems or be linked to criminals.

The Crimewatch episode will be broadcast live on Monday October 14 at 9pm on BBC One with an update programme at 10:35pm.

Clues spark new Maddie hunt, 06 October 2013
Clues spark new Maddie hunt Sunday Express (paper edition)

 
Sunday Express, 06 October 2013

 

Yard will fly to Portugal after TV reconstruction as police say a complete picture is now emerging

By James Murray, Investigations Editor
Sunday October 6, 2013

THE HUNT for Madeleine McCann took a decisive turn last night after her parents said for the first time that pieces of the jigsaw are finally fitting together.

As Scotland Yard detectives prepare to fly to Portugal after a TV reconstruction, Kate and Gerry McCann said they take heart from the details now emerging.

They said: "We are really hopeful that the forthcoming appeal on Crimewatch will bring further new evidence which will take us a step closer to finding Madeleine and to bringing those responsible for her abduction to justice." At the

TURN TO PAGE 5

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Clues spark new Madeleine McCann hunt Sunday Express

THE hunt for Madeleine McCann took a decisive turn last night after her parents said for the first time that pieces of the jigsaw are finally fitting together.

By: James Murray
Published: Sun, October 6, 2013

Hope: The show features Gerry and Kate talking about Maddie in an interview [AP]

 

HQ for Madeleine's hunt, at Belgravia police station in central London, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said: "We now believe we have the most complete picture to date surrounding her disappearance."

As Scotland Yard detectives prepare to fly to Portugal after a TV reconstruction, Kate and Gerry McCann said they take heart from the details now emerging.

They said: "We are really hopeful that the forthcoming appeal on Crimewatch will bring further new evidence which will take us a step closer to finding Madeleine and to bringing those responsible for her abduction to justice." At the The McCanns' statement, released through Scotland Yard, added: "We are greatly encouraged by new information coming to light with pieces of the jigsaw now fitting together."

The gathering momentum and the confidence in the statements suggests arrests may be imminent in the coming weeks.

The Sunday Express understands Mr Redwood plans to fly to Portugal soon after next Monday's Crimewatch special for a briefing with the leader of the six Portuguese detectives who are pursuing leads that have been inspired by the Yard.

The Portuguese officers have a list of 41 "persons of interest", including 15 Britons, who the Yard want to rule in or out of their now fast-moving investigation.

Mr Redwood said the 35-strong Yard team is concentrating on what exactly happened when Madeleine vanished from apartment 5a of the Ocean Club complex at Praia da Luz on the Algarve on May 3, 2007.

"The process is like peeling back layers of an onion," he said.

"Every hour of our time is designed to get information on the core moment of what happened."

So far 442 people have been interviewed or provided statements to his team, including many new witnesses.

This has led to 4,920 "actions" being generated of which 2,123 have been completed. A Yard spokesman said the work included information on "carers, residents and workers who were at the resort at the time of Madeleine's disappearance."

Officers believe they have found "part of the needle" in the haystack and hope the BBC Crimewatch reconstruction produces more vital leads.

Significantly, officers have created a log showing calls made at the time Madeleine disappeared.

Search: Crimewatch is making Maddie appeal [PA]

Today we can reveal the highly anticipated show was secretly filmed in Spain with actors because it would have attracted too much attention if shot in the holiday resort in Portugal from where Madeleine disappeared as she approached her fourth birthday.She is played by a three-year-old in what is said to be the "latest, most detailed understanding" of the events around the time she went missing.

She will be seen in nightclothes similar to the ones worn by Madeleine when she was snatched.

The programme will be broadcast live on Monday, October 14, at 9pm, with a large number of officers working late into the night to receive calls. They are keen to hear from anyone in the resort at the time and officers are concentrating on mobile phone records to trace people who were present.

Mr Redwood said yesterday: "We are now making targeted and new appeals for help from the public.

"I truly believe there are people out there who hold the key to Madeleine's disappearance and that so far they may be completely unaware of that fact."

Crimewatch includes an interview by presenter Kirsty Young with the McCanns, while presenter Matthew Amroliwala has been to Praia da Luz to explore the new focus of the police investigation. The McCanns and Mr Redwood will also be speaking to Kirsty live in the studio.

Crimewatch editor Joe Mather said: "We've been working very closely with the Metropolitan Police on a new Madeleine McCann appeal for several months.

"We're very hopeful that this major reconstruction along with the substantial new lines of inquiry will prompt viewers with vital information to get in touch with the officers in the studio."

The latest appeal will also be broadcast in Holland and Germany.

'New understanding' of the Madeleine McCann case to be revealed, 06 October 2013
'New understanding' of the Madeleine McCann case to be revealed Sunday Express

CRIMEWATCH viewers will be given a "new understanding" of the events surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann next Monday.

By: James Murray
Published: Sun, October 6, 2013

Kate and Gerry McCann continue to fight for answers [GETTY]

 

One report yesterday said she may have been abducted when a burglary at the family's holiday apartment went wrong.

This is not a new theory. It was one of the main ones examined by Portuguese detectives shortly after Madeleine vanished.

The Sunday Express has reported extensively on that approach and revealed information about suspicious people who were spotted around Praia da Luz’s Ocean Club complex close to the time of the abduction.

We reported how accountant Paul Gordon, his wife and their two children stayed at apartment 5a shortly before the McCanns and were suspicious of a man who came collecting for an orphanage. Mr Gordon told officers that he could not tell if the man was genuine or was a conman, but gave him 10 euros anyway.

One theory was that the man was casing the apartment for a future burglary.

Breaks-ins at nearby apartments have also been well reported.

However, Portuguese detectives felt it was highly unlikely that a child would have been taken by a burglar, who would have wanted to escape quickly from a property when disturbed.

Hunt: Maddie search has cost £5million [PA]

Today we can reveal the highly anticipated show was secretly filmed in Spain with actors because it would have attracted too much attention if shot in the holiday resort in Portugal from where Madeleine disappeared as she approached her fourth birthday. She is played by a three-year-old in what is said to be the "latest, most detailed understanding" of the events around the time she went missing.

She will be seen in nightclothes similar to the ones worn by Madeleine when she was snatched.

The programme will be broadcast live on Monday, October 14, at 9pm, with a large number of officers working late into the night to receive calls. They are keen to hear from anyone in the resort at the time and officers are concentrating on mobile phone records to trace people who were present.

Mr Redwood said yesterday: "We are now making targeted and new appeals for help from the public.

"I truly believe there are people out there who hold the key to Madeleine's disappearance and that so far they may be completely unaware of that fact."

Crimewatch includes an interview by presenter Kirsty Young with the McCanns, while presenter Matthew Amroliwala has been to Praia da Luz to explore the new focus of the police investigation. The McCanns and Mr Redwood will also be speaking to Kirsty live in the studio.

Crimewatch editor Joe Mather said: "We've been working very closely with the Metropolitan Police on a new Madeleine McCann appeal for several months.

"We're very hopeful that this major reconstruction along with the substantial new lines of inquiry will prompt viewers with vital information to get in touch with the officers in the studio."

The latest appeal will also be broadcast in Holland and Germany.

McCanns too upset for Madeleine telly abduction re-run, 06 October 2013
McCanns too upset for Madeleine telly abduction re-run Daily Star Sunday

KATE and Gerry McCann were too upset to appear in a TV reconstruction of the night their daughter was snatched.

By Tracey Kandohla / Published 6th October 2013

The McCanns could not face a lookalike of Madeleine on a set [PA]

Harrowing scenes, including when the distraught mum found Madeleine was missing, will be played out by actors.

The couple turned down a request from Scotland Yard to be involved in the Crimewatch reconstruction as "it would be far too upsetting for them," a family source revealed yesterday.

A three-year-old with a "striking" similarity to Madeleine will double for her in the programme a week tomorrow.

Kate and Gerry have also banned the re-enactment taking place in Portugal, where she vanished, through fear of angering the country's police.

The couple, who have eight-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, asked for filming to take place in Spain.

A close source said: "More than anything in the world Kate and Gerry want to find out what happened to Madeleine.

"But they did not want to take part in the reconstruction and they were against it being filmed in Portugal.

"Even after six years it would have been emotionally and mentally draining for Kate and Gerry to face a lookalike of their daughter on set. Can you imagine it? It would be traumatic."

But the McCanns will make a "significant" new TV appeal in light of "fresh, substantive" material unearthed as part of the Met Police's review.

Heart consultant Gerry and former GP Kate, both 45, will appear live in the studio during the show. In a statement yesterday they said: "We are really hopeful that the forthcoming appeal will bring further new evidence which will take us a step closer to finding Madeleine and to bringing those responsible for her abduction to justice.

"We are greatly encouraged by new information coming to light with pieces of the jigsaw fitting together."

Madeleine was days from her fourth birthday when she vanished from her bedroom while her parents dined with friends in a nearby tapas restaurant in the Algarve's Praia da Luz in May 2007.

Police are investigating theories that the blonde-haired girl was snatched by a paedophile ring or abducted by a burglar.

Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said: "We now believe we have the most complete picture to date of the events surrounding her disappearance.

"We are now making targeted and new appeals for help from the public. There are people who hold the key to Madeleine’s disappearance."

Crimewatch editor Joe Mather said: "We're very hopeful that this major reconstruction, along with the substantial new lines of inquiry, will prompt viewers with vital information to get in touch with the officers in the ­studio on the night of the programme."

Scotland Yard officers agreed on the Crimewatch format with TV producers.

Madeleine vanished when on holiday with her family [PA]

Court drama for McCanns in libel case, 06 October 2013
Court drama for McCanns in libel case Sunday Post (Dundee) (paper edition, page 9)

 
Sunday Post, 06 October 2013

Portuguese cop wants to take to witness stand

By Gerard Couzens
06 October 2013
With thanks to
Joana Morais

THE ex-police chief who accused the McCanns of faking their daughter's abduction to cover up her death has told how he wants to speak in court about his claims.

Goncalo Amaral had not planned to take the witness stand to defend a controversial book which is at the centre of a £1 million libel trial.

But he has applied for permission to testify after Gerry McCann said he wanted to give his version.

Both men could end up taking centre stage at Lisbon's Palace of Justice at the start of next month.

The court has to decide on the pair's applications to give evidence by mid-October, but the trial does not restart until November 5 after a sixth sitting on Tuesday.

Mr Amaral confirmed his U-turn after the last hearing on Wednesday, the sixth anniversary of his removal as head of the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance after he criticised British police.

A source close to the case added: "Mr Amaral's bid to speak is a reaction to Gerry's application.

"He has made it clear that he wants to speak if Madeleine's dad is allowed to testify. But it seems unlikely one will be given permission and not the other."

Mr Amaral, 56, is being sued by the McCanns over his bombshell July 2008 book The Truth Of The Lie. He accused the couple of faking Madeleine's abduction in May 2007 to cover up her death.

Around 120,000 copies of the book were sold before it was withdrawn when the McCanns won an injection against the ex-police chief.

Portuguese TV station TVI, also being sued by the McCanns along with Mr Amaral's book publishers, broadcast a controversial documentary based on the book in 2009.

Gerry's sister Trish Cameron told this week's hearing the McCanns are living in purgatory because of the "smears" of Mr Amaral.

Three of Mr Amaral's former police colleagues are set to defend him in court this Tuesday when the trial restarts.

Mr Amaral, 56, denies defamation and insists everything he published in his book is already contained in police files which have been made public.

The case is due to finish hearing evidence in late November.

Yesterday it was reported that Scotland Yard detectives believe Madeleine may have been abducted after disturbing burglars.

And on October 14 the McCanns are to make an appeal on TV's Crimewatch in light of "fresh, substantive" material unearthed by British detectives.

The Met Police, which announced a £5m review of the case during the summer, said this week it was now examining 41 "people of interest", including 15 from the UK, and revealed new evidence had been uncovered. A Scotland Yard squad is trawling through thousands of telephone records of tourists who were in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz when Madeleine disappeared.

A team of six Algarve based Portuguese detectives are also making inquiries on behalf of the Met following an official request for help sent by the British Government in July.

Madeleine McCann: Yard getting closer to the truth, 06 October 2013
Madeleine McCann: Yard getting closer to the truth The Telegraph

British detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have said they have now built up "the most complete picture to date" of what happened to her.

Madeleine McCann, who vanished from a holiday apartment in the Algarve in May 2003  Photo: PA

By Robert Mendick, and Fiona Govan in Spain
7:00AM BST 06 Oct 2013

More than 400 people, including new witnesses, have been interviewed by Metropolitan Police officers since a fresh investigation was ordered in May 2011, its top detective disclosed.

Kate and Gerry McCann said they were "greatly encouraged" that the "jigsaw" of what happened to their daughter appeared to be closer to completion.

British police have taken statements from, among others, carers, residents and workers who were at the resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal, at the time of Madeleine's disappearance in May 2007.

In total 442 people have been questioned by officers or provided statements to detectives in an inquiry spanning 30 countries.

Scotland Yard said its investigation had resulted in 4,920 lines of inquiry, of which 2,123 had been followed up and "completed".

The release of details on the progress of the £5 million police inquiry is part of a coordinated effort by Scotland Yard to maximise publicity ahead of a live television appeal by Mr and Mrs McCann on the BBC's Crimewatch.

Police sources suggested that they were "optimistic" that they would get to the bottom of what has happened to the missing girl.

Madeleine's parents said in a statement: "We are greatly encouraged by new information coming to light, with pieces of the jigsaw now fitting together. We are really hopeful that the forthcoming appeal on Crimewatch will bring further new evidence which will take us a step closer to finding Madeleine and to bringing those responsible for her abduction to justice."

Detectives are studying mobile telephone data from thousands of people who were in Praia da Luz when Madeleine went missing.

Thirty-seven officers are deployed on the case. Police have refused to discuss forensic evidence but admitted that no useful CCTV footage existed in Portugal.

Madeleine vanished from a holiday apartment on the Algarve nine days before her fourth birthday, leading to the biggest hunt in history for a missing child.

Mr and Mrs McCann had left her and her twin siblings in an unlocked apartment while they went for dinner with friends at a nearby bar and restaurant. The McCanns, both doctors who live in Rothley, Leicestershire, believe their child, who would now be 10, was abducted and may still be alive.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading Operation Grange, the new inquiry, said yesterday: "We now believe we have the most complete picture to date of the events surrounding her disappearance.

"We are now making targeted and new appeals for help from the public.

"I truly believe there are people out who hold the key to Madeleine's disappearance, and that, so far, they may be completely unaware of that fact.

"Through this latest round of publicity we hope to take the next step forward in this investigation. There is a huge public desire out there to help us."

Following a BBC reconstruction, Mr and Mrs McCann will make a live appeal from Crimewatch's studio in Cardiff when the programme is aired at 9pm on October 14. Similar programmes will be broadcast in Germany and Holland in an attempt to reach those who were on holiday in Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

There are no plans by Portuguese broadcasters to carry an appeal. Portuguese police and the wider public there have been hostile to the plight of the couple.

When Madeleine vanished there was widespread criticism of local detectives over their conduct. Police in Britain opened up their own official inquiry after a direct plea from the McCanns to David Cameron.

The BBC reconstruction was filmed in Spain rather than in Praia da Luz.

The reconstruction is, according to the Crimewatch team, based on "the Met's latest, most detailed understanding of what took place around the time of Madeleine's disappearance."

Maddy cops: We're ready to make arrests, 07 October 2013
Maddy cops: We're ready to make arrests Daily Mirror (paper edition)

 
Daily Mirror, 07 October 2013

 

» Detectives close in on suspects » McCanns' TV plea to kidnapper

EXCLUSIVE
By Andy Lines

POLICE are poised to make arrests in the hunt for Madeleine McCann amid hopes the net is closing in on her kidnappers.

Detectives could swoop as soon as next Monday - when parents Kate and Gerry make a Crimewatch TV appeal aimed at the person who snatched her from her Algarve holiday apartment six years ago.

The couple will beg for their daughter's return.

A family source said: "We are hoping witnesses with vital information will call in and that arrests will be made. There could even be arrests as the show is screened."

FULL STORY: PAGES 4&5

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Madeleine McCann: Police closing in on suspects and are ready to make arrests
Daily Mirror

By Tracey Kandohla, Andy Lines | 7 Oct 2013 00:00

The missing youngster's parents are preparing to make a ­heart-felt TV plea directly to her kidnapper on the BBC show'

Appeal: Kate and Gerry McCann will appear on Crimewatch

 

The only certainty in the Madeleine McCann case is that someone, somewhere knows what has happened to her.

And the missing youngster's parents Kate and Gerry are now preparing to make a ­heart-felt TV plea directly to her kidnapper in a bid to find their daughter, six years after she vanished.

The couple, both 45, are convinced the person who snatched her from their holiday apartment in Portugal or who has her now will see the ­Crimewatch appeal begging them to give her back.

And police believe the widespread publicity leading up to the screening could even lead to arrests during the BBC show, which can be seen anywhere in the world online.

Kate and Gerry will tell the kidnapper, or those who know the person: "It is never too late to do the right thing."

A family source said: "Kate and Gerry hope whoever has their daughter, or any of their family and friends, will see their new appeal and come forward. Someone knows where she is.

"Millions of viewers are due to watch this appeal which could lead to a ­significant new ­breakthrough.

"We are hoping witnesses with vital ­information will call in and that arrests will be made.

"There could even be arrests as the show is being screened which has happened with previous Crimewatch appeals.

"Kate and Gerry want the kidnapper to know: 'This will never go away until we have found Madeleine. We want this nightmare to be over for everyone.'

"No one apart from the kidnapper and possibly friends and family know where Madeleine is.

"Kate and Gerry ­desperately want that person to come forward."

Former chief ­executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre Jim Gamble also believes the kidnapper will watch the appeal.

He spoke after the Sunday Mirror yesterday told how detectives are following a lead after a barrister told of an alleged sighting of the girl on a Mediterranean island.

Mr Gamble said: "I have absolutely no doubt about it. Their conscience will be a problem.

"They will be ­continuing to look over their shoulder waiting for the knock on the door.

"They will not be able to avoid this, the global reach of the media. They need to recognise that we are closing in on them.

"I believe in my lifetime we will find what happened to Madeleine.

"I believe the way human conscience works means the kidnapper will be found out in the end.

"Some people have no conscience and don't worry about what they did.

"But they worry about getting caught and those who suspect them.

"It's never too late to do the right thing or to share that piece of information you think meant nothing."

Former GP Kate and heart consultant Gerry, from Rothley, Leicestershire, will make their TV appeal live next Monday at Cardiff's BBC studios.

The 9pm show is to also feature the first-ever reconstruction of the night Madeleine, who would now be 10, was snatched from the Praia da Luz apartment in May 2007 as her parents dined out nearby.

But requests to film the youngster's bedroom, which has not been changed since she ­vanished, or inside their home were turned down.

Snatch: One artist's impression of suspected kidnapper

And Kate and Gerry, who also have eight-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, were too upset to take part in the re-enactment of their daughter’s last night with them.

They could not bear seeing a ­lookalike of Madeleine, played by a three-year-old actor.

Crimewatch filmed the scenes, which will also be screened in Holland and Germany, in Spain. But Portuguese TV will not air the appeal.

Scotland Yard detectives, who are leading the global hunt for Madeleine, are increasingly ­confident they could make an arrest in the coming days as a result of progress in the investigation.

They have already identified 41 ­potential suspects around Europe, 15 of whom are British.

Officers are also analysing mobile phone data of people who used their handsets in Praia da Luz on the Algarve the day Madeleine was taken.

Kate and Gerry believe their daughter is still alive and have never given up hope of finding her.

During the Crimewatch show, the couple will also make a fresh appeal to the public for help. Detectives are to release a new line of inquiry which they hope will bring new leads.

The pair said the evidence "will take us a step closer to finding Madeleine and bringing those responsible for her abduction to justice".

The Crimewatch episode will be broadcast live on Monday October 14 at 9pm on BBC One with an update programme at 10:35pm.

Madeleine McCann kidnapper's conscience could catch catch up with them, 07 October 2013
Madeleine McCann kidnapper's conscience could catch catch up with them Daily Mirror

By Jim Gamble | 7 Oct 2013 00:00

The Crimewatch programme will disclose "fresh and substantive" information. This is not just about revisiting a cold case

Madeleine McCann

It's secret that somebody has been keeping for six long years. But sooner or later, the mystery of little Madeleine McCann will be unravelled.

Next Monday night Crimewatch will release an appeal for new information, reconstructing the fateful hours before she vanished.

The programme will disclose "fresh and substantive" information and hopefully jog a few memories. This is not just about revisiting a cold case.

It is about responding to new leads – and the dawning reality that Kate and Gerry's relentless efforts to reinvigorate the investigation have paid off.

The 37-strong team from New Scotland Yard, is well funded and detectives have built a solid working relationship with their Portuguese counterparts.

They have processed thousands of lines of enquiry, engaging 31 law enforcement agencies worldwide, and revisited evidence gathered but not fully followed up six years ago.

The person or persons who know what happened could be about to face the knock on the door they have been dreading for so long.

They will not be able to continue life as normal, they will not go untouched by all this.

The media coverage will help stretch the long arm of the law.

And this time someone might just decide to ease their conscience by sharing a vital piece of information.

I hope that whoever they are, they realise that it is never too late to do the right thing and find the courage to come forward.

Jim Gamble is former head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

EXCLUSIVE: McCann's baffled as Portugal refuses to show Madeleine TV appeal, 07 October 2013
EXCLUSIVE: McCann's baffled as Portugal refuses to show Madeleine TV appeal Daily Star

MADELEINE MCCANN'S parents are "baffled" why a Crimewatch appeal to help find their missing daughter will not be shown in Portugal.

By Jerry Lawton / Published 7th October 2013

Fresh hope as Kate and Gerry make a new appeal on the Crimewatch show to find their daughter [PA]

 

Broadcasters in the country where Maddie disappeared have declined to screen the TV special, which will be aired in the UK, Holland and Germany next week.

British police are at a loss to explain why no Portuguese television company has taken up the opportunity to show the BBC programme.

They say it will feature a new theory about what happened to the then three-year-old who vanished from her parents’ holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.

It will include a reconstruction of events before her disappearance and a fresh appeal from doctor parents Kate and Gerry, both 45.

UK detectives are trying to trace up to 10,000 people who were in the resort when Madeleine went missing.

They have obtained a database of every mobile phone in the area at the time and are tracing the owners across 31 countries.

UK detectives are trying to trace up to 10,000 people who were in the resort when Madeleine went missing

Most hailed from Britain, Ireland, Germany and Holland and the Crimewatch programme, or a version of it, will be screened in all four countries.

But none of the 3,000 people who live and work in Praia da Luz will see it, leaving a giant hole in the police appeal.

Last night a source close to the McCanns told the Daily Star: "Kate and Gerry are not criticising Portugal for not running the Crimewatch show but it is rather baffling.

"The Crimewatch screening is an arrangement ­between the police and broadcasters."

Scotland Yard detectives have interviewed 442 people as part of the new £5m Operation Grange. They have identified 41 as "of interest", including 15 Brits.

Asked why the show is not ­being seen in Portugal, Assistant Met ­Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said no broadcaster there had taken it up.

"That is a matter for them," he said.

Yesterday, it was revealed a barrister has told Gtr Manchester Police a man confessed to him at a party that he had met Madeleine, who would now be 10, on a ­Mediterranean island just "weeks ago".

'Much to do' in Madeleine probe, 07 October 2013
'Much to do' in Madeleine probe The Press Association

Press Association 10:48 AM
Madeleine McCann's parents Gerry and Kate McCann who are "greatly encouraged" by new information about her disappearance.
Press Association - Madeleine McCann's parents Gerry and Kate McCann who are "greatly encouraged" by new information about her disappearance.

--------------------

It is too early to speculate on where the latest Crimewatch appeal into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will lead, Scotland Yard said today, saying there is "much ground to cover".

Scotland Yard assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said it is hoped the appeal next week will produce new witnesses, but a conclusion to the case is not imminent.

A reconstruction of the "latest, most detailed understanding" of the events around the time Madeleine went missing will be shown on BBC Crimewatch next Monday.

It comes after the Metropolitan Police revealed a vast log of mobile phone traffic could be the key to finding out what happened to the-then three-year-old.

Scotland Yard detectives, who have interviewed 442 people as part of their review-turned-investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, hope to track down as many people present in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on or around May 3 2007 as possible.

Madeleine's parents have said they are "greatly encouraged" by new information about their daughter's disappearance.

Today assistant commissioner Mr Rowley said it was vital that the public focused on new facts rather than speculation.

"Just to be clear, we are focused on the appeal on Crimewatch next week which we hope will produce new witnesses," he said.

"It is clearly too early to speculate about where this will lead.

"It remains vital for us, and the success of the appeal, that the public are focused on new facts that can be released by the investigative team rather than speculation.

"I am impressed by what Detective Chief Inspector Redwood and his team have achieved but a conclusion is not imminent, there is much ground to cover and we still need assistance - hence the appeal next week."

Announcing the appeal, senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said police now have the "most complete picture to date" of the events events surrounding Madeleine's disappearance.

A three-year-old actress is to play the youngster in the Crimewatch reconstruction, as a small production team from the programme spent a week filming abroad for the new appeal.

Crimewatch presenter Kirsty Young speaks to the McCanns in the new programme, while presenter Matthew Amroliwala has been to Praia da Luz to explore the new focus of the police investigation.

The McCanns and Mr Redwood will also be speaking to Kirsty live in the studio.

Madeleine's parents previously said: "We are greatly encouraged by new information coming to light with pieces of the jigsaw now fitting together.

"We are really hopeful that the forthcoming appeal on Crimewatch will bring further new evidence which will take us a step closer to finding Madeleine and to bringing those responsible for her abduction to justice."

Scotland Yard has revealed that since launching its own investigation, 41 people of interest have been identified, including 15 UK nationals, up from 38 people of interest including 12 UK nationals established in July.

Detectives have issued 31 international letters of request (ILOR) to mostly European countries in relation to some of the persons of interest as well as accessing phone records.

A large but "manageable" list of phone numbers identified as being present in Praia da Luz - though not necessarily used to make phone calls - has been drawn up by detectives with a "significant" number unattributed to any named person.

And significantly, police officers are now able to create a log showing calls being made at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

The latest appeal will also be broadcast in Holland and Germany.

Madeleine went missing from a holiday apartment as her parents dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.

The Portuguese investigation officially closed but authorities there are backing the Scotland Yard inquiry and officers from both countries will work together in pursuing new leads.

The Metropolitan Police now has a team of six Portuguese detectives based in Faro, who are carrying out inquiries on its behalf.

The McCanns are suing former police chief Goncalo Amaral for libel over claims in the book The Truth Of The Lie.

Gerry McCann 'encouraged' by new Madeleine evidence, 07 October 2013
Gerry McCann 'encouraged' by new Madeleine evidence ITV News

12:50pm, Mon 7 Oct 2013
Last updated Mon 7 Oct 2013

Gerry McCann

Gerry McCann says he is "encouraged" by new evidence relating to the disappearance of his daughter Madeleine.

"As parents, we won't accept Madeleine is dead until we see clear evidence that that is the case," he told ITV News.

"Clearly we're encouraged. There is new evidence, and the appeals will hopefully lead to further new evidence."

He said he and his wife were "optimistic that new pieces will be uncovered that will fill in parts of the jigsaw."

---------------------

Transcript

By Nigel Moore

Reporter: Obviously, this last week, we had new, errr... movement in that direction. Do you finally have some hope?

Gerry McCann: I think we've always had hope, and there's been a number of cases over the last few years of children and young women being found after having been taken and held for very long periods of time. So, we've always had hope and, as parents, we won't accept Madeleine is dead until we see evidence, clear evidence, that that is the case. But we've been very pleased with the work of the Metropolitan Police and the review, and they're now moved into an investigative phase. Errm... We are confident that the appeals will hopefully lead to new information and, errr... bring us a step closer to finding Madeleine and those responsible for taking her.

Reporter: Errm... From what you're saying though, that could all have happened far more speedily if we hadn't had the distractions that came about by press excess in the... in the beginning.

Gerry McCann: Yeah, I wouldn't want to mix it up too much. I mean, clearly, my belief is that the damage, errr... for the search for Madeleine occurred, errr... with a lot of, errr... unfounded, errr... stories, errr... whereat [sic: whereas], we have always tried to look forward and not backwards. We are where we are. As parents, we want everything reasonably, errr... that can be done, done, in the search for Madeleine, and I think we're moving in the right direction.

Reporter: And how would you describe the movement forward that the British police have managed to make? I know that you're making a formal appeal but do you think it's exciting, the... the new, errm... strands that they're pulling together?

Gerry McCann: Well, I think it is clearly... we're encouraged. There... there is new evidence and the appeals will hopefully lead to further new evidence and what Kate and I feel - without talking about any details and that is very much in the hands of the Met - but we're optimistic that new pieces will be uncovered that will fill in parts of the jigsaw.

'Progress' Made in Madeleine McCann Inquiry, 07 October 2013
'Progress' Made in Madeleine McCann Inquiry Sky News

12:51pm UK, Monday 07 October 2013

Gerry McCann says he is pleased with the progress is being made in Scotland Yard's review of the search for his missing daughter.

He told Sky News: "They've uncovered new evidence and we hope that the appeals that go out next week will lead to further new evidence that helps fill in pieces of the jigsaw and moves at least a step closer to finding Madeleine and those responsible."

More follows...

-------------------

Madeleine McCann Inquiry 'Making Progress' Sky News

Madeleine McCann, aged three, went missing in Portugal in May 2007

 

12:58pm UK, Monday 07 October 2013

Gerry McCann says he is pleased with the progress is being made in Scotland Yard's review of the search for his missing daughter.

"They've uncovered new evidence and we hope that the appeals that go out next week will lead to further new evidence that helps fill in pieces of the jigsaw and moves at least a step closer to finding Madeleine and those responsible."

More follows...

-----------------------

Madeleine McCann Inquiry 'Making Progress'
Sky News

1:57pm UK, Monday 07 October 2013

As search moves forwards Gerry McCann also calls for tougher, independent regulation of the press to protect ordinary people.

Madeleine McCann, aged three, went missing in Portugal in May 2007

 

Gerry McCann says he is pleased with the progress being made in Scotland Yard's review of the search for his missing daughter.

He told Sky News he and his wife Kate were "very pleased with the work of the Metropolitan Police both during the review process and now that they have moved into an investigatory phrase.

"I think that is all that any parent would want when their child is missing.

"They've uncovered new evidence and we hope that the appeals that go out next week will lead to further new evidence that helps fill in pieces of the jigsaw and moves at least a step closer to finding Madeleine and those responsible."

The disappearance of Madeleine will be the subject of a Crimewatch appeal next Monday.

Scotland Yard assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said it is hoped it will produce new witnesses, but a conclusion to the case "is not imminent".

A reconstruction of the "latest, most detailed understanding" of the events around the time Madeleine went missing will be shown on BBC Crimewatch.
 

Gerry McCann

 

Gerry McCann

It comes after the Metropolitan Police revealed a vast log of mobile phone traffic could be the key to finding out what happened to the-then three-year-old.

Scotland Yard detectives have interviewed 442 people as part of their review-turned-investigation into Madeleine's disappearance. It has identified 41 people of interest, including 15 UK nationals.

They hope to track down as many people present in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on or around May 3, 2007, as possible.

Dr McCann, speaking outside the General Medical Council (GMC) in London, also said the press needed tougher, independent regulation in order to protect the lives of ordinary people.

He talked about need for speedy arbitration for victims of press intrusion and misreporting, in the light of the Leveson Inquiry, at which he gave evidence.

He said "Ordinary peoples lives are being damaged every day of the week by press intrusion, by lies being printed or exaggeration."

It "personally troubles him and his wife" that "stories are published with no regard to Madeleine's safety, to the investigation itself or whether they will be putting Madeleine or others in danger or alerting those responsible".

He highlighted the need for an independent body that could act quickly saying: "We have absolutely no confidence that the press barons can regulate themselves."

---------------------

Madeleine McCann Inquiry 'Making Progress' Sky News - Video

3:04pm UK, Monday 07 October 2013

Madeleine's father, Gerry, says he hopes the inquiry will "fill in pieces of the jigsaw" and help them discover what happened.

Gerry McCann

[Text as per previous article]

---------------------------

Transcript

By Nigel Moore

Gerry McCann: Kate and I have been, errr... very pleased with the work of the Metropolitan Police, both during the review process and now that they've moved into an investigative phase and I think that's all that any parents would want when their child's missing. But clearly they've uncovered new evidence and we hope that the appeals, errr... that go out next week, starting with Monday, errr... will lead to further new evidence that helps fill in pieces of the jigsaw and move at least a step closer to finding Madeleine and those responsible.

(...)

Gerry McCann: Ordinary people's lives are being, errm... damaged every day of the week by press intrusion and grief and, errm... lies being printed, or exaggeration, you know, the whole thing about the Miliband situation where, errr... people came to, errr... essentially a private gathering, a morial [sic: memorial]. It's just completely unacceptable and what we do want is a system that does protect ordinary people.

Gerry McCann 'frustrated' by press regulation process, 07 October 2013
Gerry McCann 'frustrated' by press regulation process The Telegraph

The father of missing Madeleine McCann calls for measures to protect "ordinary people" from press intrusion.

4:22PM BST 07 Oct 2013

Gerry McCann, whose three-year-old daughter went missing in 2007, calls for "quick redress" for victims of press intrusion, saying certain reports by the media "damaged the search for Madeleine".

He said of his family's own experience: "We know what it's like to suffer and know how damaging it is. If it wasn't for the most amazing support from family and friends and members of the public, I don't know that we would have survived what we actually went through."

He said the "distortion, lies, sensationalism, really trafficking our personal grief" was simply "unacceptable".

Kate McCann / 'Kate's Diary' headline

Asked what concerns he had over the regulatory measures put forward by the press, he said: "We haven't got long enough, we could be here all day. But the fundamental question really is that it's the PCC (the Press Complaints Commission), it's a gentleman's club agreement, it's not independent enough of the press and we should have no confidence that we would get any improvement over what is currently in place."

The Privy Council is expected to announce its decision on Wednesday, followed by Lord Justice Leveson speaking publicly for the first time since his inquiry, with an evidence session at the Commons Media Select Committee on Thursday.

-------------------

Transcript

By Nigel Moore

[Note: This video does not contain the interviewer's questions]

Gerry McCann: I am quite frustrated because it's almost a year since we had the recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry and it's almost 7 months since we had, errr... agreement of the Royal Charter, errr... agreed by all, errr... political parties and still it hasn't been implemented and as a victim of the press, you know, we really want to get this moving forwards.

(...)

Gerry McCann: Clearly, errr... the media barons... press barons are putting a lot of pressure on our politicians, errr... to try and go back to what we... we have in place currently, which is the PCC, or Son of PCC, which is totally unacceptable to those of us who gave evidence at the Inquiry.

(...)

Gerry McCann: I feel it has been drifting. I'm still optimistic that they will deliver and really I'm here today to give them a reminder of what ordinary victims of the press want and need, and this really should be done and dusted.

(...)

Gerry McCann: I'm no expert on the actual process of which it goes through but certainly from the information I've seen, errr... of the Press Charter, it is not acceptable to us, it is not Leveson compliant and it nowhere near meets Leveson's recommendations and on that basis it should be, errr... discounted.

(...)

Gerry McCann: I wouldn't like to get sidetracked on that whole, errm... Miliband issue but at the very least I thought it was distasteful and something really that come out of it, which many of us as victims of the press, including the Mail Group, have found extremely difficult, is trying to get an apology out of them when they've clearly done something wrong, and that is something that I would hope, for ordinary people - not for politicians - but for ordinary people who suffer. That's what they want. It's very quick redress and, for most people, an apology.

(...)

Gerry McCann: The damage that was caused, and the widespread international pick-up of, errm... UK media has damaged us and damaged the search for Madeleine, which is more important. Now, I hope we've reversed it but we shouldn't have to have gone through it and despite, and I want to make this clear, and it's something we have talked about, you know, we had letters from the chief constable of Leicestershire asking the media to show some restraint and telling them that many of the stories were simply not true. We had our own legal representatives going to see editors with our media representative and it still carried on, months and months later. And we need a much quicker, errr... form of redress and a system that really rewards newspapers and editors who stay within the code and actually punishes, and has a proper deterrent, for those who are repeat offenders. Currently the PCC slaps people on the wrist and that's it.

(...)

Gerry McCann: There were widespread headlines, errr... not only suggesting that we were involved but suggesting that there was strong evidence that Madeleine was dead, and no such evidence exists. If people believe a missing child is dead they're not going to look for her, or they're not going to come forward with information which might be important.

Maddy: We'll find her alive, 08 October 2013
Maddy: We'll find her alive Daily Express (paper edition)

 
Daily Express, 08 October 2013

 

New British police investigation gives us hope say parents

By David Pilditch
Tuesday October 8, 2013

THE parents of Madeleine McCann say they have been given fresh hope of finding their daughter alive.

(...)

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Madeleine McCann: We'll find her alive Daily Express

THE parents of Madeleine McCann say they have been given fresh hope of finding their daughter alive.

By: David Pilditch
Published: Tue, October 8, 2013

Maddie's parents hope Crimewatch appeal will lead to a breakthrough [EPA]

 

Gerry McCann said he and wife Kate are "optimistic" a Crimewatch appeal will lead to a significant breakthrough in the case.

Detectives have revealed they are closer than ever to discovering the fate of Madeleine, who disappeared during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007.

Heart consultant Gerry, 45, said the couple will not accept that Madeleine is dead until they see "clear evidence" that is the case.

Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said he hoped the BBC’s televised appeal next Monday will produce vital witnesses.

Last week police revealed that a British investig­ation had unearthed new evidence and said a vast log of mobile phone traffic could be the key to finding out what happened to Madeleine, who was three when she vanished.

In an interview with ITV, Gerry said the family were encouraged by developments.

He said: "We've always had hope. There have been a number of cases over the last few years of children and young women being found after having been taken and held for very long periods of time.

"As parents we won't accept Madeleine is dead until we see clear evidence that is the case. We are very pleased with the work of the Metropolitan Police.

"We're confident that the appeals will hopefully lead to new information and bring us a step closer to finding Madeleine and those responsible for taking her."

Gerry added that they were encouraged by new evidence and hoped the TV appeals would offer more leads.

"What Kate and I feel, without talking about any details which are very much in the hands of the Metropolitan Police, is that we are optimistic that new pieces will be uncovered that will fill in parts of the jigsaw," he said.

Kate and Gerry believe search for Madeleine is moving forward [PA]

"We've always tried to look forwards and not backwards. We want everything that can be done to be done in the search for Madeleine and I think we're moving in the right direction."

It is thought Gerry and Kate, also 45, will appeal directly to a kidnapper during the Crimewatch programme which will feature a reconstruction of events in Praia da Luz on May 3 2007.

Scotland Yard detectives have interviewed 442 people and hope to track down as many in the resort at the time as possible.

Assistant Commissioner Rowley said: "We are focused on the appeal on Crimewatch next week which we hope will produce new witnesses. It remains vital for the success of the appeal that the public are focused on new facts released by the investigative team rather than speculation."

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the inquiry, said detectives have built up the "most complete picture to date" of events surrounding Madeleine's disappearance.

They have identified 41 people of interest, including 15 Britons.

The vast log of mobile phone traffic includes calls from people who live in 31 countries. Police say 99.9 per cent will be innocent residents, tourists or workers. But the log could lead to new witnesses or unearth an abductor.

Most of the foreign nationals in the resort were from the UK, Ireland, Holland and Germany.

New appeals are to be made in Holland and Germany but there are no plans for one in Portugal.

Gerry said: "I am sure there will be extensive coverage there and there is very good liaison between the Met Police and the judicial police in Portugal."

Portugal is backing Scotland Yard's inquiry and detectives from both countries, including six in Faro, will work on new leads.

The McCanns, from Rothley, Leics, are suing former police chief Goncalo Amaral for libel. The hearing in Lisbon is due to resume today.

With thanks to Nigel at McCann Files

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