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Missing: Madeleine McCann vanished from the
holiday apartment she was staying in almost five years ago |
Scotland Yard detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine
McCann are set to interview the so-called Tapas Seven.
The group are
friends of Kate and Gerry McCann who dined with them at a tapas
restaurant on the night of Madeleine's disappearance five years ago and
are central witnesses in the case.
The team of
detectives has been analysing every scrap of evidence that was gathered
when the little girl first went missing and interviewing key witnesses
again.
Detective Chief
Inspector Andy Redwood has three detective chief inspectors, five
detective sergeants and 19 detective constables who are being supported
by six civilian staff and three officers from the specialist murder
review group.
By April they will
have managed to rack up a bill of nearly £2m after Prime Minister David
Cameron called in the force to review the case last May.
So far they have
made at least four trips to Portugal and Spain to gather evidence,
including a file of leads from private investigators.
Now, after nine
months, they are set to check the statements of the McCann's friends,
the
Sunday
Express said.
A key witness is
believed to be Jane Tanner, the partner of Russell O'Brien, who claims
she saw a man carrying a child resembling Madeleine shortly after 9pm.
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Members of the 'Tapas Seven' (left to right)
Jane Tanner, David Payne, Fiona Payne, Dianne Webster,
Rachael Oldfield and Dr Matthew Oldfield |
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Snatching: The apartment Madeleine McCann was
snatched from in Praia de Luz, Portugal, in May 2007 |
Another friend, Matthew Oldfield, will also be quizzed again. He went to
the apartment to check on Madeleine and her siblings Sean and Amelie,
now seven, but did not open the door far enough to see Madeleine.
Other members of
the group include Rachael, David and Fiona Payne and her mother Dianna
Webster, the newspaper said.
Scotland Yard said
it was 'laying the groundwork' before speaking to individuals but would
not say who exactly they were interviewing.
Madeleine
disappeared from her parents’ holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the
Algarve in Portugal on May 3 2007.
She vanished days
before her fourth birthday as her parents dined with friends in a tapas
bar just a short distance away.
Since then the
case has become one of the most infamous crime mysteries in modern
history with hundreds of ‘sightings’ of Madeleine worldwide. |
