Missing Maddie - Parents Prepare to Return to UK

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have said that they will sue a Portugese newspaper for publishing a claim that she died after they accidentally gave her too many sedatives. 

Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa has also confirmed that Kate and Gerry McCann are not suspects and has no idea where the press got its information. 

Maddie’s father has also made a plea to the abductor to return their daughter saying that it wasn’t too late to do the right thing.  The plea was made as the family started to make preparations to return home to the UK without their daughter. They feel that they must now make life as normal as possible for their 2 year old twins, Sean and Amelie. 

The school that Maddie should have started classes at last week has kept a desk ready in the hope that she will be there one day to attend.  They have also kept a coat peg and locker to one side for her.  Pupils at the school said a prayer for her safe return and a candle is kept burning there for her. 

French police have been searching a campsite in the Loire Valley after reports of a girl matching Maddie’s description was spotted near Tours. 

Police were called after a man arrived at the site with three children after booking for only two.  It is believed that the man drove away after the alarm was raised.

 

Missing Maddie - Cops New Theory August 23rd

Police in Portugal searching for missing Madeleine McCann now believe she died accidentally in the holiday apartment where the family were staying. It has been revealed that this is their new favourite theory as to what happened to Maddie.

Sources refuse to say what is meant by ‘accidental’, but it also means that the McCanns and friends holidaying with then, know what happened on the night that Maddie disappeared.

This is a new direction for investigators who are now said to be convinced that Madeleine is dead and that she died in the apartment, although it remains uncertain as to whether she died accidentally or was murdered.

Currently they are leaning towards her death being a tragic accident.

The McCanns have branded this new revelation as ‘ludicrous’ and have said that this does a lot of damage not only to the investigation but to the family also.It is now 112 days since Maddie vanished, and investigations have found nothing tangible to work on.

Maddie’s parents, Kate and Gerry, have remained in Praia da Luz as the investigations continue.  They have also said that they can’t give any credit to this new theory, but are aware that all avenues must be investigated.

They have also stated that there is no substance in reports of one of their friends being a suspect with police ready to arrest him.

Yesterday Madeleine’s dad admitted for the first time the chances of getting his daughter back are slim, adding that it is possible that Maddie is dead, but also possible that she is alive.

The family have done a great deal of research into missing children and do not want Madeleine to become another statistic.

Research yesterday for the Find Madeleine Campaign revealed that 97% of MEPs want an EU-wide sex offenders register. 

Missing Maddie - Parents Told Not to Go Home August 22nd

Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa has said detectives investigating Madeleine McCann’s disappearance have a “positive feeling” about the inquiry as they await key DNA test results.

Inspector Sousa’s comments came amid reports that Madeleine’s parents have been told not to leave Portugal amid hopes of a breakthrough.  Maddies parents were warned not to leave Portugal amid hopes of a dramatic and imminent breakthrough in the 15-week hunt.  Police urged Kate and Gerry, both 39, to stay in Praia da Luz after learning that they were considering returning to the UK next month.

Police are stepping up the hunt this week by launching fresh searches, police leave has been cancelled and search warrants issued.

Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa also acknowledged for the first time that the four-year-old may be dead, and added that new clues, taken together, had given “intensity” to that line of inquiry.  He was referring to traces of blood found inside the apartment room where Madeleine was sleeping, which are now being analysed by forensic scientists in Britain.  Investigators are awaiting results of DNA tests on samples from the McCann holiday flat.

Inspector Sousa refused to confirm or deny reports in the Portuguese media that British sniffer dogs had detected odours of a dead body that had been in the apartment in Praia da Luz.

It was also announced that more than one person is likely to have kidnapped Maddie.  Inspector Sousa said: “It’s natural that in a crime of this nature more than one person took part.”

He also added that police decided more than a month ago that Madeleine, four, was probably dead, but they don’t have a final view of what happened. He also denied reports that they already knew who killed Maddie.

Sources revealed that there could be developments and it’s right that the McCanns are in the country. An officer was careful to tell them it would be a bad time to leave. They have only been told the investigation has changed, and that there was absolutely no suggestion that the McCanns are suspects.

Portuguese reports claimed police were poised to arrest Dr Russell O’Brien who was with the family on holiday.  But Dr O’Brien, of Exeter, UK, angrily denied any involvement and said: “I’ll robustly defend my reputation.”

The McCanns have also called for a faster response in Europe when a child is reported missing, something like the system used in the United States where they have an Amber Alert, so that within two hours of a child being reported as missing a police report has to be filed.

Missing Maddie – Major New Hunt, August 20th

Portugese police searching for missing Madeleine McCann have announced that they will today start a major new hunt. The investigation has shifted direction with the arrival of British detectives and sniffer dogs to assist with the enquiry.

Investigators also say they have “other evidence” and have applied for warrants to search areas where Maddie may have been taken the night she vanished.

A Portuguese police source has said that a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes for some time and the next few days are going to be decisive.  All leave has been cancelled and officers put on standby for this major operation.

It was believed that the 109-day hunt for four-year-old Maddie was stalling, but police sources have said that they have other evidence to work on apart from the DNA and other forensic tests.

There is expected to be an increase in police activity who will be looking in areas that Maddie may have been taken to on the night she disappeared.

Expat Pamela Fenn, is among those to be questioned. She is reported to have disturbed a burglar in her apartment two weeks pror to Maddie’s disappearance.  Her apartment is located above the apartment in which the McCanns stayed in Praia da Luz.  Other witnesses are also expected to be re-interviewed this week.

There are also unconfirmed reports that police may be about to arrest a new suspect in the UK in the coming days.

Early DNA tests showed that the blood specks found came from a man, and was not Maddie’s. But the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham, UK, which is carrying out the analysis of the samples, has said that the tests were still ongoing, with the full results expected early this week.

Over the weekend Kate and Gerry McCann met a British man who had faced a similar ordeal.

image courtesy of Saboma 

Missing Maddie – Latest news 19th August

Belgian police have apparently identified a young girl thought to have been missing Maddie as the daughter of a Belgian man.

A woman alerted Belgian police last month after spotting a girl she believed was Madeleine at a cafe in the Belgian town of Tongeren with a Dutch-speaking man of about 40 and an English-speaking woman of around 25.

But Belgian authorities have now confirmed the girl was not Madeleine but the four-year-old daughter of a Belgian man from the town of Hoogstraten.  The girl is reported to have been living with the man’s ex-wife for the past year and had been with her father and his female friend who is reported as being Polish but spoke in English.It is also said that the little girl did not appear to be at ease because the woman with her father did not act like her mum.

Earlier this month, DNA tests were carried out on a drinks container believed to have been used by the girl, but the subsequent results showed that the DNA belonged to a man and was not that of missing Maddie.

Portugese police have come under fire again after it was reported after a woman living in the apartment above the one used by the McCanns, was not questioned by police until British investigators arrived to help in the search for Maddie. 

It has been claimed that she disturbed a burglar in her flat three weeks before the disappearance of Maddie and she is now reported to be giving a full statement to the Portugese police. 

She is also reported as saying that her niece, who was staying with her during the week that Maddie disappeared, spotted a man fitting the description of one seen carrying a child away wrapped in a blanket. 

Meanwhile, the McCanns are reported to have broken the news to their 2 year old twins, that their sister Maddie is missing, and have been told by psychologists to say that ‘Mummy and Daddy are looking for her’ but to maintain a regular routine for them as much as possible.   

Last week this was disrupted by Portugese media descending upon the crèche they were attending, which forced the McCanns into pulling the twins out of the crèche. 

Their were also rumours of them returning to the UK without Maddie, but it has been revealed that they have extended their lease on the villa they are using in Praia da Luz for a further month. 

It appears that Portugese police are now no longer searching for an abducted child, but treating this as a murder investigation and are seeking a body after other evidence has come to light. 

They refuse to speculate on what this evidence is, but it is known that the blood specks, found by British teams using sniffer dogs, are not from the missing 4 year-old.   

Further tests are being carried out on the DNA samples, as the results are only 70% conclusive and the results of these are expected sometime this week.