Madeleine McCann Missing-Praia Da Luz, Portugal 3/05/07 #1

[festa]

That quote I posted from from Sky News from the blog is from the news article that klassend posted earlier, regarding the other girl missing in Portugal.

At this point, the PLE better come up with something big and concrete against the McCanns, because I am leaning toward their incompetence - they didn't listen to the McCanns at first and didn't actively look for the child, instead believing she had wandered off and would show up - they waited 20 days to release a composite photo of a suspect???!!!
And the Portugal and British press (for the most part, IMO) have been at odds reporting this - from the beginning I have seen items in the Portugal press regarding the McCanns and allegations toward their character - "leaks" if you will - And I think this small police force is overwhelmed by this case - they need help, but why aren't they accepting any?

If they have something, let's see it - I still keep saying whether they were involved in this or not - Did we tie up any loose ends with Murat and Malinka?  did they have child porn on comps and didn't Malinka wipe his HD clean?  If you have an international porn ring, and Malinka is a comp expert who wiped his HDs, shouldn't he be investigated? - what about the alledgation that he has a conviction as a sex offender? why stopped looking at him, but turn to the McCanns AND what about other sex offenders in the area?  - I'm sure there are at least a few (it is an unfortunate state of affairs in society today) look in your own (or neighboring) town and I bet you find a couple - They all have an alibi?

 

[vms]

That quote I posted from from Sky News from the blog is from the news article that klassend posted earlier, regarding the other girl missing in Portugal.

At this point, the PLE better come up with something big and concrete against the McCanns, because I am leaning toward their incompetence - they didn't listen to the McCanns at first and didn't actively look for the child, instead believing she had wandered off and would show up - they waited 20 days to release a composite photo of a suspect???!!!
And the Portugal and British press (for the most part, IMO) have been at odds reporting this - from the beginning I have seen items in the Portugal press regarding the McCanns and allegations toward their character - "leaks" if you will - And I think this small police force is overwhelmed by this case - they need help, but why aren't they accepting any?

If they have something, let's see it - I still keep saying whether they were involved in this or not - Did we tie up any loose ends with Murat and Malinka?  did they have child porn on comps and didn't Malinka wipe his HD clean?  If you have an international porn ring, and Malinka is a comp expert who wiped his HDs, shouldn't he be investigated? - what about the alledgation that he has a conviction as a sex offender? why stopped looking at him, but turn to the McCanns AND what about other sex offenders in the area?  - I'm sure there are at least a few (it is an unfortunate state of affairs in society today) look in your own (or neighboring) town and I bet you find a couple - They all have an alibi?

 

Composite photo? Was that the egg face?

[sharon]

Thanks vms and festa.

Now to patiently wait to see if the 'tease' pans out.

I sure hope so.

Maybe then it will be much easier to keep reminding the world of the incompetence (and criminal coverup) that occurs on that craggy rock that rewards criminals and punishes grieving parents.

[festa]

Police focus on McCann ‘accomplices’ 
 
 
 
A Portuguese paper claims the police will re-interview holiday friends, reports gibby zobel
 
Portuguese police believe Kate and Gerry McCann must have had help from accomplices to hide Madeleine's body after she had been accidentally killed with an overdose of sleeping pills.

The spotlight has returned on seven friends holidaying with the couple, according to Correio da Manha newspaper. They are expected to be re-interviewed in the next few days, it says.

It follows revelations in France Soir that claimed its reporter Guilhem Battut had seen "hard evidence" that forensic tests on body fluids found in the McCann's hire car "proved" Madeleine had ingested large quantities of sedatives.

Police have admitted that Madeleine's corpse may not be found, claims the Diario de Noticias. One of the most credible possibilities is that the body was weighed down in a sack of stones and thrown into deep sea from an English-owned yacht based at Lagos Marina.

Detectives have already investigated the vessel and have looked at CCTV images taken from cameras overlooking the Marina. A focus on the Marina - just five miles from Praia da Luz - first arose following the seizure of computers from Robert Murat, the only other official suspect in the case, when it was thought Madeleine had been kidnapped.

Investigators are continuing to discreetly "observe and analyse" land south of the Ocean Club resort, where Madeleine disappeared on May 3. Fresh searches will take place next week with sniffer dogs on the coast between Praia da Luz and Burgau, four miles west along the Algarve, the paper reports. They are looking for ground which may have been disturbed, and a series of coves will be gone over with a fine toothcomb along the rocky coastline, it adds.

In one newspaper poll in Portugal yesterday 60 per pent said that they didn't think that the McCanns were innocent.


 
 
 
 

[festa]

OK - regarding the above article I posted:

1.  IF they did it, like I said many times before, they couldn't possible do this alone in a foreign country - friends, some or all, had to help and that is asking a lot of "friends", isn't it.

2.  Now we have an "English" owned yacht as a possible accomplice.

3.  They are not going to search until next week???!!! - What is the holdup?

4.  Polls in Portugal state that 60% do not believe McCanns are innocent - is this possibly because of the Portugal press and PLE "leaks"?  What does the British press poll state?

[festa]

vms - I don't know what you mean by "egg face" (must have missed that chat) but here is link to photo:


http://tinyurl.com/3dfv8o


Oh wait, now that I look at it, I guess this is the "egg face".  LOL

I'm confused in this timeline if this is the composite of the person carrying the child or someone they saw in another country???

[festa]

McCanns' merciless trial by media
 
Among the barrage of reports surrounding the Madeleine McCann case, many have proven to be way off the mark, writes Europe correspondent Peter Wilson

THE parents of Madeleine McCann faced a new round of damaging leaks from Portuguese police yesterday, with yet another set of unsourced media claims suggesting that they killed their daughter.

The latest reports claimed that forensic tests showed Madeleine, who went missing just before her fourth birthday in May, was killed by an overdose of sedatives, and that her mother Kate's diary revealed that she struggled as a parent and found her three children hyperactive and hard to control.

Over the past six weeks, Kate and Gerry McCann, both 39-year-old doctors, have been the targets of a steady flow of stories in the Portuguese press suggesting they were behind Madeleine's disappearance from their holiday villa in Portugal.

Portuguese police last week named both McCanns as suspects and prosecutors have sent a huge dossier of material to a judge who may authorise the laying of criminal charges as soon as next week.

Many of those stories have since been proven false, including a claim by Sky News this week that forensic tests had found a "100 per cent" link between Madeleine's DNA and "bodily fluids" which were detected in a hire car the McCanns rented 25 days after her disappearance.

Portuguese police were forced to rebut the claims of a 100 per cent link, conceding the link was more like 88 per cent, meaning the DNA had not conclusively come from Madeleine and could have come from her siblings and parents or could have been transferred there indirectly from items touched by Madeleine.

Another report insisted that an elderly woman in a neighbouring unit, Pamela Fenn, had told police that in the days before Madeleine disappeared she had heard "sounds of violence" and Madeleine crying out for her "daddy". Ms Fenn later denied having said any such thing.

Portuguese newspapers also reported that the McCanns and the friends they were travelling with were "swingers", and that Gerry McCann might not be Madeleine's biological father -- claims the McCanns have angrily denied.

"Unnamed sources" said this week that a large quantity of Madeleine's hair was found in the hire car, prompting forensic experts to say that tests should show whether Madeleine was dead or alive when she lost the hair.

Under Portuguese law, the police are not allowed to reveal details of an ongoing investigation but the flow of newspaper reports has made it clear that the police believe Kate McCann accidentally killed her daughter. Yes but they can "leak" whatever they like, very fair

The police believe she and her husband hid the body before using the hire car weeks later to take it away. Again, why wait 25 days to hire car?

For that theory to be true, the McCanns must have acted remarkably quickly and coldly because there was only a window of 2 hours and 40 minutes in which they could have killed her, hidden the body and then composed themselves for a relaxed dinner with seven friends.

Madeleine was last seen by somebody other than her parents at 6pm. Her parents went to dinner at 8.40pm and stayed there until 10pm, when Kate checked on the children and announced that Madeleine was missing.

For four months, the McCanns stayed in Portugal and toured Europe trying to generate media and police interest in Madeleine's case. Belated forensic tests of samples collected three months after the disappearance eventually suggested that traces of her DNA may have been found in the hire car, raising the suspicions of the police.

The McCanns have now been forced to retreat to their home in Leicestershire with their two-year-old twins to prepare their defence for what seems to be an inevitable criminal trial.

Public and press opinion in Britain has split over whether the McCanns are the victims or perpetrators of a terrible crime.

The Pope, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and US first lady Laura Bush all met the McCanns after Madeleine disappeared from the family's rented holiday unit, and financial donors included author JK Rowling and businessman Richard Branson.

But as accusations have been made against the McCanns their support has become less certain. Tory MP John Redwood this week openly doubted the McCann version of events, saying it was remarkable there had been no witnesses to any abduction, and a BBC talkback radio program on the case was pulled from the air after callers made a barrage of accusations against the McCanns.

An unnamed donor was reported to have agreed yesterday to fund their legal defence but several other wealthy businessmen who donated to their search for Madeleine declared that they would not give money for legal costs. "I am not going to contribute any more," one told The Evening Standard. "It is a difficult issue and it is not something I propose to get engaged in."

The newspaper France Soir yesterday carried a front-page investigative article claiming that Portuguese prosecutors had already been given forensic results showing that bodily fluids found in the boot of the McCanns' hire car "prove that the little girl had ingested medicines, without doubt sleeping pills, in large quantities".

Such evidence would back the suggestion by Portuguese police that Madeleine was accidentally given an overdose by her parents, perhaps while sedating her so that they could dine with friends in a restaurant near their villa without having to worry about their children waking.

The McCanns denied that they would ever drug their children and British forensic experts were quick to cast doubt on the report, saying that such tests could not prove whether the bodily fluids contained a lethal dose of drugs, and would detect any drugs that had been ingested over months rather than just on one day.

In Portugal, two newspapers published what they said were extracts from Kate's diary which were "fundamental" to the belief she was involved in her daughter's death.

The tabloid very credible source,huhCorreio da Manha carried the front-page headline: "Kate insults her children in her diary."

It claimed: "She complains frequently that her children are 'hysterical' and speaks of Madeleine as a child whose excess activity exhausts her.

"She tells also how Gerry doesn't help her with the family chores and that she has to cope alone with her two youngest children."

Publico, a more respected newspaper, carried a similar report, saying that Kate was worried about her trouble disciplining the children. tone changes in "credible" press, but what parent hasn't struggled with discipling their children, this only shows to me that they she didn't abuse them

Friends of the family dismissed the reports out of hand, saying Kate was composed and patient with the children and managed to work three days a week as a locum doctor.

In an interview published in Paris Match magazine yesterday, the McCanns denied that they were negligent in leaving their children alone and only checking on them each half hour during their dinner.

"One never expects that someone will come among you and take your child in her bed," Kate said. "The only reason that we went backwards and forwards was in case they woke up."

Gerry McCann said they took heart from the discovery of Austrian Natascha Kampusch, who was discovered alive eight years after being abducted.

"Today we think that if Maddie was taken or killed quickly, there ought to be evidence."

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22419443-2703,00.html



Again, regarding the McCanns not opting for the creche - I assume that they wanted the children in their bed, as to not have to pick them up and then bring them back to their room, possibly waking them and then having trouble getting them back to sleep - And as far as the inhouse babysitting, I am unsure what they mean, it seems that someone doesn't come and stay in the room, only checks on the room, which the McCanns were doing - am I wrong in this point?

[festa]

Madeleine: Portugese police ignored Scotland Yard's offer of help

Scotland Yard offered to review the evidence compiled by Portuguese police in the Madeleine McCann case but was turned down, it emerged today.

The offer was made several weeks ago and would have led to senior Met detectives flying to the Algarve to help the inquiry.

The McCanns are considering paying for their own forensic tests on the Renault Scenic car that has become pivotal to investigations

At the time, the investigation appeared to have stalled. There has also been no attempt since then to seek the Met's help, despite the focus of the inquiry dramatically shifting to Gerry and Kate McCann.

The Portuguese decision is in contrast to common practice in this country. Scotland Yard is often asked by other forces to lend its expertise when inquiries into serious crimes such as child abduction or murder appear to be making little progress.

It is understood that, in this case, the Met was prepared to send several of its most experienced detectives.

Police in the Algarve are, however, continuing to receive help from detectives from the Leicestershire force. They are understood to be taking a more active part in the investigation than previously, but their primary task continues to be liaising between the McCanns and Portuguese authorities.

Portuguese police ignored an offer by Scotland Yard to review evidence over missing Madeleine.

The Portuguese detectives' refusal to accept the Met's assistance will be a disappointment to the McCanns. They are now considering paying for their own forensic tests on the Renault Scenic car at the centre of the case against them.

They also continue to be concerned about the way police gathered the evidence used in forensic tests and the Portuguese officers' apparent lack of interest in looking for the person who they allege abducted Madeleine.



So, they eventually accepted help as a "liason" from the Leicestershire force, but not help from Scotland Yark.  OK, I don't know what Portugal policy is regarding outside/foreign help, but again, WHY would the McCanns want Scotland Yard to help.  IF they did it, could they be that cocky to be welcome Scottland Yard, that sure that they'll never find anything?  IF they did this, they have to be the most unfeeling, brilliant amateur criminal minds we've ever come across.

[Rob]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=458217&in_page_id=1770&ct=5

Video footage of missing Madeleine McCann has been released by her parents as they prepared to travel to Rome to meet the Pope.

Kate and Gerry McCann have been given "verbal assurances" that a meeting will go ahead on Wednesday morning at the Vatican.

They are expected to use a private jet to fly there and will hold a news conference for the international media to keep the attention focused on Madeleine.

It is now 25 days since the four-year-old was abducted in Praia da Luz in Portugal and there is no sign of police getting any closer to finding her.

One theory being considered is that Madeleine was taken away by boat, and the manager of the Lagos marina told on Monday how there was "constant police activity".

Four people at the marina have been questioned, including three Britons, according to Ingrid Fortunato.

On Monday the McCanns visited an 800 square foot inflatable poster of Madeleine set up on the beach and thanked all their supporters "from the bottom of our hearts".

The two short film clips of their daughter, taken by a family friend on their mobile on April 28. They are the last moving images of Madeleine.

They showed the little girl - dressed all in pink - clambering up the steps to the aircraft at East Midlands airport and sitting on a shuttle bus at Faro airport.

Mr McCann said his daughter had been so excited about the holiday that she had barely complained when she tripped and grazed her shin.

Phone experts who tracked Huntley join the hunt for Madeleine's abductor.
Last updated at 09:54am on 29th May 2007

British mobile phone experts are joining the hunt for Madeleine McCann with techniques that helped pinpoint the movements of Soham murderer Ian Huntley.

A team of telecommunications specialists is trying to track mobiles in use around the resort in Portugal where she was abducted 26 days ago.

The technique, which is based on the silent transmissions mobiles send even when they are not in use, can pinpoint a phone's position to within a few yards.

It was used to provide evidence against school caretaker Huntley who was found guilty of the 2002 murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

Detectives hope to use the information about phone movements on the night of Madeleine's disappearance to check against statements made by guests and staff at the Ocean Club complex.

This is from about 26 days after Maddy disappeared. I had this on my site.

[Rob]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_headline=i-saw-man-carrying-maddy%26method=full%26objectid=19208832%26siteid=89520-name_page.html

<snipped>
Yesterday it was claimed child porn was found on the computer of the only suspect in the case, Briton Robert Murat, 33. The witness was on her way to join Gerry and Kate McCann for dinner near their apartment in Praia da Luz at about 9.30pm on May 3 when she saw the suspect.

He was hurrying away from the area clasping a child wearing pink pyjamas similar to those worn by Madeleine, then three.

The man was white, of medium build, aged 35 to 40 and 5ft 10ins. He wore a blue jacket and beige trousers. Our source said: "The woman thought it was odd but believed it was the man's own child. He was walking urgently, neither running or walking slowly."

Dismissing the thought, the witness went on to dinner. Earlier the McCanns had regularly checked Madeleine and twins Sean and Amelie, two, sleeping in their nearby room.

But at 10pm Kate, 38, discovered Madeleine was missing and frantically raised the alarm.

-Different description of possible suspect.

[Rob]

FESTA I FOUND IT

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/7513

THE prime suspect in the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann last night refused an offer to take a lie detector test.

Robert Murat, 33, insists he did not snatch the four year-old.

But he has now hired a team of lawyers, fearing he could be arrested.

Police in the Algarve confirmed Murat is their chief suspect but under Portugese law they need further evidence before they can arrest him, let alone press charges.

It is believed they are waiting for the results of DNA samples. Yesterday it emerged that the jobless Murat, a former estate agent, had met Russian Sergey Malinka, the other man at the centre of the inquiry, the day before Madeleine was snatched.

Murat, whose claims of innocence are dogged by alleged inconsistencies, has refused to reveal what the encounter was about.

Last night detectives were examining fresh evidence that Malinka, 22, a Moscow-born IT expert, wiped clean hundreds of files on his computer hard drive minutes before police swooped on his apartment in Praia da Luz. He denies any involvement in her disappearance.

Both men have been questioned about a series of telephone calls between them in the hours immediately after Madeleine was taken from the up-market Mark Warner Ocean Club holiday resort 17 days ago. She was snatched while she slept next to her 18-month-old twin brother and sister, Sean and Amelie, while her parents, heart specialist Gerry McCann and his GP wife Kate, both 38, dined with friends at a tapas restaurant 100 metres away.

[Rob]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_headline=i-saw-man-carrying-maddy%26method=full%26objectid=19208832%26siteid=89520-name_page.html

<snipped>
Yesterday it was claimed child porn was found on the computer of the only suspect in the case, Briton Robert Murat, 33. The witness was on her way to join Gerry and Kate McCann for dinner near their apartment in Praia da Luz at about 9.30pm on May 3 when she saw the suspect.

He was hurrying away from the area clasping a child wearing pink pyjamas similar to those worn by Madeleine, then three.

The man was white, of medium build, aged 35 to 40 and 5ft 10ins. He wore a blue jacket and beige trousers. Our source said: "The woman thought it was odd but believed it was the man's own child. He was walking urgently, neither running or walking slowly."

Dismissing the thought, the witness went on to dinner. Earlier the McCanns had regularly checked Madeleine and twins Sean and Amelie, two, sleeping in their nearby room.

But at 10pm Kate, 38, discovered Madeleine was missing and frantically raised the alarm.

-Different description of possible suspect.

And I forgot to highlight they child porn allegation.

[vms]

vms - I don't know what you mean by "egg face" (must have missed that chat) but here is link to photo:


http://tinyurl.com/3dfv8o


Oh wait, now that I look at it, I guess this is the "egg face".  LOL

I'm confused in this timeline if this is the composite of the person carrying the child or someone they saw in another country???

Madeleine sighting puts Belgium on alert



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/03/wmaddy103.xml

[Rob]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_headline=a-phoney-alibi%2D%26method=full%26objectid=19131086%26siteid=89520-name_page.html


A PHONEY ALIBI?
THE HUNT FOR MADELEINE: 11.40pm call on the night she went missing Murat told police he was at home in bed Russian: We have not spoken for a year
Vanessa Allen And Martin Fricker In Praia Da Luz Vanessa.Allen@Mirror.Co.Uk 19/05/2007

PHONE calls have cast doubt over the alibis of Madeleine McCann suspect Robert Murat and Russian computer expert Sergey Malinka.

Records show that the two men had a series of talks - including one at 11.40pm - soon after four-year-old Madeleine went missing from her apartment in Praia da Luz 16 days ago.

Murat, 33, has claimed that at the time he was asleep in his mother Jenny's nearby home.

Malinka, 22 - who also lives nearby - said in a newspaper interview he had not spoken to Murat for a year.
Advertisement
Click here to find out more!

He claims he only knows him because he helped him with a laptop at 71-year-old Jenny's house.

Both men have refused to discuss the phone calls. Murat is the only suspect in the case. Malinka is being treated as a witness. They deny any involvement.

Detectives are said to be concerned that though Murat and Malinka claim to be only business acquaintances they were captured on CCTV speaking animatedly in the days after Madeleine vanished.

Murat also rented a hire car for three days after the abduction, possibly after he realised he was under police surveillance.

He told the hire firm it was because searchers wanted to use his car.

But yesterday his friend Tuck Price said Murat's own car had clutch problems.

Mr Price said Murat was "in a state of shock". He added: "Robert doesn't understand many of the things that have been printed about him.

"But he's very strong and mentally healthy. He doesn't need any kind of psychological help."

As fears grew that Madeleine had been smuggled out of Portugal, it emerged that police have still not checked CCTV cameras along the A22 motorway leading to Spain.

<snipped>

[Rob]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1805411.ece

Madeleine police: We still lack evidence
May 17 2007

Two weeks after the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in the Algarve, Portuguese police admitted this evening that they still do not have enough evidence to make an arrest.

At a news conference in Portimao, the provincial town close to the village of Praia da Luz, where Madeleine was last seen on the night of May 3, Olegario Sousa, the detective leading the investigation, said the latest man interviewed by police was not regarded as a suspect.

"To this moment we do not have enough evidence to arrest anybody," said Mr Sousa, the day after a Russian website designer was questioned by police because of his alleged links to Robert Murat, the British father identified as the only suspect in the case so far.

Mr Sousa said that several items had been seized from the home of Sergei Malinka, 22, who is believed to have had several telephone conversations with Mr Murat around the time of Madeleine's disappearance two weeks ago.

<snipped>

Earlier today, Mr Malinka said he had been ruined by his involvement in the investigation even though the computer equipment seized from his home was returned today after police found no incriminating evidence.

Mr Malinka, who lives with his parents just 500 yards from Madeleine’s holiday apartment, said: “My telephone number was on Mr Murat’s mobile phone.

"Everybody on his telephone has been spoken to. But I can’t comment on telephone calls. I’ve invested seven years of my life in this country trying to succeed and suddenly in one hour it’s all fallen apart.” Mr Mr Malinka he was “completely” innocent and had no criminal record in any country.

It is believed detectives asked Mr Malinka about a tour company he was involved with at Lagos Marina, five miles from Praia da Luz, which organised boat trips to the Mediterranean and North Africa.

Detectives have searched the records for yachts which visited Lagos after receiving reports of girl resembling Madeleine being dragged down to the Marina. Posters appealing for information about Madeleine have been printed in Arabic after fears that she may have been smuggled to Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia.

Meanwhile, Madeleine's parents have said that working on the new campaign to find their daughter has helped them to escape “dark places” they entered after her abduction.

<snipped>

[Rob]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,272995,00.html

Police Spend 3rd Day Searching Home of Suspect in Madeleine McCann's Disappearance
Wednesday, May 16, 2007

LISBON, Portugal —  Police investigating the disappearance of 4-year-old Madeleine McCann searched the villa of their only official suspect Wednesday and questioned and searched the home of an associate of his.

Forensics experts spent their third day at the home of the 33-year-old British suspect Robert Murat. Officials said they were also examining computers and cell phones from the villa but declined to specify what they'd found.

Investigators also took in for questioning a Russian man identified by the media as Sergey Malinka after searching his apartment. Media reports said police removed a computer and other items from his apartment, which is located near a church the McCann's frequented.

<snipped>

Police began investigating Murat on Monday after British journalists reported to police that he'd poked around the crime scene while implying he was part of the investigation. Police released him Tuesday for lack of evidence, but said he remains under suspicion.

Murat, who has not been publicly identified by officials, told British TV station Sky News he was at home with his mother when the girl disappeared, had nothing to do with the abduction and was set up as a "scapegoat."

Police are also investigating whether the girl was abducted by an organized pedophile ring, and possibly taken to neighboring Spain. They called off their ground search for the child last week.

In the House of Commons in London on Wednesday, many British lawmakers wore yellow ribbons, which have become a symbol of hope for Madeleine's safe return.

Chancellor Gordon Brown, expected to take over as prime minister when Tony Blair steps down in June, met members of Madeleine's family and said he would help "in any way he can," a spokesman said.

Philomena McCann, the girl's aunt, said: "Madeleine is a beautiful, caring little girl. I can totally understand why someone might take her — but give her back, she is not yours."

[Rob]

This link not longer works, but I had it posted at the time.

Press Association
Wednesday May 16, 2007 8:58 PM

Police are investigating a web designer linked to the key suspect in the Madeleine McCann investigation.

Detectives swooped on the home of 22-year-old Sergey Malinka, who designed a website for suspect Robert Murat, in Praia da Luz.

After spending two hours inside, the plain clothes officers emerged carrying two hard drives, a laptop and a black bin bag full of items.

Mr Malinka, who neighbours said was Russian and lived in the town for around seven years, was brought out by the detectives and driven off.

During the search a courtyard surrounding the entrance to his apartment where he was believed to live with his parents, was sealed off.

The search followed the announcement on Tuesday by Portugal's Policia Judiciaria that they now had a suspect.

Mr Murat, who strenuously denies any involvement in Madeleine's abduction, was taken in for questioning by the PJ two nights ago before being released.

[Rob]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1794603.ece

Profile: Robert Murat, suspect in Madeleine case

Robert Murat, a suspect in the disappearance of four-year-old Madeleine McCann, adored his own daughter and desperately missed her after his marriage broke down.

The former car salesman “lost” her when his wife, Dawn, returned to her native Norfolk with their daughter four months after the family had emigrated to Portugal because she was homesick and he stayed behind.

Mr Murat, 33, whose father is Portuguese, carried on as a self-employed property consultant on the Algarve, but visited the child regularly.

Gareth Bailey, a close friend and former colleague of the suspect at Inchcape Autoparc used car dealership in Norwich, where Mr Murat had worked for four years, said the family embarked on a new life in Portugal in 2005.

Married in 1994 in Deerham, Norfolk, the couple had been trying for a baby for years until she fell pregnant in 2002 and had looked forward to moving abroad.

”But Dawn was unhappy in Portugal and became homesick,” Mr Bailey said. “She is a Norfolk girl and her family are in Norfolk.

”She only stayed with Rob for three or four months before she decided to come home with [their daughter]. He had already got a life out there, so he decided to stay. At first, he kept his relationship with Dawn and kept flying back to the UK to spend time with her and her daughter.

”He was going backwards and forwards between Portugal and here all the time, often only staying a couple of days before going back there. In the end, their relationship just fizzled out.”

Friends today described Mr Murat's daughter, four, who is also blonde, as “his life”.

Mr Bailey, who last saw his friend two months ago, added: “He is a laidback guy who loves the wonderful weather and the relaxed lifestyle out there.

”But he was upset about being away from his daughter. She is his first child and she means a lot to him. When she was born, it was the best thing ever for him. I know he stays in contact with [her] and telephones her all the time from Portugal. She is his world and he loves her to bits.”

Mr Murat was born on November 20, 1973, at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, Hammersmith, west London - the elder son of John Henry Queriol Murat, a company director, who is Portuguese, and Jennifer (nee Eveleigh), from Sidmouth, Devon.

r Murat’s parents were then living in Richmond-upon-Thames, but moved to Portugal, where he was educated.

As a young man, he returned to Britain, where he took a variety of jobs and enjoyed playing darts and clay pigeon shooting.

Mr Murat, who lost an eye in a motorbike accident as a teenager when he crashed into the wall of a railway station, worked for the turkey tycoon, Bernard Matthews, at the company factory in Lenwade, Norfolk, between 1994 and 2000.

He and his wife, who has a son, David, now 20, by a previous marriage, bought a modest, semi-detached, three-bedroom house, now worth £190,000, in The Street, Hockering - a quiet Norfolk village near Deerham (population 230).

Mr Murat went on to become a successful car salesman with Inchcape for four years before moving on to work at Desira car dealership in Norwich, selling Nissans, Alfa Romeos, Fiats and Citroens.

But he also earned £150 a time as a translator for Norfolk police, using his language skills to help their inquiries among the large Portuguese community in the county.

Mr Bailey remains certain of his friend’s innocence. He said: “I would trust him with my own daughter. It was a complete shock to hear what has happened in Portugal. If I was to give him a character reference, I would describe him as brilliant and a real people person.

”He is ever such a likeable guy and probably one of the most helpful people you could come across. He was very conscientious when I worked with him and spent masses of time with customers - almost to the point where he would become annoying. It’s just the way he is.

”He is one of those overly helpful people who likes to get involved. Sometimes at work, I had to tell him to go away in a friendly way.”

Mr Murat had a reputation, not only in the car trade but in Hockering, as something of a Good Samaritan.

His next door neighbour, Colin Shackcloth, 85, said: “He is a lovely man, but, two years ago, I realised he was gone. I went round with a little present at Christmas, a box of chocolates and Dawn said: ’Robert has gone back and he is stopping there."

Mr Shackcloth, a retired display manager, added: “He always struck me as a down-to-earth kind of fellow. If you wanted anything, he would help. If you needed it, he would be round to replace a bulb for you. What he is supposed to have done just doesn’t fit.

”They were both very nice to us. We never had an angry word since they moved in about 11 years ago. I can’t say a bad word about him.”

Police stood guard at the house, from which Mrs Murat was driven away at speed by police late on Monday night carrying her daughter in a blanket.

The little girl and her mother are being cared for at an undisclosed address.

Mrs Murat’s mother, Margaret Chapman, who lives in Norwich declined to comment.

Geoffrey Livock, 71, said: “I was speaking to Dawn after the little girl went missing last week and she said that Rob had been helping out the police in Portugal. Dawn said she could not understand how anyone could take a little girl like that.”

[Rob]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2005320001-2007220437,00.html

Suspect's computer seized
 
By JOHN ASKILL
and JULIE MOULT
May 16, 2007
 

POLICE seized videos, mobile phones and a computer yesterday from Robert Murat’s villa.

Local news reports said they were examining the PCs for links with paedophile websites involving violence.

But last night there was no evidence to suggest the 33-year-old had any connection to such sordid sites — and his family insisted he was entirely innocent.

Meanwhile cops DEMOLISHED an interior wall and TORE APART a garden shed at the home he shares with his mother, 100 yards from where Madeleine McCann was snatched.

A police diver also searched a water tank beside the swimming pool and detectives took away clothes — including a pair of jeans.

Officers were said to have tried to tape together strands of paper from a shredder, but gave up.

A hire car and a green VW camper van were examined.

They took two-year-old twins Amelie and Sean to a creche nearby, with Kate clutching a photograph of Maddie. Later they prayed with friends and villagers for the officers searching for their daughter.

The church service was led by Father Paul Seddon, who baptised Maddie and who has flown out from the UK to support the family.

It emerged that Murat — helping police as a translator — had comforted the couple hours after Maddie vanished. But in the following days he fell under suspicion. He was dropped as a translator without explanation, tailed and his mobile phone tapped. Cops planted leaks with local journalists to give false clues and to divert his attention.

He was quizzed for 19 hours — including questions about child porn — at police headquarters in Portimao and treated formally as a suspect, but he was not charged.

Last night Chief of Police Olegario Sousa told a press conference there was not enough evidence. He added: “We are not saying there is no evidence against this man. There’s not enough evidence at this stage. The investigation goes on.”

He described the probe into Murat as having “achieved strength and consistency”. But he refused to be drawn on claims child porn had been found on his home computer.

He added that FIVE house searches were carried out early on Monday as detectives hunted for material evidence.

She said she and Murat were at home throughout the night Maddie vanished.

Police took away her home computer as well as her son’s laptop. Murat’s uncle Ralph Eveleigh said: “The police searched every room. They took away his computer, which apparently is routine.”

Murat was born in London but moved with his parents to Portugal as a child. He went to a private school while his mum ran a garden centre. Dad John died of pneumonia when Murat was still a teenager.

After living in Portugal for 16 years he returned to the UK where he married. Seven years ago he lost his eye in a motorbike crash which nearly killed him. He returned to Praia da Luz but his wife went back to England with their daughter after he had an affair.

[Rob]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1782001.ece

May 13, 2007
New photofit of Madeleine abduction suspect

<snipped>

It was confirmed yesterday British police have compiled a detailed photofit of a suspect seen near the McCanns’ apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3, the day Madeleine was abducted. The man, wearing light trousers and a blue top, had a partly shaven head and was spotted a few hours before Madeleine disappeared.

<snipped>