Madeleine McCann Missing-Praia Da Luz, Portugal 3/05/07 #2

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Thursday, 10 September 2009

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Madeleine McCann's parents angry at Amaral book
© ITN 2009
The father of Madeleine McCann says it is "unforgivable" that the Portuguese public have been led to believe his daughter is dead.
Gerry McCann was reacting to news of an injunction against the further publication of a book called The Truth of the Lie by Goncalo Amaral, a former policeman who investigated the toddler's disappearance.
In the book, Mr Amaral alleges Madeleine is dead and that her parents Kate and Gerry McCann were involved in her disappearance.
Mr McCann said: "There's a lot of people in Portugal who might have evidence, that believe Madeleine is dead.
"If people believe that they won't search for her and they won't come forward with information. I know for a fact people have been told Madeleine is dead. There is no evidence to support that and that is unforgivable."
Madeleine disappeared from her family's apartment during a holiday to the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007.


http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/article.aspx?cp-documentid=149620979

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Judge bans book that claims Madeleine McCann is deadPublished Date: 09 September 2009
A PORTUGUESE judge today banned further sales or publications of a former policeman's book which claimed Madeleine McCann is dead, a spokesman for the missing girl's parents said.
Clarence Mitchell said Kate and Gerry McCann were "absolutely delighted" that a judge at Lisbon's main Civil Court had banned any further publication of The Truth Of The Lie by Goncalo Amaral.

He said the book had hampered the search for missing Madeleine and added to her parents' distress.

Mr Amaral worked on the investigation into three-year-old Madeleine's disappearance from an apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007 during a family holiday.

He was removed from the investigation after criticising British police.
The injunction, granted today after a hearing last week, means he has to ensure that all unsold copies of the book are removed from shops and warehouses across Europe or he faces a 1,000 euro-a-day (£877) fine.

Mr Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry McCann are absolutely delighted that the judge in Portugal has done the right thing by granting this injunction."

He said Mr Amaral's claims that he believed Madeleine was dead were "threatening the search".

Mr Amaral said he did not believe the McCanns' account that Madeleine was taken while they were eating with friends nearby.

Mr Mitchell said the Mr Amaral's claims had "added to their distress".

The injunction bans Mr Amaral from repeating his claims about Madeleine or her parents.

The terms of the injunction also apply to a TV programme about Madeleine's disappearance which Mr Amaral produced several months ago.

The injunction forces copyright for the book and the film to be passed to the McCanns' lawyer.

In a statement, Kate and Gerry McCann said: "We are pleased with the judge's decision today preventing further distribution and sale of Mr Amaral's book and DVD – The Truth Of The Lie.

"Mr Amaral's central thesis has no evidence whatsoever to support it.

"To claim, as he did, that Madeleine is dead, and that we, as her parents, were in some way involved with her disappearance has caused our family incredible distress and it continues to do so.

"Without doubt, Madeleine will have suffered as a result of the negative effect this book and DVD will have had on the search for her.

"Sean and Amelie need protection, too, from such awful claims."

Twins Sean and Amelie, now four, are the couple's younger children who were also in the holiday apartment when Madeleine went missing.

The statement ended by saying: "Hopefully this injunction today will go a long way towards reducing further unnecessary and unjust distress to us all and allow people to concentrate completely on what is important – finding Madeleine."

http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Judge-bans-book-that-claims.5633831.jp

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UK NEWSMADELEINE SEARCH 'WRECKED OUR LIFE' 



The search has been hindered by some comments in Amaral's book according to Gerry McCann
Sunday September 13,2009
By James Murray THE WIFE of a disgraced Portuguese police chief wrote a “poisonous” letter to Kate McCann in an attempt to defend his handling of the botched Madeleine investigation, the Sunday Express can reveal today.


Sarcastically addressing the heartbroken mother as “Madam Kate”, Sofi a Amaral amazingly sought sympathy from her because of the amount  of time her  husband  had spent away from his family searching for the missing girl.

Goncalo Amaral was head of the regional police at the time Madeleine was snatched from the McCann’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in May 2007.


He was sacked over his poor handling of the case.Mrs Amaral hit out in response to Kate McCann’s remark that the way her husband had run the inquiry was a “disgrace”.

When Madeleine, aged three, vanished the Amarals were in the process of moving to Portimao, 15 miles from Praia da Luz, and Mrs Amaral wrote: “My husband’s holiday was supposed to start the day after your daughter disappeared. For obvious reasons that did not happen.

“I looked at houses, I made the move and I tried to settle our daughters into new schools – all without any support from my husband, who was looking for your daughter, Madam Kate. In October, on the day of his birthday, Goncalo Amaral was dismissed.

“It was supposed to be a time of the family getting together, but in fact it was even more of a separation. Isn’t that a disgrace?”

The letter goes on: “My husband has always refused to sit comfortably behind his desk from nine to five, which is usual for his rank.

“Instead, he spent the day – and sometimes the night – coordinating on-the-spot searches, surveillance, seizures and other duties.   

“As you must know, my husband’s salary was barely 1.5 times the minimum wage of your country.”

A friend of the McCanns described Mrs Amaral’s letter as “poisonous”.


She added: “It had a very sarcastic tone and implied that Madeleine’s disappearance has wrecked their lives. It showed no sympathy to Kate and Gerry for their loss.

“She had the gall to ask Kate what she had to complain about when the little girl’s disappearance had put intolerable pressure on her and her husband’s lives.”

Amaral and his wife face financial ruin as the McCanns step up their claim for more than £1million damages over claims he made in his book, The Truth of the Lie.

The fortune Amaral amassed from its sales looks likely to be seized and put into the McCanns’ fund that pays private detectives to search for Madeleine.

The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell explained: “Kate is aware of the letter and its contents. It was complete nonsense.”

Madeleine’s father, heart consultant Gerry McCann, 41, said one of his private investigators believed Amaral’s book had hampered the 28-month hunt.

He added: “If people continue to believe she is dead, they will not come forward with information.”


http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/126965/Madeleine-search-wrecked-our-life-

Edit to move link, per poster request.  MB

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  sorry mods...please move link for me...TIA. xx

Done.

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Sep 13 2009 by Vicky Farncombe, Sunday Mercury

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THE disgraced cop who led the search for missing Madeleine McCann before pointing the finger at her parents is to be the key speaker at a Midland conference about her disappearance.

Chief Inspector Gonçalo Amaral was booted off the case after blasting the British police’s handling of the inquiry.

But he made a reported £1 million from a book claiming Maddie was dead, and that Kate and Gerry McCann had concealed her body.

Last week a Portuguese judge banned Maddie: The Truth About The Lie from bookshelves because of its unfounded allegations. The fallen cop also faces a lawsuit from the McCanns.

But the Sunday Mercury can reveal that Amaral will not be silenced.

He has agreed to give the keynote speech at a conference organised by the Madeleine McCann Foundation, a group also claiming that the Rothley, Leicestershire girl’s death was covered up.

As many as 150 people are expected to attend the conference in Castle Donington, just 16 miles from Maddy’s home.

Organisers are refusing to divulge the exact whereabouts of the venue until three days before it begins.

Last night they said it was for “confirmed McCann-sceptics who do not believe that Madeleine McCann was abducted”.

Secretary Anthony Bennett said: “We have a venue for the conference, booked and arranged.

“We dare not give out the venue publicly because of threats of disruption we have had from supporters of the McCann family.

“However, I am able to share one piece of news with you.

Gonçalo Amaral, the author of Maddie: A Verdada da Mentira (Maddie: The Truth About The Lie’) has agreed to be the key guest speaker at our conference.”

Amaral, 49, worked on the original investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve coast of Portugal in May 2007.

He claimed that Gerry and Kate McCann, both 41, covered up their daughter´s death, even though there was no evidence to support his theory.

In July 2008 the McCanns were cleared of any wrongdoing in a formal report by Portugal´s Attorney General Jose Pinto Monteiro. They are suing Amaral for £1 million for defamation, and for breaching their human rights.

They also plan to take action against the Madeleine McCann Foundation for distributing a leaflet blaming them for Maddie’s disappearance.

The sickening leaflets were received by 10,000 people in the McCanns’ home village of Rothley.

A source close to the couple said they were “totally horrified” by the four-page publication. which said that if she died in the family’s holiday flat those “This is an evil, despicable act,” she said. “These people are self-obsessed, self-absorbed individuals.”

McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “We do not wish to dignify the actions of the so-called Madeleine Foundation in any way.”

http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/2009/09/13/disgraced-cop-to-be-key-speaker-at-madeleine-mccann-conference-66331-24672906/2/

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Madeleine McCann 'is in a secret lair'

Ulster detective leading the hunt on why he thinks she’s being held captive just like Jaycee Dugard

By Aaron Tinney
Sunday, 13 September 2009

 

Former detective inspector Dave Edgar, hired by the McCann family to lead the investigation into the hunt for Madeleine McCann.

The Ulster detective leading the search for Madeleine McCann today reveals his most chilling theories yet, exclusively to Sunday Life. Hardened ex-RUC cop Dave Edgar told us he is convinced that little Maddie is imprisoned in a hellish lair – just like kidnapped sex slave Jaycee Lee Dugard.


He insisted the “back from the dead” reappearance of Jaycee – and the cases of Austrian cellar girls Elisabeth Fritzl and Natascha Kampusch – confirmed his suspicion.

And despite fresh leads taking his probe to Australia and Barcelona, the east Belfast man insists the golden-haired youngster is being held just 10 miles from where she was snatched in Praia da Luz two years ago.

But he warned that the sprawling wilderness where he believes Maddie is languishing is almost impossible to search completely.

Belfast-born Dave revealed the grim theories when he opened his case files to us.

We spent the day at the Cheshire office he uses to conduct the world’s biggest missing person case.

Sunday Life can now lift the lid on how his Alpha Investigations Group private eye agency really operates and what it is like to search for the world’s most famous missing youngster, who disappeared two years, four months and 10 days ago.

When we visited Dave’s headquarters, US kidnap victim Jaycee Lee Dugard had still not been rescued and the world had long forgotten her name.

But even then Dave said he was convinced Maddie was entombed by an abductor in a cellar or dungeon, like Austrian cellar victims Natascha Kampusch and Elisabeth Fritzl.

“Maddie is most likely being held captive, possibly in an underground cellar, just like Natascha or Elisabeth, and could emerge at any time,” he told us.

Days later, news broke that tormented Jaycee had been freed from the foul compound where she was abused for 18 years by monster Phillip Garrido. Dave simply said: “This just supports my theory that Maddie is alive and imprisoned.”

There was further backing for his theory when American boy Ricky Chekevdia was found hiding with his mother in a tiny “secret room” two years after he was kidnapped while caught in a custody battle.

Former detective inspector Dave, who grew up on Belfast’s Woodstock Road, was drafted in by Kate and Gerry McCann last November after Spanish investigators failed to find new leads.

Renowned for leaving no stone unturned in his UK murder investigations, Dave now spends his days with a four-strong team probing every lead that comes in to his office.

His partner Arthur Cowley has more than 30 years’ policing experience in north-west England – and the pair are backed up by a translator and an ex-police administrator.

They have sifted through thousands of emails, answerphone messages and letters to get that one breakthrough lead.

Last month, the information took Dave’s probe to Australia and Barcelona to track a ‘Victoria Beckham lookalike’ suspect, who spoke with an Australian or New Zealand accent.

She was seen asking two British tourists at a marina in Barcelona if they were there to deliver her “new daughter” – three days after Maddie disappeared.

But he told us he is now back to focusing on his original theory.

He still feels Maddie was snatched by a man spotted by the McCanns’ friend Jane Tanner, one of the so-called ‘Tapas Seven’ who dined with them the night Maddie went missing.

Dave said: “Jane is a very reliable witness and there were other sightings of this man, who Jane saw carrying a little girl in a blanket, in the days leading up to the disappearance.”

He feels this is the lone prowler who has Maddie stashed in a cellar or dungeon in the lawless villages around Praia da Luz.

But Dave warned: “This rural, sprawling terrain makes it extremely difficult to search. You could quite easily keep a child there for years and no-one else would know.

“The person who has Maddie is most likely a paedophile or a person so desperate for a family they were willing to kidnap for it.

“I wouldn’t like to speculate on what is happening to her.”

Dave says the region where he feels Maddie is being held has attracted many strange characters, including convicted sex offenders.

“I don’t want to generalise or make gross exaggerations, but there are people there living on the edges of society,” Dave said.

He added there were as many

as nine child sex attacks in the area round Praia da Luz from 2005 to 2007 and the victims included British kids.

Some happened as close as 20 miles from Praia da Luz, and six of them were on girls between the ages of three and 10.

He is now investigating leads on six child sex offenders, 78 other rapists and sex attackers and 22 vagrants.

In a glimmer of hope, Dave said: “The key thing is no body has been found.

“When paedophiles kill, they often dump the body nearby, and this isn’t the case here.

“Even if Maddie had been dumped in the sea nearby the resort, the ocean often gives up his victims.

“Until I find evidence that she is dead, I will keep going.”

And his plans for the future?

“I don’t know. We could still be sitting here in 10 years.

“If Maddie is being held, she may be being brought up to speak a different language and not even remember her own name or where she was from.

“All we can do is try and keep public awareness high – and try and reach as much of that mountainous region outside the resort as we can.”


http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/maddiersquos-in-a-secret-lair-14489787.html

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 Kate McCann returns to Portugal for the first time since being questioned over Madeleine's disappearance
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 5:14 PM on 23rd September 2009
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Kate McCann returned to Portugal today for the first time since being quizzed by police over her daughter Madeleine's disappearance.
Mrs McCann and her husband Gerry went to Lisbon to update their lawyers on the search for their daughter, who was three when she went missing in the resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007.
Enlarge    United front: Kate McCann holds husband Gerry's hand during a news conference in Lisbon today as she returned to Portugal for the first time since being quizzed over the 2007 disappearance of her daughter, Madeleine
Enlarge    Missing: Madeleine McCann

The couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: 'I can confirm that Kate and Gerry McCann have this morning returned to Portugal.
'They will be attending a series of meetings with their lawyers and advisers in Lisbon and they are planning to return to the UK tonight.
'Obviously, this is Kate's first return to Portugal since Madeleine's abduction and whilst this is undoubtedly difficult for her she remains determined to do whatever is necessary to assist in the search for her daughter.'
The couple plan to discuss the recent injunction against further publication of a book by former Portuguese police detective Goncalo Amaral.
Mr Amaral was involved in the initial investigation but was later taken off the case.
In his book The Truth Of The Lie he claims that Madeleine is dead and questions the McCanns' account that she was taken while they were eating with friends nearby.
Earlier this month a Portuguese judge banned further sale or publication of the book.
The injunction meant Amaral had to ensure that all unsold copies of the book were removed from shops and warehouses across Europe.
The injunction also banned him from repeating his claims about Madeleine or her parents.
At one point Portuguese police made Kate and Gerry McCann 'arguidos', or formal suspects, in their  daughter's disappearance.
They were questioned by detectives - but their arguidos status was later lifted.
Mr Mitchell said discussions between the couple, both 41, and from Rothley, Leicestershire, and their lawyers would remain private.
But it is understood that as well as updating lawyers about the search for their daughter, who would now be six, they will be meeting a new PR agency, who they hope can turn public opinion in Portugal in their favour.
Earlier this month, Gerry McCann criticised Mr Amaral for his book, labelling it 'unforgivable'.
Mr McCann said the false allegations had done immense damage to the search for their daughter because Portuguese people would be dissuaded from coming forward with information.
Commenting after the injunction was imposed, he said:  'There's a lot of people in Portugal, who might have evidence, that believe Madeleine is dead.
'If people believe that they won't search for her and they won't come forward with information.
'I know for a fact people have been told Madeleine is dead. There is no evidence to support that and that is unforgivable.'
The decision to impose the injunction came after a year-long campaign by the McCanns' lawyers to prevent the publication of the book and a subsequent DVD.
Another topic of discussion today between the McCanns and their Portuguese team is thought to be a possible compensation claim for damages against Mr Amaral.
The couple said earlier that any money awarded by the courts would be ploughed straight back in to paying for private investigators to investigate their daughter's disappearance.

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1215502/Kate-McCann-returns-Portugal-time-questioned-Madeleines-disappearance.html#ixzz0RxC7WiIz

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McCanns back in Portugal

Published: Today
KATE McCann faces a traumatic trip back to Portugal today — her first visit since she fled the country nearly two years ago after being made a suspect in her daughter's disappearance.




The 41-year-old mum has never been back to the country after she and husband Gerry left in September 2007 five months after Maddie, then three, went missing from a holiday resort in Praia da Luz.

But this morning she flew out with Gerry for a one-day visit to see lawyers working for the couple in Lisbon. The McCanns also intend to give a press conference to local media in the hope of "reinvigorating" the search for Maddie in Portugal.


Suspects

Yesterday a friend of the couple's said Kate had not wanted to go back to Portugal but "feels she has to".

They added: "It is going to be very traumatic for Kate. She will be in Portugual feeling that Maddie could be out there somewhere.



Missing ... Maddie McCann

"She was dreading the trip but their lawyers wanted her to be there so she's steeled herself to go. But she will not be going anywhere near Praia da Luz. Kate just wouldn't be able to handle going there, the memories are still very raw."

Kate and Gerry flew out from an airport near their home in Rothley, Leicestershire. They were last together in Portugal in September 2007.

They left that month after being made "arguidos" — official suspects — in Maddie's disappearance although they were later cleared of any suspicion.

Their lawyers are working on a case against disgraced former police chief Goncalo Amaral who was sacked from the inquiry after criticising British police, claiming Maddie was dead and that her parents were lying about her being abducted.

He wrote a book about the case called 'The Truth of the Lie' but two weeks ago the McCanns won a High Court case in Lisbon to have the book banned.

They are now looking at suing Amaral for around £1million damages. Any money won would go into the Find Madeleine Fund to continue the search for her.

The couple will also be meeting with representatives from a Portuguese based PR firm who they hope to be working with.

Press in Portugal about the McCanns is still quite negative, much of it fuelled by Amaral's claims, and, according to a friend, the couple are going to use today's visit to try to turn that around.

They said: "Amaral did a lot of harm and the media in Portugal have often repeated his baseless claims.

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"Kate and Gerry feel this is hindering the search for Madeleine and are hoping to get to the media to look at them in a more positive light.'

The couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "I can confirm that Kate and Gerry McCann have this morning returned to Portugal.

"They will be attending a series of meetings with their lawyers and advisers in Lisbon and they are planning to return to the UK tonight.

"Obviously, this is Kate's first return to Portugal since Madeleine's abduction and whilst this is undoubtedly difficult for her she remains determined to do whatever is necessary to assist in the search for her daughter."

Recently the McCanns posted a message on the Find Madeleine Website about Amaral calling his claims "soul destroying."

Talking about Amaral's allegations that Maddie was dead and that they were involved they said: "Nothing can be more soul-destroying for a parent than for somebody to 'write off' your missing child (for whatever reason) without any evidence to support such a theory.

"The anguish and torment that we have suffered as a result of Mr Amaral's unfounded claims and actions has been immense, compounding the pain and sadness we feel every day without Madeleine in our lives. Madeleine deserves so much more than treatment like this. She is still missing and we will never give upon her.

"It is important to remember that the good people far outweigh the bad, even though those with cruel intentions can bring you down.

"Every day we still receive a small bundle of supportive letters to our home and kind messages via the website, as well as positive words from passers-by.

"After a 'not so good' day, it is this kindness and solidarity that lifts us up and keeps us going. To those people, we are so grateful and we will never forget the great benefit of simple human kindness. Thank you from all our family."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/maddie/2651149/McCanns-go-back-to-Portugal.html

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Kate: I cry every day for MaddieBy ANTONELLA LAZZERI

Published: Today
KATE McCann revealed how she still cries every day for her missing daughter as she returned to Portugal for the first time since she was made a suspect in Maddie's abduction.
A drained-looking Kate and husband Gerry yesterday met lawyers suing a cop on their behalf over cruel claims he made in a book.
Later an emotional Kate told how Maddie was always in her thoughts.

She said: "Each day we get through, each week that we get through, I'm thinking, how is Madeleine?"

She added: "She's six, but we've just got to keep going, and it has been very harrowing and very draining, and it's been a long time to just keep going.

"But there is no choice, she needs us to find her and bring her home.

"I cry for Madeleine every day."

She took the chance at a press conference in Lisbon to carry on her fight to find Maddie, missing since May 2007.

She said: "It's so vital that we don't give up on her, that we look for her. We're not going to stop."

Holding hands with Gerry, she told how she had gained "fresh hope" from the case of American Jaycee Dugard, found alive after being snatched as a child 18 years ago.

The couple, both 41, are suing former police chief Goncalo Amaral for defamation - and could net £1.2million for their search fund.

Amaral led the bungled investigation into Maddie's disappearance from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz. He made Kate and Gerry official suspects but was taken off the case after five months.
 
The McCanns, both doctors from Rothley, Leics, were officially cleared. But Amaral wrote a book called The Truth of the Lie in which he claimed Maddie was dead and her parents had made up the story of her being abducted.

Two weeks ago the McCanns won a Portuguese High Court case to ban the book.

Kate said yesterday: "Our main worry was people believing that Madeleine was dead and then stopping looking for her."

The couple also suspect Amaral fuelled a series of negative stories in the Portuguese press. They are looking at hiring a PR firm to undo the damage and encourage further searches for Madeleine, who would now be six.

The Portuguese police inquiry was officially closed in August 2008 but Gerry confirmed private investigators were still working on the case - going through "hundreds of thousands" of pieces of information.

Gerry has been back to the country twice since Maddie vanished. But a friend said: "Kate was dreading the trip. She would have been feeling Maddie could be out there somewhere. However, their lawyers wanted her to be there so she steeled herself to go."

The couple left their four-year-old twins with relatives for the one-day visit. Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Obviously, this is Kate's first return to Portugal.



Support ... Gerry and Kate McCann hold hands as they speak at Portugal press conference
"While this is undoubtedly difficult for her, she remains determined to do whatever is necessary to assist in the search for her daughter."

But yesterday Kate insisted that she would one day return to Praia da Luz.

Last night it was understood that several thousand copies of Amaral's book have been handed over to the McCanns' legal team.



Book ... Amaral

Recently the couple hit out at his claims with a message on the Find Madeleine website. They said: "Nothing can be more soul-destroying for a parent than for somebody to 'write off' your missing child without any evidence.

"The anguish we have suffered as a result of Mr Amaral's unfounded claims and actions has been immense, compounding the pain and sadness we feel every day without Madeleine in our lives.

"Madeleine deserves so much more than treatment like this. We will never give up on her.

"Every day we still receive a small bundle of supportive letters to our home and kind messages via the website, as well as positive words from passers-by.

"It is this kindness and solidarity that lifts us up and keeps us going."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/maddie/2651149/Kate-and-Gerry-McCann-go-back-to-Portugal.html

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Kate McCann back in Portugal: I cry for my Madeleine every day  By Victoria Ward 24/09/2009

 
 

Kate McCann fought back tears as she returned to Portugal yesterday.

And she told how she will never give up the search for her missing daughter Madeleine.

At an emotional press conference in Lisbon she admitted: “I cry for her every day.”

Kate, 41, was making her first trip back since she and husband Gerry were quizzed as suspects by Portuguese police. And she vowed to return to the Praia da Luz resort where Madeleine vanished on a family holiday in May 2007.

She said: “It’s where I last saw her, where I last held her.

“I never really wanted to leave because I feel a little part of Madeleine is there for us. But I think the circumstances really made it impossible for us to stay.

“I have an urge to go back the whole time. I don’t have any plans of when or what I will do there but yes, I will return at some point to Praia da Luz.”
 
Kate, who has never given up hope of being reunited with her daughter, added: “She’s six now, but we’ve just got to keep going.  It has been very harrowing and draining.

“But there is no choice, she needs us to find her and bring her home.”

Kate and Gerry were making a brief visit to Lisbon, where they had a series of meetings with lawyers. It was Kate’s first time back in the country since their arguido, or suspect, status was lifted.

But Kate admitted that her heart has never really left the Algarve resort.

She fought back tears as she added: “It is hard to describe how painful the past 29 months has been.

“Each day, each week we get through I’m thinking, ‘How’s Madeleine?’”

Kate said she and Gerry gained strength from their four-year-old twins Sean and Amelie. “They ask about Madeleine every day,” she said.

She admitted she was “a little scared” about making the trip to Portugal from her home in Rothley, Leics, but described it as “positive” and an important day for the whole family. She added: “We just want to find Madeleine and I believe this is a good place to be.”

Meanwhile, the McCanns are suing ex-cop Gon-calo Amaral for £1million over book claims that Madeleine is dead. Any cash will go back into the search.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/09/24/kate-mccann-back-in-portugal-i-cry-for-my-madeleine-every-day-115875-21696126/

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UK NEWSWE'LL NEVER STOP LOOKING FOR MADELEINE 



Kate McCann, who has returned to Portugal today for the first time since being quizzed by police
Thursday September 24,2009
By Nick Fagge KATE McCann yesterday said she would return to the resort where her daughter Madeleine vanished.


She was speaking in Portugal during an ­emotional appeal for new information.

It was her first visit to the country since she was questioned over Madeleine’s disappearance more than two years ago.

She said she would do anything to get her daughter back, including returning to the town of Praia da Luz.

Speaking in Lisbon with husband Gerry at her side, Kate said: “This is a very important day for us and for the search for Madeleine.

“I just think that it’s so vital and so fair for Madeleine that we don’t give up on her, that we look for her. We’re not going to stop.”

Asked if she was going back to Praia da Luz, Kate said they would not be going to the Algarve resort on this trip, but added: “We will go back to Praia da Luz some time.

“This could be a crucial point in the search for Madeleine and we will do everything we can to help find our daughter.”

Both Kate and Gerry fought back tears as they spoke of their long battle to keep Madeleine’s disappearance in the public eye.

The couple said that, “God willing”, private detectives working for them would be able to find enough evidence for the Portuguese authorities to re­open the official investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine, who vanished from the family’s holiday apartment on May 3, 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday.

The couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, flew into Lisbon yesterday morning to update their Portuguese legal team on the investigation and to explore ways of moving the search forward.
   

Gerry has twice returned to Portugal to check on the investigation but it was the first time that Kate had returned to the country.

He said there was no evidence his daughter was dead and that a team of private investigators was working on the case, going through “hundreds of thousands” of pieces of information.

The search for Madeleine was being financed by family, friends and other private donations, he said.

The McCanns were yesterday told they could receive more than £1million compensation from a former ­Portuguese police detective who claimed she was dead. A book by ­Goncalo Amaral, the detective who first worked on the case, was banned earlier this month. The ruling came after the McCanns took legal action to halt its distribution.

Several thousand copies of the book have been handed over to the family’s legal team, it is understood.

The family feared the book would prevent anyone with information coming forward.

Gerry has described claims in the book as “unforgiveable”.

Kate said: “Our main worry, obviously, was people believing that Madeleine was dead.

“Obviously, if people believe that she is not alive then people will stop looking for her.”

Kate had found the prospect of returning to Portugal daunting, the family’s spokesman Clarence Mitchell said, but she was prepared to do anything to find her daughter.

He added: “Obviously this is Kate’s first return to Portugal since Madeleine’s abduction and, whilst this is undoubtedly difficult for her, she remains determined to do whatever is necessary to assist in the search for her daughter.

“They will be attending a series of meetings with their lawyers and advisers in Lisbon and they are planning to return to the UK tonight.”

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/129494/We-ll-never-stop-looking-for-Madeleine


Kate said she and Gerry, both 41, had fresh hope for their daughter following the discovery of Jaycee ­Dugard, who was found in California 18 years after being kidnapped.

Dugard, now 29, was reunited with her family last month after being snatched when she was 11.

[Toler]

Home News Top Stories 
Fury at new Madeleine McCann book ‘slur’  By Victoria Ward 25/09/2009

 
Kate and Gerry McCann were furious yesterday as it emerged the ex cop they are suing for £1.2million over claims that Madeleine is dead has written a SECOND book.

The couple have already taken legal action to ban former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral’s first book, The Truth of the Lie.
 
In his second book, The English Gag, he suggests there is something significant about a pink blanket which he claims disappeared on the night the three-year-old vanished from the resort of Praia da Luz in 2007.

A source close to the McCanns said: “They just despair. This is the level of distortion and lies they’ve been up against.”

The source refuted any suggestion that a blanket had disappeared. He said: “You could see it on the bed in the first photographs taken of the room. Amaral wasn’t even there.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/09/25/fury-at-new-madeleine-mccann-book-slur-115875-21698553/

[Toler]

UK NEWSWE FEEL THE MCCANN'S PAIN AS WELL 



GRIEF: Gerry and Kate McCann in Lisbon last week where they met with lawyers
Sunday September 27,2009
By James Murray THE wife of Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral has denied they are locked in a personal battle with Kate and Gerry McCann and has spoken of their pity for the distraught couple.


“Everyone thinks we are fighting the McCanns but this is not true,” said 38-year-old Sofia Leal in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Express.

“I tell people all the time that they are having to endure the hardest pain in the world, which is losing a child.

“As a mother I cannot imagine what kind of pain that is. It is so hard.

“Like Kate McCann, I am a ­Catholic. The image of pain in the Catholic church is not Christ on the Cross but Mary holding her child in her arms. It is the pain of the loss of a child and there is no worse pain in the world. We are sorry for that.”

That pain was etched on the face of Kate McCann when she made a fleeting visit to Lisbon last week to meet her lawyers and to appeal for help in finding her daughter, snatched in May 2007 from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve.


 ‘Goncalo lived for his detective job’ 

 

Close to tears, Kate said: ‘‘She’s six now but we’ve just got to keep going. It has been very harrowing and draining. But there is no choice, she needs us to find her and bring her home.”

I n Portimao, 20 miles up the coast from Praia da Luz, Sofia spoke of the anguish suffered by her husband, who coordinated the McCann investigation. The McCanns are suing him for £1million they believe he has made with his book about the case, The Truth Of The Lie, and a documentary.

They are particularly angered over his claims that Madeleine is not alive. Civil servant Sofia says her 49-year-old husband suffered post traumatic stress after he was removed as head of the Madeleine investigation in September 2007. He took early retirement the following month, even though he lost two-thirds of his pension.
     

“It was a bad time for Goncalo,” said Sofia. Even in his sleep he was going over in his mind what had happened to him and how his career was brought to a premature end.

“I heard him talking in the night ­because of nightmares. Everything he did, every action he took was going through his head.

“I was worried ­because he is such a calm, tender man but luckily over the past few months the nightmares have stopped.” Sofia, who works in the Portimao mayor’s office and is responsible for three major projects, including a new Algarve airport, speaks English fluently and is both amused and angered by comments aimed at her husband from some people in Britain. “We know how Goncalo is portrayed in Britain, the caricature of a foreign detective missing the clues, but the reality is that you will not find a better detective in Portugal.

“There were many times in the investigation when his bosses said, ‘You have done enough’ but he kept working and working, chasing all the leads.

“There are satellites which probably have close-up pictures of what was happening on the ground that day. He tried to get the images but he couldn’t. The US said the satellites were trained on Morocco at the time and that was it. That is what annoys him because he says the inquiry was not completed to his satisfaction.

“Goncalo loves me and our three girls very much but he lives for his job. For him an investigation is like a mathematical equation.

“One and one has to make two. Until the answer is found he will not give up.” From the proceeds of the book her husband has bought a Jaguar car but she insists he has not made a lot of money and that he will defend the legal action.

“We are now living on one-third of our budget for the month but that is OK for us because he made the right decision,” she said.

“If he was financially motivated, he would have stayed in his job for the full pension but that is not his way.”

His 25-year-old daughter from his first marriage, also called Sofia, has just passed a law degree. His wife has a daughter Rita, 11, from her first ­marriage and she has a daughter, Agnes, with Goncalo who will soon be six.

This week there is a double birthday celebration, Sofia’s today and her ­husband’s 50th on Friday.

“We will see all our family and friends and enjoy ourselves,” she said. “We are so lucky to have three beautiful girls in the family.

“Goncalo is very proud of them all. He is very good with them at home but my only complaint is that he is not strict enough with them. He lets them do what they want where I have to be a little stricter.

“He never yells at them but he can also be a little overprotective. He is always worrying about them having accidents in the playground or ­wherever. I could not wish for a better father.”

The couple met 10 years ago through a friend and married in June 2000. They spent their honeymoon in the Azores, where her husband dreams of ­spending his retirement.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/130241/We-feel-the-McCann-s-pain-as-well

[Toler]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1216547/Kate-McCann-mother-wholl-search-missing-daughter-Madeleine.html

Kate Mccann,the mother who'll never give up the search for her missing daughter Madeleine
By Chris Brooke
Last updated at 11:30 PM on 27th September 2009   Never giving up: Kate McCann takes part in the Great Kibworth Run in Leicestershire to raise awareness for her missing daughter Madeleine
It has been a long hard road for Kate McCann over the last two years.

But the 41-year-old mother of three showed a different kind of endurance yesterday to complete a two-mile fun run.
Last week she returned to Portugal for the first time since her daughter Madeleine's disappearance in 2007.
After a visit in which she and husband Gerry met with lawyers and the local media, she was back in Leicestershire to join 800 competitors for the Great Kibworth charity run.
She ran in a vest emblazoned with a picture of Madeleine, who would now be six.
During her Portugal visit Mrs McCann told reporters she cried every day for her daughter and remains determined to 'find her and bring her home'.
Later, speaking about the visit, she said: 'I think it was a positive move and it actually felt good to be there.
'I actually felt there was a bit of support for us there now so that helps. Fingers crossed this is the turning point.
'We’ve had a lot of information come in even this far down the line, there are various reasons why they don’t come forward in the early days.

'We just need to keep going, just need to get more information and hope we get the bit we need really.'
Mrs McCann has continued her passion for jogging despite the strain of coping with the Madeleine investigation and she was one of around 800 competitors in the Great Kibworth run.

 More...'Every day I cry for Maddy': Kate McCann returns to Portugal for first time since being quizzed over daughter's disappearance



 Welcome back: Gerry McCann welcomes his wife Kate McCann at the finish line

Mr McCann, who is also a keen runner, was on hand to support his wife who chose the shorter distance rather than compete in the half marathon event.

A team of private investigators, funded by friends, family and donations, is continuing to hunt for Madeleine and is going through 'hundreds of thousands' of pieces of information.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1216547/Kate-McCann-mother-wholl-search-missing-daughter-Madeleine.html#ixzz0SMGuf0OO

[sweetie_pi]

The possibilities of what happened to her is right now fairly limitless, so why should anyone consider her deceased unless they killed her themselves. I know what it's like to be targeted by psychos, seeking justice after a huge crime was commited, and was given some inside information on their process.

So I believe Maddy was targeted when she had her passport pic taken, or some similar id situation before their trip. A high level pollitically connected pedo ring, always on the troll, works with corrupt elements in Euro (not limited to UK, Portugal) LE (yeah, they do exist, what a shock)  worked their process to get her. The cop who wrote the book is involved, and was used and himself has something to fear (e.g. his background).

The way it works in the US is this: a high profile crime is committed, and if it involves kids, "they" roust up some ex criminal or psycho, clean him up, give him a few books to his name, a Law Enforcement nexus presence, usually investigative journalist, whatever, and suddenly, he is the only one to talk to the key people involved with the crime. This Portuguese cop has all that written all over him.

I think he should be arrested by a UK authority, transferred to Gitmo, and beat the crap out of him. In his case, that approach would work before they had to strike one blow .pedophiles are cowards and yes, this cop is likely a pedophile too ...

...and while we at it,  just as in the Jaycee Lee Dugard case, that Jim and Chevy Molino should have their house and yard torn up, searched, DNA's to the hilt, and every single txn at that wrecking yard of theirs searched for the DNA of (1) missing prostitutes who may have been murdered at their "sex parties" (2) ALL missing kids in the West abducted in the last 18 years.

Unfortunately in that case, I believe the mob is also involved: wrecking yards dispose of all sorts of evidence. 

[burkieandemme]

Toler-Thank you for all for continuing to post articles about Madeleine!  Hopefully she will be found soon!

Sweetie_Pie-I am sorry you have had to experience this first hand. 

[cece]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/F-pRnbtkCDE&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xcc2550&amp;color2=0xe87a9f&amp;border=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/F-pRnbtkCDE&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xcc2550&amp;color2=0xe87a9f&amp;border=1</a>

Prayers for Madeleine and her family. 

http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=madel

[cece]

http://www.clickliverpool.com/news/national-news/126488-madeleine-mccann-detectives-hunt-girl-in-sweden.html


Madeleine McCann detectives hunt girl in Sweden
by Julian Hamilton. Published Sat 10 Oct 2009 19:46, Last updated: 2009-10-10


Detectives investigating Madeleine McCann are trying to trace a girl who was photographed in Sweden, after computer-matching showed she could be the missing youngster.

The blonde girl was pictured at a car show in Stockhom and bears a strong resemblance to Maddie.

Swedish police have been inundated with calls from the public, after the snap appeared on a website.

They also received a spate of calls from visitors who believed they had seen Maddie, who would now be six years old, at the car show in August 2009.

The girl was with a Swedish man and a woman and spoke perfect English.

Madeleine's parents, Dr Gerry McCann, 40, and his Liverpool-born wife Kate, have now asked for an urgent investigation after face-mapping technology used by British police identified the girl as a possible match.

Investigators studying the internet photo claim her jawline is identical and her eyes are the same colour as Maddie's.

But the snap is not clear enough to show Madeleine's distinctive characteristic mark in her right eye.

The McCann's official spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry and their investigators are aware of the picture and are liaising with the relevant authorities.

"The investigation team are looking into it."

Maddie disappeared from the family's holiday villa in Praia da Luz on Portugal's Algarve coast in May 2007, at the age of three.

[cece]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2676742/McCanns-Find-girl-in-Swedish-photo-she-could-be-our-missing-Madeleine.html

By ANTONELLLA LAZZERI

Published: 10 Oct 2009
DETECTIVES were last night desperately hunting a girl who was photographed in Sweden - after computer-matching showed she could be missing Madeleine McCann.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2676742/McCanns-Find-girl-in-Swedish-photo-she-could-be-our-missing-Madeleine.html#ixzz0TeEjx85s

(article continues with a photo of the girl)

[Toler]

UK NEWSMADELEINE EXCLUSIVE: ALL THREE CHILDREN DRUGGED 



MISSING: Madeleine McCann
Sunday October 11,2009
By James Murray The kidnapper of Madeleine McCann drugged her and her twin brother and sister so they would all be quiet while she was snatched.

A duplicate key may also have been used to gain entrance to the holiday apartment where the children were sleeping, say investigators.

It means the monster is still a threat to children living or holidaying on Portugal’s Algarve and must be caught urgently as he is highly likely to reoffend.

Former police detectives David Edgar and Arthur Cowley have spent months re-analysing every shred of evidence.

They are convinced the ­abductor went to the family’s apartment on May 3 2007 fully prepared with sufficient drugs, probably ­chloroform, to knock out all three children.

The fact that Sean and Amelie, then just 18 months old, failed to wake when the alarm was raised, nor even as they were taken to another apartment in the cold night air, has persuaded the detectives that they, too, must have been drugged.

Had the twins been tested for drugs immediately, any ­medication used could have been established, making it easier to identify the kidnapper, but vital time was lost.

Chloroform can be made ­easily and other sedatives, such as the horse tranquilliser ketamine, are commonly in circulation in the criminal underworld.

Even now, however, experts say there may be forensic clues on clothing or bedding which could yield a breakthrough.

The Sunday Express can further reveal that the McCanns’ private detectives are working on a solid theory about exactly how Madeleine was abducted.

 

  SEARCH UK NEWS for:     

Just as television investigator Donal MacIntyre suggested in this paper three weeks ago, they believe there was a dry run prior to the kidnap that fateful night at apartment 5a of the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz.

While checking the layout of the apartment the night before, the kidnapper probably woke Sean, who in turn woke Madeleine. In the morning she had told Kate and Gerry she was frightened.

The fact that the children woke up is thought to have persuaded the kidnapper to use knock-out drugs when he returned the next night to take Madeleine, three.

On the question of the duplicate key, holidaymakers often left front door keys under the doormats during the day.
A theory emerging is that the kidnapper had a duplicate key to apartment 5a, which could have been used on the night to enter by the front door.

Mr Edgar and Mr Cowley do not believe Madeleine was taken through an open window as it would have been awkward, time consuming and there were no forensic clues left behind.

It is far more likely, they say, that he simply walked out of the front door with her in his arms. It had been thought that the front door was double locked, making it impossible to open from the inside, but this doubt falls away if there was a duplicate key.

The theory suggests the ­kidnapper had been targeting the apartment for a long time and had a detailed knowledge of the lock system.

With the front door unlocked, it is easy to simply pull a latch across to open it from the inside.

Another possibility is that the front door was not double-locked when Kate and Gerry left through the unlocked patio doors to join their seven friends at the resort’s tapas bar some 30 metres from their apartment.

Meanwhile it emerged yesterday that the parents of a two-year-old girl who has gone missing in New Zealand are being ­supported by the ­McCanns.

Aisling Symes vanished from a relative’s house in an Auckland suburb on Monday.

Her mother Angela had been close by, standing beside a washing machine.

There have been reports that the girl was later seen with a woman of Asian appearance.

Detectives believe she was ­abducted. Despite repeated ­appeals for help their searches have so far drawn a blank.
Kate and Gerry McCann said their “thoughts and prayers” were with the family.

The little girl’s father, Allan Symes, who is originally from County Waterford in Ireland, made an emotional plea for her return, saying: “These recent days have proven to be the most harrowing of our lives; no sleep and we feel like we’re barely ­existing, just surviving every ­moment, not knowing where ­Aisling is.”

It has also emerged that police in Sweden are trying to find a girl said to bear a resemblance to Madeleine after a photograph was posted on a website.

However, she does not appear to have the distinctive mark Madeleine has in her right eye.

http://dailynewspaper.co.uk/