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

[Toler]

MADELEINE MCCANN HUNT: 'NEW TEAM, NEW IDEAS, NEW HOPE' 



Kate and Gerry McCann hope three new investigators will solve their daughter’s disappearance
Sunday October 10,2010
By Tracey Kandohla A CRACK team of British ex- police officers who have joined the search for Madeleine McCann are giving her parents fresh hope.


Kate and Gerry McCann are convinced three new investigators will help solve their daughter’s disappearance and she told a friend yesterday: “A new team, new ideas and new hope!”

The three, paid by the Find Maddie Fund, are now in the Portuguese capital Lisbon.



Kate has made a return trip to the resort where her daughter, now seven years old, was snatched nearly three-and-a-half years ago.

She visited friends in Praia da Luz and went alone to the Catholic Church and wept as she prayed.

A family source said: “Kate has been given fresh hope by her visit to ‘Luz’ and by the fact three new highly regarded investigators are injecting new impetus into the search for Madeleine. She didn’t meet the investigators but stayed with the local Anglican priest Father Haynes Hubbard and his wife Susan, who have become very close friends.

“Kate went out alone to have a break and, of course, to pray for Madeleine.”

Family doctor Kate, 42, spent last weekend in Luz while relatives looked after her twins Sean and Amelia, five.

She is believed to have taken a look at the Mark Warner flat from where Madeleine vanished in May 2007. Infamous Apartment 5a remains empty with its windows boarded up and gates padlocked.

Chief investigator David Edgar has boosted his team with three former policemen: Nigel Brown, who was named Investigator Of The Year after securing the rescue of a kidnapped oil company executive, Dave Carter, who worked in Northern Ireland, and Ray Cooper, who investigated war crimes in Bosnia.

 
     

The McCann source said: “They are in Portugal on a semi- permanent basis.

“When new leads come in they are there to chase them up. They are an ideal addition to the team and, in Gerry’s words, have vowed to leave no stone unturned.

“Kate is upbeat because she is convinced they will have new ideas and methods of working, which gives her new hope.”

Last week, the McCanns were said to be “very upset and annoyed” that Jim Gamble, chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, has quit over a merger with the proposed national crime agency.

Kate and Gerry said: “He will be a huge loss to child protection…it is extremely saddening.”


http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/204544/Madeleine-McCann-hunt-New-team-new-ideas-new-hope-


 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 

[Sister]

Thank you again Toler for this update.

[Toler]

MADELEINE MCCANN BOOK BAN LIFTED
ABOVE: Madeleine McCann 20th October 2010 By Daily Star Reporter
A court has overturned a ban on a book by the detective who led the Madeleine McCann investigation.



The Truth Of The Lie by Goncalo Amaral will be allowed back on the shelves in Portugal following a ruling by Lisbon’s Court of Appeal.






In the book, the former police chief claims Madeleine died in an accident and accuses her parents Gerry and Kate of faking her abduction. The couple, both doctors, insist she was snatched and still plan to sue Amaral.




In September last year the McCanns, from Rothley, Leics, won an injunction banning the book from being sold in Portugal.



They said that Amaral’s claims meant people were no longer looking for their daughter. But yesterday the judge said the book did not breach the McCanns’ rights to privacy because they had done TV interviews in a bid to find their daughter.



Now a 50-minute DVD documentary to accompany the book will also be allowed to be sold.



The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said last night: “The legal action against Mr Amaral is very much continuing.


“Kate and Gerry’s lawyers are examining this latest court action and are considering an appeal.”

www.dailystar.co.uk

[Toler]

 Madeleine McCann
 Madeleine McCann book ban overturned by Portuguese courtAppeal court lifts block on sales of book by former detective alleging Madeleine is dead and abduction story was fabricated
   (27)
Giles Tremlett guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 19 October 2010 20.13 BST Article history
Madeleine McCann disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in 2007. Photograph: PA
 
Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of missing Madeleine, suffered a setback today in their legal battle with a Portuguese police officer when a Lisbon appeal court overturned a ban on his book about the case.

The book by former police detective Gonçalo Amaral, who led the Madeleine investigation in the first five months after the three-year-old's disappearance, can now go back on sale.

In September last year the McCanns obtained the ban on Amaral's book Maddie – The Truth about the Lie, in which he claims they were involved in the toddler's disappearance.

Amaral claims Madeleine died accidentally in the Algarve holiday apartment at Praia da Luz, where she was first reported missing in October 2007, and that her parents fabricated the abduction story. The McCanns, who have never ceased in their search for the missing girl, are suing him for defamation.

Portugal's attorney general, having reviewed the investigation, has ruled there is no evidence to suggest that the McCanns are anything other than entirely innocent.

The court said the decision to block sales of the book had broken "a constitutional and universal right: that of opinion and freedom of expression."

"The contents of the book do not breach the basic rights of the plaintiffs," the court said, according to the Jornal de Noticías newspaper's website.

"The book is an exercise in freedom of speech," Amaral told Portugal's Lusa news agency. "Portuguese democracy has won, as banning the book was unconstitutional."

A spokesman for the McCann family said the decision did not stop the defamation case. "The defamation action against Mr Amaral is very much continuing," he said. "Kate and Gerry's lawyers are now examining the detail of this latest ruling and are considering an appeal."

After Amaral lost an earlier appeal, the McCanns claimed his book had caused "significant, ongoing damage to the search for our beloved daughter Madeleine and to the rights of our family ... there is no evidence that Madeleine has come to any harm."

They added: "As painful and personally damaging as the slanderous claims of Mr Amaral and his supporters have been to us and our family, our primary focus has always been, and always will be, to find Madeleine through our own investigative efforts.

 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/oct/19/madeleine-mccann-book-ban-overturned

[Toler]

Kate and Gerry McCann are launching their website in German this week in a bid to reach German tourists who were staying at the Ocean Club when Madeleine vanished.

Apart from British and Dutch holidaymakers, who've long been canvassed directly, there were also German tourists who may have left the resort without talking to police about potential evidence that's not been considered.

The McCanns have also given an interview to Bunte magazine in which they make new appeals for help in the search for their daughter who disappeared from the family's holiday apartment in May 2007.

The couple's lawyers are studying the recent 30-page judgement from Portugal in which former cop Goncalo Amaral won an appeal to republish his book the 'The Truth of the Lie' which the McCanns had managed to get banned.

They may appeal his appeal ahead of a full defamation claim they are still pursuing against Mr Amaral who claims that Madeleine died accidently in the apartment and her parents hid the "truth" by concocting an abduction theory.

A defamation trial in Lisbon is unlikely to be heard until next year.

http://blogs.news.sky.com/lifeofcrime/Post:e44cc0f2-bf3e-4894-aa5b-c4de44a49344
 

[Sister]

I hope no one buys his book.

[Toler]

'Madeleine may never be found,' admits Kate McCann as she reveals appeal fund will run dry within months
By Vanessa Allen
Last updated at 12:54 PM on 3rd November 2010


Madeleine McCann’s mother yesterday admitted she ‘had to face up to the fact’ that her missing daughter may never be found.
The 42-year-old spoke out as she and her husband Gerry revealed that their appeal fund will run dry by early 2012.
Kate McCann said: ‘When the money runs out we will not be able to pay the investigators helping us to find Madeleine, It will be just me and Gerry left looking for her. I just can’t contemplate that.’
She added: ‘I have to face the fact that we may never find her.’ But she added: ‘If no one apart from us is looking, then so be it.’
 Tireless: Kate and Gerry McCann, pictured yesterday, have warned the fund to find their missing daughter will run out of money
Mr McCann told the Sun: ‘No parent would ever give up on their child. And we won’t. As a parent you can’t.’
Within weeks of Maddie being snatched from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007 money from the public poured in to boost the Find Madeleine Fund. At its height it stood at £2 million. But now there is just £300,000 left.
Mrs McCann also accused the Government of giving up the hunt for the child, who went missing shortly before her fourth birthday.

 Huge effort: Madeleine McCann went missing in May 2007
She said a series of ministers had shrugged off her pleas for help. ‘I don’t want to be appeased, and that’s what I feel we’re getting. We need action, I don’t need fluffy worthless words,’ she said.
The couple have written an open letter begging for political and financial help and launched an online petition to lobby the British and Portuguese governments for a formal review of the case.
Portuguese police shelved an 18-month investigation into the disappearance after clearing her parents as formal suspects, and the case has remained closed.
Mr and Mrs McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, have met a series of ministers in the hope that the case will be re-opened or a cold-case review of the investigation launched.
Their hopes were raised when the Labour government looked at the feasibility of an Interpol review of the disappearance.
But when they met Home Secretary Theresa May in August, they learned the new Home Secretary had not read the report.
A Home Office spokesman said: 'The Home Secretary has met Kate and Gerry McCann and is deeply sympathetic to their situation.
'The Government wants to ensure that everything feasible is being done to progress the search for Madeleine.
'The British authorities will maintain a dialogue with the Portuguese and continue to liaise with Madeleine's family on any developments.'
Madeleine vanished from her parents' rented holiday apartment just days before her fourth birthday, while the McCanns dined with friends at a nearby restaurant.
She would now be seven, and her parents have released a series of artists' impressions, showing how she might look now.
Mrs McCann said Madeleine's twin brother and sister, Sean and Amelie, still asked for their older sister, and had now learned to write her name.
She said: 'We're doing OK, we make the best of it. Life is not normal, I guess it's a new kind of normal... It doesn't mean the pain is any less.
'We can't stop, it doesn't matter how tired you are, we're on this treadmill and we can't stop trying to find Madeleine, or at the very least find out what's happened.'




Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1326012/Madeleine-McCanns-mother-Kate-reveals-appeal-fund-run-dry-months.html#ixzz14EKOaUyg

[Sister]

Toler, thanks for this update -- how sad on so many different levels.

[Claycat]

Madeleine, you are dear, and I will always be thinking of you and wondering where you are.  One of my fondest wishes is that you be found!  Precious child! 

[trimmonthelake]

Toler,thank you for the updates.

[Toler]

Thousands sign Madeleine McCann petition to force joint review by British and Portuguese
By Sophie Freeman
Last updated at 7:11 AM on 4th November 2010

 New hope: A search petition to help find missing Madeleine McCann has been signed by 9,000 supporters
The parents of Madeleine McCann spoke of their joy yesterday after more than 9,000 people signed a new search petition.
The online petition calls for the British and Portuguese authorities to hold a joint review of Madeleine's case, which the McCanns feel is vital to finding their daughter.
It comes just a day after Kate and Gerry McCann revealed the fund to help find their missing daughter is about to run out of money.

Mrs McCann also spoke out against ministers who had shrugged off her pleas for help, adding that she needed 'action not fluffy, worthless words'.

Madeleine disappeared on holiday in Portugal in 2007 and would now be seven.
Many of those who signed the petition expressed their sympathy with the McCann's plight.
One woman wrote: 'Please help Kate and Gerry, they shouldn't have to do this on their own. There is a little girl out there.'
Another wrote: 'I support this campaign 100 per cent. Madeleine is a British citizen and she deserves more form our Government.'

 More...Sign the online petition here

The McCanns, from Rothley in Leicestershire, said they were 'pleased and delighted' with the response to the petition but stressed they needed 'lots, lots more signatures'.
 Positive: Kate and Gerry McCann said they were 'delighted' with the response but needed 'lots, lots more signatures'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1326470/Madeleine-McCann-petition-force-review-British-Portuguese-signed-9k.html#ixzz14KIBzXkq

[Sister]

I signed the petition . . . I hope thousands and thousand sign it too!

[Toler]

.Nov. 4, 2010
Madeleine McCann's Parents Plead for Help
Couple's Search Money Running Out; They Call for British, Portugese Authorities to Re-Examine Case for Missing Girl

.(CBS)  Madeleine McCann's parents are making an impassioned plea for authorities to re-examine their investigation exactly three-and-a-half years after the British girl went missing on a family vacation in Portugal.

Madeleine's disappearance set off an international search in 2007, but when few clues emerged, the case went cold.

Now, "Early Show" co-anchor Erica Hill reports, Madeleine's parents are reaching out again for help. They recently spoke to British Sky TV asking for a new investigation into their little girl's disappearance.

PICTURES: Missing Madeleine

Gerry McCann said in that interview, "Madeleine's a British citizen. She's innocent, she's vulnerable, and our government should be doing more to find her."

With an online petition, the McCanns are demanding a full review of the investigation by British and Portuguese authorities.

It was just days before Madeleine's fourth birthday when she disappeared from a Portuguese apartment building where the McCanns were staying. Parents Gerry and Kate had left their three children alone while they dined in a nearby restaurant. A search for Madeleine turned up nothing, and Portuguese police began to suspect her parents. The case made international headlines, and the McCanns denied any involvement.

Gerry McCann said, "We have played no part in the disappearance of our lovely daughter Madeleine."

The couple was eventually cleared and they've carried on a private investigation ever since. That campaign has led to reported sightings of Madeleine from Europe to Africa, yet the trail remains cold.

Kate McCann said, "People are always saying to me 'Are you getting any closer?' and it's a really difficult question to answer because until you know someone says 'Madeleine is here, well, this is the person who's taken her,' you can be really close to her, or you can be a million miles away."

And now the couple's investigation is running out of money.

Gerry McCann said, "It's an expensive investigation and the awareness campaigns that we've done."

Still, the McCanns say they won't stop looking until they know what happened to their little girl.

But apparently, Hill said, the McCanns are keeping Madeleine alive for their other children. In fact, Hill said, the couple's 5-year-old twins talk about their missing sister every day and Madeleine's involved in their role-play.

But what could have happened to Madeleine?

Joseph Moura, an investigative consultant for "48 Hours Mystery," has followed the McCann case for years. He said he thinks Madeleine has been killed.

"I don't believe she is alive and I said it from the very beginning," he told "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez. "This case is the highest publicity case of any kidnapping or missing child that I've ever seen. And anyone who had this child was going to get rid of the child because they just couldn't afford, you couldn't travel throughout Europe and this child would not have been seen. So, I felt from the very beginning, you know, possibly too much publicity on this case was a problem."

But the search continues, despite dwindling funds. Rodriguez pointed out the couple had around $3 million in a fund for their search. What happened to that money?

Moura explained, "Once the initial investigation was handled by the police department, they were fortunate enough to have some celebrities and high-profile people invest money into a fund for the investigation and that's exactly where the money went. They hired three teams of investigators. They chased every lead in the world and, unfortunately, the money is running out. But again, it's a situation where a lot of those leads are just not leading to anything that was concrete. And now they're desperate because they realize that the law enforcement is not going to be able to proceed and they don't have the budget to continue and investigation without any possible leads."

But will the police pick up the case again?

Moura said, "As everybody knows, the McCanns were the number one suspects in this case. They've been taken off the suspect list in Portugal, but unfortunately is that there is an unlimited sources available to continue an investigation without any leads. And the police in Portugal still think that the McCanns were involved in this case and that the investigation is sort of pursued against them. So, they are going to have a difficult team in reference to coming up with additional resources, at least in Portugal, where law enforcement is going to look at this case seriously in any other direction. They are not going to follow the leads all over the world as the McCanns have done with their own private investigator."

The investigation focused on the McCanns in its early stages. Why?

Moura said, "Well, I think originally the situation was -- was, you know, the parents were not as truthful as they should have been in the beginning stages of the case and at that point in time, the police got very suspicious and started pursuing that avenue of investigation and they just, you know, focused on that and unfortunately, at the time, they really didn't go in any other direction. They had a couple other suspects they looked at, but really strongly focused on the McCanns. It's unfortunate but still in Portugal people still believe the McCanns were involved and it's very difficult, at that point, to get the public, at least, behind them in coming up with additional sources and to be able to further the investigation."

The McCanns have also set up a website dedicated to the search for their daughter, FindMadeleine.com.




http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/04/earlyshow/living/parenting/main7021395.shtml

[cookie]

I signed the petition . . . I hope thousands and thousand sign it too!

I signed it too..

Hey Toler..thanks for all the updates on Madeleine

[Toler]

Madeleine McCann 'swindler' on FBI rap
5/11/2010

EXTRADITION

A businessman who allegedly conned the Madeleine McCann fund out of cash is to be extradited to the US on money laundering charges.

Kevin Halligen, 48, is accused by the FBI of a £1.2million wire fraud.

He claims to be a private investigator and had been waiting for an extradition hearing date since his arrest last November.


Yesterday Westminster magistrates ordered his extradition. Halligen now has four weeks to appeal.

Earlier this week, Kate McCann revealed the fund to find daughter Madeleine may have to close because of a lack of money.


Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/11/05/madeleine-mccann-swindler-on-fbi-rap-115875-22693445/#ixzz14Rt3dX8J
Go Camping for 95p! Vouchers collectable in the Daily and Sunday Mirror until 11th August . Click here for more information

[Sister]

Madeleine McCann 'swindler' on FBI rap
5/11/2010

EXTRADITION

A businessman who allegedly conned the Madeleine McCann fund out of cash is to be extradited to the US on money laundering charges.

Kevin Halligen, 48, is accused by the FBI of a £1.2million wire fraud.

He claims to be a private investigator and had been waiting for an extradition hearing date since his arrest last November.


Yesterday Westminster magistrates ordered his extradition. Halligen now has four weeks to appeal.

Earlier this week, Kate McCann revealed the fund to find daughter Madeleine may have to close because of a lack of money.


Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/11/05/madeleine-mccann-swindler-on-fbi-rap-115875-22693445/#ixzz14Rt3dX8J
Go Camping for 95p! Vouchers collectable in the Daily and Sunday Mirror until 11th August . Click here for more information

I hope they bring his sorry butt over here.  I for one have some farm tools I would love to use to kick his . . .

[Toler]

I’m disappointed in you Home Secretary, says Kate McCannBy Tracey Kandohla
Last updated at 12:59 AM on 7th November 2010

McCann was three when she vanished from a holiday flat in the Algarve in May 2007 while her parents dined with friends nearby
The mother of missing Madeleine McCann fears Home Secretary Theresa May is failing to act in the search for her.

Dr Kate McCann said she was ‘disappointed’ by Mrs May when they met three months ago.

She said: ‘There is an abductor out there who is free to take another child. Other children are at risk and nothing is being done.’

Mrs McCann, 42, was speaking after she and surgeon husband Gerry launched an online petition to lobby the British and Portuguese governments for a review of the case.

Yesterday, three days after the launch, the petition had been signed by more than 24,000 people.

The McCanns met Mrs May in the hope she would contact the Portuguese authorities over Madeleine, who was three when she vanished from a holiday flat in the Algarve in May 2007 while her parents dined with friends at a tapas bar nearby.

Mrs McCann said: ‘Theresa May said she didn’t want to make any commitment. It was disappointing.

‘I can’t get my head round the Government giving up on Madeleine. Why are missing children not important? They look for terrorists, why can’t they look for child abductors?

 Demanding a review of evidence: Kate and Gerry McCann spoke about the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine at a news conference on November 2
‘Door-to-door enquiries need to be done and lots of people still need talking to. Portuguese police say the case will reopen if there is evidence but we have to generate the new evidence.’

Just before the Election in May, the McCanns met David Cameron who said that if he became Prime Minister, he would do what he could to help.

A report by Jim Gamble, of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, is thought to back the McCanns’ demand for a review of all the evidence.

 Lack of support: Kate McCann says she fears Home Secretary Theresa May is failing to act in the search for her daughter Madelaine
The report was commissioned by the then Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson but not completed until the summer, when Mrs May became Home Secretary.


 More...'Sexual predators': Gang of Asian men weep as they are jailed for abusing white girls as young as 12

So far, the Home Office has refused to disclose the report’s recommendations. Mrs McCann, who has five-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, said: ‘There is no reason why the contents can’t be made available to us.

'They say some of it is sensitive but we are Madeleine’s parents, for goodness sake. We’ve said we will not divulge any of it except to help our investigators.’

Those investigators are paid for by the Find Maddie Fund, which has now dwindled to £300,000 and it is set to dry up within five months.

Portuguese police shelved an 18-month investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance after clearing her parents as formal suspects.

The Home Office said: ‘The Home Secretary has met Kate and Gerry and is deeply sympathetic to their situation. We will maintain a dialogue with the Portuguese and will continue to liaise with Madeleine’s family.’



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1327336/I-m-disappointed-Home-Secretary-says-Kate-McCann.html#ixzz14btiG6yz

[Toler]

MADELEINE MCCANN: DID THE CAMERA HOLD VITAL CLUE? 



The detective believes Madeleine McCann's abductor was caught on camera
Sunday November 7,2010
By James Murray THE detective who led the initial investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance believes her abductor was caught on camera – but revealed that the film was wiped before detectives saw it.


Yesterday controversial figure Goncalo Amaral backed Kate and Gerry McCann’s demand for a review and reopening of the investigation.

The Sunday Express took Mr Amaral, whose book Maddy: The Truth Of The Lie was banned briefly from bookstores, to Praia da Luz to ask him to reveal where mistakes were made.



He walked the route he believes the person who snatched Madeleine took. It begins at apartment 5A of the Ocean Club, from where the three-year-old disappeared on May 3, 2007.

Mr Amaral believes the person would have crossed a road leading to a poorly lit road alongside waste ground.

Standing at an entrance to the waste ground, Mr Amaral said: “This area was thoroughly searched.”

He walked a few steps and looked up at a CCTV camera and sighed loudly. The camera belongs to the Estrela da Luz resort hotel. “I believe that the person carrying a child in his arms was captured on film from that very camera,” he said.

“I asked my officers to gather all the CCTV footage in Luz but, by the time they got to this hotel, the film from this camera had been wiped over. It was a mistake and I will always regret it. I do feel Madeleine was let down.”

Walking alongside the waste ground, he enters a narrow street called Rua da Escola Primaria. “This is where there was a significant sighting of a man carrying a child in his arms,” he said. “He was seen by a witness, Martin Smith from Ireland.”

 
 

The man with the child continued down the hill and would have come to a crossroads. Opposite the junction is an empty villa with a large garden. The wooden door leading to the garden is open.

“It was open at the time and the villa is still empty,” Mr Amaral said. “My officers spent a lot of time here.”

Mr Amaral concludes that any new investigation should fully consider the statement of Mr Smith. “I hope this is seriously examined because it is an important aspect

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/210032/Madeleine-McCann-Did-the-camera-hold-vital-clue-

[Toler]

UK NEWSPOLICE CHIEF: WE WILL REOPEN MADELEINE MCCANN CASE 



Kate and Gerry McCann have welcomed the offer of a new search for Madeleine
Sunday November 7,2010
By James Murray in Praia da Luz: Exclusive DETECTIVES working on the Madeleine McCann case say they are ready to reopen the investigation into her disappearance.


Portuguese police have indicated they would be happy to work with the missing girl’s parents and their friends.

The gesture will come as a huge boost to Kate and Gerry McCann, who last week launched a petition and urged Home Secretary Theresa May to request a review of the case.



A senior police source in Portugal said: “Detectives are committed to resolving this case and would work on any review and pursue any line of inquiry suggested.”

As the McCanns launched a petition last week, a frustrated Gerry said: “For the past three and a half years, the authorities have not being doing anything proactive to help Madeleine. I don’t think it’s right that the onus should fall on us. The authorities really should be doing more.”


 ‘We don’t know how long this will go on, but it’s our life. The pain just makes us stronger’ 

 

Kate added: “We need action. I don’t need fluffy, worthless words. We need somebody to do something.”

Almost 26,000 people had yesterday signed the online appeal for the Government to do more to find Madeleine.

Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “Kate and Gerry are thrilled with the number of people who have supported them. It shows them there is still a huge amount of public opinion behind them.”

The couple, doctors from Rothley, Leicestershire, are due to fly to Lisbon on Tuesday to consult their lawyers.

Legal sources in Portugal say they should use their visit to ask their lawyer to formally write a letter to the Policia Judiciaria and to the Portuguese attorney-general’s office.

 
   

If a review was ordered, the Policia Judiciaria would suggest that there should be reconstructions of two key incidents on the evening of May 3, 2007, in Praia da Luz on the Algarve.

The McCanns’ friend Jane Tanner said she saw a man holding a child she believed to be Madeleine. Irishman Martin Smith said that the same evening he saw a man with a child in his arms walking to the beach.

Last year, a documentary prepared with the McCanns’ investigator, former British police officer Dave Edgar, highlighted those sightings.

A well-placed source in Portugal said: “Mr Edgar clearly recognises the importance of these two incidents. We had hoped to do full filmed reconstructions but that did not take place but we would be happy to try again to get that vital work done.”

He said that both Kate and Gerry McCann and their holiday friends, David and Fiona Payne, Diana Webster, Rachel and Matthew Oldfield, Jane Tanner and her partner Russell O’Brien, would be treated with great sensitivity in any reconstruction.

Last week Kate, 42, said she was “disappointed” over the Home Secretary’s failure to help find her daughter, saying: “There is an abductor out there who is free to take another child. Other children are at risk and nothing is being done.”

She added: “We don’t know how long this will go on for but it is our life. You get stronger handling the pain.”

The Portuguese police source said: “Every time we get information sent to us we look into it. Nothing is ignored.

“The frustration is that there has not been a strong lead for a long time.”

A McCanns’ spokesman said: “We would welcome any indication of support from the PJ. However, we would be hoping to have an official response to our call for a review of evidence.”



 
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/210034/Police-chief-We-will-reopen-Madeleine-McCann-case

[Toler]

KATE and Gerry McCann are "delighted" at the huge support for a petition that was launched last week, their spokesman said yesterday.

The couple launched the petition to lobby the British and Portuguese governments for a joint or independent review of the case on Wednesday -- exactly three-and-a-half years since their daughter Madeleine disappeared.

By yesterday, more than 24,000 people had signed, with the numbers rising by the minute. And the couple said the support showed finding Madeleine was still a cause close to people's hearts.

The couple's spokesman said: "They are delighted. It shows the public support that they know is out there.

"Hopefully, both the Portuguese and British governments will take notice and there will be a review."

Madeleine was three when she went missing from her family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3, 2007, as her parents dined with friends nearby.

Portuguese police launched a huge investigation with the support of British officers, but the inquiry was shelved in July 2008 with no firm conclusions. Private detectives employed by the McCanns are still investigating.

On Wednesday, the couple appealed for more donations to the official Find Madeleine fund, which is in danger of running out of money in spring 2011 unless more financial backing is forthcoming.

Mrs McCann said last week that she had had enough of "fluffy, worthless words" and wanted more action from the Portuguese and British governments, including a full review of the case.

Yesterday, she said the response to the petition showed the hunt for Madeleine was still important to people. "The fact we still get a bundle of mail shows people still care," she said. "There are a lot of people who would say they are the quiet majority, they desperately want Madeleine back. Family members all over the country get asked how we are getting on."

But she said many people did not understand that the formal inquiry had actually been shelved.

"The public don't realise that the police aren't doing anything now," she said.

"I'm sure if someone gave information to the British police, they would look at it, but there isn't any active investigation as such. I think when people realise that it's quite hard to get your head around.

"There's a little girl still missing. If there was a homicide case, there would be an investigation until it was solved."

Her husband Gerry said: "Whatever people think about us, the key thing is Madeleine. She is completely innocent, vulnerable and missing.

"Madeleine has been let down more than anybody else by the lack of activity."

Mrs McCann said everybody wanted the situation to be "over".

"It's unpleasant, it's horrible for everybody, but the only way we can come to an end of it is to find Madeleine or find out what happened."

- Ellen Branagh



http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/mccanns-joy-at-support-for-maddie-case-review-2410703.html