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Author Topic: Madeleine McCann Missing-Praia Da Luz, Portugal 3/05/07 #2  (Read 428956 times)
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trimmonthelake
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« Reply #240 on: January 30, 2010, 09:20:40 AM »

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/01/30/never-give-up-115875-22005784/
NEVER GIVE UP
By Fiona Phillips 30/01/2010
 attended An Evening For Madeleine 1,000 Days On on Wednesday. It's that long since Madeleine McCann was abducted while on holiday in Portugal.

It's that long - though it must seem like an eternity - that Kate and Gerry McCann have suffered the greatest sadness there can ever be. The loss of their beautiful daughter lives with them every moment of every day.

Kate told friends, supporters and fundraisers: "I can't speak too much about Madeleine, otherwise I'll be in a heap." She did say how much "Madeleine is still loved, she is still missed and we want her back so much".

Kate and Gerry paused to compose themselves several times. After a moving video - reminding us of the search for Madeleine - had the whole room in tears, Gerry's voice broke as he said: "It's so painful watching that." Their message was: Don't give up on Madeleine or the hundreds of other missing children. Go to www.findmadeleine.com or call 0845 838 4699.
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« Reply #241 on: February 06, 2010, 04:06:43 PM »

Hi,  Does anyone know the result of the trial?  Ta
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« Reply #242 on: February 10, 2010, 09:10:17 AM »

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/Madeleine-search-businessman-fight-extradition/article-1813191-detail/article.html
Madeleine search businessman to fight extradition
Monday, February 08, 2010, 09:30

A businessman whose firm helped look for missing Leicestershire girl Madeleine McCann will fight extradition to the US where he is wanted over an alleged £1.3m fraud.

Kevin Halligen, 48, is accused by prosecutors in America of attempting to defraud a London law firm of £1.32m.

At City of Westminster Magistrates' Court, the Irish national's lawyer said he would contest extradition proceedings.

His firm, Oakley International, was employed by the McCanns for around six months.
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« Reply #243 on: February 18, 2010, 09:11:15 AM »

 Victory for the McCanns as judge upholds ban on book claiming Madeleine is dead
By Mail Foreign Service
Kate and Gerry McCann have won a ban on a book claiming that their missing Madeleine is dead and they faked her abduction.

A judge ruled today that a temporary injunction against former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral's book Maddie: The Truth of the Lie is to be upheld.
Today the McCanns hailed the judgment as agreement 'that there is no evidence that Madeleine has come to any harm.


'PLEASE KEEP LOOKING'
The full statement from Kate and Gerry McCann today:
We are very pleased and relieved with the judge's decision in Lisbon today.
By upholding the injunction against Goncalo Amaral's book and DVD, the judge has rightly agreed that there has been significant, ongoing damage to the search for our beloved daughter Madeleine and to the rights of our family.
We are grateful to the judge for accepting that this injustice must not continue.
The court case has demonstrated, once again, that there is no evidence that Madeleine has come to any harm.
It has also clearly shown that no police force is actively looking for Madeleine, even, shockingly, when they are presented with new information and leads.
The motives of those who have tried to convince the world that Madeleine is dead, and who've disgracefully and falsely tried to implicate us in her disappearance, need to be seriously questioned.
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 best investigative efforts.
It is still incumbent upon the British and Portuguese authorities to ensure that every credible lead has been investigated and that a meaningful search for our innocent and vulnerable little girl is properly carried out.
We must and will keep looking for Madeleine and those responsible for her abduction.
We implore the public, especially the Portuguese people, to help us look for Madeleine, to remain vigilant and to give us any information that could help us find our daughter.
Please do not give up on Madeleine. Please call 800 814 028 (in Portugal) or 0845 838 4699.
Thank you
Kate and Gerry McCann
'It has also clearly shown that no police force is actively looking for Madeleine, even, shockingly, when they are presented with new information and leads,' they continued in a statement.

'The motives of those who have tried to convince the world that Madeleine is dead, and who've disgracefully and falsely tried to implicate us in her disappearance, need to be seriously questioned.'
Mr Amaral was the first head of the police investigation into the little girl's disappearance from Praia da Luz in Portugal in May 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday.
In July 2008 he published the book, which alleges that Madeleine died in her family's holiday flat and that her parents faked her abduction.
A judge granted the McCanns, both 41 and from Rothley, Leicestershire, a temporary injunction in September last year halting further sale or publication of Mr Amaral's book and a TV documentary he made about the case.
The ex-policeman launched an appeal against the temporary ban at the main civil court in the Portuguese capital Lisbon last month, calling a series of witnesses to support his claims.
After hearing closing arguments from lawyers last week, Judge Maria Gabriela Cunha Rodrigues reserved judgment until today.
Mr Amaral's lawyers argued the material in the book is contained in the official Portuguese police files for the investigation, many of which were made public when the case was shelved in August 2008.
The McCanns said their main motive for challenging the former policeman is the fear that people will stop looking for Madeleine if they think she is dead.
Today they implored British and Portuguese investigators to keep looking for their daughter.

There will be a full trial at a later date on whether the injunction banning the book should be made permanent, the couple's Portuguese lawyer, Isabel Duarte, said.
The McCanns are also seeking 1.2 million euros (£1.08 million) in compensation for defamation in separate civil proceedings against Mr Amaral in Portugal.
The former detective has vowed to fight all the way to the European Court of Human Rights if he loses his case.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1251964/Madeleine-McCann-Judge-upholds-ban-book-claiming-dead.html#ixzz0ftddrB8Q
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« Reply #244 on: February 19, 2010, 10:35:01 AM »

 McCanns slams Maddie probe


'Maddie's dead' book ban stays
KATE and Gerry McCann 'pleased' that ban remains on book about missing tot   

 
 By VINCE SOODIN

Published: Today
KATE and Gerry McCann today criticised the "heartbreaking" failure by police to investigate new leads in their daughter Maddie's disappearance as they called for a full case review.
The couple said they should not be forced to "beg" for co-operation between the British and Portuguese authorities.

Speaking the day after a court upheld a ban on a book in which a former detective claims Maddie is dead, the McCanns appealed for fresh help from officials to find their daughter.

Gerry said: "You would hope that the parents of a missing child shouldn't have to be here begging for such assistance and that the authorities would actually do everything in their power in the first place."
Heartbroken ... the McCannsThe couple, both 41 and from Rothley, Leicestershire, have employed a series of private detectives to search for their daughter since she went missing from Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.

They said there were cases where their investigators had passed leads on to the Portuguese authorities and Leicestershire Police, their local force, only for them to be ignored.


Gutted

Gerry told a press conference in London: "There are certainly instances where information which we think is very credible and worthy of further investigation has not been actioned.

"We're gutted, it's absolutely shocking and difficult.

"We're trying our absolute best, Madeleine's still missing, and as we say the perpetrator's still there.


 
Missing ... Maddie"We're not saying they are the leads that will result in finding her. But if you don't investigate information when it comes in, you will never solve it."

Kate added: "It's heartbreaking, to be honest."

Asked about how Leicestershire Police and other authorities responded to requests for a full independent review of the case, Gerry said the couple had encountered "reluctance".

He said: "It's a very serious case and there's lots of information that's being held currently by different law enforcement agencies.

"The information isn't even on a single database that people can search.

"We don't think there's been a systematic review of all the information and the leads, and that's something that would be automatically done in the United Kingdom.

"I think for a missing British citizen, that's what we're looking for.

"We want the authorities to work together. It is an international case, and always has been. We feel that it is fundamental to try to find Madeleine for a systematic review to take place."

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He added: "I think people are reluctant to undertake a review because there's been difficult, sensitive issues.

"But Madeleine's rights should be put first. She's missing, she's innocent, and whoever's taken her is still out there, and that has to be of paramount importance."

Gerry said the authorities had done hardly anything to look for Maddie since the Portuguese investigation was shelved in July 2008.

He added: "If you look at since the file has been closed what's actually been done, and that's next to nothing - and that's for probably the highest-profile missing child case in Europe ever."


Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/maddie/2860633/McCanns-slams-Maddie-probe.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=Maddie#ixzz0fzpKR6HH
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« Reply #245 on: February 20, 2010, 12:58:11 PM »

 'We're just keeping our heads above the water': Desperate and angry, Kate McCann begs British police to take over Maddie huntBy Vanessa Allen
Last updated at 9:33 AM on 20th February 2010

 Missing: Madeleine McCann has not been seen since May 2007

A tearful Kate McCann yesterday begged the Government to help find her missing daughter as her husband said they were 'just managing to keep our heads above water'.
The desperate mother of three and her husband Gerry had a face-to-face meeting with Home Secretary Alan Johnson to plead for Interpol to review the botched Portuguese investigation.
The couple, both 41, fear that their own £2million investigation has hit a brick wall because British and Portuguese police have ignored the potential leads their private detectives have uncovered.
Their frustration was evident as they spoke about their anger that no police force is searching for their daughter Madeleine.
Although hundreds of witness statements and photographs of potential sightings of the missing girl have been handed to officers in Portugal, they have been filed as 'irrelevant' and left to gather dust.
Mr McCann said: 'You would hope that the parents of a missing girl wouldn't have to be here begging for assistance, and that the authorities would do everything in their power in the first place.
'There are instances where information which we think is very credible and worthy of investigation has not been actioned.
'We're gutted, it's absolutely shocking and difficult.We are just managing to keep our heads above water.' Mrs McCann said: 'Some of the information that has been handed in was very credible. It's heartbreaking to know that it seems to end there.'
 Plea: Kate and Gerry McCann held a press conference yesterday and called for a full case review into their daughter's disappearance

Sources said the pair had received ' commitments' from Mr Johnson at a meeting in December that he would pursue the issue with his counterparts in Lisbon. The McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have also held a series of meetings with Home Office and Foreign Office officials.
The McCanns acknowledged that there were political issues which could obstruct a Portuguese-English review, and that failures in the high-profile case have caused international embarrassment for the Portuguese government.
But Mrs McCann, a former GP, lashed out angrily at suggestions that political or individual failure could halt the search.
'It is difficult but I don't think that's a reason not to do it,' she said, appearing to fight back tears.
'I don't think that's adequate, to say there are problems and we're not going to do it.
'There's a little girl still missing, and you can't just write her off and say "Well we've tried and that's just too bad". It's not good enough.'
The McCanns this week won a legal case against the former head of the Portuguese police investigation, Goncalo Amaral, who had claimed they faked Madeleine's abduction to cover up her death.
Madeleine disappeared from her parents' rented holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday.
 Emotional: Kate McCann said police efforts to find Maddie were 'not good enough'
Despite a global search for the missing girl, there have been no confirmed sightings of her since she vanished.
Mrs McCann said: 'We have worked incredibly hard, day in day out for the last two years. It is just so hard when somebody's doing their utmost to stop your efforts and stop the search. To me it's inhumane. Hopefully our search will now have more effect.'
Her husband, a hospital heart consultant, said it was 'unacceptable' that Portuguese police were refusing to investigate new information, and that British police were powerless to take over the investigation.
Speaking at a press conference in London, he said: 'I think people are reluctant to undertake a review because there's been difficult, sensitive issues.
'But Madeleine's rights should be put first. She's missing, she's innocent, and whoever's taken her is still out there, and that has to be of paramount importance.'

Portuguese authorities shelved the case in July 2008 after failing to find any evidence of what happened to Madeleine.
A source close to the couple said: 'The reality is there will only be a new investigation if Portugal asks for one, and Portugal is just too proud to admit that it is needed.'
A spokesman for the McCanns' local police force, Leicestershire, said: 'We, nor any other UK law enforcement agency, has jurisdiction in Portugal.
'This does not alter just because the person involved is a British citizen.
'Therefore any deployment of officers to Portugal would have to be requested and sanctioned by the Portuguese authorities.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1252286/McCanns-criticise-heartbreaking-failure-police-Madeleine-launch-fresh-appeal-help.html#ixzz0g6AnJW25
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« Reply #246 on: February 21, 2010, 03:00:29 PM »

UK NEWSMCCANNS BEG CAMERON TO HELP THEM FIND MADELEINE 



Kate and Gerry McCann have asked David Cameron to help find their daughter Madeleine
Sunday February 21,2010
By James Murray KATE and Gerry McCann have asked David Cameron to help find their daughter Madeleine after a private emotional meeting with the Tory leader.


They spent half an hour at his Westminster office explaining their frustration and disappointment with the investigations.

If Mr Cameron wins the election – expected on May 6 – the McCanns hope he would give the case a new priority and order a review of all the evidence.

Mr Cameron, 43, the father of two young children himself, expressed a desire to the couple to do anything in his power to discover what happened to Madeleine, who disappeared from a holiday flat in Praia da Luz on the Algarve on May 3, 2007.


Andy Coulson, the Tory director of communications, and Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns’spokesman who hopes to stand as a Conservative in the forthcoming election,were also present.

Last week it was disclosed that Kate and Gerry, 41-year-old doctors from Rothley, Leics, have had a private meeting with Home Secretary Alan Johnson to request a review of the evidence.

He has been notably silent on the case, seemingly preferring to sit on the fence rather than use his influence to demand a breakthrough and there are no indications he will order a review.

The McCanns’ lawyer has been given a Portugese police file of new sightings which have not been properly investigated. She is particularly interested in information that Madeleine may have been in Spain and Italy.

Last week a judge in Portugal ruled that a book by a former police chief should continue to be banned because his unproven claim that Madeleine died in the flat is damaging the search.

On Friday Kate McCann was close to tears as she spoke of the “heartbreaking” failure by police to probe new leads.
     

“There’s a little girl still missing and you can’t just write her off and say ‘Well, we’ve tried and that’s just too bad’,” she said. “It’s not good enough.”

Mr McCann said: “Information which we think is very credible and worthy of further investigation has not been actioned. We’re gutted, it’s absolutely shocking.”


http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/159568/McCanns-beg-Cameron-to-help-them-find-Madeleine
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« Reply #247 on: February 22, 2010, 10:55:14 AM »

Madeleine...I think about you every day!
I feel sure that she will be found one of these days...I applaud her parents for fighting on and for keeping her name out there...
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« Reply #248 on: March 02, 2010, 07:29:07 PM »

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10629664
Secret files reveal 'NZ link' in Madeleine McCann case
1:03 PM Wednesday Mar 3, 2010
Secret files released yesterday by a Portuguese court have revealed that police dismissed dozens of potential sightings of Madeleine McCann - including one lead reported in New Zealand.

Madeleine was 4-years-old when she was reported missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in May 2007.

Her family were on holiday at the time and her parents had been at a restaurant less than 75 metres away from their apartment when she disappeared.

Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were originally the chief suspects in the investigation before Algarve police declared the case closed in July 2008.

The Daily Mail reported that a 2000-page dossier was published yesterday detailing secret information relating to the investigation, including discarded leads from the United States, Europe and Africa.

One of the reported sightings came seven months after Madeleine's disappearance, when CCTV footage showed a man leading a young girl resembling Madeleine into a Dunedin supermarket.
Although the girl said her name was Hailey, a security guard who approached her was convinced she was Madeleine and reported the incident to police.

Interpol in Wellington sent the images to police in Portugal, who deemed it irrelevant.

None of the files were given to private investigators working for the McCanns, who took legal action against Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral to get the information released.

Mrs McCann said there were several instances where credible leads had not been followed up on.

"We're gutted, it's absolutely shocking and difficult. Some of the information handed in was very credible. It's heartbreaking to know that it seems to end there."

- NZ HERALD STAFF
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« Reply #249 on: March 02, 2010, 07:32:02 PM »

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/03/03/madeleine-mccann-case-100s-off-leads-missed-by-portuguese-police-115875-22081379/
Madeleine McCann case: 100s off leads missed by Portuguese police
By Martin Fricker in Portimao 3/03/2010

Dramatic CCTV footage of a girl looking remarkably like Madeleine McCann is part of a secret dossier of leads ignored by Portuguese police.

The images, captured in Dunedin, New Zealand, show a young girl in trousers and a white T-shirt walking hand-in-hand with a man as they leave a supermarket on December 5, 2007.

A female security guard was struck by the youngster’s resemblance to Madeleine and the fact that she spoke with a British accent.

According to an Interpol letter sent to Portuguese police, the girl told the guard her name was Hailey.

Detectives on New Zealand’s South Island failed to trace the child, so they sent the pictures to Portugal.

But according to a handwritten note on the file, Portuguese authorities ruled the stills were “not relevant” to the case – and dismissed them.

It is just one of hundreds of possible leads that were ignored after Portuguese detectives shelved the search for the missing youngster and never told her devastated parents about them.

The potentially crucial evidence is contained in a 2,000-page police dossier obtained yesterday by the Mirror
A source close to Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry, said yesterday: “They are extremely angry that this file has just been sitting in an office gathering dust. It’s an outrage.”

The dossier includes a host of new sightings, photos and possible leads that could help trace the youngster who vanished on a family holiday at Praia da Luz in May 2007, just days before her fourth birthday.

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But the majority were never followed up because they were reported after the case was closed in July 2008.

The sightings are spread across the globe – from the west coast of America to Hong Kong and New Zealand. They date from within days of Madeleine’s disappearance until as recently as last December.

The files also includes details of a suspicious British-registered van on a ferry from Spain to Morocco just days after Madeleine vanished.
The while L-reg Mercedes appeared to be using false number plates.

The van and its driver have never been traced.

It appears Portuguese detectives have only followed up a handful of sightings since July 2008. The majority came in Europe following a massive appeal by the McCanns.
In one report, a British man claims he saw a small blonde-haired girl being dragged weeping along the road to Faro airport on the night Madeleine went missing.

The file only came to light during a libel trial between the McCanns and former police chief Goncalo Amaral in Lisbon last month.

Their lawyer demanded a copy, which has finally been sent to the McCanns at their home in Rothley, Leics.

A spokesman for the couple said last night: “They were shocked when they saw the scale of the information that had come in and the lack of action taken.

“There are many potential leads in the file that are now being followed up by our own private investigators.”
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« Reply #250 on: March 02, 2010, 07:37:32 PM »

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/161433/Madeleine-McCann-50-sightings-in-hunt-dismissed
MADELEINE MCCANN: 50 SIGHTINGS IN HUNT DISMISSED
MADELEINE MCCANN: More than 50 sightings are contained in a 2,000-page police document

Wednesday March 3,2010
By Nick Fagge
DRAMATIC new leads in the hunt for Madeleine McCann can be made public for the first time today.
More than 50 sightings stretching from Europe to the US, Hong Kong and New Zealand are contained in a disturbing 2,000-page police document in Portugal.

Much of the information – witness statements, photographs and tip- offs – has not been investigated by Portuguese authorities who have branded it “irrelevant.” Instead the files have been gathering dust in police archives in Portimao.

The file includes astonishing CCTV footage from New Zealand showing a girl identical to Madeleine and highlighted by a security guard.

The previously unseen images were sent to the Portuguese police by Interpol in Wellington in July 2008, just as they closed their investigation. A female security guard at a supermarket in Dunedin, on South Island, thought she saw Madeleine on December 6, 2007.

When she approached the group with her, the youngster who had a British accent was led away by the hand by a portly man. Attempts to identify the people in the images failed and the information was passed to the Portuguese. However a hand-written note on the file said: “This has been checked by PJ and has no relevance to this investigation.”

A Leicestershire Police report also told of a British national named George seen dragging a young girl along a road towards Faro airport on the night Madeleine disappeared. The Briton was tracked to an address in Praia da Luz but was not interviewed by police.

And the dossier also contains information about a British van that crossed to Morocco from Spain in the days after the child vanished.
Police traced every British and Portuguese vehicle that travelled on the ferry between Tarifa to Tangiers between May 1 and 10 2007.

They found one – a white Mercedes box van driven by a British man – had false plates. The route is commonly used by smugglers trafficking drugs, weapons and people from Africa to Europe and back again. Parents Kate and Gerry McCann were not told about the potentially crucial information until years after the possible sightings.

The couple, both 41, from Rothley, Leics, were horrified when they learned last month that Portuguese police had not acted on the new information. The secret dossier was only released following an official request to the state prosecutor in the regional police HQ in Portimao.

A source close to the McCanns said: “They are extremely angry that this file has been sitting in an office collecting dust. Quite frankly it’s an outrage and a disgrace.” Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell added: “They are incredibly frustrated that this was sitting there and being disregarded by the Portuguese police."

“They were shocked when they saw the scale of the information that had come in and the lack of action taken. There are potential leads in the file that are now being followed up by our investigators."

“It’s more than a pity that the file has just sat there for so long and simply marked ‘not relevant’ by the Portuguese. There are also images in the file that are strikingly similar to Madeleine and are being looked into.”

Other sightings in the files include a dramatic account of a distressed blonde girl being held at gunpoint by a half-naked man in France.

French lorry driver Michel Guidard told how he saw a youngster like Madeleine wearing a dirty yellow jumper but naked from the waist down at a toll on the A20 motorway near Paris in August 2008. When the driver went to confront him the man pulled out a handgun and threatened him.

Other new leads include a sighting in Marrakesh, Morocco, two weeks after Madeleine went missing. Witnesses contacted police with reports from Gibraltar, Madeira, Turkey, Italy and France in the weeks and months after she vanished.
A girl wearing pyjamas similar to hers was spotted near the Spanish city of Murcia in May 2007. She was with an unkempt Spanish man at a run-down house, the files show. And holidaymakers in Albufeira, Portugal, told how they saw a girl like Madeleine with a group of gypsies in July 2008. When approached by police the black-haired woman holding the girl ran off.

Madeleine was almost four when she vanished from the family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Algarve, on May 3, 2007, while her parents were having dinner with friends at a restaurant nearby.
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« Reply #251 on: March 02, 2010, 08:04:15 PM »

Thanks Trimm, I have never posted in this forum, though I have followed this case from the beginning.
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« Reply #252 on: March 03, 2010, 09:54:13 AM »

the way that this case has been handled is beyond maddening!
Prayers for Madeleine today and every day till she is found...
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« Reply #253 on: March 03, 2010, 11:59:40 AM »

http://www.3news.co.nz/Madeleine-McCann-She-was-trying-to-think-of-her-name/tabid/423/articleID/144613/Default.aspx
Madeleine McCann: 'She was trying to think of her name'
Thu, 04 Mar 2010 5:34a.m.
By Angela Beswick

A former Warehouse checkout operator who believes she spoke to missing British girl Madeleine Mccann described her as very shy and afraid.

As 3 News reported last night, security camera footage from December 2007 has been released by the Portugese court which shows the girl, accompanied by an adult man, shopping in the Warehouse store in south Dunedin – seven months after she went missing.

Taryn Dryfhout spoke to the girl when the pair, with a woman and another young boy, came to the checkout.

“I was stricken by the wee girl who looked just like Madeleine McCann,” she told TVNZ’s ONE News.

Ms Dryfhout says she spoke to the blonde-haired woman and the girl, who both had English accents.

“She told me her name was Hayley and was quite apprehensive,” she said.

She says there is no doubt in her mind it was Madeleine.

“She sort of stammered over her words when she was trying to think of her name."
Madeleine vanished from her room at the Praia da Luz resort while on vacation with her family in Portugal, on May 3, 20707 - days before her fourth birthday.

Ms Dryfhout says the man and the woman were “a little bit suspicious”.

“I spoke to the woman only… she seemed like she would rather I wasn’t speaking to her.”

She says it appeared the woman would rather she wasn’t speaking to her and was “just in a hurry to get out”.

Ms Dryfhout informed her manager and the police shortly after the encounter.  After security footage was handed over to police she never heard anything more.

Dunedin police confirmed to 3 News yesterday that they did take the woman’s sighting seriously, and the proper authorities in Portugal were alerted.

In a statement released last night Dunedin police confirmed that they worked closely with the retailer to start an inquiry and obtained security footage of the child. However they say they were “unable to obtain any further information or ongoing lines of inquiry."

The file was passed on to Interpol in Wellington who sent it to the Portuguese police.

The sighting is reportedly among hundreds of leads from around the world the Portuguese police had categorised as "not relevant'.
Despite being considered important, information was also discarded from Europe, the United States and North Africa. None of the files were passed on to private investigators working for Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate.

It was the legal action by the McCann’s against disgraced detective Goncalo Amaral that brought about disclosure of the secret files. They had wanted to stop him airing the slur that they had been involved in their daughter's disappearance.

The leads were all received and archived after Algarve police closed the case in July 2008.

In August last year, private investigators began searching for a woman described by a witness as a “Victoria Beckham lookalike” who spoke with an Australian or New Zealand accent. She was reportedly seen by two British men in Barcelona, three days after Madeleine went missing.

Police today approached Ms Dryfhout again, questioning her about the day she believes she saw Madeleine and any details she can remember – things she says she should have been asked at the time.

“They asked me things like, ‘how had the family paid for their purchase?’ They wanted quite detailed descriptions of the people.”

She says it did not occur to her to go to the media over the sighting, but often thinks about the sighting and if things would have been different – had she handled it differently.

A family spokesperson, Clarence Mitchell, says the McCanns are incensed, with Mrs McCann describing the revelation as both "heartbreaking" and "shocking".

“Kate and Gerry have made it clear that they were shocked to see the lack of follow up work done by Portuguese police since the investigation was shelved.”

As previously reported by 3 News Madeleine’s parents formed their relationship together in New Zealand. Gerry McCann worked in the Hawkes Bay and played soccer for the Napier City Rovers in 1996.

Ms Dryfhout said she made attempt to contact the family through a website, but her attempts to contact Madeleine’s parents directly were unsuccessful.

Kate McCann told Oprah Winfrey last year that Madeleine’s bedroom is being kept ready in anticipation for her safe return.

Dunedin police say the file remains open.
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« Reply #254 on: March 03, 2010, 12:05:42 PM »

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587799,00.html
New Files Like 'Gold Dust' in Search for Madeleine McCann

Wednesday, March 03, 2010
 A newly released file on the highly-publicized disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann is "gold dust" and could lead to a breakthrough in the case, her parents' spokesman told Sky News.

McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the family is disturbed that information on possible sightings of Madeleine is only now emerging, after sitting in a box since 2008 when the case was closed by Portuguese police.
The McCanns have been tearing their hair out for a long time, they're very frustrated this information has been sitting in a file since July 2008," Mitchell told Sky News.

The files reportedly contain hundreds of pages of information, including CCTV images of a young girl with an appearance similar to Madeleine being led into a New Zealand supermarket in 2007, according to Sky News.

Madeleine was three years old when she disappeared from her family's rented lodging in Portuguese resort town, Praia da Luz, on May 3, 2007. Her parents were eating dinner with friends nearby.

The new evidence became public after several newspapers applied to the state prosecutor in the Algarve, Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt said.

One report allegedly mentions a British man named "George" who spotted a young, seemingly distressed blonde girl being dragged along a road to Faro airport in Portugal on the night Madeleine went missing, Sky News reported.

Another report allegedly details how a young girl who looked like Madeleine was seen being held at gunpoint on a French motorway by a half-naked man in August 2008, according to Sky News.

"This information is gold dust to them. Kate and Gerry need all of it and they want a full review of all the information it contains," Mitchell told Sky News.
"Our investigators are working at times with one hand tied behind their back.

"Any leads must come through Portugal but they must come to Kate and Gerry," Mitchell was quoted by Sky News.
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« Reply #255 on: March 03, 2010, 05:03:45 PM »

Trimm, thanks for keeping us updated in this case.   

I've followed this case from day one as well.  It's been confusing from the start.  Just when I think I'm siding with the parents and outraged at the behaviors and actions/non-actions by the local LE there......... then I dig more and find some alarming info about the parents and the supposed findings by the local LE etc. 

There seems to have been just as much negative stuff about that night, the parents actions/non-actions and what they said etc, what was found, what locals had to say, that seems as shocking as what has been pointed out and is being discovered about the local LE etc.

Very early in this case (not sure if in this forum or somewhere else), there was a video that allowed a 'walking tour' from the apt where Maddie slept to where the parents were having dinner and visiting with friends.  It showed clearly that they could not have seen the apt from where they sat.  And it was not close.  Both her parents supposedly 'took turns', along with the other parents they were sitting with, getting up during the dinner and leaving to go 'check on the kids'.  In other words, those kids were in fact left alone, and between 'kid checks' could not be seen.  This 'walking tour' changed my whole opinion of the situation.  I dunno if that means the parents had anything to do with her disappearing, but much of what I've learned since the beginning makes me think they aren't as innocent as they'd like everyone to believe. 

But then there's the local LE... who have acted very strangely in this case.  There have been other cute lil girls who have gone missing from there, while abroad. 

It's not just the parents and the local LE.  There's other weirdness too.  Including something to do with Maddie's eye and a religious angle to her disappearance. 

I dunno what to think anymore. 

All of it together.. Makes me stop and wonder just WTH is going on?  So for quite some time I've just sat back and watched this case.  There's wayyyyyyyyy too much weirdness involved.  I cannot even begin to remember all of it to share.  Will look for my old notes on it all so I can share specifics.   

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« Reply #256 on: March 04, 2010, 10:12:07 AM »

http://www.herald.ie/world-news/girl-on-cctv-is-not-madeleine-police-confirm-2088439.html
Girl on CCTV is not Madeleine, police confirm


By Matt Dickinson

Thursday March 04 2010

A young girl resembling Madeleine McCann captured on CCTV film in a New Zealand shop is not the missing girl, police said today.

Officers in the country said they had identified the girl in the image.

A statement from New Zealand's National Police headquarters said: "Police have identified the child and family thought by a retail assistant to be missing Madeleine McCann.

"She is not the missing British girl."

The CCTV footage was taken in a Dunedin shop in December 2007, and showed a child hand-in-hand with a stout man wearing a white T-shirt and black shorts.

Details of the incident were included among 2,000 pages of previously secret case documents held by Portuguese police which were released to news-papers this week.

They contain dozens of possible sightings of Madeleine after she disappeared from her family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal, in May 2007, just before her fourth birthday.

New Zealand police said previously they had investigated the Dunedin image, but were unable to get any further information.

In today's update, acting Southern Police District Commander Inspector Dave Campbell said he was not going to identify the girl in the picture.

He added: "New Zealand Police are mindful of the stress on the McCann family from possible sightings of their daughter worldwide." Other leads in the newly released Portuguese police dossier include a report of a small blonde girl being dragged along the road to Faro airport in the Algarve -- an hour's drive from Praia da Luz -- on the night that Madeleine vanished.
MOTORWAY

Another details how a young girl who looked like the missing child was seen being held at gunpoint on a French motorway by a half-naked man in August 2008.

Kate and Gerry McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said all the information should be released to the private detectives hired by the family.

He said: "Kate and Gerry have made it clear that they were shocked to see the lack of follow-up work done by the Portuguese police since the investigation was shelved.

"All the information in these files must go to the private investigators as they are the only people still looking for Madeleine."

The McCanns (both 41), from Rothley, Leicestershire, spoke last month of their frustration that police had failed to investigate new leads in their daughter's disappearance.

Mrs McCann said: "It's heartbreaking, to be honest."
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« Reply #257 on: March 04, 2010, 10:15:39 AM »

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10629995
Family of Madeleine lookalike have right to privacy, police say
4:00 AM Friday Mar 5, 2010
Image that focused international attention on Dunedin was not of missing British girl

Dunedin police have moved to protect the privacy of a family group mistakenly identified with missing British girl Madeleine McCann.

Acting Southern District Commander Inspector Dave Campbell said last night a child identified by a former Warehouse checkout operator in South Dunedin was not Madeleine, and asked that media stop running an image of the family group she was seen with.

"We ask that media outlets remove the image portraying the child and family from their coverage including websites to protect the privacy of the family," Mr Campbell said.

The girl in the image had been positively identified as not Madeleine.

The identification claim resulted in the international media spotlight focusing on Dunedin as interest was revived in the disappearance of 4-year-old Madeleine in Portugal in May 2007.
Meanwhile, further possible sightings of the girl in Dunedin and Otago have surfaced, with a couple "80 per cent confident" they saw her last August.

Article continues below

Balclutha couple Michael Griffiths and Mary Habib said yesterday they believe they twice saw a girl resembling Madeleine on the morning of August 6 in Dunedin and nearby Milton in the afternoon. The girl was with a man aged between 35 and 40.

They reported the sightings to Balclutha police later that night.

Mr Griffiths and the police also notified the official Madeleine McCann website, www.findmadeleine.com.

Mr Griffiths said yesterday no reply had been received from police or the website.

A Balclutha police spokesman confirmed yesterday police had investigated the sightings, with the information forwarded to Dunedin police.

"I am 80 per cent confident it was her," Mr Griffiths said.

"I am 80 per cent-plus," Ms Habib said.

Police confirmed there have been several other sightings of Madeleine in Otago, but declined to release that information.

The Otago Daily Times understands sightings of Madeleine in Alexandra and Queenstown have been reported to police.
 OTAGO DAILY TIMES

 
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« Reply #258 on: March 04, 2010, 01:33:43 PM »

'I'm convinced the little girl I saw was Madeleine McCann': The riddle of Maddie and 'the fat gipsy women'
By Arthur Martin
Last updated at 8:01 AM on 04th March 2010

Comments (51) Add to My Stories
Private investigators searching for Madeleine McCann mounted a surveillance operation amid fears that she was being held prisoner in a run-down farmhouse, secret police files reveal.

They acted after a British holidaymaker spotted a ‘gaunt’ blonde girl wearing a black wig being dragged by ‘gipsy women’ 30 miles from where Madeleine was snatched.

Jean Godwin, 56, a retired care home worker, said the girl she saw on the Algarve was ‘100 per cent Madeleine McCann’.

 Seen with a girl: McCanns’ investigators believe Yvone Albino, a cleaner from Silves, was seen outside the McCanns’ apartment in May 2007
One of the women spotted in Carvoeiro by Mrs Godwin was seen by another British tourist acting suspiciously outside the McCanns’ apartment on the day the youngster vanished from Praia da Luz.

The evidence prompted investigators to follow their suspect to an isolated farmhouse in an orange grove near the town of Silves, north of Portimao. In the following months she paid several visits to the property, a holiday home owned by a teacher and his partner whom the inquiry team deemed to be ‘suspicious’.
 More...CCTV image of young girl is NOT Madeleine McCann, say New Zealand police

Their concerns were raised when they discovered a white Citroen Berlingo with a child’s doll on the back seat and a child’s drawing among rubbish bags – even though the couple did not have young children.

 Investigated: Jorge Martins and partner Maria Silveira had their remote home checked
They also spotted the man buying clothes suitable for a girl of five – Madeleine’s age at the time. But surveillance was eventually wound down and the child was never found.

The operation began in 2008 after Mrs Godwin, from Widnes, Cheshire, rang the ‘Find Madeleine’ hotline and gave her suspicions to private investigators. By this stage, the official police inquiry into the disappearance on May 3, 2007, had been closed.

Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry continued to employ private detectives in the hope of finding their daughter but these investigators have no legal powers to force suspects to talk to them. The sightings were passed to the Portuguese police who deemed them irrelevant and promptly archived the reports.

Details of the evidence are contained in a 2,000-page police dossier finally published by the Portuguese authorities after requests from newspapers including the Daily Mail. It contains the testimony of Mrs Godwin, who claims she spotted Madeleine in September 2008.

She said: ‘This was a young girl, in the middle of the two women and holding the hand of each. Her eyes were wide open and my attention was drawn to the large irises.

‘The child was wearing what was clearly a black wig. It was short, cut in a bob style and very thick. The wig was shiny and unnatural looking and out of keeping with her very pale complexion and fair eyebrows.

‘I would say she was about 3ft 1in tall and about five years of age. She was very thin and I would describe her as malnourished. Her cheeks looked gaunt. I think she had a bump on her nose.

'I am convinced that the little girl I saw that morning was Madeleine. I have been asked how certain I am. I will say I am 100 per cent sure.’

  Missing: Madeleine (left) disappeared in 2007 while on holiday with her parents. A doll was found in the car of a couple investigated as part of her disappearance

Mrs Godwin described the first woman as being an ‘obese’ size 30, in her mid-to-late 40s with ‘dirty and unkempt’ red hair. The second woman was around 60, with unwashed brown hair, and even fatter.

The McCanns’ investigators believe the red-haired woman was Yvone Albino, a cleaner from Silves. Another witness, Jeni Weinberger, from Salisbury, Wiltshire, said she saw a woman resembling Mrs Albino outside the McCanns’ apartment in May 2007.

Mrs Albino, who has two grown-up sons, met teacher Jorge Martins and his partner Maria Silveira at their house in the orange grove.

David Edgar, a private investigator working for the McCanns, described their movements as ‘suspicious’.

Portuguese police confronted Mrs Albino, who said she knew nothing about either sighting and denied any contact with young children. Officers found the house deserted. The woman with Mrs Albino in Carvoeiro was never identified.

Mr Martins and Miss Silveira have never been accused of any crime by police. He told police the doll was given to him by his students several years earlier.

The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: ‘It’s clear that our investigators have made considerable efforts to follow up leads but without having full access to the files and co-operation from the Portuguese police.’
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1255297/Riddle-Madeleine-McCann-fat-gipsy-women.html#ixzz0hEKYgoOA
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« Reply #259 on: March 04, 2010, 01:54:33 PM »


UK NEWSMADELEINE ‘HELD IN REMOTE SHACK’ 



Missing child Madeleine McCann
Thursday March 4,2010
By Nick Fagge MADELEINE McCann was held captive at a rundown hut in an isolated orange grove just a few miles from where she disappeared, investigators believe.


The new theory followed sightings by British tourists of a blonde girl in an “unnatural looking” black wig which prompted a major surveillance operation by private detectives working for the missing youngster’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.

The child – described as “100 per cent Madeleine” – was seen with two “gypsy” women in the town of Carvoeiro 30 miles from the Algarve holiday resort from where she disappeared aged almost four in 2007.

One of the women was seen by another British tourist acting suspiciously outside the McCanns’ apartment on the day she vanished.

Despite frantic efforts by the UK investigators and Portuguese police, the little girl has never been traced.

And incredibly, no public appeal has ever been made to track down the girl or the second mystery woman she was with.

The sightings only became known after Portuguese prosecutors released a 2,000-page dossier this week containing hundreds of new leads, most of which have never been followed up. One of the tourists was Jean Godwin, 56, from Widnes, Cheshire. She said she spotted Madeleine with the women in September 2008.

“This child was a young girl, she was in the middle of the two women and was holding the hand of each woman on either side,” she added.

“One of the things that drew my attention to her was her eyes. They were wide open and my attention was drawn to the large irises in her eyes.

“The child was wearing what was clearly a black wig. It was a short wig, cut in a bob style and was very thick. The wig was shiny and unnatural looking and out of keeping with her very pale complexion and fair eyebrows.

 
  SEAR   

“As they were virtually level with me the younger woman suddenly put her right arm across her body and used her upper arm to conceal the right hand side of the child’s face.

“I could not sleep that night. I am convinced that the little girl I saw that morning was Madeleine.”

Private investigators working for Kate and Gerry McCann, both 41, from Rothley, Leics, launched a major operation into the sightings and discovered the identity of one of the two women.

The Daily Express knows the name of the woman but cannot reveal it for legal reasons.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/161607/Madeleine-held-in-remote-shack-
 
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