GREAT BRITAIN • Madeleine McCANN, 4 (2007) ~ Great Britain / Portugal

Maddie ‘fraudster’ handed over to FBI
Sun helps nick £300k con suspect

By TOM WELLS
Published: 17th December 2012

A DODGY “detective” accused of conning £300,000 from the Madeleine McCann fund is to be handed to the FBI — thanks to The Sun.

Kevin Halligen will be extradited on Thursday after losing a battle in the Supreme Court.

He had been fighting deportation to the US — where he faces £1.2million fraud charges — since we tracked him down in 2009 and handed him to cops.

Halligen, 53, offered to help Kate and Gerry McCann find daughter Madeleine, who vanished on holiday in Portugal in 2007.

The Surrey-based Irishman promised to use MI6 and CIA “contacts” to track down the three year old.

He signed a £500,000 contract but no help arrived — and the money was said to have been blown on luxury hotels, flights and the high life.

Halligen had been on the run for months when we traced him and his girlfriend to an upmarket hotel in Oxford and tipped off the police.

Halligen — who had run up a £14,000 bar bill after checking in under a false name — whined “How did you find me?” as cops handcuffed him.

Now he faces years in jail in the US where he has already been ordered to pay almost £4million to ex-business partners who claim he fleeced them. He is wanted there on charges of fraud and money laundering.

In August, former pals in America revealed how Halligen posed as an ex-intelligence agent to fool his way into the top reaches of Washington society.

He often stayed in five-star hotels and paid a chauffeur £4,000-a-month to drive him around.

He even faked his own WEDDING.

Devastated fiancee Maria Dybczak, a US lawyer, was tricked into taking part in a lavish sham ceremony by Halligen, who was already married.

It was carried out by an actor he hired, while Dybczak’s family picked up the massive bill.

Halligen had convinced her they could not wed in a normal way because of his involvement in undercover operations.

Dybczak is just one of several alleged victims left out of pocket by Halligen.

But thanks to The Sun they may now get justice.

Our sting to catch him was praised in Lord Justice Leveson’s report into Press standards last month as a “good illustration” of public interest investigative journalism.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4701035/Maddie-fraudster-handed-over-to-FBI.html#ixzz2FQ5h7EEB

New Zealand authorities conduct DNA test on Madeleine McCann look-alike

Published February 08, 2013
FoxNews.com

Authorities in New Zealand are testing DNA from a child said to closely resemble missing British girl Madeleine McCann, who disappeared six years ago from a resort in Portugal, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The DNA sample is being obtained at the request of Scotland Yard, according to the newspaper. The McCann look-alike is reportedly said to have a coloboma of the iris -- the same rare eye defect that McCann has, and is approximately nine years old, like Madeleine.

McCann disappeared in May 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday, while vacationing with her parents and young siblings in Praia da Luz, Portugal. Her disappearance sparked a media frenzy and international manhunt, leading to several false sightings in Portugal and elsewhere. British detectives have traveled to Portugal many times during the course of the investigation, and have said the girl may still be alive.

The request for the DNA sample came after a store clerk in Queenstown contacted authorities. New Zealand police were reportedly alerted to the same look-alike at least five times over the past five years and are "absolutely satisfied" the child is not McCann.

The girl disappeared from an unlocked ground-floor bedroom at the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz, while he parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were dining at a restaurant about 130 yards away. The McCanns were at one point named as suspects by Portuguese authorities, but were later cleared.

The results of the DNA test are not expected for several weeks.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/08/new-zealand-authorities-conduct-dna-test-on-madeleine-mccann-look-alike/#ixzz2KeJmBVgE

Madeleine McCann DNA Does Not Match New Zealand Girl Who Resembles Missing British Child

Posted: 02/13/2013 7:44 pm EST
Updated: 02/13/2013 7:44 pm EST

The nearly six-year search for Madeleine McCann must continue as DNA tests proved that a New Zealand lookalike is not long missing British girl.

McCann was 3 years old when she vanished during a family vacation in Portugal in 2007. Her parents returned from eating in a tapas restaurant with friends to their Praia da Luz rental to discover their daughter was gone.

The New Zealand girl was mistaken twice for McCann last year. On New Year's Eve, a retailer became suspicious that the child shopping with her father might be McCann, the Daily Mail reported.

She had the same rare eye defect as McCann called Coloboma that makes the iris look like it's split, according to Radio New Zealand.

"Following a DNA submission, we are now satisfied that the girl identified is not Madeleine McCann," said a spokeswoman for London's Metropolitan Police, according to the New Zealand Herald.

Scotland Yard requested assistance from New Zealand law enforcement to rule out that the possibility that the unidentified youngster was McCann. Their investigation into McCann's disappearance is called Operation Grange.

False sightings of the blond-haired, hazel-eyed girl have sprung up around the world.

Portuguese police shut their investigation in 2008, Sky News reported, but her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, have kept up a self-financed search.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/13/madeleine-mccann-dna-new-zealand_n_2681725.html?1360802653&icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl2|sec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D270288

Madeleine McCann Missing: UK Police Announce New Leads In Girl's Disappearance

05/17/13 03:20 PM ET EDT AP

LONDON — British police say they are investigating new leads in the case of Madeleine McCann, the Briton who disappeared six years ago in Portugal at the age of three.

Scotland Yard said it has identified several "persons of interest" and "both investigative and forensic opportunities" in the case. The force said Friday its work is under way to support police in Portugal, even though they have closed their investigation into the disappearance.

McCann vanished from her family's vacation home in Portugal's Algarve region on May 3, 2007, days before her fourth birthday. The case has generated intense media interest in Britain.

British police launched Operation Grange in 2011, to try to solve the puzzle.

Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell said Friday officers have been encouraged by the progress made so far.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/17/madeleine-mccann-missing_n_3294563.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D315034

Investigators find 'fresh, substantive' leads in Madeleine McCann case

Eun Kyung Kim TODAY
Oct. 4, 2013 at 9:17 AM ET

British investigators say newly unearthed cell phone records may finally provide a break into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the young girl who vanished while on vacation in Portugal with her family six years ago.

Scotland Yard investigators are poring over more than 40,000 pages of documents that have provided them with new leads in the May 2007 disappearance of the girl, who was 3 years old at the time.

“There is new information not previously presented,” authorities said in a statement. “Fresh, substantive material upon which to make an appeal. It’s substantially different. It’s not just a bland ‘can you help us’ appeal, there is some different material and a different understanding.”

Madeleine disappeared while sleeping inside her family’s vacation apartment in a Portuguese village. Her parents were down the street at the time.

Authorities say they are examining every cell phone number used in the area at the time of the girl’s disappearance. Scotland Yard launched an investigation into the case earlier this year, exploring leads many critics said Portuguese authorities failed to take up before they closed their probe years ago.

On Oct. 14, the girl’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, will make another appeal for the public’s help in light of the new information. They will appear live on a British television show.

http://www.today.com/news/investigators-find-fresh-substantive-leads-madeleine-mccann-case-8C11336420

Maddie McCann spotted alive on island?
By HLNtv.com Staff
updated 8:22 PM EDT, Mon October 07, 2013

• Madeleine McCann, then 3, vanished from Portugal in 2007
  
• Witness claims he was told Maddie was spotted alive on a Mediterranean island a few weeks ago, according to reports
  
• Scotland Yard Detectives believe she could still be alive
  

http://www.hlntv.com/video/2013/10/07/maddie-mccann-spotted-alive-mediterranean-island

Kate McCann tells libel hearing she wants to defend herself in court against ‘smears’ made against her by Portuguese police

   Kate McCann has requested permission to defend herself in libel case
   Gerry McCann has also expressed a wish to speak during trial
   Family is suing Goncaro Amaral over book The Truth of the Lie
   Police chief claimed the McCanns hid Madeleine's body after she died in an accident then faked her abduction

By Gerard Couzens
PUBLISHED: 11:12 EST, 8 October 2013
UPDATED: 09:07 EST, 9 October 2013

The tormented mother of Madeleine McCann has said she wants to defend herself in open court for the first time against Portuguese police 'smears' over her daughter's disappearance.

Kate McCann has asked a judge for permission to address a libel trial brought after a controversial book suggested the McCanns may have hidden their daughter's body and staged an abduction.

The author of The Truth Of The Lie is ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral, 56, who was tasked with investigating Madeleine's May 2007 disappearance.

Kate's husband Gerry and Mr Amaral have already applied to speak in the Portuguese court.

Her application, revealed at the libel trial today as former police colleagues of Mr Amaral spoke in his defence, paves the way for an emotional finale to the case.

It comes just days ahead of a new appeal by the McCanns for information on their missing daughter on BBC's Crimewatch which will feature a reconstruction of events in Praia da Luz on May 3 2007.

It is thought Gerry and Kate, 45, will appeal directly to a kidnapper during the programme.

Madeleine's mother flew to Portugal for the start of the libel trial last month - but had left it to friends and relatives to testify before Mr Amaral's side launched its defence.

Judge Maria Emilia Melo e Castro, referring to Kate by her maiden name as she revealed her change of heart, said: 'On October 2 Kate Healy made an application to make a statement to this court.

'The court will decide on this application once evidence has been heard by both sides as only then will it be able to judge on the need for and the pertinence of this application.'

If given the go-ahead, the McCanns and Mr Amaral are expected to speak on the same day on or after November 27 when the last hearing in the trial at Lisbon's Palace of Justice is scheduled.

Former colleagues of Mr Amaral's turned up the heat on the McCanns today by insisting nothing he wrote in his July 2008 book was new.

The book was published just three days after the McCanns had their status as suspects over Madeleine's disappearance officially lifted.

Around 120,000 copies were sold before it was withdrawn when the McCanns won an injunction against the ex-police chief.

Portuguese TV station TVI, also being sued by the McCanns along with Mr Amaral's book publishers, broadcast a controversial documentary based on the book in April 2009.

Former family liaison officer Ricardo Paiva told the court: 'What is in the book is based on our investigation and contains the professional and personal opinions of Goncalo Amaral as a police officer.

'Everything that is there can be found in the case files.'

Contradicting earlier claims by the McCanns' family and friends that Mr Amaral's book had hindered their search for their daughter by turning the Portuguese public against them, he added: 'The flow of information continued to come in regularly.

'Neither this book or any other book affected the flow of information.'

Luis Neves, head of a national police unit tasked with investigating organised crime, including kidnappings, said Mr Amaral's conclusion Madeleine was dead was an idea accepted early on by her parents.

He insisted Kate was the driving force behind a failed July 2007 search for Madeleine by controversial ex-south African detective Danie Krugel, who claimed to have invented a machine which could locate a body if provided with a DNA sample.

Neves said the reservations he felt over Mr Krugel were shared by colleagues about sniffer dogs supplied by British police which went on to smell the 'scent of death' in the McCanns' holiday apartment and place a huge question mark over the hypothesis Madeleine was kidnapped.

The performance of the dogs was later called into question after they also reacted to remains at Haut de la Garenne orphanage in Jersey, which were later found to be animal bones.

Mr Neves told the court: 'The McCanns convinced us we should bring in the south African man with his equipment.

'We didn't want to place any obstacles in the way and so the investigating officers eventually allowed it.

'It was during this part of the investigation our British colleagues said there was a team made up of dogs and their handlers that could help us to find out where the child could be buried.

'It was from then on that the Algarve police division decided to allow the dogs to come and the idea of Madeleine's death began to form and things took another direction.

'I know the suggestion of the dogs was not accepted lightly.

'We had no experience of it in Portugal and the cost was another factor.'

Retired police officer Francisco Moita Flores, now a TV commentator, described the Madeleine McCann investigation as one of the 'most complex and well-investigated cases' he had had ever seen and called Mr Amaral 'competent.'

He insisted the Tapas Nine - the McCanns and the friends dining with them at a tapas bar near their apartment the night Madeleine disappeared - should have had their phones tapped because of 'inconsistencies' in their statements.

Attacking the ongoing Home Office-funded Met Police investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, called Operation Grange, he told the court: 'There's a prophetic and dogmatic vision behind it.

'These detectives are only putting forward the hypothesis of abduction.'

Judge Maria Emilio Melo e Castro stopped lawyers on both sides asking Mr Amaral's former police colleagues what they thought about his conclusions on Madeleine and her parents in his book because they were 'opinions' and not 'facts.'

She waved the book in her hand as she demanded to know from Ricardo Paiva: 'The back cover says it contains exclusive revelations.

'What's new in the book that's not in the police files?'

Told by Mr Paiva, 'Nothing', she replied: 'Ok, so then I have to conclude this is misleading advertising.'

Another defence witness, Mr Amaral's ex-number two Vitor Tavares de Almeida, was bizarrely dismissed after being asked just one question.

The police chief, still a serving officer despite being convicted in January of torturing a crime suspect and receiving a two and a half suspended jail sentence, has previously claimed he believes the McCanns concealed Madeleine's body.

He was overheard on a video link muttering: 'What am I doing here?' before being sent away after admitting he had only read the final two pages of Mr Amaral's book.

Mr Amaral denies defamation. The case continues.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2449861/Madeleine-McCanns-mother-Kate-wants-defend-court-smears.html#ixzz2hL5gvVm9

Sketches show suspect in Madeleine McCann disappearance

October 14, 2013, 3:14 PM



Man wanted for questioning in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
/ Metropolitan Police

London Police in London have released computer-generated images of a new suspect in the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann in Portugal six years ago.

The images were based on information from separate witnesses who spotted a man in the Portuguese resort on May 3, 2007, the day the three-year-old disappeared.

Detective Andy Redwood of the Metropolitan Police says, "I'd ask the public to look very carefully at them, and if they know who this person is, please come forward."

The images and a re-enactment of the day Madeleine disappeared were shown on British television, on the BBC "Crimewatch" program about the case, which has made headlines around the globe.

Investigators with London's Metropolitan Police said they had completed a more detailed reconstruction of the events surrounding Madeleine's disappearance and that the timeline and version of events had "significantly changed."

Police did not say exactly what had changed, but said it was of "vital importance" that they speak to a man described by witnesses. The man is described as German. He is white, between the ages of 20 and 40 with brown hair, police said.

Madeleine, from Leicestershire, England, was on vacation with her family in the southern Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz when she vanished. Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, told police they left Madeleine and two younger siblings sleeping in their holiday apartment while they dined with friends nearby. When the parents returned to check on the children, Madeleine was gone.


Another sketch of the man wanted for questioning in the Madeleine McCann case./ Metropolitan Police


Portuguese police named first a local man and then the McCanns themselves as suspects in the case, but backed off those allegations without filing charges. Portuguese police later closed the case, but British authorities began their own probe. Kate and Gerry McCann have said they will never give up looking for their daughter.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57607432/sketches-show-suspect-in-madeleine-mccann-disappearance/

Madeleine McCann Crimewatch appeal: Was kidnapper still in Maddie's room when mum Kate McCann checked on her?

15 Oct 2013 06:01
   By Tom Pettifor

The mother revealed she heard a door "slam shut" shortly before she found her daughter was missing, and saw curtains moving at an open window

Kate McCann may have been just seconds away from coming face to face with the man who kidnapped her daughter Madeleine, detectives revealed yesterday.

The anguished mum found the three-year-old had disappeared from the family’s holiday apartment in Portugal at 10pm – around the time a new suspect was seen carrying a blonde child towards the beach.

In an interview shown on BBC’s Crimewatch last night, along with a detailed reconstruction, Kate told how she heard a door slam when she went to check on her children.

She also felt curtains in the room “whoosh” and noticed an open window, raising the possibility she could have missed the abductor by moments.

Kate, 45, said that after returning to the flat she “stopped and listened in the living room for a bit”.

She went on: “It was all quiet but it caught my eye that the children’s door was quite far open.

“As I was just drawing it over, it was like it had been caught by a draught and it just slammed shut.

"I opened it a bit, I kind of looked into the room and I guess I was looking at Madeleine’s bed and I couldn’t make her out.”

Kate said the full horror suddenly dawned on her that Madeleine was missing – and “the panic kicked in”.

She added: “At that point the curtains, which were closed, kind of whooshed and I could see that the window had been pushed right open and the shutters were up.”

Last night it was revealed that within minutes of Crimewatch ending police had been given the names for suspects in two newly issued e-fits following hundreds of calls.

Det Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said: “Crucial information has come from two separate callers. We are very grateful for the response.”

He said one had rung from Portugal, where the show was only available on satellite television.

He also confirmed that the mystery man whose e-fit was issued yesterday IS the prime suspect – and have made finding him a priority after ruling out another man seen carrying a child earlier the same evening.

DCI Redwood, who is leading the new Met probe, said the emphasis and timeline of the investigation had shifted.

He added: “It takes us through to a position at 10pm when we see another man who is walking towards the ocean, close by to the apartment, with a young child in his arms.

“This child is described as being about three to four with blonde hair, possibly wearing pyjamas, and the man is white with dark hair.” In a direct appeal to the public, the police chief said: “If this is you, and you are nothing to do with Madeleine’s disappearance, then we really need to speak to you. It is so important for us to eliminate innocent sightings.”

On Sunday detectives released two e-fits of a man matching the description of someone seen by an Irish family, the Smiths, at about 10pm, 500 yards from where Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007, at Praia da Luz.

The sighting has taken on new significance after a man seen carrying a child by the McCanns’ friend, Jane Tanner, close to their apartment at 9.20pm turned out to be an innocent British holidaymaker, who has been traced.

Mr Redwood described it as “a revelation moment”. He said: “We are almost certain now that this sighting is not the abductor. From 9.15pm we are allowed to let the clock move forward.”

It was at 9.15pm when Madeleine was last seen, sleeping soundly in bed, by her father Gerry, 45.

It now seems that Kate may almost have interrupted the kidnapper when she took her turn to leave the tapas restaurant within yards of their Ocean Club flat where they were dining with friends to check on Madeleine and twins Sean and Amelie.

Kate broke down sobbing as she described in an interview with Crimewatch presenter Kirsty Young the chilling moment she discovered her eldest child was gone after seeing her empty bed.

She said: “I thought, ‘I wonder if she’s woken up and gone into our bed’.

“She wasn’t in our bed and that was the first time I guess, you know, when the panic kicked in.”

Wiping away tears, she added: “Sorry… so I kind of knew straight away then that Madeleine had been taken.”

The McCanns were asked how they dealt with their feelings from that fateful night.

Gerry said: “Maybe I’ll say it first because I think I realised really early on that ifs, buts, maybes could just eat away at you – and it doesn’t change what’s happened.

“It’s almost been a mantra for me – to look forward and always look forward at what can still be done.”

But Kate revealed that their decision to eat out at the tapas restaurant had preyed on her mind for years.

She said: “I think it took me longer to get to that point and I did persecute myself over the decision.

“Why did we think that was OK? Obviously, with hindsight, but then as Gerry said it doesn’t help.

"It doesn’t help us, it doesn’t help Madeleine and ultimately it’s not us that’s committed this crime – it’s the person who’s taken a little girl away from her family. ”

DCI Redwood revealed that private detectives first produced the image of the man seen by the Smiths in September 2008 – but it was never released until this week. He would not be drawn on the reasons for this.

He also disclosed that investigators are looking at a spate of break-ins in the area, with certain similarities to the Madeleine case.

One happened almost exactly a year earlier, when a man got into a flat where two British children were sleeping as their parents dined next door.

The “skinny” intruder was interrupted by the older child who screamed after seeing him peering into a cot.

DCI Redwood said: “This man appears to have come through the patio door, had a look around inside and definitely had a look into one of the cots and then left without taking anything.”

He said in the three months before Madeleine vanished there was a sharp rise in burglaries.

He added: “It is a noticeable pattern which peaks in April. In the McCanns’ apartment the only physical disturbance we see is a window.

"I am appealing to anyone who was in the resort at the time, whether a resident or on holiday, who has been a victim of crime.”

DCI Redwood said it was possible that Madeleine could have been snatched by a gang who had been keeping the family under surveillance.

He said: “Madeleine’s disappearance does, on one reading of the evidence, have the hallmarks of a pre-planned abduction that would undoubtedly have involved reconnaissance.”

The McCanns, of Rothley, Leics, could have been watched for the previous five evenings they were in the resort.

Detectives are also trying to identify a number of blond men seen near the apartment at the time who could be Dutch or German.

DCI Redwood said: “There are one or two men who appear to be lurking around the apartments. A consistent theme in the descriptions of those ­sightings is possibly blond or fair hair.

“So we are asking the public are these connected? But, more importantly, is this you?

Because if it’s innocent, then it is really important for us to take out those innocent sightings.”

A further line of inquiry is bogus charity collectors, who were operating in the area.

Police have issued a number of e-fits, two of which are of the man who was seen carrying a child by the Smiths.

The others are compiled from descriptions of strangers who were seen in the vicinity around the time Madeleine went missing.

One is of a man wearing sunglasses who was seen twice by the same witness near the McCanns’ apartment.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-crimewatch-appeal-kidnapper-2371929#ixzz2ho9PkYs2

Madeleine McCann case reopened in Portugal; prosecutors cite new leads

CBS/AP
October 24, 2013, 9:58 AM

LISBON, Portugal Portuguese prosecutors have ordered police to reopen their investigation into the six-year-old disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann after a review of the evidence found new leads, authorities announced Thursday.

The public prosecutor's office in Lisbon said the decision was made after "new indications" emerged during a case review. It gave no further details.

In London, Scotland Yard said the Portuguese prosecutor's decision "follows the discovery of new lines of enquiry as a result of an internal review of their original investigation" by the Portuguese police.

It said the Portuguese investigation will run parallel with British police efforts to find out what happened to the girl who vanished shortly before her fourth birthday during a family vacation in southern Portugal in May 2007.

Last week, police in London released computer-generated images of a new suspect. The images were based on information from separate witnesses who spotted a man in the Portuguese resort on May 3, 2007, the day the three-year-old disappeared.

The images and a re-enactment of the day Madeleine disappeared were shown on British television, on the BBC "Crimewatch" program about the case, which has made headlines around the globe.

Portuguese police closed the case in 2008 because authorities had detected no crime. The case sparked global interest because pictures of Madeleine beamed around the world and because her parents were briefly considered suspects before they were cleared and returned home to England.

Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, said in a statement they were "very pleased" about the case being reopened.

"We hope that this will finally lead to (Madeleine) being found and to the discovery of whoever is responsible for this crime," they said.

British detectives have said it's possible that Madeleine is still alive. British police launched Operation Grange in 2011 to try to solve the puzzle about what happened to the girl.

"This is a welcome development, but both sides of the investigation are at relatively early stages, with much work remaining to be done," Scotland Yard said in a statement about its own case and the Portuguese announcement. "This new momentum is encouraging, but we still have a way to go, and as with all major investigations, not all lines of enquiry that look promising will yield results."

British police will travel regularly to Portugal, Scotland Yard added.

Madeleine disappeared from her family's apartment in a resort in Praia da Luz, a coastal town 120 miles south of Lisbon, while her parents and their friends were eating dinner nearby.

A team of detectives from Porto, in northern Portugal, began reviewing the evidence in March 2011. British police have also been sifting through the case files in Portugal and say they have identified new avenues of investigation.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57609085/madeleine-mccann-case-reopened-in-portugal-prosecutors-cite-new-leads/

Madeleine McCann's parents told they are no longer suspects by Portuguese police

26 Oct 2013 09:30

The couple were told in a police briefing last week in Lisbon where they were also updated on new leads

Kate and Gerry McCann have been told for the first time by the Portuguese authorities that they are no longer suspects in their daughter Madeleine’s disappearance.

The couple were told in a police briefing last week in Lisbon where they were also updated on the new leads that have been unearthed.

Their Portuguese lawyer Rogerio Alves said yesterday: “The McCanns were already informed about the reopening of the inquiry and the reasons why it was being reopened.

“They also know that this new line of inquiry excludes any responsibility of the parents.

“The Portuguese police told them this at a meeting in Lisbon last week at which British police were also present.

“What it means is that the police understand there are new avenues that should be explored.

“This brings Madeleine’s parents a legitimate expectation not only that the truth will be discovered but also that it will be possible to find Madeleine alive which is the sole aim of all the efforts they’ve been making.”

Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccanns-parents-told-no-2592011#ixzz2j4MFURWI

Madeleine McCann case: Police say hotel worker may have abducted girl
 
Thursday, October 31, 2013

Madeleine McCann, a young British girl who went missing in 2007, is seen in this undated file photo. (KABC Photo)
 
LISBON, Portugal (KABC) -- Portuguese police say an angry ex-hotel worker may have abducted young British girl Madeleine McCann six years ago.
 
The 40-year-old man in question died in a tractor accident four years ago. Investigators say he may have snatched the girl out of revenge after being fired. Detectives are calling this their "strongest new lead."
 
Tests on the man's mobile phone showed he was around the family's holiday apartment when McCann went missing.
 
Authorities reopened the case earlier this month.
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/world_news&id=9308349

"A significant development": First arrests in Madeleine McCann case move nearer

Jan 24, 2014 08:55
By David Collins

A source close to missing Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry McCann said: "It is an important and significant development."

The British police investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance moved a step closer to making arrests yesterday after Portuguese authorities received a letter of formal request for help.

Portugal's Attorney General's office confirmed they were in receipt of an International Letter of Request - a "significant development," according to a source close to Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann.

The contents of the letter are believed to ask for access to three prime suspects.

The Mirror has previously reported how British police are braced to make the first arrests ever in case of Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

The letter will now be forwarded to a court in the Algarve resort of Portimao tasked with investigating the newly-reopened case in Portugal.

Authorities declined to give a timescale on when the letter would be sent or actioned.

Scotland Yard are understood to want to question three local burglars blamed for a string of break-ins in Praia da Luz where Madeleine was snatched in May 2007.

Portuguese detectives acting on a first International Letter of Request sent by Britain last July discovered the men were very close to the scene of Madeleine's disappearance.

They are thought to have made an unusually high number of calls to each other in the hours after her abduction.

Portugal's Attorney General's office announced last October the Madeleine McCann inquiry was being reopened at the request of police in Porto who have spent the past three years reviewing the case.

Jose Magalhaes e Menezes, the public prosecutor in charge of the original investigation, is overseeing the reopened inquiry.

He was damning of the original probe pointing the finger at Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry and claimed officers under disgraced former police chief Goncalo Amaral achieved "very little" during their 15 month investigation.

Scotland Yard detectives are conducting their own separate criminal inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance called Operation Grange.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the Met operation, has said he continues to believe Madeleine is still alive.

Operation Grange was first launched as a review in 2011 following the intervention of David Cameron in the case.

A source close to Maddie's parents said: "It it the next step forward in what is proving to be a slow but very thorough process.

"Met Police want to be given the opportunity to arrest key suspects.

"They are keeping Kate and Gerry informed of all developments.

"We understand the International Letter of Request was received by the Portuguese authorities last week.

"It is an important and significant development.

"But it is too early to say, at this stage, if the powers that be in Portugal will co-operate."

The McCann's official spokesman Clarence Mitchell said last night: "Kate and Gerry do not comment on any aspect of Operation Grange."

Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-first-arrests-move-3056123#ixzz2roWGUWh9

Madeleine McCann’s parents 'on tenterhooks' as Scotland Yard detectives fly to Portugal to arrest three suspects

Jan 28, 2014 22:38
By Tom Pettifor

Madeleine McCann’s parents were said to be “on tenterhooks” as Scotland Yard detectives looked set to swoop on three suspects after flying to Portugal.

Anxious Kate and Gerry were being kept “fully informed” of events after learning of the dramatic breakthrough in the bid to solve the six-year riddle of their missing daughter.

A source close to the couple said: “Clearly the fact that the police are out there is significant. Kate and Gerry will now be on tenterhooks as they wait for any potential developments.

“The Met are being very pro-active and this is good news in the search for Madeleine and her abductor.”

The source revealed that Kate and Gerry, both 45, of Rothley, Leics, were cautiously hopeful about the latest move. He said: “It is necessary for British police to request the Portuguese authorities allow them to operate on their turf. It means they have the intention of arresting and interviewing X, Y or Z.

“Whether the Portuguese will co-operate remains to be seen. It is a very sensitive issue with differences they have had.

“Kate and Gerry don’t want to build up their hopes but they realise it could be a significant new lead.”

After arriving in the Algarve yesterday the Yard team held a secret four-hour meeting with senior Portuguese officers and prosecutors. The discussions are believed to have centred on getting local officials to sanction the arrests and subsequent questioning.

The breakthrough follows a cold-case UK review involving a painstaking trawl through mobile phone data.

It has pin-pointed three men who are said to have been very close to the scene when three-year-old Maddie was snatched from her family’s holiday apartment at the resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007.

The records also indicate the suspects, believed to be a burglary gang, made a high number of calls to each other in the hours following her abduction.

Det Chief Insp Andy Redwood, who is leading the UK hunt, arrived at police headquarters in Faro just after 10am clutching two bulging box files.

He was accompanied by three colleagues for the meeting with Luís Mota Carmo, the director of the Polícia Judiciária.

Mr Carmo heads a team of six Faro detectives who have been carrying out work on behalf of Scotland Yard.

The Mirror revealed earlier this month that the Crown Prosecution Service had sent an International Letter of Request to Portuguese police seeking permission to question the new suspects. Portugal’s attorney general’s office confirmed last week that it had received the letter.

An insider said of yesterday’s talks: “It’s the first time the UK and Portuguese police have met since the request was made.”

He added: “The investigation is at a sensitive stage and it remains to be seen what action will be taken by the Portuguese police.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-kate-gerry-on-3087456#.UulJ5bS0t6k

Madeleine McCann case is 'moving forward' top officer says amid reports of police closing in on three prime suspects

By Sophie Jane Evans
PUBLISHED: 04:54 EST, 14 February 2014
UPDATED: 10:06 EST, 14 February 2014

Excerpt:

The Scotland Yard investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is 'moving forward', a top officer has revealed.

British detectives have issued a new request for help to their Portuguese counterparts in a bid to discover what happened to the youngster.  

It comes amid reports that police are closing in on three 'prime suspects' believed to have been involved in the toddler's disappearance.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2559216/Madeleine-McCann-case-moving-forward-Deputy-Assistant-Commissioner-Martin-Hewitt-says-amid-reports-police-closing-three-prime-suspects.html#ixzz2tKOlFKVX
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Here we go again.....

Nightly News   |  April 07, 2014
New twist in Madeleine McCann case
Sept. 7: With new forensic evidence, Portuguese police named Madeleine's mother a suspect. NBC's Keith Miller has the latest.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/20647665#20647665

....and I thought for sure it was the pedophile-pervert who was living in the area. I'd like to read more on the supposed blood they found in the car (although that seems vaguely familiar). So sad.

Holy cow.  Hard to believe it, after all these years.  Wonder what all they have.  If she was involved, what about the father?  Weren't they together when Madeleine disappeared?

Way, way back in the beginning the Portuguese Police thought the parents had harmed her and then hid her body. The blood in the car seems so familiar - it was in a rented car that her parents supposedly used about 30 days after the fact. But if this is true, who had the car before her parents did? And wasn't the car checked before? I don't know, I read so many stories, maybe it was someone else that they were saying blood was in the rental car. I can't believe her parents did this. Of course it's hard to imagine any mother murdering her child. The teenage boys who lose their tempers is sort of a given; sad but true. It will be interesting to see where this story goes now.

McCanns to sue over leaflet distributed in their OWN VILLAGE blaming them for Madeleine's disappearance

Updated: 11:30 EST, 15 August 2009



Hate campaign: A leaflet blames Madeleine McCann's parents for her disappearance

The parents of Madeleine McCann were last night said to be devastated by a hate campaign suggesting they were responsible for their daughter’s disappearance.

A leaflet entitled ‘Ten reasons to suggest that Madeleine McCann was not abducted’ was distributed to 10,000 residents of the village where they live and the surrounding area.

A source told MailOnline the couple intend to pursue legal action and may even bring in the police.

It was even sent to residents of the street in Rothley, Leicestershire, where Kate and Gerry McCann, both doctors, live with their four-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

The leaflet was not delivered to the McCanns’ home.

The Madeleine Foundation, which distributed the leaflet, was set up by former lawyer Tony Bennett, 60, who has previously tried and failed to bring a private prosecution against the couple for child neglect.

He and his supporters have produced a 64-page anti-McCann book entitled ‘What really happened to Madeleine McCann? Sixty reasons to suggest that she was not abducted’.

Like the leaflet, it is emblazoned with a picture of the missing girl, who was aged three when she disappeared from her parents’ holiday apartment in the Portuguese  resort of Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.

The leaflet says her parents’ version of events on the night she disappeared is a ‘sheer impossibility’. It suggests it is more likely that Madeleine died in the apartment and that they covered up her death.


Devastated: Kate and Gerry McCann are aid to be considering legal action over the Madeleine Foundation leaflet campaign

Residents of Rothley last night expressed outrage at the leaflet, an extract of the book, which calls for the case to be reopened.

One resident, Patricia Ball, said: ‘It sent a shiver down my spine. I did not like it at all, it had a nasty feel about it.
 
More...

• Millionaire mother and daughter 'unable to help' with hunt for Madeleine McCann
  

‘There is still a candle on the green, so every time you go into the centre of Rothley, you pass the candle and it always reminds you of Madeleine.’

A copy of the original book was sent to the McCanns’ home several months ago, causing them great upset.

A family friend said the couple were were ‘devastated’ by the campaign and may sue for libel.

Their spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: ‘We do not wish to dignify the actions of the so-called Madeleine Foundation with any response. We do feel it is important, however, to make the general public aware that the foundation has no connection whatsoever with our family or those helping us find Madeleine or any law enforcement agencies.

‘We strongly believe the actions of this organisation do not have Madeleine’s best interests at heart. If anything, it is hampering our efforts to find Madeleine and achieve justice on her behalf.’

Last year, the McCanns expressed anger at the foundation, which they described as a fee-paying club dedicated to blaming them for Madeleine’s disappearance – members pay £10 to join.

Mr Bennett’s attempt to bring a private prosecution against the couple two years ago was thrown out by Leicester magistrates on the grounds that they had no jurisdiction over the case because she disappeared abroad.

Mr Bennett said at the time: ‘We are a group of people who want to get to the truth of what happened to Madeleine.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1206719/McCanns-tormented-leaflet-campaign-blaming-Madeleines-disappearance.html#ixzz2ySdT9V92

Ladibug, the above article is from August 2011.  That's sort of how it was back then.

A few weeks ago they were talking about a mysterious man.  Now this.

I remember the blood in the car and wondered then why that was given so little consideration.  Perhaps because children hurt themselves?

When it first happened IIRC, most people blamed the parents.

Ladibug, thought you might like this.          

        

Hahaha! Had to log-in for that one Twink   That's a keeper for sure - just perfect to reply to emails when customers send job requests in at 9 PM! Thank you.

A few months ago Scotland Yard was on their way "to arrest three suspects", they met with the Port. authorities and....what happened to that? Personally I believe it would be a miracle if Maddie is ever found.