RETIRED Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral wants Madeleine McCann’s parents to fly to Portugal and relive the night of her disappearance.

Mr Amaral believes that every person who may have been present when the three-year-old disappeared should return to the resort to reconstruct events of the fateful night.  

This would include Madeleine’s parents as well as those they shared a meal with when she disappeared.  

Mr Amaral claimed a full reconstruction could produce a vital breakthrough in the £12million investigation.

He said: “Reconstructions are very helpful and I believe a full one in this case could be very productive.” Scotland Yard officers working on Operation Grange are concentrating on one remaining line of enquiry, which is believed to focus on the theory that Madeleine was taken in a burglary which went wrong.  

As the ninth anniversary of her disappearance looms on Tuesday, Mr Amaral argues that a reconstruction is needed to clarify the timeline of crucial events on the night of May 3, 2007.  

Madeleine was put to bed in the early evening with twins Sean and Amelie, then 18 months old, sleeping in separate cots nearby in a back bedroom of apartment 5a of the Ocean Club at Praia da Luz on the Algarve.

It is known that Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann, doctors from Rothley, Leicestershire, joined seven other British friends at a tapas bar about 60 yards from the apartment for an evening meal.

At around 9pm Mr McCann went to check on Madeleine and describes her as sleeping normally on the top of the bed. Kate reported her missing from the apartment at 10pm.

As part of the Yard investigation the mobile phone records of four arguidos, or suspects, have been forensically analysed. They are all locals and have protested their innocence.



All were interviewed by Portuguese officers, with Yard officers present, about their movements on the evening Madeleine disappeared.

Mr Amaral said it was unlikely the suspects would agree to a reconstruction but their parts could be played by police officers.

However, he said it was important the McCanns and their friends, Russell O’Brien and his partner Jane Tanner, Rachael Oldfield and her husband Matthew, David and Fiona Payne and Mrs Payne’s mother Dianne Webster take part.

Other witnesses for the reconstruction would be British holidaymaker Jeremy Wilkins and Irishman Martin Smith and his family. 

Mr Wilkins stood outside apartment 5a chatting to Mr McCann when Ms Tanner walked past.

Ms Tanner said she saw a man carrying a child in his arms cross a road by apartment 5a.

Scotland Yard officers have identified an innocent holidaymaker carrying a child there at the time as being the person Ms Tanner saw.

Mr Amaral said: “This is a crucial area for the reconstruction. We now know Scotland Yard have eliminated the man Jane Tanner saw carrying a child.

“It would be important for the person Scotland Yard has identified to take part in the reconstruction as this period of time is absolutely crucial.”

At about 10pm, Mr Smith and his family returned to their apartment after a meal out, and saw a man carrying a child on a road heading towards the seafront, about 1,000 yards from apartment 5a.

Mr Amaral said: “I think Mr Smith and members of the family would be happy to assist with a reconstruction as it may bring back useful memories.

“We seem to be getting towards the end of the Operation Grange investigation, the last roll of the dice, so what is there to lose?”

Scotland Yard officers sent legal letters to Portuguese police stating the lines of inquiry they wished to pursue.

A Portuguese prosecutor will decide if its officers can carry them out.


In Algarve’s capital, Faro, inquiries by the Sunday Express last week indicated there was cooperation between the police forces.

A source said: “If detectives are asked to help with a reconstruction I’m sure they will.”

The McCanns declined to respond to Mr Amaral’s comments.

However, it is understood they were advised a reconstruction after so many years would be “pointless”.

A source close to the family said: “Kate and Gerry do not wish to engage with anything Amaral says.”