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The McCann couple, from Leicester,
England, whose daughter disappeared on
Thursday night from the Mark Warner
Ocean Club, were taken to the PJ in
Portimao at the end of the morning. The
abduction theory suggested by the
parents is not however corroborated by
the PJ.
The GNR was alerted at about 23.50
yesterday, Colonel Costa Cabral told
Lusa, about the public relations of the
girl’s disappearance. This force and the
Lagos PSP immediately launched a search
operation, whilst the PJ took account of
the case this morning
Whilst the searches continue, involving
30 officers and 4 sniffer dog teams, the
family apartment was sealed for
investigation, but up until now (14.30)
“there is no evidence” that confirms the
theory of abduction, the Observatório do
Algarve has learned.
Meanwhile, the authorities have already
notified the Foreigner and Borders
Service, airports and Spanish police and
a large solidarity movement has been
generated amongst the foreign community
in Lagos, with residents requesting
photographs of little Maggie (sic) in
order to help in the searches.
According to Lusa, the resort which
consists of individual apartments, bars
and shops, did not have a security
system and therefore access to the
resort is not controlled and there are
no security cameras.
Kate and Jerry (sic) McCann’s apartment
is situated on the ground floor and
according to statements made by the
parents to an English journalist, quoted
by the Guardian, the door was found to
be open and the shutters broken when
they returned to the apartment where the
girl was sleeping with her twin
siblings. Jonh (sic) Hill, manager of
the club, states however, that the
shutters “were open”.
The couple had gone for dinner at a
restaurant about 30 metres from the
apartment, next to the resort’s pool but
informed the police that during the
evening they had checked on the
children, finding their oldest daughter
missing at about 22.00. The 60 staff
members from the resort immediately
began to search for the girl, with
subsequent intervention from the police
authorities.
With the support of many local people
and the distribution of her photograph,
the searches continue almost 16 hours
after the disappearance of little
Madeleine, who will be 4 years old next
week. |
