A
THREE-YEAR-OLD British girl has gone
missing while on holiday in the Algarve,
Portugal.
Portuguese police are investigating the
disappearance of Madeleine McCann who
went missing last night in the seaside
village of Praia da Luz in south-west
Portugal where the girl was staying.
The parents of the three-year-old were
“distraught” when they discovered she
had disappeared from their rented
apartment while they dined nearby.
Sniffer dogs were brought in by
detectives today to comb the area.
The Sun has put up a £10,000 (15,000
euros) reward in a bid to help find
little Madeleine and printed posters
looking for information in Portugal.
If you live in Portugal you can download
a copy of the poster, by clicking here,
to play your part in the search for
Madeleine.
A Foreign Office spokesman said that he
understood the girl’s parents had gone
to have dinner once their children were
asleep last night, but returned to check
on them only to find the girl had gone
missing.
He said: “They reported it straight
away,” adding that consular assistance
was being offered.
And a family friend was reported to have
said the parents were certain that the
girl had been abducted - but this was
unconfirmed.
She said: “They were just watching the
hotel room and going back every
half-hour and the shutters had been
broken open and they had gone into the
room and taken Madeleine.
“They went out about eight, went back in
at nine, they were fine, went back in at
10 and she was gone.”
Have you seen Madeleine?
Viu esta menina?
Por favor, telefone 282 76 29 30
She added: “This is the first time they
have done this. They are very, very
anxious parents and very careful and
they chose Mark Warner because it is a
family-friendly resort.”
She said the couple, from Leicester,
also had twins.
Today the manager at the Mark Warner
resort, John Hill, confirmed the missing
girl as Madeleine McCann and her parents
as Gerry and Katie.
He said around 60 staff and guests at
the purpose-built complex had searched
until 4.30am while police notified
border police, Spanish police and
airports.
“It was a very emotional and very
frantic night and everyone did a
fantastic job of getting involved and
trying to search the area,” he said.
“As you can imagine, Madeleine’s parents
are distraught and not doing very well
at all.”
He said there was no physical evidence
that the girl had been abducted from the
family’s rented apartment while they ate
at the tapas restaurant 200 yards away.
“It’s still questionable as to whether
it’s an abduction,” he said.
“We are hoping that Madeleine is found
as soon as possible and safe and well.
"Everybody here is just wishing that she
is found as soon as possible."
But fears are now growing that Madeleine
was taken against her will. Her
anguished parents, both 38 and doctors,
have accused Portuguese police of not
doing enough to find her.
Madeleine, who turns four next Friday,
and her two-year-old twin brother and
sister Sean and Amelie were left in
their apartment alone as their parents
dined at the tapas restaurant 200 yards
away.
The resort offered a creche service but
the couple opted to leave the children
sleeping at the apartment, taking turns
to check on them at regular intervals.
Madeleine’s aunt, Trish Cameron, who
lives in Dumbarton near Glasgow, said
her brother, Gerry, called her last
night “breaking his heart”.
She said his wife had gone to check on
the children and “came out screaming”.
“He said ’Madeleine’s been abducted,
she’s been abducted’.
“The door was lying open, the window in
the bedroom and the shutters had been
jemmied open.
“Nothing had been touched in the
apartment, no valuables taken, no
passports.
“They think someone must have come in
the window and gone out the door with
her.”
Mrs Cameron will join her mother from
Manchester together with Mrs McCann’s
parents, Mr and Mrs Healy to travel out
to Portugal.
Mrs Cameron described Madeleine as a
“lovely wee girl“.
“She has a broad English accent, loves
going to nursery and her swimming and
tennis lessons,” she said.
Family friend Jill Renwick told GMTV the
McCanns had chosen their holiday
destination carefully, and travelled
there with a group of other families
with young children.
She said: “This is the first time they
have done this. They are very, very
anxious parents and very careful and
they chose Mark Warner because it is a
family-friendly resort.”
Madeleine’s grandfather, Brian Healy
said they were “worried sick“.
Speaking at the door of the family home
in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, before
leaving for Portugal, he said: “It’s a
very distressing time.”
Mr and Mrs McCann met in Glasgow. Mr
McCann is a consultant cardiologist at
Glenfield Hospital in Leicester who
colleagues today described as “popular
and hardworking”, and Mrs McCann, from
Liverpool, is a GP in Latham House
Medical Practice in Melton Mowbray.
Do you know this girl or are you in the
Algarve? Call The Sun newsdesk on 0207
7824105 or emailtalkback@the-sun.co.uk |
