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THEORY: Investigator Donal MacIntyre says
he knows how Madeleine was abducted |
MADELEINE McCann
was abducted by at least two kidnappers who must have carried out
several dry runs in the days leading up to her disappearance.
After spending a
week on the ground investigating the case and the methods used by the
kidnappers, I can only conclude that they must have entered the
apartment to carry out a rehearsal, because they were working to an
incredibly tight schedule.
The three-minute
time frame they allowed themselves left no margin for error.
But even though they
did their homework with meticulous care, they still came within seconds
of capture.
I believe the focus
of the investigation for the private investigators hired by Madeleines
parents should be on a breakdown of who was in and around the Mark
Warner Ocean Club in Praia da Luz throughout their holiday.
It is more than
probable key witnesses would have seen the kidnappers in the days and
nights leading up to the abduction on May 3, 2007.
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| SOFT
TARGET: MacIntyre believes Madeleiene was passed through
this apartment window |
Such was the narrow
window of opportunity, only agile, sharp-witted people well-practised in
breaking and entering properties could have pulled this off.
Over the past week I have conducted a cold case review of most of the
available evidence relating to the abduction and had lengthy discussions
with numerous Portuguese sources who cannot be identified.
Crucial to
unravelling the whole case is establishing what precisely took place
from 8pm to 10.15pm on the night Madeleine vanished.
In my view too
little attention has been paid to what I believe was a key sighting.
A dark-haired woman
was ?observed standing near a street light at a road junction that
overlooks apartment 5A. What was she doing in the ?eerily quiet area,
which is not near a bus stop, taxi rank, cafes or shops?
She was seen looking
at the apartment as the late evening gloom descended.
Was she also
watching to see the movements of Kate and Gerry McCann and their holiday
friends, the so-called Tapas Seven? I think so.
The same witness who
saw the ?mystery woman also saw a gold or brown Nissan car driving
erratically past the woman.
Despite appeals
neither the woman nor the driver of the car has come forward.
Was this Nissan the
getaway car and was its driver conducting a dry run at this very time?
Again, I think so.
Although we do not,
sadly, have a minute-by-minute breakdown of the events that took place,
this is the scenario that I believe unfolded
Having settled
Madeleine, then three, and their two-year- old twins, Sean and Amelie,
Gerry and Kate, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have a glass of wine
before heading off to the tapas bar, a minute?s walk away, to join their
friends Jane Tanner and her partner Russell O?Brien, Rachel and Mathew
Oldfield, David and Fiona Payne and Diane Webster.
At about 9pm Gerry
leaves the table and walks over to the apartment to check on the twins
and Madeleine.
He enters the
apartment and then goes to the toilet. He checks on his children and
?savours a proud father?s moment as he stands by the doorway looking
into the back bedroom where they are all soundly asleep.
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| MACABRE
ATTRACTION: The Praia da Luz resort |
The
twins are in cots and Madeleine in bed, holding her favourite toy,
Cuddle Cat. Gerry spends up to 10 minutes in the five-room apartment
and will only later reflect that he felt there was someone else
there at the same time.
For
the kidnap to have taken place I believe Gerrys gut instinct was
sound.
So
we must assume that a few minutes before Gerry arrived, the abductor
walked along the public road beside the apartment, opened the gate,
walked up 10 steps to the patio and entered through the open patio
doors.
At
this stage he or she is a heartbeat away from being caught. But
where could the abductor have hidden? Gerry walked through the front
room, used the bathroom and looked in on the children but did he
check ?anywhere else?
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| GRIEF:
Kate and Gerry at the time of kidnap |
My
view is that the abductor was probably in the childrens bedroom,
possibly behind the door or crouching behind furniture.
As
Gerry strolls out of the patio doors, closing but not locking them,
he leaves through the same small gate facing the road where the
abductor has entered minutes before.
Just outside, he meets television producer Jes Wilkins on the way
back to the tapas bar. There is not another soul on the street.
Back inside the apartment the abductor must be breathing a sigh of
relief as Gerry leaves, then realises his exit route is blocked and
plan B has to be put into operation.
For
this, help is essential. The abductor inside the apartment passes
Madeleine ? probably put to sleep with chloroform ? through the open
window into the accomplices arms.
In
the distance, the voices of Gerry McCann and Jes Wilkins waft
through the air.
What trauma would Madeleine suffer if, terrified and forcibly kept
silent, she hears Dads voice as she is being bundled into the hands
of dangerous strangers? At the same time ? about 9.10pm and
unnoticed by Wilkins and Gerry, Jane Tanner observes them chatting.
The
kidnapper holding Madeleine retreats to the adjacent car park before
heading on to the same footpath where, a short distance downhill,
Gerry and Wilkins are talking.
The
accomplice makes his way out of the window and into the darkness.
The
kidnappers think they have got away with it, but they are on the
brink of being caught.
Despite hearing the voices of Madeleines father a short distance
away, the kidnapper holding the girl plans to cross the road
junction just above them.
As
he hits the footpath, he sees both men chatting and Jane Tanner
heading his way ? three potential witnesses to the abduction,
including the father of the child.
Why
choose such a potentially disastrous course My ?belief is that he
had to make a rendezvous with the getaway driver.
The
seven seconds he took to cross the road were either well-planned,
foolhardy or a sign of breathtaking confidence. In any case,
the kidnapper never faltered and was never seen again.
Jane Tanner says he was carrying a child. She believes it was
Madeleine and her theory is supported by the McCann investigators.
The
timing of the statements from the key witnesses suggests that there
was a maximum of three to five minutes for the abduction to be
executed.
In
such circumstances only good planning and co-ordination could make
this possible. It would be an extraordinary effort, needing an
astonishing degree of luck, if this had been done on an
opportunistic basis.
The
clean execution of the kidnap, without a hint of a DNA trace or any
useable evidence, means it was highly professional and planned with
precision.
Such precision is the hallmark of fixated, obsessive sexual
predators. There were 20 known paedophiles living on the Algarve at
the time including one with a flat near the McCanns apartment but
all have been eliminated as possible perpetrators.
However, the area must be a magnet for sex offenders. It has a
creche, school and nursery. Add a transient population of young
holidaymakers and you have a lot of attractions for sexual
predators.
With its road access the McCann apartment was the most vulnerable in
the complex and it is easy to see why a paedophile would make it a
target.
The
McCanns? decision, formed by the semi-secure nature of the holiday
complex, to use a check-in system for their children rather than
have babysitters allowed the abductors to strike. In hindsight, that
unfortunate decision left their children vulnerable to an abductor.
Last week I walked unchallenged on to the property in the company of
another journalist. We were both unsuitably dressed and surrounded
by children and parents. We had a drink and left. Two hours later I
returned and again was not challenged.
Today there is more lighting around the complex but little else has
changed. Until the kidnappers are caught, the unspoken fear will
remain that Praia da Luz is a sunny place for shady people.
All
that remains visible of the Madeleine McCann campaign there is a
touching shrine in the beautiful church on the sea front.
Pray For Me, the heart-shaped poster pleads. Below it, 10 electric
candles flicker in her memory. Many more will be lit before this
mystery is solved.
Lawyers representing Kate and Gerry McCann have demanded that a
website claiming their daughter was not abducted should be taken
down.
The
Madeleine Foundation claims Madeleine is dead and her parents bear
some responsibility for her death.
The
McCanns spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: Kate and Gerry have made
it clear they will not dignify the actions of the so-called
Madeleine Foundation with any comment.?
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