 |
Original Source::
MAIL: 01 AUGUST 2007 |
| Last
updated at 15:28pm on 1st August 2007 |
|
|
|
The only witness to the abduction of Madeleine McCann is said to be
"devastated" that she didn't do anything to prevent the tragedy.
Mother-of-two Jane Tanner was dining with Madeleine's parents when the little
girl was grabbed from their holiday apartment just 40 yards away.
Miss Tanner is now said to be racked by anguish and "grief stricken"
that she didn't raise the alarm.
Friends say that her life has collapsed after she saw a man carring a child
under a blanket on the fateful night - but dismissed it as someone with his own
child.
She only realised the significance of what she had seen half an hour later,
when Madeleine's mother Kate discovered her little girl was missing.
Miss Tanner, 36, only saw the abductor from the back but she has given police a
clear description.
The sighting is the only official one of Madeleine in the Praia da Luz resort
on the night she vanished.
Adding further pain to Miss Tanner's plight, she and her partner Russell
O'Brien, a hospital consultant, have been hit by slurs in Portugal that
they met prime suspect Robert Murat before Madeleine was taken.
Reports in a Porguguese newspaper claimed Dr O'Brien and Murat were both in Exeter days before the
kidnapping.
Miss Tanner and Dr O'Brien deny having any contact with Murat.
A family friend told the Express: "Jane is just devastated by everything
that happened.
"Three months ago it all seemed to be going so well for them.
"Russell had got a new job in Exeter and
they'd been so looking forward to going on holiday to Portugal with their friends.
"But that night changed everything. Jane is haunted by what she saw.
"She is utterly convinced she witnessed Madeleine's abduction and
grief-stricken that she didn't raise the alarm.
"She just genuinely did not suspect a thing because when she saw the man
with the child she believed Madeleine was fast asleep safe and sound just a few
yards away.
"She has not talked publicly about what she saw becuase she is a very
private person and is finding it hard to come to terms with.
"She is just hoping and praying - like everyone close to the family - that
Madeleine is found safe and well."
Miss Tanner told the newspaper: "We are not allowed to say anything. I am
sorry, I haven't got anything to add."
When Miss Tanner was asked: "You were the last person to see Madeleine?
Why can't you talk?"
She replied: "Yes I know. I am sorry."
The description that Miss Tanner gave to police has been circulated across the
world.
Detectives say she holds the key to identifying Madeleine's abductor.
Robert Murat, 33, the only suspect named by Portuguese police, admits he fits
the description. But he insists he's innocent.
A team of Cracker-style police has been drafted in to help find Madeleine.
The group, including specialist criminal profilers from the UK, have flown to
Portugal to review evidence gathered during the three month investigation into
who could have taken the missing four-year-old.
The team, likened to the TV character Cracker, are now working to construct a
psychological profile of the kidnapper to help the local police.
They are also experts in predicting the behaviour of paedophiles.
Madeleine's parents have this week met with senior detectives hunting for their
daughter's kidnapper.
The couple said they were hopeful everything was being done to find her.
Strict secrecy laws in Portugal
prevent the couple discussing details of the briefing.
But Gerry, 39, said: "Kate and I are very confident that every avenue is
being explored."
He went on to say that he and Kate believed "the vital piece of
information that leads to Madeleine is only a phone call away".
Detectives are picking over every shred of evidence in a painstaking review of
the case.
All leave has been cancelled for the Portuguese detectives investigating the
case, who refused to confirm the identities of the British criminologists.
A Portuguese police source said: "We have reached a phase of the
investigation where we are now trying to evaluate everything."
Madeleine was snatched from her family's holiday apartment in the Algarve resort
of Praia da Luz on May 3.
|
| |
|
 |
|
