Madeleine McCann's
parents have drawn comfort from an emotional meeting with
murdered hostage
Ken Bigley's brother,
it emerged yesterday.
Phil Bigley spent several hours with Kate and Gerry McCann in Praia
da Luz talking about the trauma of having a loved one
abducted.
Mr Bigley is the younger brother of Ken, the British engineer who
was snatched in Iraq by Al Qaida in 2004 and later beheaded
on camera.
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Kate and Gerry McCann 'drew comfort' from the
meeting with Phil Bigley |
Although
a very different situation, the McCanns are said to have
been greatly buoyed by speaking to his brother about the
stresses and strains of their respective ordeals.
News of
the meeting came as police in Portugal stepped up their hunt
for four-year-old Madeleine, who vanished from the Mark
Warner Ocean Club resort as her parents ate tapas in a
nearby restaurant.
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Four-year-old Madeleine disappeared 110 days ago |
Detectives are believed to be checking out a theory that
Madeleine's disappearance was the result of a botched
burglary, after several reported break-ins in the area.
Phil
Bigley, 52, is on holiday with his family in the Algarve and
made the approach to the McCanns last Saturday.
A source
close to Mr Bigley said: "Phil really feels for the McCanns
and what they are going through.
"Obviously he hopes there is a happy ending to their ordeal,
unlike how it was for him and his family.
"But he
knows how much talking helps and he thought he could offer
some support. It was an emotional meeting for both parties.
"He also
knows what it's like to be in the media spotlight during a
very difficult time."
Mr
McCann, a 39-year-old consultant cardiologist, wrote on his
Internet blog:
"We had a
British visitor who came to offer us a different type of
support.
"He has
been through an ordeal similar to ours involving one of his
family.
"It was
good to talk about our emotions, the pressures and different
coping strategies that we use in an ongoing trauma, with
someone who has experienced a tragic event like ours."
Gerry and
Kate, also 39, are even said to have experienced renewed
hope for Madeleine from their discussion with Mr Bigley, who
like Mrs McCann is from Liverpool.
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British hostage was Ken Bigley was beheaded by
his captors |
A friend
of the couple said: "The Bigley situation is obviously
different but even so they found talking to him very
comforting.
"Gerry
felt he could talk openly and candidly, and found it has
given him renewed hope and encouragement.
"It gave
him the feeling that he is not the only one to go through an
ordeal like this."
Madeleine
has now been missing for 110 days and police in the Algarve
are reported to be at a "critical" stage of their inquiries.
Portuguese newspapers are claiming that this week will be
decisive, without spelling out why.
Police
have secured warrants to carry out further searches around
Praia da Luz, and are also planning to re-interview several
potential witnesses.
Yesterday
the officer leading the investigation, Guilhermino
Encarnação, arrived at Portimao police station from
headquarters in Faro.
It is by
no means certain that detectives are close to any sort of
breakthrough however, and they rarely comment on the case
because of Portugal's strict "secrecy of justice" laws.
Among
those whom Portuguese police want to interview is Pamela
Fenn, 73, an expat who suffered a break-in at her apartment
in the same block as the McCanns' holiday flat.
Another
British holidaymaker, Ian Robertson, from Neyland in
Pembrokeshire, South Wales, said he too was burgled at the
Ocean Club complex, in February.
The
thieves entered the property at dusk and stole two mobile
phones, a camera and some money.
Mr
Robertson said: "I have a feeling there has been a lot of
this type of opportunistic burglary.
"It
wouldn't surprise me because it's so wide open, so
unprotected - could there have been an order to snatch a
child?"
Portuguese police are still awaiting the results of tests
carried out on blood found in the apartment where the
McCanns were staying when Madeleine vanished.
Tests are
being carried out at the Forensic Science Services in
Birmingham, which said yesterday the analysis was still
"ongoing".
There are
also unconfirmed reports that a new suspect is under
surveillance in the UK.
Mr and
Mrs McCann are starting to think about returning to the UK
with their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie.
The
family's spokeswoman said: "They are starting the process of
thinking about coming home, but they haven't made any
decision yet."
She
stressed this was not a reaction to the "hurtful"
allegations in the Portuguese press in recent weeks
suggesting that Madeleine was dead and her parents could be
involved. |