A detailed account of Gerry and Kate McCann's movements
in the crucial 'missing six hours' before their daughter
Madeleine's disappearance emerged today.
A source close to the family said the couple, who have been
declared suspects by police, could prove where they and
Madeleine were throughout the afternoon of May 3.
The account follows claims that there is a 'window of
opportunity' which detectives believed could be key to the
case.
Madeleine disappeared from her parents' rented apartment in
Praia da Luz on the Algarve while her parents were dining at
a tapas restaurant opposite that night.
Her disappearance sparked a worldwide missing person hunt
and the most high-profile campaign of its kind ever seen.
But in recent weeks the spotlight has turned on Madeleine's
parents after DNA tests taken as suggesting her body may
have been transported in the car the family hired almost a
month later.
The last photograph of Madeleine was taken by Kate McCann at
exactly 2.29pm on May 3, sitting laughing in the sunshine
dabbling her feet in the pool at the Ocean Club complex in
Praia da Luz with her father by her side.
The digital time reading on the photograph shows 1.29pm but
it is understood the camera clock was exactly an hour out
and had not been reset.
The McCanns joined friends for dinner at around 8.20pm that
evening after putting Madeleine, four, and her younger twin
siblings Sean and Amelie to bed.
The source told for the first time today how the couple
account for the intervening six hours adding that witnesses
could prove that Kate McCann was never alone with Madeleine
that afternoon.
But the account differs from that of staff at a local beach
front restaurant who claim CCTV shows the family were there
until around 6pm, feeding the children before they put them
to bed.
In the days after the abduction, with the McCanns' faces
constantly on television, a member of staff at the Paraiso
restaurant claimed to have remembered seeing the McCanns
there early on the evening of May 3.
A source at the restaurant said they had called in
detectives from the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) to look at the
footage which he said showed Gerry McCann dancing with
Madeleine next to swings and a slide below the terrace.
He said they say had watched the footage together with the
police to check that it was the McCanns before the
detectives took it away.
He insisted that it was them but admitted the footage was
grainy.
The couple are understood to have told police that Madeleine
spent much of that afternoon at a kids' club in the resort
while her parents relaxed, Gerry playing tennis with the
resort's professional coach while Kate stayed by the pool.
The source said that Madeleine had eaten at the kids' club,
rather than being taken to the Paraiso. She was then picked
up by her parents two and a half hours before the couple
went for dinner, leaving Madeleine and her siblings Sean and
Amelie in bed.
The last time the couple say they saw Madeleine was when
Gerry McCann went back to check on her shortly after 9pm
that night.
He now believes her abductor could have been hiding in the
apartment, yards away from him, while he did so.
The source said today: "Madeleine went to kids' club in the
afternoon, after the photograph was taken at the swimming
pool.
"There are records for that, written records, and witnesses.
"Madeleine was there while Kate and Gerry played tennis with
the tennis professional and other witnesses.
"Madeleine had high tea at 5.30pm with staff at the kids'
club. She was picked up shortly before 6pm by Kate and
Gerry.
"After that Kate and Gerry went home, got the kids ready for
bed and got ready to go out for their meal.
"Kate was never alone with Madeleine that afternoon. There
were always other witnesses present."
Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire,
strenuously deny any involvement in their daughter's
disappearance.
They remain "arguidos" or official suspects despite a recent
announcement by the lead prosecutor in the case that there
was insufficient evidence to justify calling them in for
further interviews. |
