"The most important thing is to reopen the process", 04 March 2010

"The most important thing is to reopen the process" 24horas 04 March 2010 Thanks to Astro for translation What is happening "is propaganda", given that "nobody is looking for the little girl, neither here nor there (in England)". These words are from former PJ inspector Gonçalo Amaral, who sees the criticism from the McCann couple and from the English press against the Portuguese investigation as pure "folklore". "These sightings, that are being talked about, almost always came from the English police, if they are so important, as some people are saying now, why weren't they investigated by Scotland Yard? After all, the little girl is a British citizen," the author of the book "The Truth of the Lie", based on the case of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in the Algarve, in 2007, recalls. "The important things is not going around talking about sightings, saying that the little girl was seen here and there, the important thing is to reopen the process. The truth is that after I left Portimão, nothing more was done, the process was archived by the Public Ministry half way through, many diligences remained to be carried out, and that is what not allows for all sort of speculation," the former inspector told 24horas. "The process was possibly archived half way through because the State was afraid of (the McCanns') demands for compensation. That fear was also transmitted to us by our colleagues, the English policemen, who used to say that it was a very common thing in England," Gonçalo Amaral recalled. The McCanns' lawyer, Isabel Duarte, has a very different opinion about the evolution of the Maddie case. For her, "it is shocking and sad" that the leads that are now being publicly revealed "were not handed over to the parents". The revelation of that information is also criticised by Isabel Duarte, because "it puts the little girl's safety at risk".

Family of Madeleine lookalike have right to privacy, police say, 04 March 2010

Family of Madeleine lookalike have right to privacy, police say New Zealand Herald 4:00 AM Friday Mar 5, 2010 [15:00 PM Thursday Mar 4, 2010 GMT] Image that focused international attention on Dunedin was not of missing British girl Dunedin police have moved to protect the privacy of a family group mistakenly identified with missing British girl Madeleine McCann. Acting Southern District Commander Inspector Dave Campbell said last night a child identified by a former Warehouse checkout operator in South Dunedin was not Madeleine, and asked that media stop running an image of the family group she was seen with. "We ask that media outlets remove the image portraying the child and family from their coverage including websites to protect the privacy of the family," Mr Campbell said. The girl in the image had been positively identified as not Madeleine. The identification claim resulted in the international media spotlight focusing on Dunedin as interest was revived in the disappearance of 4-year-old Madeleine in Portugal in May 2007. Meanwhile, further possible sightings of the girl in Dunedin and Otago have surfaced, with a couple "80 per cent confident" they saw her last August. Balclutha couple Michael Griffiths and Mary Habib said yesterday they believe they twice saw a girl resembling Madeleine on the morning of August 6 in Dunedin and nearby Milton in the afternoon. The girl was with a man aged between 35 and 40. They reported the sightings to Balclutha police later that night. Mr Griffiths and the police also notified the official Madeleine McCann website, www.findmadeleine.com. Mr Griffiths said yesterday no reply had been received from police or the website. A Balclutha police spokesman confirmed yesterday police had investigated the sightings, with the information forwarded to Dunedin police. "I am 80 per cent confident it was her," Mr Griffiths said. "I am 80 per cent-plus," Ms Habib said. Police confirmed there have been several other sightings of Madeleine in Otago, but declined to release that information. The Otago Daily Times understands sightings of Madeleine in Alexandra and Queenstown have been reported to police. - OTAGO DAILY TIMES

Police blitzed by odd Maddie claims, 05 March 2010

Police blitzed by odd Maddie claims Daily Star By Daily Star Reporter 5th March 2010 THE case files reveal how police have been blitzed with bizarre, sick, and twisted information about Madeleine's fate from across the globe. The wacky reports include: An email from the Madeira Liberation Army who claimed to be holding Madeleine and had a video showing her in good health, but couldn't vouch for her safety unless the city of Funchal was granted independence. A report she'd been snatched by secret service agents and was being held by "Mr Temple" in a safehouse in Dachau, Germany. Claims by a Portuguese woman who had a "sixth sense" she had been taken by a dangerous man living nearby – really an ex-boyfriend she was trying to frame. A Dutch voodoo priest's claim he had a psychic vision of where Madeleine was buried. He confessed it had happened after he'd drunk two bottles of white rum. A Romanian woman insisted her beauty queen daughter Madalina was Madeleine's real mum who'd handed her to a Leicestershire doctor for adoption just before she died. Police discovered Madalina died before Madeleine was born but the woman claimed her death certificate was forged. AN Australian tipster claimed Madeleine was kidnapped into slavery and held in a cellar. An Italian psychic said Maddie had been taken to England by a woman dominated by her tattooed husband. A Spanish psychic claimed she had a vision the missing girl had been killed by a gardener and buried in a flowerbed with three other children. None were true.

Maddie seen 'alive' on TV, 05 March 2010

Maddie seen 'alive' on TV Daily Star By Jerry Lawton 5th March 2010 VIEWERS wept when footage of a girl who looks just like Madeleine McCann singing in a school choir flashed up during a TV news bulletin. Canadian broadcasters were stunned when distressed callers phoned in claiming they had accidentally filmed the youngster the world had been searching for. A blonde girl was shown singing during CBC's Newsworld programme the day after the second anniversary of Maddie's disappearance. She looked just like an image FBI artists had produced of how the missing child would look, aged six. TV bosses cut the clip from later bulletins on 4 May, 2009, after shocked viewers called police. Detectives seized the footage and filed it among 2,000 pages of evidence, which have been archived since the case was shelved by Portugual's law chiefs in July 2008. The DVD, gathering dust on a police HQ shelf, was unveiled this week after the Daily Star made an application to the state prosecutor. Police did not trace the girl, one of thousands of schoolkids taking part in Canada's nationwide synchronised singathon. Immediately after the event was broadcast a woman from Toronto, convinced it was Maddie, phoned in "very upset and crying". Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese holiday apartment on May 3, 2007 – days short of her fourth birthday – would have been nearly six. Her doctor parents Kate and Gerry, both 41, had just released a new image (pictured above) showing how she would have looked. It is one of hundreds of ignored leads since police gave up. Another was a Norwegian holidaymaker claiming he saw Madeleine begging for help at the Landzeit Hotel in St Valentin, Austria, three months after her disappearance. The man and his wife were dining when a young girl on the arm of a man walked past their table and said: "Help me!" Police checked the hotel's database but had no joy. Yesterday we revealed the McCanns' private investigators are probing the possibility she was held in an orange grove shack by "gipsy" child-snatchers in Silves, 30 miles from Praia Da Luz, Algarve. But a cleaner and teacher deny any involvement. The case files reveal detectives ignored UK police warnings about a suspicious British worker, in his 30s, at a sister resort to the Ocean Club, where Madeleine disappeared. They urged them to investigate after a holidaymaker accused him of inappropriate sexual behaviour after going into their nine-year-old daughter's room. Last night New Zealand police said they had traced the Maddie lookalike caught on a Dunedin supermarket's CCTV in 2007. Insp Dave Campbell ruled out any link.

Daily Star: Maddie is seen 'alive' on telly (paper edition), 05 March 2010

Madeleine resort man 'suspicion', 05 March 2010

Madeleine resort man 'suspicion' Daily Mirror By Martin Fricker 5/03/2010 DOSSIER Portuguese police ignored warnings from UK cops about a suspicious British worker at the resort where Madeleine McCann disappeared. They urged them to investigate him after a tourist, who stayed at a sister complex with her girl, nine, in 2006, accused him of inappropriate sexual innuendoes. The holiday worker, who cannot be named, also met Kate and Gerry McCann on their stay at the Praia da Luz resort. The woman from Leicestershire came forward in 2008 and said he entered her villa uninvited while she slept with her girl, claiming the air conditioning needed repairing. Police sent a report to Portuguese cops but they had already shelved the case. A 2,000-page dossier obtained by the Mirror also revealed a Norwegian man reported seeing Madeleine with a man in a restaurant in St Valentin, Austria, in 2007. He said the girl, about four, pleaded "help me!" walking by their table.

Lost: Maddie double who cried 'Help me', 05 March 2010

Lost: Maddie double who cried 'Help me' The Sun By ANTONELLA LAZZERI, in Portimao, Portugal Published: Today (05 March 2010) A GIRL the double of Madeleine McCann shouted "Help me!" in English as she was dragged out of a hotel in Austria, police files have revealed. A tourist couple who had already commented on how much the child looked like missing Maddie were stunned when she cried out as a "tubby" man hurried her away. The couple, visitors from Norway, rushed outside to look for the man and girl but they had abruptly vanished. Austrian cops sent a list of all the guests then staying at the hotel to their counterparts probing Maddie's disappearance in Portugal - but NOTHING was done. The report is one of many buried away in a huge mountain of official Portuguese police files obtained this week by The Sun. Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry McCann have been "horrified" to discover from the files how little was done to follow up leads and sightings. The Norwegians were staying at the Hotel Landzeit in the resort of St Valentin in 2008. They noticed the man and girl in the restaurant and at once saw the child's "striking" similarity to missing Maddie. As the man pulled the child, who was about four, hurriedly past their table she looked up and begged: "Help me!" The Norwegians told police they were surprised because they had rarely met any British people in Austria, let alone "children who speak English". Another reported sighting of Maddie came from Canada, where a woman was reduced to tears after seeing a child who looked like her on a television news report. The viewer contacted Toronto Crimestoppers to say that the girl - seen singing among a group of schoolkids - fitted the age-progression picture of an older Maddie. A DVD of the item was sent to Portuguese police along with the report - but again nothing was done. In a third case a request from British police to Portuguese cops to investigate the background of a suspicious man employed at the resort from which Maddie was snatched was also apparently ignored.

Images of hope for Kate McCann, 05 March 2010

Images of hope for Kate McCann Liverpool Echo Susan Lee Mar 5 2010 THE images are grainy and indistinct, taken via a shop CCTV camera in New Zealand seven months after Madeleine McCann disappeared. And the chances are that little girl in them, all white t-shirt and a long bob, isn’t little Maddie. But by God if I was Kate McCann it would take all my strength not to get on the first flight out to Auckland and start trawling the streets. Every new lead, every new glimmer of hope must be a combination of ecstacy and despair for this woman; a fusion of hope that this is the longed-for breakthrough and fear that it isn't. I used to think the worst thing that could happen to a parent was to experience the death of a child but now I wonder there is a worse fate and that’s the one Kate McCann is living through right now. It's the not knowing. The not knowing where your baby is, whether she's alive or dead, whether she's in pain or happy. Maddie's not here but there's no grave, no grieving and no telling when or if she's coming home. The new leads in the case which have emerged this week, kept for so long on a dusty shelf in Portugal, must be agony for her parents. But how much worse will it be when those leads dry up?

McCanns: Time for a new Maddie hunt, 06 March 2010

McCanns: Time for a new Maddie hunt The Sun By ANTONELLA LAZZERI in Portimao Published: Today (06 March 2010) POLICE in Britain and Portugal were under increasing pressure yesterday to reopen the Maddie McCann case after The Sun revealed how sightings of her had been ignored. Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry have asked Home Secretary Alan Johnson to order the search to be relaunched. Even their arch enemy, former Portuguese police boss Goncalo Amaral, has said the case should be reopened. A Portuguese police case file obtained by The Sun showed how little has been done with new information about Maddie, who was three when she vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007. Last night a top human rights lawyer, who claims to have seen Maddie, joined calls for a new probe. Manuel Jimenez, who works for the EU, said his report of seeing a girl "extraordinarily similar to Madeleine" in Santander, Spain, in September 2008 was ignored. Mr Jimenez felt other leads may have been treated the same. He has made several requests to a court in Portimao, Portugal, where Maddie inquiry cops were based, but all have been rejected. The Sun has revealed a series of leads in Portuguese police files gathering dust. Kate and Gerry, both 41, of Rothley, Leics, recently called the treatment of Maddie's disappearance "inhumane". Even Amaral, who was responsible for having them named as suspects before being taken off the case, said: "The important thing is not talking of sightings, but reopening the process."

The Sun says... Maddie inquiry, 06 March 2010

The Sun says... Maddie inquiry The Sun Published: Today (06 March 2010) IT would be pitiless for the Madeleine McCann case to remain closed after this week's revelations in The Sun. Portuguese police stand accused on all sides of ignoring vital new leads. Yet another possible sighting emerges after a lawyer complained police ignored him when he reported seeing a girl very like Maddie at a Spanish bus station. The lawyer urged Portugal's courts and its chief prosecutor to investigate. But they refused, too. Why are Portuguese investigators so pig-headed? What is their loss of face compared to the chance of finding Maddie? The McCanns have asked Home Secretary Alan Johnson for help. Mr Johnson is a politician with a heart. For Kate and Gerry's sake, he must demand Portugal reopens the inquiry.

Updates, 06 March 2010 (date update appeared online)

Updates: findmadeleine.com Statement March 5th 2010 Events this week have yet again been incomprehensible and particularly upsetting. On Tuesday, the Public Prosecutor in Portugal released a large number of documents (relating to the investigation to find our daughter Madeleine) to the British Media, following their request for access. Disclosing such information publicly greatly jeopardises the search for Madeleine and puts witnesses and innocent members of the general public at risk (as well as causing them great anxiety). Release and publication of information in this manner also potentially compromises future investigations. It is difficult to see how anyone benefits from this week's actions. It is imperative that the Authorities take responsibility for sensitive and confidential information. We, together with the general public, need assurances that this will not be allowed to happen again. Equally, we need absolute assurances that all credible information and leads will be investigated. We also urge each individual working for the media to consider their own personal responsibility - to put commercial interests aside occasionally and to bear in mind the potential consequences of their actions, especially when people's lives and well-being are at risk. Our own investigators have acted professionally and with complete integrity. We are eager to encourage anybody who has any information which may relate to Madeleine's abduction to contact our investigation team directly by phone (0845 838 4699 or 800 814 028), by email (http://www.investigation@findmadeleine.com/) or via the P.O box address given on the website. Information may be given anonymously via each route. We are incredibly grateful to all those who continue to support us in our search for Madeleine. During weeks such as these, it is invaluable to know that we are not facing this difficult journey alone

Madeleine McCann's parents criticise release of files, 06 March 2010

Madeleine McCann's parents criticise release of files BBC News Page last updated at 14:05 GMT, Saturday, 6 March 2010 The parents of Madeleine McCann have criticised Portuguese police for releasing previously unseen files on their case to British newspapers. The 2,000-page dossier details dozens of possible sightings of their daughter since she disappeared in May 2007. Kate and Gerry McCann said the release "greatly jeopardises the search" and puts witnesses at risk. Madeleine went missing from a holiday flat in Praia da Luz, Portugal, just before her fourth birthday. The McCann's said the release of the dossier was "incomprehensible" and "upsetting". 'Compromised' investigations In a statement, they said: "Disclosing such information publicly greatly jeopardises the search for Madeleine and puts witnesses and innocent members of the general public at risk (as well as causing them great anxiety). "Release and publication of information in this manner also potentially compromises future investigations. It is difficult to see how anyone benefits from this week's actions." The files include a report of a small blonde girl being dragged along the road to Faro airport in the Algarve - an hour's drive from Praia da Luz - on the night Madeleine vanished. Another report details how a young girl who looked like the missing child was seen being held at gunpoint on a French motorway by a half-naked man in August 2008. In their statement, the McCanns also thanked their supporters. "We are incredibly grateful to all those who continue to support us in our search for Madeleine. "During weeks such as these, it is invaluable to know that we are not facing this difficult journey alone." Note: It is the Public Prosecutor in Portugal who released the files to the British media, not the Portuguese police.

Home Office launches secret review into Madeleine McCann's disappearance, 06 March 2010

Home Office launches secret review into Madeleine McCann's disappearance Telegraph The Home Office has secretly begun a review that could lead to a fresh police inquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. By Robert Mendick Published: 9:00PM GMT 06 Mar 2010 The move follows the release of 2,000 pages of evidence last week which Portuguese detectives are accused of having failed to fully investigate. According to sources close to the McCanns, Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, has ordered officials to examine the 'feasibility' of British or Portuguese detectives looking afresh at all the evidence. Kate and Gerry McCann met with Mr Johnson last year to plead for help in their search for Madeleine, who vanished without trace in May 2007 from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal. The couple have also met with John Yates, the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner, who has headed up a number of high profile inquiries in recent years. He is said to be "sympathetic" and to have made "general offers of assistance". The source said: "The latest we have heard from the Home Office is officials are undertaking a 'scoping exercise' to look into the possibility of a review of the case. "They are looking at all the options. It is basically a feasibility study. "Kate and Gerry met with Alan Johnson to request a review is done. Hopefully any political intervention can unlock obstructions that might be in the way." Pressure is now being put on Portuguese authorities to agree in the first instance to a three-day review of the case that could be held at Interpol's headquarters in Lyon in France. The McCanns will hope the Home Office can persuade their Portuguese counterparts to co-operate in a case review. The review – were it to go ahead – would involve British police working with Portuguese counterparts as well as experts in child abduction across other European forces. The Portuguese police have been heavily criticised for their handling of the case which led to detectives naming the McCanns, both doctors from Leicestershire, as arguidos – or suspects – in the case and accusing them of involvement in her disappearance. Their arguido status was subsequently lifted and the police investigation shelved. But with the senior officer in charge Goncalo Amaral now widely discredited and facing financial ruin after being sued for libel by the McCanns over a book he wrote, it may become harder for the Portuguese to refuse the request for a thorough review. The revelation that possible leads – many passed to Portuguese police by the McCanns' own private detectives – had apparently been ignored will add to the clamour. Last week, details emerged of a series of possible sightings of Madeleine, who was just three when she vanished. A further obstacle was removed with the death from stomach cancer two weeks ago of Guilhermino Encarnacao, who was in charge of the Policia Judiciaria in the Algarve. Mr Encarnacao was convinced Madeleine had died in her parents' apartment and was a major source of a series of off the record briefings to journalists against the McCanns. A Home Office spokesman said: "We can confirm that the Home Secretary had a private meeting with Kate and Gerry McCann. "Leicestershire Police stand ready to co-ordinate and complete enquiries if further information comes to light in the UK; or if requested to do so by the Portuguese authorities, who continue to lead on the overall investigation." The spokesman refused to discuss what talks took place at the meeting or whether there was the chance of a review of the evidence at Interpol. The spokesman added: "We are not going to comment on the outcome of any private meeting with the McCanns." Mr Yates was unavailable for comment. He led the cash for honours investigation and was also involved in a new inquiry into the murder of Julie Ward, who was murdered in Kenya in 1988.

I saw Maddy... but they ignored me, 07 March 2010

I saw Maddy... but they ignored me Sunday Mirror By Gary Anderson 7/03/2010 Portuguese police ignored a British tourist when she reported sighting Madeleine McCann in France, the Sunday Mirror can reveal. Jane Blakie claimed a child who was the "spitting image" of the missing youngster (right) had stared straight at her, adding the youngster had seemed to be saying: "Help me" with her eyes. The girl was said to be with a couple "strikingly similar" to an artist's impression of a man and woman seen with a Madeleine lookalike in Amsterdam. British police sent Mrs Blakie's report to their Portuguese counterparts, but no action was taken. Mrs Blakie saw the child in July 2008 - 14 months after Madeleine vanished - at a campsite in Alsace, eastern France. She told police: "The girl just stood staring at me. The look in her eyes conveyed a feeling of 'Help me'." Gerry and Kate McCann said the "upsetting" release by Portuguese police this week of files listing dozens of possible sightings of their missing daughter "jeopardises the search".

Madeleine McCann parents blast cops' dossier, 07 March 2010

Madeleine McCann parents blast cops' dossier The People By Fiona May 7 March 2010 The parents of Madeleine McCann last night slammed cops in Portugal for releasing files on their daughter's disappearance, branding the move "upsetting and incomprehensible". The 2,000-page dossier covers dozens of possible sightings after she vanished from a holiday flat in Praia da Luz just before her fourth birthday. One was from New Zealand - but Portuguese detectives failed to ask for it to be followed up. Another claimed a blonde girl was dragged along the road to Faro airport - an hour's drive from Praia da Luz - on the night Maddie disappeared. A third told how a lookalike child was held at gunpoint on a French motorway by a half-naked man in 2008. Maddie's 41- year old parents Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leics, said in a statement: "Disclosing such information greatly jeopardises the search and puts witnesses and innocent members of the general public at risk, as well as causing them great anxiety. "Release and publication of information in this manner also potentially compromises future investigations. It is difficult to see how anyone benefits from these actions." But they added: "We are incredibly grateful to all who continue to support us in our search for Madeleine."

Maddie cops hit out at criticism, 07 March 2010

Maddie cops hit out at criticism Daily Star Sunday (appears in paper edition) March 7, 2010 ANGRY Portuguese police have hit back at claims they did not fully investigate alleged sightings of Madeleine McCann. Last week a 2,000-page file on the youngster's disappearance, collected after the investigation was shelved in 2008, was released by Portuguese authorities. It revealed reported sightings of the youngster in both France and Holland had been ignored. Last night critics blasted the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) for refusing to act despite members of the public offering new leads. But a PJ spokesman said: "All information that comes to the police is analysed." Home Secretary Alan Johnson is said to be pushing for the case to be re-opened while Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry McCann, both 41, said releasing the file was "incomprehensible" and "upsetting". The couple added: "Disclosing such information publicly greatly jeopardises the search for Madeleine and puts witnesses and innocent members of the public at risk."

Maddie cops failed to act on sighting, 08 March 2010

Maddie cops failed to act on sighting Daily Mirror By John Kelly 8/03/2010 SEARCH Portuguese detectives ignored a reported sighting of Madeleine McCann at a French campsite 14 months after she vanished. New case files reveal they took no action after the details were forwarded by British police. The alarm was raised by holidaymaker Jane Blakie after she saw a youngster bearing a close resemblance to Madeleine near Rougemont in July 2008. Ms Blakie and her son Alexander both gave statements to Tayside police on their return to the UK. She said: "The girl just stood staring at me, I would say for about 10 seconds. The look in the girl's eyes conveyed a feeling of 'help me'." The child, who was wearing red tartan pyjamas, was with a short, chubby man and a scruffy woman, both in their 40s. Tayside police described Ms Blakie in their report as a "credible witness."

Almost 100 missing Maddie tips in Austria, 09 March 2010

Almost 100 missing Maddie tips in Austria Austrian Independent 09. 03. 10. - 11:00 Police in Austria registered almost 100 tip offs by people in the case of Madeleine McCann who went missing at a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007. Alexander Marakovits, a spokesman for the Federal Crime Office (BK), said today (Tues) almost 100 people got in touch with authorities claiming to have evidence. He stressed investigators checked all tips but none of them led them anywhere. Marakovits said one of the people who got in touch were a Norwegian couple who claimed they saw the girl at a motorway rest stop in St. Valentin, Lower Austria, in summer 2008. He explained the couple told cops the girl screamed "Help me!" in English. Marakovits said other witnesses were interviewed over the couple's claim and guest lists at the rest stop's hotel where checked but with no result.