The McCanns bring in cold-case detectives to investigate Madeleine's disappearance, 03 January 2008

The McCanns bring in cold-case detectives to investigate Madeleine's disappearance Daily Mail   By DAN NEWLING and VANESSA ALLEN Last updated at 00:48 03 January 2008   Kate and Gerry McCann have hired a former Met Police officer to carry out a "cold case" review into Madeleine's disappearance.   Noel Hogan, a former CID detective, has spent hundreds of hours interviewing British witnesses in the case.   He has also gone through each witness's existing statements line by line. Among those he has interviewed include the socalled "Tapas seven" who were on holiday with the McCanns in Praia da Luz last May.   He is also thought to have taken Kate and Gerry McCann through their own statements in minute detail.   Mr Hogan spent eight years in the Met where he reached the rank of detective superintendent.   Since 1986 he has run his own detective agency in Surrey, Hogan International, which claims to have extensive experience dealing with missing-person cases.   Mr Hogan had been investigating one of the 7/7 suicide bombers before the terror attacks in 2005 after the man's bank became suspicious of his spending patterns.   When contacted by the Daily Mail, Mr Hogan confirmed that he had spoken to many of the holidaymakers now back in Britain.   He said: "I have been reinterviewing a number of the witnesses that were out in Portugal at the time."   He added that his investigation would tie in with the enquiry being conducted by the Spanish detective agency Metodo 3 in Barcelona.   Since four-year- old Madeleine's disappearance, well-wishers have contributed over £1million to the fund to help find her.   The McCanns have spent much of this money on Metodo 3, which is being paid £50,000 a month to lead the search for their daughter.   However, the couple are understood to have become increasingly disillusioned with the firm, after its head detective Francisco Marco made a series of wild public statements.   Mr Marco claimed to know for a fact that the missing toddler was being kept in North Africa and would be home by Christmas.   But yesterday a source close to the family said that Kate and Gerry were keeping faith with Metodo 3 in spite of their concerns.   But the source confirmed that they have also authorised the employment of Mr Hogan to coordinate the UK end of the investigation.   The McCanns' official spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, declined to comment.   Metodo 3 are currently trying to re-interview an Irish family who said they saw a man carrying away a child on the night Madeleine disappeared.   Martin Smith and his family-from Drogheda in Co. Louth, told police about the sighting - which is strikingly similar to one by a friend of the McCanns, Jane Tanner.   They described a barefoot child and a man wearing beige trousers walking towards the beach in Praia da Luz, about 400yards from the McCanns' holiday apartment.   However, they said that the man was definitely not official suspect Robert Murat, whom they had met before and would have recognised.   Mr Smith even flew back to Portugal to give evidence but said he had not been contacted by police since making a statement in May.   Hogan International: an apology Sunday Express (No online link)   On January 13 we published an article headed "Fears that new Maddie detective is 'not up to task'" in which we wrongly claimed that Noel Hogan’s investigation agency had taken over the private investigation into Maddie’s disappearance and accused it of being "not up to the task." We wish to withdraw unequivocally the suggestion that either Mr Hogan or his agency are incompetent or had misled the McCanns about their capabilities. We are happy to clarify that Mr Hogan’s company has been retained by Metodo 3, the Spanish agency who work for the McCanns, to carry out work in the UK. This is part of a long-standing arrangement between the two agencies to instruct each other for work in their respective countries. The impression we gave that there is animosity between them and that Mr Hogan breached professional confidences was also wrong. We apologise to Mr Hogan for the embarrassment and distress caused by our article and have agreed to pay him and his agency compensation and legal costs."

The mystery begins at 18:30h, 01 May 2008

The mystery begins at 18:30h Correio da Manhã   01 May 2008 00:30h (Thanks to 'Li' from the3arguidos for translation)   It was shortly after 22:00 when Kate went to the room and shouted from the balcony: "They took Maddie, they've taken her". This happened almost a year ago but it is still very vivid in the memory of some of the employees of the Ocean Club, in Praia da Luz. No one is able to remember how many minutes before Maddie's mother left the table. They only know that when help was asked, Kate was already near the flat with one of the women of the group. "She seemed hysterical and the only thing she was saying was that someone had taken the kid. Everybody left the table and the confusion was established", reminds one of the employees. But the mystery of the British kid began at 18:30. What happened till 20:00 in the flat where the McCanns spent holidays with the three kids continues to be the doubt of the investigators of the PJ, one year later. At 20:00 the couple entered the Tapas restaurant where they dined with the friends. "Everyday they dined at the same table.It was not strange to us", reminded to CM the same source of Ocean Club. Kate, Gerry and the friends were in an oval table. Before dinner they asked for "strawberry daiquiris and martinis" and only after 21:00 the meal began to be served. The group was cheerful. Around 21:00 dinner is served. One of the employees remember that one of the elements of the group was not in the table. The physical description coincides with Russel O'Brien, "I remember because someone asked us to keep the meal". Kate gave the alert at 22:00 but the GNR was only called at 22:40. "I only realised that was Kate's daughter when she gave the documents to the GNR. Till then I didn't realise that she was the mother", reminds the witness. Around 02:00 the PJ began to inspect the place, collecting vestiges and following the hypothesis of a kidnapping. THE PJ MADE A RECONSTRUCTION IN OCTOBER The team that investigates the case have already made a reconstruction of what happened on the night of 3rd of May but during the day. The CM found that the reconstruction was made in the end of October in the days that the team directed by the new coordinator Paulo Rebelo returned to the flat and to the Tapas restaurant. Some actions were made like passing objects from the inside to the outside of the flat or simply measuring distances. Also in the Tapas restaurant at that time the employees were asked to put the table and simulate the dinner that took place the night that Maddie disappeared. "It is a step that is done to gather clues that were collected, cross information and depositions or to confirm a confession" explained to the CM a judicial source. The second step of this kind that the PJ wants to make "will be to reunite the participants in order to see all possible details about what happened that night", explained the same source. A reconstruction can be asked by the PJ or by the Public Prosecutor that is in charge of the case. As the CM reported it was asked to the group of nine persons that spent holidays in the Ocean Club their collaboration to make this reconstruction but there are no answers yet if they are going to be present or not. "I NEVER SAW THEM WITH THE KIDS" Some of the employees that worked in the Ocean Club did not know that the group had children. One of them referred to the CM that he was "astonished" when the alert was given. "I never saw them with children. The parents came always alone and only after that we began to think that the children always stay in the rooms sleeping alone", said one of the employees that had the night shift and is no longer working in the resort. The group of adults took the kids to the crèche of the Ocean Club where they had several activities. Only in some situations they were together, adults and children, in the pool. INDICATIONS ABOUT THE WINDOWS The first indications that the McCanns gave to the police after the disappearance of their daughter was that the living room door in the back of the flat where Maddie slept with the twins was opened. "It was through that door that they checked the kids. The blind was open and it was just needed to open the windows to enter the flat. If someone had done that they would not be able to see it from the restaurant", said to the CM a source of the Ocean Club. The other references were about the window of the room where the kids sleep, that the parents commented that night that "could have been opened". Maddie's parents told the PJ that they checked the children every 15 minutes but a source of the Ocean Club reaffirmed to the CM that "it was not with that regularity". The upstairs neighbour Pamela Fenn that heard Maddie crying the night before wanted to help but Kate did not accept the suggestion. When around 23:00 hours the GNR arrived some of the employees of the Ocean Club made the translations of what the couple and friends said. Only after that the PJ was called. The area was searched during the night by Gerry, friends and several citizens. In the morning the authorities launched the biggest search operation ever made in Algarve. The first thesis is of abduction In the second day of the search the PJ admits that it could be an abduction with sexual intentions.   The development of the investigation ended with the suspicion of homicide.

Wish she was here, 13 July 2008

Wish She Was Here The People   EXCLUSIVE Maddie in parents' hearts as they take the twins on first break without her Moving pictures of holiday brave McCann family thought would be impossible to bear   PEOPLE PICTURE EXCLUSIVE   By Daniel Jones And Tracey Kandohla 13 July 2008   A young family bid farewell at the end of a summer break - and for Kate and Gerry McCann it can only be a deeply emotional ordeal.   For the parents of missing Maddie simply taking the decision to go on holiday was almost too hard to bear.   It was the couple's first proper getaway with their three-year-old twins since that fateful trip to Portugal 14 months ago.   Not for them the excitement and anticipation of other holidaymakers.   Not for them the promise of time free from the stresses of workaday life.   For Kate and Gerry their threeweek trip to Canada could hardly be anything but a painful reminder of what happened in Praia da Luz in May last year. And Maddie did not leave their minds for a moment.   Yet the courageous couple knew it had to be done. For their own sake, and their twins, they knew they needed to take that painful step and go abroad without Madeleine.   As our deeply moving pictures show, hugs and tears marked the poignant goodbye to friends and expat family members at Vancouver airport as the holiday ended.   Doctors Kate and Gerry, anxious to keep everything as normal as possible, watched son Sean in his favourite Harry Dinosaur PJs as he pulled a Noddy case towards check-in.   Blonde Amelie - the image of Maddie, who is now the same age as her sister when she vanished - revelled in loving hugs from Gerry while the family prepared for the nine-hour flight home last Thursday.   Kate, dressed in pink top and cargo trousers, managed a small smile as the struggled with luggage.   But the strain was never far from the surface.   The couple, both 40, had stayed with Kate's aunt, Norah Paul - who explained how the holiday meant one agonising hurdle was now behind them.   Norah, sister of Kate's dad, said after waving off the McCanns: "They had a lovely time, very relaxing. It was all about them getting away.   "They really enjoyed being away from the spotlight. We spent a lot of time at the beach. The beaches here are beautiful." Norah's daughter and neighbours who got to know Kate and Gerry during their stay were also at the airport.   It was Norah, who emigrated to Canada several years ago, who had a key role in persuading the McCanns to take their first holiday since Madeleine vanished.   Norah - originally from Liverpool, like Kate - spoke up in support of the couple after they were named as official suspects by Portuguese police.   During their stay in Canada the family are also believed to have met up with vicar's wife Susan Haynes-Hubbard.   Her husband is minister at the church in Praia da Luz where the McCanns prayed each day. Canadian Susan became a tower of strength to Gerry and Kate in the days after Madeleine went missing from the family's holiday apartment.   Another factor in the McCanns' choice of holiday destination was the sheer vastness of the country around Vancouver - which promised them much-needed peace and quiet.   Vancouver is the capital of British Columbia - four times the size of the UK and marked by dense forests, miles of rugged Pacific coastline and views of the snow-capped Rockies.   It is thought Vancouver's Kitsilano beach became one of the family's favourites.   A close friend said yesterday: "They had more time to think about Madeleine than ever and it was incredibly painful at times.   "They knew the holiday would be sad and poignant as well as incredibly healing.   "The family spent much of their break on the beach and the twins had a brilliant time.   "Sean and Amelie have their big sister's love of swimming and enjoyed many sessions in the warm Pacific waters.   "It was very difficult at times for Kate and Gerry to be splashing around with the twins and there being no Maddie there to join in the fun with them."   After their return home to Rothley, Leics, on Friday, Gerry highlighted the pain the family felt at going away without their elder daughter. He said on his internet diary: "We have managed to have a break visiting family.   "Sean and Amelie have had a brilliant time and it has been great for me to spend so much time with them."   But cardiologist Gerry - on his first holiday since returning to work full-time at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital - added: "Although this has been a relaxing break, it has been incredibly difficult for Kate and me to have been on holiday without Madeleine.   It is all too apparent what is missing." The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said yesterday: "It was just not the same without Madeleine. They missed her so much. They had as reasonable a break as possible under the circumstances.   "But they could never switch off and get away from it completely.   "Everyone needs a holiday, Kate and Gerry included. They have always felt they didn't want a holiday while Madeleine is still missing.   "But they felt it was the right time and chose to have a break as much for the twins as themselves."   While away the family were kept in touch about any developments in the hunt for their daughter.   Mr Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry were trying to have a relaxing time and I didn't want to keep bothering them but I did text them a few times to give updates.   "They obviously wanted to be kept informed of what was happening."   Search Goes On The People (link as above)   By Marc Baker Sunday 13 July 2008   Even Canada could not give the McCanns total escape from the drama and distress of the Maddie case.   Just days after the couple jetted out they were told Portuguese police had closed the investigation.   But it then emerged the cops have until the end of July to decide on the move.   The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell vowed: "The search for Madeleine will go on with or without the police's assistance."   Then last Monday Leicestershire police agreed to hand the couple evidence collected in their inquiries. The information could help private investigators hired by the McCanns.   The couple also won the backing of MEPs in their call for a Europe-wide child abduction alert system.   It means much greater co-operation between countries when a youngster is reported missing.A source said: "It was a great end to the holiday to hear that their campaigning had paid off."   We Say The People (no online link, appears in paper edition only)   Anyone who has lost a child will know that the months that follow are a sea of grief broken by islands of firsts.   There will be the first Christmas without them. The first birthday they are not there to celebrate.   There will be little firsts like the missing Mother's Day card and big firsts like the anniversary of their loss.   For Kate and Gerry McCann last week it was their first family holiday without their beloved Madeleine.   And that was bound to be the most difficult first of all because it was on their last summer holiday that she disappeared.   We understand that no holiday can ever be the same without Maddie.   But for the sake of the twins it was right to go on one.   So the first family holiday is a milestone.   The next stage, for this family, of the rest of their lives.

PEOPLE PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: Moving pictures of holiday brave McCann family thought would be impossible to bear, 13 July 2008

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Apology to Matt Sprake of NewsPics Ltd   An article appeared here previously, concerning the set of photographs that were printed in The People newspaper on Sunday 13 July 2008. These showed the McCanns returning from a holiday in Canada, and were taken by Matt Sprake of NewsPics Ltd.    The article stated that Mr Sprake had, in some way, colluded with the McCanns to not only produce these pictures, but also to stage manage them for emotional effect.   Having spoken to Mr Sprake, I now realise that this was categorically not the case and that Mr Sprake had gone to great lengths to obtain these pictures, which were entirely spontaneous and were the result of considerable investigative work, involving a great deal of travel around Canada.   In short, it is abundantly clear that this was not a 'set-up'.   I therefore fully apologise to Mr Sprake for the allegations made, which were wholly untrue.   NewsPics website: www.newspics.co.uk   Nigel 15 October 2008

	Former Portugal President believes that, if the suspicions in Amaral's book are true, the McCanns process should be re-opened, 26 July 2008
	Former Portugal President believes that, if the suspicions in Amaral's book are true, the McCanns process should be re-opened TVI