|
|
|
|
|
Friday 01 June 2007
|
|
The McCanns have 'a very busy day in Madrid', taken up with meetings
with government and non-government agencies concerned with child welfare and various TV interviews and a 'well attended' press
conference.
A source from one of the three forensic laboratories in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra - part of the Instituto Nacional
de Medicina Legal (INML), reveals that DNA samples of a "stranger" had been recovered from the McCann children's bedroom.
The DNA did not match that of the McCanns, their three children nor that of Murat. The Portuguese police, Policia Judiciaria,
state that there is a new suspect.
Police are also examining hundreds of reports from psychics and clairvoyants claiming to know the location of Madeleine.
Back in Portugal Auntie Phil arrives with thousands of posters in
different languages.
|
|
Saturday 02 June 2007
|
|
Portugese police receive the first results of forensic tests, from
DNA and other samples, taken at sites in and around Praia da Luz. The tests were conducted at the Lisbon branch of the
national forensic institute.
Kate and Gerry have a quiet family day on the beach at Praia da
Luz with the twins and the rest of the family who are staying with them.
They do a German TV and newspaper interview that will
be published tomorrow.
|
|
Sunday 03 June 2007
|
|
Kate and Gerry extend the lease on the Renault Scenic hire car with
Castanheira Budget. The car has already clocked up 730 kms (543.60 miles) in a week, despite Kate and Gerry being out of the
country for most of the week and, according to Gerry's blogs, spending the rest of the time quietly with the twins!
Chris and Les, who drove the inflatable Madeleine billboard all
the way from the West of Scotland, head home.
|
|
Monday 04 June 2007
|
|
Busy day finalising travel arrangements for forthcoming trips to
Berlin and Amsterdam.
At night, Kate and Gerry do an interview for Crimewatch, which
will be shown on BBC1 tomorrow night.
|
|
Tuesday 05 June 2007
|
|
Berlin
Gerry's birthday.
Before leaving for northern Europe, the McCanns have a meeting with
police detectives at the British Consulate in Portimão.
Sources said the Tuesday meeting was in line with similar briefings given by police in the past, but "within the bounds
of Portuguese secrecy laws". The source added that "nothing new" was disclosed during the meeting.
British Consul Bill Henderson told The Portugal News that the Consulate served "as a facilitator" and was providing constant
"consular assistance" to the McCanns.
Kate's parents arrive and they spend a few hours together before
Kate and Gerry head off to Berlin.
|
|
Wednesday 06 June 2007
|
|
Berlin/Amsterdam
A German reporter asks the McCanns how they feel about
the fact that "more and more people seem to be pointing the finger" at them, during a press conference in Berlin.
Kate and Gerry's exit from Berlin is delayed when the Portugese
police say they have received some information that they need to be consulted on. Gerry dismisses this as 'nothing of interest'
and it means they miss 2 TV programmes due to arriving in Amsterdam 3 hours late.
They do manage to find time to catch up briefly with a few
old friends from the time they spent in Amsterdam.
|
|
Thursday 07 June 2007
|
|
Series of press conference's, meetings and appeals on TV in Amsterdam.
After the scheduled meetings, Gerry catches up with 'a friend of
mine who was attending a medical conference in Amsterdam'.
Kate and Gerry return to Praia da Luz in the early evening in time
to see the twins.
They later drive to Lagos to attend a musical concert in aid of
Madeleiene.
|
|
Friday 08 June 2007
|
|
At lunchtime, Kate and Gerry head down to the beach to release 1,000
balloons carrying a picture of Madeleine, with a message in 5 different languages. Similar events take place in Manchester
and Madrid.
In the afternoon, they do an interview for BBC East Midlands TV.
At night, Kate and the family head off down to the church for the
regular Friday night vigil. Gerry stays in the apartment as he was 'just too shattered'.
|
|
Saturday 09 June 2007
|
|
Gerry states in his blog that his morning is taken up with short
press interviews for Irish and British Sunday papers.
After this, Kate and Gerry head off to the beach at Sagres, on the
most South Western tip of Portugal, for a family lunch.
After returning from the beach Kate and Gerry give an interview
for Crimecall, the Irish version of Crimewatch.
|
|
|
|
Morocco
Kate and Gerry attend morning mass in Praia da Luz.
Late in the afternoon they drive up to Lisbon to catch a flight
to Casablanca, where embassy officials meet them at the start of their trip to Morocco.
In the morning, Robert Murat is interviewed for a second time to clarify what detectives described as details and possible
contradictions from his previous statement in the light of new information.
The investigation is thrown into confusion after the detective coordinating the hunt, Goncalo Amaral, the head of the
regional Policia Judiciaria, and four other Portuguese police officers, are charged over the weekend with offences relating
to the inquiry into the disappearance of Joana Cipriano, from a village seven miles from where Madeleine disappeared.
|
|
|
|
Kate and Gerry spend the day in Rabat meeting British
ambassador Charles Gray, Morocco's most senior police officer Charqi Draiss, the Interior Minister Mohamed Benaissa as
well as representatives from 3 child welfare groups, including Touche Pas Mes Enfants (Do Not Touch my Children), an organisation
set up two years ago to tackle paedophilia.
As
well as the meetings, the McCanns visited the National Observatory for Children's Rights. As they pulled up in the
car there were about 150 children waving posters of Madeleine with the words 'All Moroccan Children Are With You Madeleine
- Madeleine: Back Home'.
The McCanns also did a couple
of interviews for ITV and Sky focussing on a change in the phase of the campaign. They confirmed that there would be
a period of reflection before they decided on the best role for themselves.
An anonymous letter and map are received in the offices of The Telegraaf, a Dutch newspaper,
which claim to show where Madeleine is buried. The reporters immediately contact police and hand over the documents. A decision
is made not to publish the map or hand it over to third parties.
The McCanns' holiday apartment, 5A, is 'released' as a crime scene by Portuguese authorities, enabling it to be rented
out to other families. It is believed that one family stayed in the apartment before it was closed again.
|
|
|
|
Kate and Gerry finish off their
trip to Morocco with a private visit to the minister for religious affairs in the morning.
They arrive back in Praia da Luz in the afternoon.
At night they go to church for prayers.
It is believed that Kate and Gerry were informed
this afternoon about the anonymous letter sent to The Telegraaf claiming to show where Madeleine is buried.
|
|
|
|
The anonymous letter sent to The Telegraaf is published and the
McCanns express their disappointment that the contents of the letter have been published before being fully investigated by
Portuguese police.
Gerry says: "Now we have to go through everything as if it is a
certainty that Maddie is dumped. We are bombarded with questions from shocked friends, contacts and journalists from all over
the world. While it is all for nothing and we will not get our child back with this. We know that a big, international action
like ours has its shadow side and attracts idiots."
Map that was sent to The Telegraaf, claiming to show where Madeleine
is buried, is received by police in Portugal.
|
|
|
|
Initial searches of scrubland indicated by the letter to The Telegraaf
do not reveal anything unusual.
Kate and Gerry pick up a friend from Faro airport who has helped
with publicity and the production of the 'Don't You Forget About Me' DVD. Gerry and this 'friend' Jon spend the rest of the
day discussing 'campaign strategies'.
|
|
|
|
Police with sniffer dogs search scrubland 9 miles from Praia da
Luz where Madeleine's body is reported to be but the hunt is called off after only 4 hours.
|
|
|
|
Kate and Gerry drop Jon back at Faro airport and meet more friends/family
who have come over to see them and the twins.
After lunch, they all head off to the local zoo.
Gerry blogs: 'Relatively quiet day on the campaign front today'.
|
|
|
|
Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa admits vital forensic clues may have
been destroyed in the hours after Madeleine's disappearance, as the scene was not protected properly.
He told Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias: "The presence of
so many people - especially in the room where the little girl slept with her brother and sister could have at least complicated
the work of the forensic team. At the very worst they would have destroyed all the evidence. This could prove to be fatal
for the investigation."
The McCanns were said to be “dismayed” by Mr Sousa’s remarks.
It is reported that police are still waiting for further results
on the DNA samples taken from the children's bedroom and sent to three forensic laboratories in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra
- part of the Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal (INML).
In Malta, two female British tourists said they saw a girl fitting
Madeleine's description boarding a bus with a middle-aged woman at Floriana, near Valletta.
|
|
|
|
Kate and Gerry meet with police and say they are reassured that
they face no criticism over their actions on the night Madeleine disappeared.
Detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have said family and friends may have destroyed clues
within hours of her abduction. It is revealed that more than two dozen people - including her parents, their friends, other
tourists and resort staff - entered the apartment where she was taken before police arrived.
Friends/Family who arrived on Saturday return home.
|
|
|
|
London
Gerry flies from Faro into Gatwick, London for some meetings, believed
to be interviews to appoint a family spokesperson. On the flight, a passenger becomes ill and Gerry provides
aid. The passenger is subsequently taken to hospital in an ambulance.
Shortly after arriving in London, Gerry reports that his wallet
has been stolen. The incident happened as he withdrew cash from an ATM at Waterloo station in central London. However, other
reports suggest Gerry's wallet was stolen close to Tony Blair's Downing Street office.
Gerry's sister, Philomena McCann, said: "Gerry was at the bank to get some British currency, because he
didn't have any at all. He took out £100 from a hole in the wall machine, put it in his wallet then popped it in his back pocket. He bent down to put something in
his rucksack and some dirty animal had the wallet out of his back pocket. We don't care about the money, but we do care about getting the pictures
of Madeleine back."
However, Susan Healy
said: "Gerry is not clear how his wallet was stolen. He did not see them take it. It contained precious photographs which
have now been lost forever."
Gerry is then forced to delay the series of meetings he has planned
while he cancels his credit cards. The delay means the meetings run on late into the evening.
Clarence Mitchell said Gerry had attended a meeting at London's Foreign Office today, but could not immediately confirm
details of the theft. London police said they had no record of the theft being reported to officers.
Gerry records an interview for BBC World Service.
RTE 'Crime Call' interview with Kate and Gerry McCann aired in Ireland.
|
|
|
|
Leicester
Gerry has another busy day of meetings in Leicester. The main meeting
being that of Madeleine's Fund where campaign strategies are discussed. It is agreed, in principle, to appoint a family spokesperson
(Justine McGuiness).
Gerry arrives back in Praia da Luz in the evening.
|
|
|
|
Kate and Gerry meet with Portugese police and remain confident that
their commitment to find Madeleine matches their own.
In Malta, Ray Roberts, from Anglesey, North Wales, said
he saw a girl in the town of Sliema wearing what he said was a jet black wig being told: 'Get up little girl' by an Arab looking
man.
But a spokeswoman for parents Gerry and Kate McCann said they were
not giving credence to the claims at this stage and are focusing on events to boost awareness of her disappearance.
The spokeswoman said: "Their whole attitude from day one has been
that they know there are going to be lots of bits of information but if they expended energy on every single one of them what
would they be like by now?
"Until they hear that something has been checked out and there is
a resolution of the piece of information one way or the other and that comes from an official source they are not going to
focus on it."
|
|
|
|
The McCanns' mark 50 days of Madeleine's disappearance by releasing
50 green and yellow balloons from nearly 300 centres worldwide.
|
|
|
|
Gerry spends some more time 'planning campaign strategy' in
the morning.
In the afternoon, they are visited by friends from Leicester who are
holidaying on the Algarve.
|
|
|
|
Kate and Gerry attend the local church service this morning as usual.
Gerry remarks in his blog that there are very little media left
in Praia da Luz, with just one cameraman and photographer waiting outside the church.
|
|
|
|
Gerry spends the day 'behind the scenes' working on campaign strategies.
Kate, Gerry and the twins are invited round to a friends for dinner
later in the day.
|
|
|
|
Kate and Gerry meet with Portugese and British police for an update
on the investigation.
|
|
|
|
Gerry re-emphasises that anyone who thinks they have information
relevant to Madeleine's abduction should not contact them direct. They should contact the police or contact International
Crimestoppers anonymously.
|
|
|
|
Gerry talks in his blogs about his confidence in being able to sustain a
long term campaign to keep Madeleine's disappearance high profile.
A Spanish couple are arrested for trying to extort money from the
McCanns, falsely claiming to know where she is.
|
|
Friday 29 June 2007
|
57
|
An early rise for Gerry this morning to drop off and pick up
more friends from the airport. They bring back his wallet, which had been returned, with all the cards, driving licence and
30 euros in cash intact! Only the sterling cash appears to be missing.
Later a friend from Amsterdam drops in for 2 hours, whilst on a
golfing trip in the Algarve.
|
|
Saturday 30 June 2007
|
58
|
Mainly a family day, with Kate and Gerry attending evening
mass.
Gerry confirms that they have found new accommodation and will be
moving in the next few days. The owners of their current villa will be arriving for their own holiday shortly.
|
