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All important events from March 2008
All the key events from March 2008, with video and pictures |
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March 2008 (Days 303-333) |
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Despair for the McCanns as French Madeleine 'sighting' is officially ruled out Daily Mail
Last updated at 12:53pm on 1st March 2008
A reported sighting of Madeleine McCann
in southern France has been officially ruled out, it was confirmed today.
Gerry McCann revealed that French police
have established that the young girl seen by a Dutch tourist in Montpellier last month was not his missing daughter. He said
it was "disappointing" that it took so long for this to happen after "widespread" media reporting of the sighting.
Over
the past 10 months, witnesses have claimed to have spotted the missing girl all over Europe and North Africa, but so far every
tip-off has proved a dead end. The latest sighting was reported by 18-year-old Dutch student Melissa Fiering, who said she
saw Madeleine at a service station restaurant in Montpellier on February 15.
She told a Dutch newspaper she was certain
it was the British child because she had a distinctive mark in her eye and looked startled when her name was called. Initially
there was doubt about whether CCTV footage from the restaurant was clear enough for French police to determine whether or
not the child was Madeleine, but they have now ruled out the possibility.
In his latest blog on the official Find
Madeleine website, Mr McCann wrote: "It has been a relatively quiet week for us. We did hear from the UK police that the French
have officially ruled out the reported sighting of Madeleine in Montpellier. It is disappointing that it took so long, particularly
after the widespread coverage the reported sighting received in the media."
The CCTV footage is believed to show Miss
Fiering in shock at seeing the little girl with a "tall, swarthy" man at a service station in Montpellier lon February 15.
She claimed the man quickly bundled the girl out of the restaurant on the A9 motorway into a car.
But French police
have tracked down the man after the number plate of his car appeared on the video footage. A police spokesman said: "We located
the driver after his number plate appeared on video footage taken at the service station provided a plausible explanation
of what he was doing there with a young child. As far as we are concerned, this matter is now cleared up."
Mr McCann
and his wife, Kate, both doctors from Rothley, Leicestershire, spent yesterday in meetings with two British charities involved
in searching for missing and abducted children.
The couple have been named "arguidos", or formal suspects, in Madeleine's
disappearance, but they strenuously protest their innocence. Reports this week suggested that Portuguese detectives were poised
to travel to the UK to re-interview the McCanns and the seven friends on holiday with them when the Madeleine vanished.
The
questioning will be carried out by British police in the presence of officers from Portugal's investigative Policia Judiciaria,
according to Portuguese broadcaster TVI. The Home Office confirmed it had received a "mutual legal assistance request" from
the Portuguese authorities and that it was "awaiting clarification" on certain issues.
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MSNBC Documentary
Dateline NBC airs 'Missing Madeleine' - a documentary about the Madeleine McCann case.
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Paulo Pereira Cristovão "Maddie will remain missing" Destak
(Translation by 'Astro' from 'the3arguidos' forum)
After 'Estrela de Joana', the former PJ inspector has now written about the disappearance
of Madeleine, mentioning the similarities and the differences between both cases. Concerning the British child, he laments
the external intromissions into the police investigation, and for that reason, shows his skepticism about its success: "I
would really like to believe there will be a complete clarification of all the facts, but I fear the maintenance of a missing
child on the PJ's website".
An interview by Patrícia Susano Ferreira
What
led you to write the 'Estrela de Madeleine' and when did you start writing it?
What led me to write this book
can be divided into two reasons. The first one was the challenge that was launched by Presença [the editor] to write about
this particular issue. The second one was that I think that not only the Policia Judiciaria as an institution, but the country
itself had been the victims of some of the most violent attacks that we can remember, without there having been the necessary
defense that the Portuguese and its institutions deserved. I started writing this book approximately 5 months ago and I finished
it one month ago. I am privileged to be invited to write for magazines, newspapers or books, like in this case, which are
read by a considerable number of people. Using that privilege, I decided to transmit what so many feel but have no possibility
to express in public. Those who do not identify with my way of being and behaving, have the option of not buying the book.
After all, it's only a book, not the decision from a superior court.
Why did you maintain
the same notion of the title of 'Estrela de Joana' for this book?
The 'Star' carries the symbolism of destiny,
not only that of a child, but also of those who, in both cases, carry out the difficult task of clarifying for society what
happened to those children. It's the fate, the destiny of all those who are involved in the case. In this one, particularly,
I guarantee to you that the policemen will carry the marks of what they have been through, just like the Joana Case. In any
of these cases, they will be simply discarded when they are not further needed.
What
are the similarities and the differences between both cases?
Concerning the similarities, I fear the worst,
because in both cases, the policemen did not have, from a certain moment onwards, the institutional solidarity that they should
have and which, above all things, they deserved to have. The differences lie within the dimensions that each one of the cases
has reached. One on a national scale, the other on a planetary scale.
And between both
books?
The 'Estrela de Joana' was something that I lived from the inside, so no matter how well I dominated
the literary angle - which I don't - I could never transmit everything that I lived and still live through, what I felt and
still feel about all the parallel situations and the usage of this case by people without scruples. The 'Estrela de Madeleine'
is something that was also written from the heart but it is mainly a Portuguese cry against those who passed the threshold
of our door but did not want to and did not know how to respect us.
Do you think that
the fact that you are an arguido in a process could remove credibility from this book?
Does the fact that a
journalist is an arguido in a judicial process, remove credibility from the news that he publishes? What matters is the essence
of what one writes, and not the qualities that are assumed here or there through the will of others.
If, in the case of Joana, you were involved in the investigation, and it was easier to write about what you had witnessed,
in this case the situation is different. What did you base the book on, and what information sources did you use?
The
book is a challenge to the reader. It is also a thought about this case, and about 'being Portuguese'. I don't think the most
important part is the source for inspiration, but rather what ended up coming out of that same fountain. The 'Estrela de Madeleine'
has a subtitle that reads 'Where, when, how, who, what and why'. This means it has a beginning, a middle and an end. I don't
like leaving things half finished, and I'm not going to change into that convenient mode now.
If you had to coordinate this case investigation, what would you have done differently?
I cannot seriously
reply to that question, because an investigation has its own life and its own personality. At every moment, there are situations
that cannot be conveyed into the case files. Men are not machines and as human beings they work all the time with the information
that is available at that single moment. It is very easy to judge things in hindsight; things that one does not dominate at
all. In any given moment, one acts and decides according to one's experience of life, of the techniques that were acquired
throughout the years. Comfortably sitting and commenting on other people's work, is something that has unfortunately become
too common, these days.
What are the big problems in the investigation into the Madeleine
Case?
Men, always men. They are to blame for all the evil in this world, anyway. The big problem is always the
human factor that tries to gain advantages from every single situation, at any given moment. It's an evil of the world.
Do you think that the constant presence of the media has harmed the investigation?
I
think there was not enough protection from the external incursions into this investigation. It should have been more of a
police case, and less of a political matter. This process should never have left the police's and the Public Ministery's sphere.
It did, and that was the worst that could have happened to it.
What is your theory
about what happened to Madeleine McCann on the evening of May 3 at the Ocean's Club?
The 'Estrela de Madeleine'
says what the author thinks that happened.
How do you evaluate the attitude/behaviour
of Maddie's parents during the investigation?
In their shoes, I'd do precisely the same. I would defend myself
with all the weapons that I could use. The difference in this world is that some have more weapons than others.
Where do you think the future of this process lies?
I would really like to believe
in a complete clarification of all the facts that are at stake here, with a full and well-fundamented identification of the
authors of this disappearance, but I fear that a missing child will remain on the PJ's website.
And what do you think will happen to the Leonor Cipriano case, in which you are an arguido?
I believe,
together with those who are with me, that good sense will appear at some point. The strange accusation that is pending on
us, and which I recollect for you, is not that we hit Mrs Leonor Cipriano, but rather that we plotted a plan that led to some
unknown individuals entering the PJ and hitting her on our behalf, and then leaving, which now leads us, in an unusual reversal
of the onus of proof, to be forced to prove that on that day we did not think about doing or had someone do whatever. This
means that we are going to use all the legal means that we can to make sure that the truth will be restored. We are not settling
for a statement of innocence for the lack of evidence, but rather for a statement of innocence because we are completely innocent
of plotting anything. What will happen? Justice above everything. Regardless of those that are moving in the shadows to make
sure that this process hits not only the accused but the Policia Judiciaria itself, we believe that it is likely that, in
the course of our defense, some revelations will be made that will lead some people to rethink the posts that they occupy
and the professions that they are dedicated to.
Do you think that some day the truth
about the Madeleine Case will be discovered, and the child or her body will be found?
It is evident in this
case, and it was evident at some point during the Joana case, that the Truth is always and at all times, what men want it
to be. In our days, that concept has been enlarged to the point where reality is confounded with fiction, and that has happened
more than a few times. What distinguishes a truth from anything else is the strength of those who defend any given theory,
and that was, and is still seen, in the case of the disappearance of Madeleine.
Mother's Day daffs for Kate The Sun
Published: Today
KATE McCann was presented with daffodils at a Mother’s Day church service yesterday by her twins Sean and Amelie.
The 39-year-old, whose daughter Maddie, four has been missing ten months today, was clearly moved by the gesture at Sacred
Heart Catholic Church near the family home in Rothley, Leics.
Gerry and Kate 'were arrogant' 24 horasBy Carlos Tomás
03/03/08
On the day in which they travelled for
England, Maddie's parents did not speak with anybody, their heads were down and they only drank a coffee. "They entered
and were immediately recognized by all the passengers and crew. They did not show any sign of suffering. They were arrogant.
They looked at us with a look of enormous disdain and occupied their respective places. They did not seem persons who had
lost a daughter. We did not see any expression of pain in either one."
The declarations were made to 24horas by a stewardess who did the service in the airplane in which the McCanns traveled,
the parents of Madeleine - the girl who disappeared, in May from an apartment in the Praia da Luz, Algarve - on the day in
which they decided to leave Portugal, shortly afterwards of being constituted arguidos.
On the 8th of September, the spokesperson of Maddie’ parents, Justine McGuinness, later substituted by the
adviser to the British prime minister, Clarence Mitchell, guaranteed to several bodies of social communication that Kate and
Gerry McCann would stay in Portugal and that they would not leave the Country until their daughter was found. This, in spite
of having being constituted arguidos in September.
"A Guilty Look"
"Kate
and Gerry are going to remain in the Praia da Luz to not disturb the investigation of the PJ", affirmed Justine in that time.
What happened was quite different.
On the 9th of September the McCanns caught a flight of EasyJet, in Faro, at 9h30 am and headed for England. This because
they were only under the term of identity and residence and the residence that they supplied to the Portuguese authorities
was the house where they reside in that country, located in the surroundings of Leicestershire, a region of the centre of
England.
"They looked guilty. After the airplane lifted, they asked a coffee that they drank with their heads lowered and it was
in that position that they did the whole journey", said, to 24horas, a source from the crew, a Portuguese who resides in England.
The crew member says that the feeling in the country regarding the case is mixed: "A few blame the Portuguese authorities
and say that they were incompetent. Others think that the McCann are guilty. Let's hope the PJ finds the body and discovers
what really happened."
The one who sees faces...
A judicial person in
charge thought that the behaviour of the McCann was "strange" and he pointed out that there are analyses still being done.
"The facial expressions of the persons can demonstrate their feelings and if what they say it is true or lies.
"There are techniques available to evaluate these cases and though the collected elements do not serve of proof can help
the judge to form a stronger conviction on the guilt or not of the McCanns.
"An investigation does not consist on forensic trials, but to a set of data that are gathered, like evidences, facial
expressions, in testimonies, contradictions in statements, etc. Therefore the significance of the new interrogations to the
McCanns and their friends."
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Couple saw bundle taken out to sea near where Madeleine disappeared but police ignored them Daily MailLast updated at 00:19am on 4th March 2008
A British couple saw a package
being bundled onto a jetski on a beach just six miles from where Madeleine McCann went missing. The tourists had been
for a morning swim just nine hours after the little girl disappeared when they spotted the jetski. A man in a dark wetsuit
was riding it, with a 2ft- to 3ft-long black package on the front. He took it to a small "official-looking" grey boat moored
just off the coast at Salema.
But despite reporting the sighting to staff at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz - where Madeleine had been staying - police
have not interviewed the couple. Last night the McCanns's spokesman said they were concerned the Portuguese police had not
followed up such a "potentially significant lead".
The new witnesses came forward after months of concern that the
report had not been investigated by police hunting for the four-year-old. The couple from south-west England, who did not
want to be named, were visiting relatives Patrick Matthews, 37, and his wife Eliza, 25, in Salema, near Praia da Luz.
Mr
Matthews said: "They were afraid to come forward but we know the police were informed of this, just days after, and yet we
were not interviewed or even contacted."
By Sophie Borland
Last Updated 8:24am GMT 04/03/2008
A British couple claim they saw a small bundle being smuggled on a jetski and taken out to sea just a few miles from
where Madeleine McCann went missing.
The witnesses say that they had been on an early morning swim, about nine hours after the toddler disappeared, when they
saw a man in a dark wetsuit the riding the vehicle with a 2ft- to 3ft-long black package on the front.
He then appeared to take the bundle it to a small “official-looking” grey boat moored just off
the coast at Salema, six miles up the coast from Praia Da Luz where Madeleine went missing last May.
Despite the fact that the couple reported their sighting to the Ocean Club resort, where the McCann family
had been staying, police have not yet investigated the incident or called them in to be interviewed.
The witnesses, who did not want to be named, are from south-west England and were visiting relatives Patrick
Matthews, 37, and his wife Eliza, 25, in Salema, near Praia da Luz.
The McCann’s official spokesman Clarence Mitchell said that Kate and Gerry McCann were concerned the
Portuguese police had not followed up such a “potentially significant lead”.
Over the past few months several witnesses have come forward claiming to have seen young children bearing
striking resemblance to Madeline.
Last month a Dutch student told authorities that she saw Madeleine at a roadside restaurant near Montpellier,
France.
Maddie ‘bundle’ seen on jet ski The Sun
By Nick Parker
A BLACK bundle was seen being taken from a jet ski to a boat near where Madeleine
McCann went missing, it was revealed yesterday.
The incident, six miles from Praia da Luz in Portugal, happened around ten hours after Maddie disappeared.
Two relatives of British expat Patrick Matthews, 37, witnessed the transfer as they went for an early-morning stroll at Salema
Beach.
As soon as they heard of the hunt for the missing three-year-old they contacted Portuguese cops, fearing
they may have witnessed her body being disposed of. But the pair say their report has NEVER been chased up. They described
the bundle as being around three foot long.
One of the witnesses, a 70-year-old who does not want to be named, said: "We saw this man sitting on the
jet ski with the package between his knees. He was medium build and dressed in black. We started to wonder what on earth he
was doing. The man and the jet ski must have been taken on to the boat."
The other witness, a woman aged 58, said: "We heard the jet ski set off and it went and joined the boat."
Patrick said: "It could have been drugs – or you could package a body up quite easily."
Portuguese police were unavailable for comment.
Maddie Jetski Snatch Riddle Daily Record
Mar 4 2008
CHILD snatchers may have smuggled Madeleine McCann out of Portugal on a jetski within 10 hours of her kidnap.
Two new witnesses have emerged saying they saw a man carrying a large bundle on a beach near Praia da Luz the morning after
Madeleine vanished. They said the man sped off on a jetski with the 3ft-long load on his lap and met a small boat offshore.
One witness, a 58-year-old British woman, said: "The man was acting very strange, he was dressed in black and left on a
black jetski with a bundle on his lap. The bundle was definitely big enough to hold Madeleine. It could have been her."
The witness was on holiday in the Algarve with her 70-year-old husband when they spotted the jetski man on quiet Salema
beach, six miles from Praia da Luz. Her husband said: "We were 30 yards away from the jetski. Either the bundle was tied on
to the seat in front of him or he was just holding it on with his knees, but it was quite large."
The woman said the jetski left in a hurry and met a small grey military-style boat with funnels. But they didn't see it
leave. She added: "We must only assume the man and the jetski were both taken on to the boat."
Their suspicions were passed onto Portuguese police
McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "If these people had a sighting which is potentially significant, then clearly
our investigators will require this information as a priority."
McCanns 'encouraged' by poll support Daily Express
Tuesday March 4, 2008
Madeleine McCanns' parents were said to be "encouraged" after a survey suggested public opinion in Portugal was
shifting in their favour.
The Correio da Manha poll found that 38.6% of those questioned still believe Kate and Gerry McCann were involved in their
daughter's disappearance in the Algarve.
On the other hand, 30.7% thought the couple, from Rothley, in Leicestershire,
were completely innocent.
This compares to an earlier poll run by the Portuguese newspaper in which 39.9% of people
interviewed thought the couple were guilty and 26.8% believed they were not to blame.
It is a small change but the
McCanns, still official suspects in the police investigation, believe the tide could be turning for them after 10 months of
speculation and accusations.
Their spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: "It's encouraging to see that public opinion
is shifting in Kate and Gerry's favour.
"People are right to believe that Kate and Gerry had nothing to do with their
daughter's disappearance and are right to be sceptical of some of the coverage in recent months."
The poll came as
the McCanns' private detectives were investigating another lead in their search for the little girl.
A British couple
reportedly spotted a "package" being put onto a jet ski on a beach close to where Madeleine went missing in Praia da Luz.
Mr
Mitchell said: "Detective agency Metodo 3 are looking at it and endeavouring to get to the bottom of it. The timing is potentially
significant as is the placing."
By Ian Mason
The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have visited Richmond to find out more about the work of a charity that helps locate
missing people.
Kate and Gerry McCann, whose four-year-old daughter was kidnapped from Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 last year, met
representatives from East Sheen-based charity Missing People and Missing Children Europe.
Ross Miller, of Missing People, said the McCanns wanted to find out more about the charity's role within Missing Children
Europe, the European Federation for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children, and to hear about its work first hand.
He said: "Kate and Gerry were very interested to learn more about our new research programme.
"This aims to fill gaps in the information currently available about the numbers of people going missing, why they go missing,
their experiences while away and the impact on those left behind."
On the same day, 302 days after Madeleine's abduction, Gerry wrote on his blog praising the work of the charity.
He said: "Missing People were responsible for displaying Madeleine's image on Marble Arch, along with two other missing
children last summer.
"It was heartening to hear today that one of those children was recovered as a direct result and the other has also been
successfully returned to his family."
The Richmond Guardian also received reports that the couple visited the Depot restaurant, in Tideway Yard, Mortlake High
Street, and were being filmed.
However, staff at the restaurant remained tight-lipped about the couple's visit and refused to comment about the filming.
12:14pm today
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Note: The 'recovered' child mentioned is, in fact, still living with the man for whom she left
home.
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Private Eye - UK satirical magazine (no link)
Richard "Dirty" Desmond called in at the Oscars in LA on his way back from
hawking OK! magazine around Australia, bringing along his top snapper to record the great man rubbing shoulders with Hollywood's
finest.
But
pressing the flesh with Elton John and other celebrities was not a pleasure he wished to share with his senior sidekick Martin
"Rottweiler" Ellice - who was told to go back to head office in London and deal with the small matter of his titles being
sued by the McCann family for all the rubbish stories they have carried since last year, many of which suggested - without
any justification - that the parents might have killed their own child.
Although Dirty Des's lawyers offered £250,000
in an attempt to settle quickly, the McCanns declined and insisted on £1m per newspaper - a total of £4m, covering the daily
and Sunday versions of the Express and Star. Outside legal experts consulted by Desmond have reported back to him: "You're
f*cked."
That should, of course, be "Carter-F*cked" - for Kate and Gerry McCann have indeed turned to Britain's most
aggressive libel lawyers in their attempt to stem the flow of nonsense written about them.
The bad news: The DE pulling their articles was nothing
to do with progress in the investigation.
The good news: The Mcs have hired Peter Carter-Ruck and Partners. For those
who don't know, this means they are really desperate.
Madeleine's Fund - Board meeting
The board of Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd meet. One of the items believed to be on the agenda
is the decision on whether to renew the contract of Spanish detective agency Metodo 3.
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Madeleine: British police meet Portuguese detectives to plan fresh interviews
with Tapas Nine Daily Mail
By Neil Sears
Last updated at 21:09pm on 6th March
2008
British police have met Portuguese detectives to plan new interviews with the group
of friends who dined with Gerry and Kate McCann on the night their daughter Madeleine disappeared.
Portuguese police continue to believe the so-called Tapas Nine - the McCanns and their
seven friends - could still hold the solution to the unsolved mystery that began in May last year.
Madeleine was three when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment while
her parents ate dinner 50 yards away.
And Leicestershire Police said yesterday that Detective Superintendent Stuart Prior
had returned from the Algarve after three days of meetings with counterparts in Portugal about how fresh interviews would
be conducted.
Madeleine was three when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia
da Luz while her parents ate dinner at a tapas bar 50 yards away with their friends from England.
Portuguese detectives, who have been widely criticised for their failure to find any
solid evidence or charge anyone, remain unsatisfied by the witness accounts given by the so-called Tapas Nine, as they try
to establish a timeline of events on that evening.
Leicestershire Police said Det Supt Prior flew to Portugal to discuss
the issue of mutual legal assistance, the process whereby evidence is gathered in one country to help an investigation in
another.
A Leicestershire police spokeswoman said: "Since Madeleine's disappearance, we, together with other law enforcement
agencies, have been working closely with the Portuguese authorities.
"Mr Prior has attended a series of meetings with
his Portuguese counterparts. He travelled to Portugal on Tuesday and returned this morning.
"He went to discuss how
the request for mutual legal assistance is to be executed, and to seek clarification over elements of the request."
The
process could involve Portuguese police writing questions to be put to the friends on their behalf by their British counterparts.
But officers involved in the investigation in the Algarve also fly to Britain to sit in on the interviews, which are
likely to be held at a location in Leicestershire.
Fiona Payne, Jane Tanner, Russell O' Brien and Rachael Oldfield were dining with the
McCanns.
The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: 'The sooner this re-interviewing takes place the better.
"The
friends are very keen to help police understand their original statements. No one will be changing their story.
"We
are not aware that Kate and Gerry are to be re-interviewed at this stage, but if so, that's not an issue."
Portuguese police continue to believe the so-called Tapas Nine - the McCanns and their
seven friends - could still hold the solution to Maddy's disappearance
The McCanns, from Rothley in Leicestershire,
were joined at the tapas restaurant on by Dr Matthew Oldfield and his recruitment consultant wife Rachael, Dr Russell O'Brien
and his partner Jane Tanner, and medical researcher David Payne, his wife Fiona, and her mother Dianne Webster.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We have already confirmed that we have received a
mutual legal assistance request from the Portuguese authorities in connection with the investigation into the disappearance
of Madeleine McCann.
"We are currently awaiting clarification from the Portuguese authorities over elements of the
request.
"Home Office officials continue to work closely with the police to assist the Portuguese authorities with
this investigation."
British expat Robert Murat, 34, a sometime estate agent, was made an official suspect two weeks
into the inquiry when police suddenly swooped on the villa he shares with his mother less than 100 yards from the McCanns'
holiday flat.
He has not been charged, but remains under official suspicion.
Portuguese Police later made Gerry and Kate McCann themselves their chief targets,
but again no charges have followed.
Madeleine Police Discuss Re-Questioning Sky News
Martin Brunt
Crime correspondent Updated:21:18, Thursday
March 06, 2008
The senior British detective involved in the Madeleine McCann case has returned from
the Algarve after a series of meetings with Portuguese police.
Detective Superintendent Stuart Prior of Leicestershire
police spent 48 hours in Portugal, discussing how his force can help in the continuing search for the missing girl.
High
on the agenda was the Portuguese police request to re-question the seven friends who dined with Gerry and Kate McCann at the
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