Reports Pre-Arguido

Maddie's parents bring in Bulger tec, 10 May 2007

Maddie's parents bring in Bulger tec Liverpool Daily Post

By Caroline Innes

May 10 2007

THE Merseyside detective who brought James Bulger's killers to justice last night spoke of his "grave concerns" for missing toddler Madeleine McCann.

Retired Detective Superintendent Albert Kirby has been asked to advise Portuguese police and has met with senior detectives investigating the abduction of the three-year-old to share his expertise.

Last night the former Serious Crime Squad commander said after exploring his own lines of inquiry in the Algarve, he had "grave concerns about Madeleine's safety".

He said the way Portuguese police were forced to handle the investigation made life "very difficult" for the McCanns and hampered the search for the little girl.

Mr Kirby described the police’s inability to share information with the media, public and even the McCanns as "counter-productive". He said had British police been leading the investigation, it would have been handled differently.

Earlier, Madeleine's grand-parents, Susan and Brian Healy, returned to their Mossley Hill home after supporting Liverpool-born daughter, Kate, in Portugal. Fighting back tears, they hit back at the stinging criticism levelled at Kate, 38, formerly a pupil of Notre Dame High School, in Everton, for leaving her children alone.

They said their daughter should not be blamed for the nightmare the family are enduring after radio stations were inundated with callers questioning the couple's decision to leave Madeleine in bed with her twin brother and sister while they dined out.

The toddler was snatched from a ground-floor apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz as parents Gerry and Kate ate dinner in a nearby tapas restaurant. Last night, Mr Kirby said that, as time went on, it was becoming increasingly difficult to trace Madeleine, but because it took so long for police to close the borders, they couldn't rule out the possibility that she had been taken out of the country.

He said: "I have grave concerns as time goes on as to what has happened to Madeleine.

"It is almost a week since she was taken and we all have serious concerns about her well-being.

"But when you look at how massive Portugal's borders are, and how long it was before they were shut, there is a small possibility she has been taken away.

"The police asked for the opportunity to speak to me directly and I was able to discuss with them aspects of the Bulger case and others that I have been involved in.

"The way that the Portuguese police deal with things is so different to the UK. They are not permitted under their law to give any information at all in terms of the inquiry.

"This is so counter-productive. At least now we have two British profilers helping the Portuguese build a description of the offender.

"The police are doing their best but their hands are tied and it is making life very, very difficult for the family."

On returning to the UK yesterday, grandparents Mr and Mrs Healy said the blame levelled at their daughter also has to stop.

Speaking from her Mossley Hill home, Susan, 61, said: "Their children are IVF children, they waited a long time for them and they are so precious.

"Why would you think something like this would happen? You make a decision and think it’s OK. This time it wasn't, and Kate and Gerry have to live with that. That’s dreadful and they don’t need pressure from people saying they made a mistake.

"They know this was a mistake. But it wasn't child neglect, it wasn't not caring for your children.

"The distance from the restaurant has been exaggerated. I have sat at the table they were at myself and it was only about 50 metres from the room.

"Kate and Gerry are absolutely devastated, and the only way they are going to be able to cope is by getting support.

"Kate is getting help and comfort from the Catholic Church, but she is still going to have moments where she is distraught.

"I have heard my daughter wailing like a wild animal and they don’t need all this extra pressure."

Mr Healy, 67, added: "It's a horrible time.

"You can't meet a more considerate and caring set of parents.

"I love all my grandchildren, but Madeleine is extra special, bright, funny and has a personality all of her own – a great little girl.

"Kate and Gerry go to Mass, they comfort each other. They have to go to the police station quite often – to be honest, it is a bloody nightmare."

Madeleine’s uncle last night also urged all parties to rally together to find his niece instead of attacking the Portuguese police investigation. John McCann, the brother of the three-year-old's father, Gerry McCann, described the little girl as a "wee darling" who was "very bright, very quick". He said: "Everybody's working to get that wee girl back to us.

"Obviously, we were all devastated and there was a feeling of helplessness, but in the last few days they've been buoyed by support both in Portugal and at home," he said.

"They're much more positive about things that can be done to get Maddy back."

We’re still hoping and stay positive, say couple

THE Liverpool-born mother of Madeleine McCann yesterday said she was still hoping for the safe return of her little girl six days after she was last seen.

Kate McCann and husband Gerry said: "We continue to remain positive."

The couple, who have repeatedly faced the cameras since the three-year-old's disappearance last Thursday night, did not appear in person but the statement was read by travel company representative Alex Woolfall.

The couple said their emotions and efforts were focused on the steps being taken to find their daughter and thanked those involved. The pair’s message said: "We are grateful to all of those currently taking part in the search for our daughter Madeleine.

"At present, we are channelling all of our emotions and efforts into the steps that are being taken to secure Madeleine’s safe return.

"We continue to remain positive, and we thank the media for their ongoing support to publicise the search."

Merseysiders rally round to support McCann family

THE people of Merseyside last night rallied support for the McCann family and backed calls for British intervention in the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance.

A Liverpool businessman has also offered 10,000 euros for any information which directly leads to discovering Madeleine’s whereabouts.

Don Holmes, of Holmes and Smith, a property company based in Merseyside and Portugal, said he felt compelled to offer the reward.

He said: "As a parent myself and with links to the Algarve I just wanted to do something.

"If someone can lead the police to Madeleine, this is a small price to pay." Meanwhile, a petition set up by Liverpool TV presenter and business woman Esther McVey launched yesterday has already had well over 500 hits.

Parents to launch global fund for Maddy, 13 May 2007

Parents to launch global fund for Maddy The Sunday Times

Charitable foundation likely to be set up as offers of help flood in for lost toddler

John Follain in Praia da Luz, Mark MaCaskill and Jon Ungoed-Thomas

May 13, 2007

THE family of Madeleine McCann are to launch a charitable fighting fund to help promote an international appeal to track her down.

They are consulting lawyers about a charitable foundation that would continue to fund the hunt and pay for private investigators if required. John McCann, Madeleine's uncle, said this weekend that the family were overwhelmed with offers of financial support and help.

Gerry and Kate McCann, Madeleine's parents, are determined the hunt for her should not fade from international attention and with their family are planning a worldwide campaign.

An appeal for sightings of Madeleine will be made at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend. The family hope that a similar appeal will be made at Hampden Park, Scotland's national stadium, when it hosts the Uefa Cup final on Wednesday between two Spanish teams, Espanyol and Sevilla.

Detectives in Praia da Luz, where Madeleine disappeared 10 days ago, are trying to track down a number of possible suspects. The Sunday Times has established that Portuguese police have a detailed photofit of a suspect who was spotted loitering outside the McCann apartment and was later thought to have been seen in a white van.

"We have a good network of people in Glasgow and beyond who are coming forward to help and it reflects how popular both Gerry and Kate are," said John McCann. "Tears are fine, but tears are only good for release. After that, what next?

"We've been inundated with financial offers. It's been amazing. Friends have said, 'How much do you need? We'll get it to you within two days'. I got a phone call from a guy I play rugby with who knows Kate and he offered £50,000."

McCann said a poster campaign was being launched showing Madeleine's distinctive right eye, where the pupil runs into the blue-green iris. "We want to make the most of it, because we know her hair potentially could be cut or dyed," he said.

Gerry and Kate spent their daughter’s fourth birthday yesterday in quiet reflection in a private villa before attending mass in the evening. Their momentary relaxation as they were greeted by crowds of wellwishers was in sharp contrast to the last days, when Kate has looked broken and haunted by the unknown fate of her daughter.

One of Kate's closest friends, Jill Renwick, who alerted British media to Madeleine’s disappearance, said: "There’s nothing anyone can say or do to make her eat. Day to day she’s looking more and more stressed."

People who have been with the couple say Gerry is "focused" and always asking: "What can we do next?" They are trying to keep to their usual routine, spending time alone in the evenings with their two-year-old twins Amelie and Sean.

Gerry revealed the couple's attitude remains positive, telling the congregation at yesterday evening's mass: "We are looking forward to the day when Madeleine returns to us as a joyous one. We walk out of this church believing that we will see Madeleine soon and she will be safe and well and we will continue to hope."

The McCanns have pledged to leave "no stone unturned", but they know the prospects of Madeleine being found alive are increasingly remote. According to investigators, most "stranger abductions" end within 24 hours.

After that, the chances of finding a child alive "drop like a stone".

If Madeleine is not found soon, looming before them is the terrible decision about when to gather up their belongings, leave the supportive embrace of Praia da Luz and return home to Rothley, Leicestershire.

Hamish Brown, a former detective with Scotland Yard's specialist crime directorate, said: "They've been so dignified in their response, but you can't begin to imagine what this is like.

"You would hope to have a development in the first few days, but it hasn't happened. It is what detectives in this country call a 'sticker', which means you're in for the duration."

Compounding the McCanns' anguish has been the knowledge that they gave opportunity to whoever took Madeleine by leaving the three children in the apartment while they dined nearby. Counselling has helped, but any parent would find it impossible not to replay endlessly the events of the night she disappeared, with one refrain — "if only".

Alan Pike, from the Centre for Crisis Psychology, has been counselling the couple. "My work with the McCanns began on Saturday. We are reviewing what they went through on the night Madeleine disappeared, what happened and how they discovered she had gone," he said.

"The aim is to help them to understand what was happening to them physically and emotionally because it can be debilitating. That allows them to focus on what needs to be done."

There was initially criticism of the McCanns by Portuguese residents, but this has faded with the huge swell of sympathy for their plight. One resident in the Mark Warner Ocean Club complex where the McCanns were holidaying is said to have heard Kate berating herself after the disappearance. "We've let her down," she is said to have cried.

The same resident said she heard Madeleine crying for her father on Tuesday evening, but this has not been confirmed by police.

Last week was a frustrating one for the McCanns, with a series of possible leads but no breakthrough. The police, stung by claims that they were slow to react to the abduction, are now involved in one of best-resourced and high-profile investigations the country has ever seen.

Among the initial criticisms were that police failed to preserve the crime scene, with one former British detective describing it as as the worst he had ever encountered. Most embarrassing was an initial photofit said to be so vague it resembled an "egg with hair". There was also incredulity among some British investigators that details of Madeleine's pink and white speckled pyjamas were not publicised until Thursday.

Olegario Sousa, a chief inspector of the Policia Judiciaria, said the investigation had to comply with Portuguese law, which allows few details to be divulged. The inquiry now has considerable resources, including the help of British psychological profilers.

Police have identified one possible suspect after a British woman is understood to have drawn up a photofit of a man seen acting suspiciously outside the McCanns' apartment on the afternoon Madeleine vanished.

A source also confirmed this weekend that sniffer dogs tracked Madeleine's scent to two apartments in the resort, where two women and a man were staying. Their nationality has not been confirmed, but they have been interviewed by police.

Detectives are also investigating reports from a witness in Sagres, 16 miles from Praia da Luz, that a man was photographing children without permission. After he was challenged he left with a woman in a Renault Clio.

Police are said to have shown the Sagres witness CCTV footage of a woman and two men at a service station on the motorway between Praia da Luz and Faro soon after Madeleine’s disappearance. The woman is said to have been with a toddler with blonde hair.

According to reports, the witness said she had "no doubts" that one of the men and the woman at the service station were the couple who had been in Sagres. Portuguese investigators have refused to comment.

Villagers in Burgau, near Praia da Luz, have also been questioned by police. They say they have been shown pictures of two separate groups of adults.

The McCanns are believed to have stayed once before in Praia da Luz and had returned because they considered it a safe resort. According to a member of staff, the McCanns were so confident of safety they left the french windows to their apartment unlocked when their children were alone last Thursday week.

Inquiries by The Sunday Times have found that the Ocean Club complex was recently targeted by criminals, despite the confidence of holidaymakers in its security. One resident, in an apartment a short distance from where the McCanns were staying, said an intruder had entered about three weeks before Madeleine’s disappearance.

"I was sitting watching TV when I saw an arm coming out of my bedroom and reaching for the light," the woman resident said. "I screamed, 'What are you doing?' at the top of my voice. He [the intruder] jumped out of the window onto the roof, then he must have climbed down the tree."

Despite the risk of break-ins, there was no extra advice for holidaymakers to be on their guard. Mark Warner sends customers security advice with their travel brochure, but the only recommendation is that valuables are left at reception.

The appeal for Madeleine's safe return is likely to remain in the public eye for a considerable time. Up to 600 Portuguese motorcyclists plan to travel the country, distributing appeals for information.

Crime experts said last week that it should not be assumed that Madeleine had been taken by a child abuser. Ray Wyre, a consultant on sexual crime and abuse, said: "You need the message to go out to potential witnesses that no one should be discounted."

Maddie parents' smile of courage, 13 May 2007

Maddie parents' smile of courage The People

Rachael Bletchly In Praia Da Luz

13 May 2007

MUM & DAD'S VIGIL FOR SNATCHED HOLIDAY TOT LOCALS APPLAUD THEM ON DAY SHE TURNS FOUR

MISSING Madeleine McCann's parents put on brave smiles yesterday as an emotional church service helped them cope with their agony.

At times during the weekend, distraught mum Kate clutched a rag doll she had bought for the tot's fourth birthday - but never got the chance to hand over.

And dad Gerry spoke of a "tidal wave" of devastation caused by her abduction ten days ago. What should have been a day of joy was agony as her family waited for news on the kidnapped little girl.

Maddie should have been blowing out candles on her Dr Who cake. But the only candles flickering were at sombre vigils for her.

Kate and Gerry, both 38, drew huge comfort from mass at the church in Praia da Luz, Portugal, where they were on holiday when Maddie vanished.

Gerry told villagers who have given heartwarming support: "We are looking forward to the day when Madeleine returns to us as a joyous one. We believe that we will see Madeleine soon and she will be safe and well and we will continue to hope."

As they left they were greeted by children holding balloons and a crowd of villagers, who applauded them.

Mr McCann told the congregation: "Today we should be celebrating the fourth birthday of our daughter Madeleine.

"Instead we have had to remember what a normal, beautiful, vivacious, funny, courageous and loving little girl that we are missing today.

"I like to think about the effects of Madeleine's abduction from us nine days ago like a tidal wave. The devastation which was tremendous was greatest for Kate and me."

And he added: "The devastation affects everyone we meet here in the resort and has affected this community.

"The tidal wave did not stop here, it has travelled many miles across Europe, across the sea to Glasgow, Liverpool, Leicester, Ireland, America, Canada, New Zealand and continental Europe, where we have many friends and family."

Gerry also spoke movingly of the "tremendous outpouring of warmth" from people in Portuguese.

GP Kate has lost almost a stone in weight since Maddie was abducted and is unable to eat properly or sleep without sedatives. She looked frail, gaunt and haggard yesterday.

At an earlier service, the couple followed a Portuguese tradition of wearing green and carrying green branches to the 16th Century church as a sign of hope.

Local mechanic Pedro Melo, 25, explained: "We want Madeleine's parents to know how much we care. We feel like crying for them. Their pain must be so great."

A picture of Maddie, whose face can be seen on lamp posts and in shop windows across the town, was pinned near the altar - set in a red heart.

As the service neared its end, a single piece of green string was passed through the crowd right to the back of the church until everyone was holding it - uniting them with the McCanns.

Back in the UK Maddie's relatives and family friends were also anxiously awaiting news.

A party in Glasgow planned for her birthday by uncle and aunt John and Philomena was put on hold. John, 48 said: "There was no point in having a birthday party without Madeleine - but the party has only been postponed, not cancelled.

"We are going to have it when she comes back and then it will be a massive party."

Philomena, 43, spent the day handing out 15,000 posters to football fans outside Glasgow's Celtic Park ground, hoping to jog the memory of supporters who may have visited Portugal.

Maddie's grandparents in Liverpool, Brian and Susan Healey, told last night how they were "storming heaven" for her. Susan, 61, said: "Please God she will be back to blow her birthday candles out. She loved to blow out candles.

"It is hard for everybody but with the help of our friends it's possible to keep going. We have to keep Madeleine in the spotlight, we have to have Madeleine brought home."

Brian, 67, pleaded to Maddie's kidnappers: "Please just bring her home. The support we have had is immense. We are storming heaven trying to find her." Friends in Liverpool have tied yellow ribbons and pink balloons to their fences. The village square inRothley, Leics, where the McCanns live, has become a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of people wanting to show support.

The war memorial has been decorated with a thousand yellow ribbons. Next to it stands a 3ft pink and white rabbit, flanked by dozens of teddy bears. Among the hundreds of scrawled notes were many from children, not much older than Maddie.

One from Alex, eight, and Cameron, five, read: "We are thinking about you on your birthday and hoping you will come home safely. Hope you get to cuddle the teddy soon."

Staff at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital, where Gerry is a cardiologist and at Kate's GP surgery in Melton Mowbray have held vigils.

The McCanns arrived back at their resort apartment at 4pm yesterday after spending the day with their twins Sean and Amelie, two, in a brave bid to carry on as normally as possible. Amelie was carrying a red balloon. Kate hugged Sean, who was carrying a green balloon. Gerry smiled and paused for photographs and kissed Amelie gently as they walked into the apartment.

Last night Kate arrived for Mass clutching a blanket from her missing daughter's bed. She was wearing shorts and a yellow top and held Maddie's Cuddle Cat tightly as she held her husband's hand. Green and yellow ribbons have been tied to the church doors - green the Portuguese symbol of hope and yellow in remembrance of missing Maddie.

Chancellor Gordon Brown expressed his sympathy for Maddie's parents.

At a meeting in Gillingham, Kent, the PM-in-waiting said: "Every parent will be sympathising in their hour of need."

Hundreds of ex-pat Brits gathered in Praia da Luz yesterday to tie yellow ribbons wherever they could in support.

The railings in front of their holiday complex were covered in the colourful tributes, alongside bunches of yellow flowers and cuddly toys.

Claire Borges, originally from Banbury, Oxfordshire, said: "We feel like we've been hit in the stomach. Every day you pray for good news."

Today is a Portuguese religious holiday known as Miracle Day - in which the faithful pray for lost causes.

Madeleine's parents 'left patio doors unlocked', 13 May 2007

Madeleine's parents 'left patio doors unlocked' Daily Mail

Last updated at 16:53pm on 13th May 2007

Police in Portugal are working on the theory that Madeleine was snatched through patio doors left unlocked by her parents as they dined just 40 yards away.

Until now, it was believed that shutters at the front of the apartment had been jemmied open by the little girl's abductors.

But Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, spokesman for the investigation, has confided in British former Chief Inspector Albert Kirby that neither the windows nor their shutters had been tampered with.

Mr Kirby, who led the investigation into the abduction and murder of Liverpool-born toddler Jamie Bulger, revealed that it was the unlocked patio doors of the apartment that allowed Madeleine to be taken away swiftly and quietly.

Sources close to the investigation also confirmed that police attention was solely focused on the back of the apartment, which leads on to a small garden easily accessible from a public path through a gateway.

Gerry and Kate McCann would have used the patio doors as they checked on their daughter and her twin siblings during their meal near the Mark Warner holiday complex swimming pool and it is these doors that were left unsecured.

The McCanns and all their friends on the holiday left their patio doors open throughout the evenings for fear of fire.

Mr Kirby told The Mail on Sunday: "I had a very interesting chat with the officer in charge. The window shutters are not an issue.

"Their mechanism makes them almost impossible to open. The door was left unlocked. They did that every night.

"I think the police have a very specific understanding of what they are looking for."

Mr Kirby believes Portuguese police will solve the case of the missing toddler within days. He said: "I am impressed by the investigation. I have a feeling we will have a result by the end of the next week."

Anguished parents struggle in sea of despair, 15 May 2007

Anguished parents struggle in sea of despair Sydney Morning Herald

May 15, 2007

Hope is becoming ever harder to sustain for a young kidnap victim's family, Olga Craig reports.

HOLLOW-CHEEKED and red-eyed, Kate McCann grips her husband's hand tightly as she faces the television cameras. In her other hand she holds Cuddle Cat, her missing daughter Madeleine's favourite toy. "We are remaining positive. We still believe Madeleine will return to us," she says, her fingernails digging ever deeper into the pink, furry cat.

Her face tells a different story. Mrs McCann, a 38-year-old GP, is a woman tormented: a mother whose anguish knows no depths.

It has been 12 days since four-year-old Madeleine was snatched while she slept, tucked between her twin siblings, at her parents' holiday apartment in Portugal.

A lacklustre police investigation has seemingly made little progress in finding her, making the plight of her parents, forced to live out their anguish in public, all the worse.

Since her daughter's kidnap on the night of May 3, Mrs McCann has grown ever more gaunt, her frail frame stooped from her burden of grief. She appears on the verge of collapse.

Throughout the vigil that she and her husband, Gerry, a cardiologist, have endured, she has carried Cuddle Cat constantly. Pinning it to her handbag, twisting it through trembling fingers.

"Kate will be able to smell Madeleine on it," says Susan Healy, her mother. "That is why she cannot put it down."

Tragically for Mrs McCann, there is little else from which she can draw solace. Or hope.

Two streets away, behind the gleaming whitewashed apartment in Praia da Luz, where the McCanns were on a week-long holiday with Madeleine and their two-year-old twins, Amelie and Sean, two silver vans sit parked. Inside, locked in separate steel cages, four Alsatian sniffer dogs growl and bark in the midday heat. There is no sign of their green-uniformed handlers, officers from Portugal's Algarve Search and Rescue Dog team. They are down on the seafront, shopping for T-shirts.

Were it not for their uniforms they, too, might be on vacation. Instead, they are part of a 180-strong police search for the McCanns' daughter. But their shambolic, haphazard modus operandi symbolises the inept and bumbling investigation that represents the Portuguese authorities' efforts to find the toddler.

The police are wildly out of their depth, claiming that the rigidity of Portuguese law prevents them from disclosing any information. Olegario Sousa, their chief inspector, speaks English, but he rarely ventures more than one well-rehearsed speech. To every question he responds: "That is an aspect of the investigation we cannot talk about. It is the law, you know."

The police refuse to confirm reports of suspects, but neither will they deny them. Thus, this emotional and highly charged search for a missing child has become punctuated with endless red herrings and speculation.

Their ineptitude is, perhaps, inevitable: Praia da Luz is not a place one would expect a child kidnap. The village may be in Portugal, six kilometres from Lagos on the Algarve's south-western coast, but it could just as easily be south-east England in the 1950s.

The retired English middle classes have migrated here to re-create an image of a Britain that no longer exists, with its narrow cobbled streets, jammed with whitewashed apartments and quaint tea shops and boutiques. One rarely sees the Portuguese, especially not young people.

The gentle pace and child-friendly reputation of Praia da Luz convinced the McCanns that it was the ideal spot for a holiday.

It was five days into their break, at 10pm on May 3, that the nightmare began and this ordinary family was pitched into a maelstrom. From happy poolside holidaymakers, they have become the central characters in a bewildering, heartbreaking story of danger and despair.

Much has been made of the fact that the McCanns were only metres from their children and could see their apartment from the dinner table of the resort's tapas restaurant. But that is just not so. The McCanns' flat was outside the complex and, crucially, outside its security doors. Only the top of their accommodation could be glimpsed from the restaurant.

To check on the children, they had to leave the complex by the security doors, turn left up a main road, climb the back stairs of their end-of-row flat, go in through the rear french windows, which they had left unlocked, and walk to the front of the apartment where their children slept. That room overlooks a car park and another main road.

Their decision to leave the children alone, one that has astonished the Portuguese community, has been criticised. It is one, too, that Madeleine's devastated parents will be regretting with all their hearts. For Kate McCann's family, many of whom flew out to Portugal after the abduction, that criticism has been hard to bear.

"I have sat at that table, I know how diligent Kate and Gerry were about checking the children," Mrs Healy said. "They knew immediately that Madeleine had been taken, that she hadn't just wandered off. But it was difficult to get that across to the Portuguese police initially."

The McCanns raised the alarm when they found their daughter missing, but, while police responded quickly, they w