Monday, December 27, 2010

Harry Potter plan to help Madeleine search

Published Date: 03 June 2007
By CAROLINE GAMMELL
IN PRAIA DA LUZ
HARRY Potter author JK Rowling is considering putting bookmarks bearing the face of missing Madeleine McCann in copies of her final instalment about the world's favourite boy wizard.
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, the seventh and last book in the series, is due out on July 21 amid mass publishing hysteria.

Indirect approaches have been made to Rowling about featuring four-year-old Madeleine in the books.

Rowling has already publicly supported the campaign to find Madeleine by contributing to a multi-million-pound reward and has been asked about involving the little girl in the launch of her latest book.
Mr McCann said: "There has been some indirect contact with her. We are thinking about getting bookmarks with Madeleine's photographs and getting the author's agreement.

"Someone like JK Rowling has got massive appeal and a Harry Potter book would be ideal."
Last night, the McCann's pledged to stay in Portugal to look for their daughter until there is "absolutely no hope".

"I would have to feel that the investigation in Portugal has been exhausted," Mr McCann said. "I think we are a long way away from that."

He added: "If you give up hope you are basically saying she is dead. No parent would do that."

Describing her abduction, he said: "It's like the same as having a bereavement, being diagnosed with cancer. There are lots of mixed emotions, and anger is one of them."
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Kate McCann returns home for christening

By Fiona Govan in Praia da Luz 12:01AM BST 16 Jul 2007
The mother of missing Madeleine McCann made an emotional journey back to Britain at the weekend for the first time since her daughter was abducted in Portugal on May 3.
Kate McCann, 38, of Rothley, Leics, has repeatedly said that she did not want to return home without the missing four-year-old, but made the trip back to attend a family christening.
Yesterday on her return to Portugal, where the family are now based, she described the visit as "heart-breaking" but important. "Saturday was an emotional day," she said.
Mrs McCann travelled to England with her two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie, and was re-united with her husband Gerry, 39, who was in London meeting police involved in the investigation.
Mr McCann, a consultant cardiologist, also met child abduction experts at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.
Related Articles
Speaking about the christening Mrs McCann said: "Gerry and I wanted to be there, to take part and to support our godchildren on one of the most important days of their lives. But, I am sure every mother in the world will understand that it was heart-breaking for me to be with our family, yet not be with Madeleine.

"Gerry and I have returned to Portugal to continue the search for our daughter."

Robert Murat, 33, the only formal suspect, faces further questioning by Portuguese police this week. "I have had no help from the British authorities. They do not seem to care what happens to me," he said.

"I can see no light at the end of the tunnel."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1557575/Kate-McCann-returns-home-for-christening.html
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Friday, December 24, 2010

Missing....help find Jo Yeates

http://helpfindjo.wordpress.com/
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Tuesday, December 21, 2010

TYCOONS WITHDRAW MCCANN SUPPORT

Madeleine McCann: A leading expert has cast doubt on the DNA evidence
Madeleine McCann 
By Caroline Gammell in Praia da Luz 1:25PM BST 13 Sep 2007
Two millionaire businessmen who gave money to help find Madeleine McCann refused today to contribute to the legal fight to clear her parents' name.
The couple's official spokeswoman, Justine McGuinness, has also decided to step down, it emerged this afternoon. Exhaustion, and the McCanns' need for a PR adviser with more legal experience, are said to be behind her decision.
Kate and Gerry McCann, 39, have hired top lawyers in Britain and Portugal after they were named official suspects in their daughter's disappearance.
Detectives believe Mrs McCann may have accidentally killed her daughter and relied on her husband to help cover up the crime. Although the couple insist the claims are baseless, the cost of trying to clear the "cloud of suspicion" is expected to run into tens of thousands of pounds.
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Although the fighting fund set up to find Madeleine has raised more than £1 million, the trustees said the couple - who did not want to take the money anyway - would not be able to make use of the funds.

One entrepreneur, who refused to be named because of the delicate nature of the case, has given his backing in the past.

But today he told the Evening Standard: "I am not going to contribute any more. It is a difficult issue and it is not something I propose to get engaged in.

"It is the most confusing scenario anybody has ever seen. I am not judge and jury and I hope what I am reading is wrong. I have not yet been approached [a second time] but I wouldn't put any money in.

"If they can turn the tide in some form maybe there will be loads of backers. But right now this does not look a good place to go."

A number of well known figures have publicly supported the McCanns including JK Rowling, Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson, Topshop owner Philip Green and EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

A second wealthy businessman, who has given £100,000 to the fund, said: "We won't be pledging any more right now.
"I don't think that at the moment we would allow the money to be swapped to cover defence costs, but this is a difficult position and a very sensitive issue." The McCanns, from Rothley in Leicestershire, returned to the UK on Sunday, 48 hours after being declared suspects by Portuguese police.

Ms McGuinness, the McCanns' spokeswoman, is expected to step down this weekend if a replacement can be found in time.

The Media Guardian website is reporting that the couple are looking for a "big hitter" to work as their full-time PR representative as the investigation into their daughter's disappearance enters a new phase.

Phil Hall, the former News of the World and Hello! editor, who has been acting as a consultant to the McCanns in recent months, is thought to be the leading contender.

The world's leading expert in DNA cast doubt on a key facet of the alleged forensic evidence against Kate and Gerry McCann last night as he offered to act as an expert witness for the couple.

Sir Alec Jeffreys, who invented DNA fingerprinting, said a match did not necessarily demonstrate a person's guilt or innocence.

It follows claims that DNA samples matched to Madeleine had been found in her parents' hire car and holiday apartment. Sources said the traces were being treated by Portuguese detectives as strong evidence that Madeleine's body was placed in the car.

However, Sir Alec told BBC's Newsnight programme: "There are no genetic characters in Madeleine that are not found in at least one other member of the family.

"So then you have an incomplete DNA profile that could raise a potential problem in assigning a profile to Madeleine given that all other members of that family would have been in that car."

Sir Alec, 57, added: "DNA testing seeks to establish whether DNA sample A from a crime scene came or did not come from individual B.

"So if you get a match there's very strong evidence that it did come from B. It is then up to investigators, the courts and all the rest of it to work out whether that connection is relevant or not.

"So DNA doesn't have the words innocence or guilt in it - that is a legal concept. What it seeks to establish is connections and identifications."

Off-camera, Sir Alec said he was prepared to act as a witness for the McCanns.

His caution came as a leading genetics expert also called into question the value of DNA evidence in its own right. Dr Paul Debenham, a member of the advisory body the Human Genetics Commission, said there could be legitimate reasons as to how DNA from Madeleine found its way into the hire car.

Prosecutors would need to establish that it got there as part of a criminal process and not through chance contact, he said.

Dr Debenham said: "With the current highly sensitive DNA methodologies we can deposit DNA as a trace amount just from contact with a fabric. And that fabric can touch another surface where the DNA is passed on.

"So there is a situation where there is a legitimate or a possible explanation as to how the DNA got on the back seat despite the individual not being there, but through some legitimate transfer of garments, clothes or soft toy.

"It questions the value of that particular evidence in interpreting what happened."

The development came as it emerged that Portuguese prosecutors have applied for Gerry McCann's laptop and his wife's personal diary to be handed over to the authorities investigating their daughter's disappearance.

Detectives in the Algarve are particularly keen to track emails sent by Mr McCann, a cardiologist, from the computer he used while in Portugal to keep an almost daily blog on the campaign to find Madeleine.

An urgent application for access to the personal artefacts was made by public prosecutor Jose Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses to a judge in Portimao yesterday.

Philomena McCann, Mr McCann's sister, said she advised her sister-in-law to keep the diary to show Madeleine how much they loved her.

She told The Sun: " I said to Kate that it would be a good idea if someone wrote down, for Madeleine, notes on everything that was happening, because we have to prove to Madeleine how much we looked for her and how much we love her.

"That wee girl will be thinking, 'They're not looking for me. My mummy, daddy and my aunties - they don't love me because they can't find me'.

"I was just thinking about how insecure Madeleine would be, so Kate has been keeping that journal faithfully every day.

"She's been writing down everything that we've been doing so we can prove to Madeleine that we have worked so hard to try and find her, that we've put our lives on hold to search for her and show our love for her is unending."

Gerry's brother John McCann said last night that his brother believed the Portuguese police had "gone up a cul-de-sac".

He told BBC's The One Show: "Gerry keeps telling me that they have gone up a cul-de-sac and have lost track of what they should really be doing."

Asked whether the fact the case was being dealt with at such a high level in Portugal gave him confidence, he said: "It does and it doesn't. There is data out there, there's all these leaks.

"There is so much speculation going on as to what the actual information the Portuguese police have.

"If they have got something that suggests Madeleine really is dead then for goodness sake tell the family who have the strongest feeling for this."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1562995/Madeleine-McCann-Tycoons-withdraw-support.html
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Madeleine McCann died from overdose

UK News

Madeleine McCann 'died from overdose'

Madeleine McCann
Madeleine McCann 
By Gary Cleland 7:00AM BST 14 Sep 2007
Madeleine McCann died from an overdose of sleeping tablets, reports in a French newspaper claimed yesterday.
Guilhem Battut, an investigative reporter for the French tabloid France Soir, said Portuguese police had given prosecutors a file detailing how they thought Madeleine had died.
Battut - an experienced journalist who has worked on a number of major inquiries - claims police believe that evidence found in the McCanns' hire car will "prove that the little girl had ingested medicines, without doubt sleeping pills, in large quantities".

A source at the newspaper claimed: "We are not simply repeating rumours carried in other papers. This is not a theory, but a fact contained in hard evidence in the hands of the Portuguese authorities.

"It is all very well putting theories and opinions forward, but in the end this case will be decided on evidence. As journalists, we have been trying to establish what evidence is available."
DNA evidence which has reportedly been found in the hire car includes hair, blood and bodily fluids which match Madeleine's.
Related Articles
Police are said to want to examine the vehicle again. It is currently being kept in a safe place by the family who are considering having their own tests carried out on it as they strive to prove their innocence.
Portuguese police are said to be drawing up a list of 40 new questions that they want to put to Mrs McCann. But British forensic experts expressed doubts over the claim.
Alan Baker, of the independent forensic science organisation Bericon, said: "These samples are likely to be far from ideal. If it is just a smear or dried deposit you could detect the drug but not how much."
Last night friends of the family dismissed the latest speculation. Gerry McCann reportedly told a friend: "There are large craters in every one of these theories, in these ludicrous accusations.'
"As far as Kate and I are concerned there is no evidence to suggest that Madeleine is dead. We are 100 per cent together on this, not one grain of suspicion about each other."
A close friend of Mrs McCann's said: "She is a gentle mother who loves her children very much.''
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1563090/Madeleine-McCann-died-from-overdose.html
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Monday, December 20, 2010

6 month mile stone...

On Saturday, the family of missing British girl Madeleine McCann will hold a church service to mark six months since she was last seen in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal.

madeleine mccann
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(Photo: AP Images / Armando Franca, File)
Green and yellow hope ribbons hang from a tree outside Our Lady of Light church in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal, Friday, Aug. 10 2007. On Saturday a service wil be held at a church to mark 6 months since 4-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann vanished from the resort apartment where she was staying on vacation with her parents in Praia da Luz.
"We will be marking this milestone very quietly with an ecumenical prayer service for Madeleine and other missing children in the local Anglican church,” Madeleine’s father, Gerry McCann, explained in his latest internet diary entry.
The six-month milestone follows a week of numerous alleged sightings of Madeleine in Morocco.
Three callers to an international telephone hotline set up last week by the McCanns reported separate sightings of the missing youngster in the north African country.
Each caller said that blonde, blue-eyed Madeleine was with the same 60-year-old woman, who they described as “middle class”. A team of private detectives are currently in north Africa searching for the mystery woman.
Private detectives, working for elite Spanish agency Metodo 3, are moving forward on the theory that Madeleine was targeted after a tip-off from someone inside the holiday complex or who had intimate knowledge of guests’ comings and goings.
Recent reports have suggested that kidnappers spied on the family for several days, watching their movements and waiting for the best moment to strike.
Then, on May 3, they abducted Madeleine from her bed as her parents dined with friends at a restaurant less than 100 yards away.
A source close to Metodo 3, which boasts a 100 percent success rate in tracing missing children, said: “We are giving special importance to three calls we received about a girl resembling Madeleine in Morocco.
“One was from a Spaniard, the other two from British people. In each case, the girl was about the same age as Madeleine, with blonde hair and blue eyes. In each case, she was with a Moroccan woman who was about 60 and middle class.”
Metodo 3’s managing director Francisco Marco, 35, said he is certain Madeleine was abducted and her parents were not involved in her disappearance, as some reports had suggested when they were made formal suspects in the case.
“We’re working very hard on all information indicating that. But I stress we are following up everything,” he said.
Since their daughter’s disappearance, the McCanns have launched an international campaign to find her, enlisting the aid of celebrities such as soccer star David Beckham and J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter fantasy books. They have also traveled to various countries where they have met press and distributed posters of Madeleine with the hope that someone may have spotted her.
The McCanns, who are both Roman Catholics, even met with Pope Benedict XVI, who put his hand on their arms during an emotional meeting and blessed them.
According to the Find Madeleine website, the fund that was set up to help find Madeleine has so far received more than £1million ($2.1 million) in donations. The McCanns stopped using the fund in September, however, when they were made formal suspects in the case, a spokesman for the family reported.
Gerry McCann, a consultant cardiologist at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital, and Kate McCann, a general practitioner, have been on unpaid leave since Madeleine disappeared, as they have led efforts to find their daughter.
It has been reported that Mr. McCann will return to work on Thursday, initially for three half-days each week, but will not have any direct contact with patients until his employers feel he is ready.


http://www.google.co.uk/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=mccanns+madeleine+church+service+2007&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=1&cad=b
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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

WikiLeaks cables: UK police 'developed' evidence against McCanns

British ambassador's reported comments to US counterpart offer insight into role of UK police in 2007 investigation
Madeleine McCann on the day she disappeared
Madeleine McCann is mentioned twice in the WikiLeaks cables. Photograph: PA
British police helped to "develop evidence" against Madeleine McCann's parents as they were investigated by Portuguese police as formal suspects in the disappearance of their daughter, the US ambassador to Portugal was told by his British counterpart in September 2007.
The meeting between US ambassador Al Hoffman and the British ambassador, Alexander Wykeham Ellis, took place a fortnight after Kate and Gerry McCann were formally declared arguidos, or suspects, by Portuguese police. The McCanns have said that there was "absolutely no evidence to implicate them in Madeleine's disappearance whatsoever."
In a diplomatic cable marked confidential, the US ambassador reported: "Without delving into the details of the case, Ellis admitted that the British police had developed the current evidence against the McCann parents, and he stressed that authorities from both countries were working co-operatively."
The comments attributed to the ambassador appear to contradict the widespread perception at the time that Portuguese investigators were the driving force behind the treatment of the McCanns as suspects in the case.
The disclosure comes as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returns to court in an attempt to secure bail following his arrest last week at the request of Swedish authorities who want to interview him over allegations of sexual assault. A number of other cables released by the whistleblowers' website shed new light on aspects of the financial crisis. Revelations include:
• RBS chairman Sir Philip Hampton said the board of the bank breached their "fiduciary responsibilities" by allowing the takeover of the Dutch bank ABN Amro.
• The Bank of England governor, Mervyn King, was so worried about the health of the banks that he proposed a secret international fund to recapitalise them six months before the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
• US officials expressed doubts in October 2008 over whether Ireland appreciated how much trouble its banks were in.
In one of two cables referring to the McCann case, the US ambassador notes: "Madeleine McCann's disappearance in the south of Portugal in May 2007 has generated international media attention with controversy surrounding the Portuguese-led police investigation and the actions of Madeleine's parents."
He reported that his British counterpart thought "that the media frenzy was to be expected and was acceptable as long as government officials keep their comments behind closed doors".
It was not until 21 July 2008 that the Portuguese authorities shelved their investigation and lifted the arguido status of the McCanns. Responding to the contents of the cable, a spokesman for the McCanns told the Guardian: "This is an entirely historic note that is more than three years old. Subsequently, Kate and Gerry had their arguido status lifted, with the Portuguese authorities making it perfectly clear that there was absolutely no evidence to implicate them in Madeleine's disappearance whatsoever.
"To this day, they continue to work tirelessly on the search for their daughter, co-operating when appropriate with both the Portuguese and British authorities."
British authorities had substantial involvement in the investigation launched after Madeleine disappeared in May 2007 from the holiday apartment where the McCanns had left their three children in bed before joining friends at a nearby restaurant in the Algarve village of Praia da Luz. At least one British sniffer dog was used in the investigation and, according to reports, was said to have picked up the scent of a dead body in the apartment.
In 2008, when a dossier detailing investigations by Portuguese police was made public, it emerged British scientists had warned that DNA tests on a sample from the McCanns' holiday hire car were inconclusive days before they were made suspects. It is known that the Forensic Science Service analysed material sent to Britain by Portuguese police. A spokesman for Leicestershire police said their involvement in the investigation was limited to co-ordinating UK-based inquiries on behalf of the Portuguese authorities.
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Monday, December 13, 2010

Information on the cleaning of the window.

http://missingmadeleine.forumotion.net/main-maddie-thread-latest-news-f1/maria-julia-the-maid-who-could-tell-so-much-t13279.htm

http://madeleinemccann.aimoo.com/Goncalo-Amaral/Interview-Comments-1-801692.html
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Friday, December 10, 2010

Kate WAS to be charged with the accidental death of her daughter Gerry to remain a witness

http://watchingyouwatchingyme-steelmagnolia.blogspot.com/2010/12/wikileaks-kate-mccann-to-be-charged.html
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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Mystery of Madeleine parents' secret emails 'intercepted by police'

By FIONA BARTON
Last updated at 11:12 09 August 2007

The friends who were with Madeleine McCann's parents on the night she disappeared have tried to shake off a growing whispering campaign against them.

They have spoken out after a Portuguese newspaper claimed police had 'intercepted' emails and phone calls between Kate and Gerry McCann and their friends.

http://shadplay.blogspot.com/2010/11/deleted-call-records.html


These, the newspaper reported, provided 'decisive proof' that Madeleine was not kidnapped, but died in the family's holiday apartment in Portugal.
Scroll down for more...
McCanns Anger over rumours: Kate McCann and Gerry McCann pictured with their twins, hidden by the pushchair canopy
Read more...
Diario de Noticias, a respected national daily, said 'police sources' insisted the intercepted 'messages' were key evidence.

Other newspapers have already made a series of lurid and unsubstantiated claims about the McCanns.

Yesterday, stung by such claims, their friend Rachael Oldfield, a 36-year- old London recruitment consultant, suggested the police could be 'leaking' confidential information to the Press.

"I think there are some leaks coming from the police, but a lot of what I have read recently has been completely untrue," she said.
"Whether a journalist has had a bit of information and made the rest up, or the police are feeding some truth or untruths I just don't know."
Scroll down for more...
Rachael Oldfield and Fiona Payne who were with the McCanns in Portugal
Another of the party, Dr Fiona Payne, said: "You cannot attach any significance to what is being reported (in the Portuguese press)."

Mrs Oldfield, who is married to doctor Matthew Oldfield and has a one-year-old daughter, said: "It is very hurtful and it is all rather ludicrous. But it is difficult to defend because the investigation
and everything in it is confidential. We don't want to jeopardise the investigation in any way or Madeleine's life. We are a bit stuck, really."

The Oldfields were at dinner with the McCanns and the rest of their party, Jane Tanner and Russell O'Brien from Exeter, Fiona and David Payne from Leicester and an unnamed woman, when Madeleine vanished from her bed in the holiday apartments in Praia da Luz on May 3.

The adults told police they had taken it in turns to check on their sleeping children, including Madeleine and her two
year
old twin brother and sister, in nearby apartments.
Scroll down for more...
McCanns The McCanns during their interview on Sky News said that they would not comment on any speculation regarding Madeleine's disappearance
madeleine Madeleine has been missing for three months
In statements to the Policia Judiciaria investigators, which were leaked to Sol magazine, Mr McCann said he first checked his three children at 9.05pm and thought it 'strange' that the bedroom door was ajar. He checked the window and shutters, which were both closed, and left.

Jane Tanner said she took her turn ten minutes later and saw a darkhaired man carrying a child in his arms as she came back.
Minutes after her return, according to police statements, Matthew Oldfield checked the children and noticed nothing unusual.

Mrs McCann went at 10pm and said she found the apartment window open, heavy metal shutters raised and her daughter missing.
Police say there are discrepancies between the timings given by the McCann party and staff and other diners in the restaurant that night.

One Portuguese newspaper yesterday, which quoted 'police sources', said: "If everything happened as the English holidaymakers say, in terms of their checking the children, it would be almost impossible for a kidnap to have taken place."

Mrs Oldfield said: "There would only be a small window for somebody to do it (abduct Madeleine), but presumably if somebody had been watching our movements then it would have been possible."

The McCanns, who on Tuesday denied stories in the Portuguese press that implied they had 'accidentally' killed their daughter, spent an hour with detectives yesterday afternoon.

They learned that a possible sighting of Madeleine in a Belgian cafe had been largely discounted after tests on a drinking straw used by the little girl spotted showed the DNA of an adult male.
People:
Fiona Payne,
Kate McCann,
Russell O'Brien,
David Payne,
Matthew Oldfield,
Madeleine McCann,
Gerry McCann
Places:
Exeter,
London,
Portugal
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The McCanns used the 'Smarts' as a template for their 'alleged' abduction.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010


The McCanns even went as far as the Smarts in having their very own witness to the abduction.... Jane Tanner , a member of the group, who just like Katherine had memory recall months later, Jane Tanner has told so many lies she does not know what day of the week it is. The McCanns, just like the Smarts tried to fit some one up' Robert Murat 'the Smarts tried the same with Ricci but when Ricci died they went to Mitchell  and it would not surprise me to know they knew she was with him the whole time. The messages given out by the mother show she knew damn well Elizabeth was safe.

 

The Gagging of the GASPAR Statement

A police witness statement , held back from the investigation into the disappearance of  three year old Madeleine McCann. This information, suggesting there may have been paedophillia among the group of British doctors would have proved vital to the case. Had this been someone black, Indian or from a Council estate they would have been brought in for questioning but the Portuguese police did not have the opportunity to question David Payne because by the time PJ had knowledge of this statement , the McCanns had their laywers Carter Ruck and David Payne along with the rest of the tapas 7 , were now under the McCanns protection. The media was gagged  and still is , the British public would never find out... what  disturbs me the most, ALL British reporters have seen this statement and yet they STILL let the McCanns lead them around by the nose..

A child disappears , a friend goes to the police expressing her concerns about what she thinks may be paedophilia among the group of friends and it is hushed up. The parents are pushing for paedophillia and  tried to set up Raymond Hewlett as the man 'of interest' who knew what happened to Madeleine, at the same time they have a mantra ' there is no evidence Madeleine has come to any serious harm'.

 Let us forget for one moment the cadaver dogs picking up on the McCanns apartment, Kates clothes, a small childs T.Shirt , Madeleines toy , cadaver scent found outside in a small patch of garden under the window, the car they hired after Madeleine disappeared.  What exactly do Gerry and Kate McCann think a paedophile does to a three year old child?

http://steelmagnolia-steelmagnolia.blogspot.com/2010/12/express-have-deleted-blue-bag.html

Put all of this together with a 'MISSING BLUE TENNIS BAG' that Gerry McCann was seen with the afternoon of May 3rd 2007...(Gerry denies he ever owned such a bag) this bag disappeared the same time as Madeleine.... there is something very,very strange going on here.

http://steelmagnolia-steelmagnolia.blogspot.com/2010/12/express-have-deleted-blue-bag.html



The death of Madeleine McCann and the possible KEY to the cover up by her Majestys Goverment.

Last Name: GASPAR
Forenames: KATHERINA ZACHARIAS
Age: +18
Date of Birth:
Address:
Postal Code:
Profession:
Telephone no.:
Date of Testimony: 16/05/2007
Number of Pages: 8

I give this declaration in relation to the McCANN family who are currently in Portugal. The McCANN family is composed of Gerry McCANN, his wife, Kate McCANN and their three children, Madeleine, age 4, and Sean and Amelie, who are twins and 3 years of age.

As is abundantly clear, Madeleine is not with her family presently, and has been missing for the last two weeks.

I will begin by explaining that I am married to Savio Gaspar and that we have two daughters. Ellen is almost 3 and Isabella is now one year old. I have been married to Savior for 11 years. I am a general practitioner as is my husband. I met my husband when we were (page 1) working together in Exeter, around 14 years ago.

In order to explain how we know the McCANN family, I would like to state that my husband knows Kate as both attended Dundee University between 1987 and 1992. At that time, she was Kate HEALY. I met Kate and Gerry at their wedding, in 1998, in Liverpool. Both Savio and I went to the wedding. As Savio was Kate’s friend, we were invited to the event.

From what I know, Savio did not know Gerry before the wedding. After this time, we became friends and about three times we spent weekend vacations together. I would say that we are intimate friends of Gerry and Kate.

I remember that in 2002 or 2003, Savio and I spent the weekend with Gerry and Kate in Devon. We maintained contact with one another via telephone.

In 2002/2003 Savio and I lived Birmingham and the McCANNS in Leciester.

In September of 2005, Savio, myself and Ellena, who at the time was 1 and a half years old, spent our holidays abroad, in Mallorca. We went (page 2) on holidays with Kate, Gerry, and Madeleine, who should have been around 21/2 years old, and the twins, who were only months old. I remember that I was pregnancy with Isabella.

On those holidays we also met Gerry and Kate’s friends.

There was a couple, whose names were Dave and Fiona, and whose family name was PAYNE, I think. I believe that they were married and had one daughter, 1 year old, called Lilly. I remember that on these holidays, Fiona was pregnant.

There was another couple, whose names were Tara and Stuart, and whose family name I cannot remember who were also on holiday with us. They had two boys, 1 and 3 years old, whose names I do not remember. I did not know these two families until the holidays together. As I recall, I think that David organised the holidays and we all stayed together in a big house in Mallorca.

We spend a week on holidays, however, the McCANN family, and the PAYNE family stayed for two weeks. I think that Tara and Stuart, and their two children, also stayed for only one week.

Two or three days passed in Mallorca where we relaxed (Page 3) with our children. Possibly around the fourth or fifth day abroad, I remember an incident that stayed with me. I tell this in this way, and afterwards I have thought many times about the incident that I am about to describe.

One night, on holidays, the adults—the couple aforementioned—were on a patio on the side of the house were we lodged. We had been eating and drinking.

I was seated between David and Gerry who were both speaking about Madeleine. I don’t remember the conversation in its entirety, but id did appear they were discussing a possible scenario. I remember David telling Gerry something like “she” (referring to Madeleine) “would she do this”.Upon mentioning “this”, David was sucking on one of his fingers, pushing it inside and outside his mouth, and with the other hand encircled his breast in a gyrating fashion over his shirt. This was done in a provocative manner and carried an explicit insinuation in relation to what he was doing.
I remember that I was shocked at this, and looked at Gerry, and also at Dave, to gauge their reactions. I looked around (page 4) as is saying “did someone else hear that, or was it just me”. Silence registered in all the conversations and after, we all began conversing again.
I never spoke to anyone about this, but always felt that it was very strange and not something that should be discussed or said.

Besides this, I remember that David once again did the same thing. When I refer to this, I want to clarify that it was during a conversation in which he was talking about an imaginary situation. I do not know of what. I believe that he was talking about his own daughter, Lily, although I cannot be certain. He put one of his fingers in his mouth and slide it in and out, and with the other hand, drew a circle around his breast in a sexually provocative way. I believe that he was referring to what Lily would do.
I believe that he did this later, during the holidays, but I cannot be sure. The last time, besides this, when I was with David and Fiona was several weeks after the holidays, when Savio and I were at a restaurant with Gerry, Kate, Dave and Fiona.

I am certain that he said or that he repeated the same gestures aforementioned, but it could have occurred in a restaurant in Leicester, however (page five) I believe that it was later in Mallorca. When I heard Dave asking is “she did this” a second time, I took it more seriously.I remember questioning whether looked at my children or the others in a different way. I imagined that he maybe visited Internet sites related to small children. I thought that he may be interested in child pornography on the Internet.
During our holidays I was more attentive at bath time after hearing Dave saying this.
During our vacation in Mallorca, it was the fathers who bathed the children. I had the tendency to walk close to the bathroom, if David was bathing his children. I remember telling Savio to be careful when he was there, in case Dave was helping bathe the children and, in particular, my daughter Ellena. I was very clear about this, as having heard him disturbed me, and did not trust him bathing Ellena alone.
When I heard Dave say that a second time, this reinforced what I already though in relation to his thoughts about little girls. During our stay in Mallorca, Dave and his wife, Fiona, accompanied by this daughter Lilly, took Madeleine (page 6) with them to sped the day together, and to give Kate and Gerry a bit of rest with the twins. At stating this, it is not that I was reoccupied with Madeleine’s safety, as she was also with Fiona and Lilly, along with Dave.As already referred to, I was only with Dave and Fiona on one occasion, after Mallorca. And I have not spoken to them since this time. In these last years, we have seen eachother, along with the McCANNS, on occasion. These occasions coincide with the children’s birthdays—a time when we get together.

The first time I hear the terrible news regarding the disappearance of Madeleine from the radio, my thoughts went immediately to Dave. I asked Savio if Dave was also on holidays with the McCANNs in Portugal but he did not know.
I watched TV to catch the overage of the notices and found that Dave was there. I saw him on television in the first days after the disappearance. At that, I believed that he was on holidays with the McCANNs in Portugal. Today, Thursday, the 16th of May, 2007, at 15H40, I gave DC Brewer a page containing 2 photographic images. I am going to reference these images as (ref KZG/1) (probably element) that may (page seven) be presented with my approval, if necessary. These photographs were taken during out holidays in Mallorca. In the photographs, Dave is wearing a white t-shirt and the woman in the photograph is his wife Fiona. The man that is holding the cup of wine in the photograph is Stuart. These photographs were taken whilst we were in Mallorca.

Signed:
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Kalysis..no longer online

http://kalysis.blogspot.com/
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Monday, December 6, 2010

Madeleine McCann's disappearance is 'linked to a string of child abductions'

By VANESSA ALLEN and LUCY BALLINGER
Last updated at 00:34 18 February 2008

Police investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance have been alerted over a spate of attempted child abductions in northern Portugal, it has been revealed.
At least four children have been targeted in the last month in the region of Coimbra, where a nine-year-old girl escaped from an abductor in December.
Police are investigating if the cases are connected, and if they could be related to Madeleine's disappearance from Praia da Luz, some 300 miles away in the Algarve, last May.
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Gerry and Kate McCann Help: Kate McCann, with husband Gerry, says she has a lot to offer children's charities
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Meanwhile, it is understood Kate McCann is quitting her job as a locum GP to devote her life to children's charities.
Mrs McCann has not returned to work since Madeleine's disappearance in May and has reportedly told friends she feels she has a lot to offer charity organisations.
Private detectives searching for four-year-old Madeleine believe she was targeted by a paedophile network and smuggled out of Portugal, and that other children could also have been taken.
In the first reported attempted abduction, in December last year, a man bundled a nine-year-old girl into his car as she walked home from her school bus stop in the village of Charneca, near Coimbra.
The terrified girl told police he held on to her and drove her about a mile away, but she managed to escape when he was forced to brake to let another car pass on the remote, narrow road.
She ran crying back to the village and told police her abductor spoke Portuguese with a Brazilian accent, wore an earring and drove a grey car.
Since then there have been two more attempted abductions in nearby villages, including an attack three weeks ago when two men in a car tried to grab a 13-year-old girl after she also got off her school bus to go home.
Her mother, who was waiting for the girl, saw the men and screamed, and they released the teenager and fled.
Then on Thursday nine-year-old Clarisse Neto was targeted as she walked to a music class at her school in Vila Nova de Poiares, about five miles from Coimbra.
Two men in a light-coloured car approached her and signalled for her to get into the car, shouting: "Come here, come here."
Clarisse screamed and ran to a nearby health centre, where workers called the police.
Police said the girl was "traumatised, very panicked and very confused" by her ordeal, and could only describe the two men as both wearing woollen hats.
Her father Augusto Neto told the Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha: "If they took my daughter I would never see her again. The country is small, the borders are very close.
"She will not be going to school alone any more. I will not let anyone else try to steal my daughter. I love my family and I will not let anyone harm them."
A police source said there had been several reports of attempted abductions in that area, including another attempt on Saturday, in the village of Vale do Tronco, but refused to reveal details of the latest attack.
He said: "For now it is not possible to state whether there is a connection between the cases."
Police working on the nine-month Madeleine investigation are not involved in the Coimbra cases, but have been kept informed.
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Madeleine McCann slide Madeleine's disappearance 9 months ago could be part of a bigger abduction operation
McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "There is no suggestion of a direct connection but it shows that this sort of thing can occur in Portugal.
"We would hope the Portuguese police are investigating this as thoroughly as we hope they still are in the search for Madeleine."
But he refused to comment about claims that Kate McCann had decided to quit her work as a locum GP permanently, in order to work for children's charities.
He said: "Kate and Gerry are talking to non-government organisations and child welfare groups, but her priority is the search for Madeleine and looking after the twins."
The couple want to campaign for a Europe-wide alert system for missing children, like the amber alert system in place in the U.S.
Mrs McCann, 39, has not returned to work since Madeleine's disappearance in May and has told friends she would like to work for children's charities.
Her cardiology consultant husband Gerry, also 39, has already returned to his £75,000-a-year post at Leicester's Glenfields Hospital.
A source close to the couple told the People newspaper: "Kate feels after all she's been through she has lots to offer child organisations.
"She wants to help others who are going through what she has been through. Many people have come forward in support of her and Gerry and she will never forget that."
The McCanns attended a lunch for Missing Children Europe last week and they have both met with officials from the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children and the Centre for Child Exploitation and Online Protection.
Mrs McCann's mother Susan Healy, 61, told the People: "It is definite now. One of her main goals in life is to work with children and assist with child safety."


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-515348/Madeleine-McCanns-disappearance-linked-string-child-abductions.html#ixzz17LWgYUDP
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Madeleine reconstruction scrapped after 'suspicious' McCanns refuse to return to Portugal to take part

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:54 AM on 28th May 2008

maddie
Maddie: A re-enactment of her disappearance has been scrapped

A planned reconstruction of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann involving her parents and their friends has been scrapped over suspicions about the motives of Portuguese police.

Kate and Gerry McCann and the so-called Tapas Seven - the friends they were dining with in the resort's tapas restaurant when Madeleine vanished - had been due to fly to the Algarve tomorrow.
The plan was to re-enact their movements leading up to the discovery that the three-year-old was missing. But a family friend revealed yesterday how some of them had pulled out after growing uneasy about the decision to stage the replay more than a year on.

The friend said the McCanns, both doctors from Rothley, Leicestershire, believe it would have done 'absolutely nothing' to help find their daughter not least because police had refused requests to televise it.
The couple and the Tapas Seven - friends Matthew and Rachael Oldfield, David and Fiona Payne, Russell O'Brien, his partner Jane Tanner and Dianne Webster, Mrs Payne's mother - were due to take part in the reconstruction at the Mark Warner resort in Praia da Luz.

Their decision to pull out will further damage relations between the police and the McCanns, who were made official suspects in the case in September.

Madeleine disappeared from the bedroom of the family's holiday apartment on May 3 last year. Her parents deny any wrongdoing.
Kate and Gerry McCann
Kate and Gerry McCann: Maddie's parents had been due to the fly out to the Algarve

A friend of the couple said: 'It was a case of all nine of them take part or it doesn't happen at all from the police's point of view, so the whole thing is off.

'The whole group have had grave reservations about the value of it. They want to help the police but keep asking themselves "Why now, more than one year on? What on earth is it going to achieve?"
'They also question why it was not to be televised and why police just want the nine and not other holidaymakers and staff to take part.'

Mrs McCann, 40, her 39-year-old husband and their friends had originally been asked to return to Portugal two weeks ago. But the date was extended because the couple had been undecided about the trip.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1022373/Madeleine-reconstruction-scrapped-suspicious-McCanns-refuse-return-Portugal-part.html#ixzz17JmPRXBL
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Sunday, December 5, 2010

Madeleine McCann: the key questions

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2422967.ece

From Times Online
September 21, 2007

David Brown and Steve Bird examine the puzzles and mysteries at the heart of the four month investigation

Why are the “Tapas 9” key to solving the Madeleine mystery?
Kate and Gerry McCann were dining with seven British friends at a tapas restaurant in the Ocean Club resort when Madeleine was reported missing. The friends are crucial witnesses but have said very little publicly. Police sources have claimed there are inconsistencies in their statements to officers. The friends are Matthew and Rachael Oldfield, Russell O’Brien and his partner Jane Tanner and David and Fiona Payne and her mother Dianne Webster.

Did any of them see anyone taking Madeleine?
Jane Tanner told police that she saw a man walking away from the McCanns’ apartment at 9.15pm. Sources close to the couple have previously said that the man had a child wrapped in the blanket and was walking in a southerly direction. However, the London Evening Standard reported yesterday that Ms Tanner had seen man carrying a girl dressed in Madeleine’s distinctive pink-and-white pyjamas walking eastwards, towards the house of the official suspect Robert Murat, 33.

Do police believe this was a man abducting Madeleine?
Detectives refused to publicise the sighting for three weeks. Another witness, Jeremy Wilkins, is reported to have told police that he was in the area talking to Mr McCann and did not see the mystery man.

Did anyone else in the Tapas 9 notice anything strange?
Matthew Oldfield said he had checked on the McCanns’ apartment at 9.30pm. A source close to the McCanns had said he did not look into the bedroom where Madeleine was sleeping with the two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie. But the Evening Standard report claimed he saw the twins but did not have a view of Madeleine’s bed.

Was there anything strange about the room after Madeleine disappeared?
Mrs McCann was sure Madeleine had been abducted because the bedroom window was open and the security shutter was forced open, a source close to the family has insisted. Tests on the shutter showed no sign of forced entry. However, another friend claimed yesterday that the shutter had been left open.

When will the Portuguese courts decide what to do in the Madeleine case?
Pedro Daniel dos Anjos Frias, a criminal instructional judge in Portimão, has decided that there is no need for the McCanns to be reinterviewed at this point, hence the prosecutor’s statement last night. The threat of them having to return to the Algarve in the near future has been lifted. The judge must complete his rulings by today on a variety of issues. It is believed that he has already authorised the use of Mrs McCann’s diaries as evidence.

Could the couple still be charged soon?
Unlikely. LuÍs Armando Bilro Verão, the lead public prosecutor, must now decide if there is sufficient evidence to bring charges against them, if he needs to request the PolÍcia Judiciária to carry out further investigations or if the case against them should be dropped.

Why is it all taking so long?
Portuguese detectives are still waiting for the results of tests on samples being carried out by the Forensic Science Service laboratory in Birmingham. They are also believed to want to carry out further searches in the Algarve and possibly at the McCanns’ home.

So how long will the McCanns have to wait?
The couple can remain as arguidos, or official suspects, for eight months before the Portuguese police have to apply for a four-month extension. After this time they automatically cease to be suspects, but there is no requirement for the prosecutor to clear them formally.
Robert Murat, a British self-employed property consultant on the Algarve and the only other official suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance, has been an arguido for four months.

Why has there been so much confusion?
Portugal’s strict laws of judicial secrecy mean that nobody involved in a criminal investigation is allowed to reveal any of the evidence in the case. However, Portuguese police sources are regularly quoted giving incriminating details about the McCanns’ role in their daughter’s disappearance. Friends of the couple have increasingly been attempting to challenge these reports with their own interpretation of events. Both sides are actually breaking the law and could face up to two years in jail.

Who is who in Team McCann

Clarence Mitchell
Former BBC journalist appointed on Monday as Kate and Gerry McCann’s official spokesman. Represented them in May and June after being sent to Praia da Luz by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Michael Caplan, QC
One of few solicitors to be appointed QC, expert in extradition and international criminal law. Prevented extradition to Spain of former Chilean president General Augusto Pinochet
Angus McBride
Leading criminal solicitor with expertise in dealing with media and protecting reputation of individuals subject to media or criminal investigation
Carlos Pinto de Abreu
One of Portugal’s best-known lawyers with reputation for taking on controversial cases. Lodged McCanns’ libel action against Portuguese newspaper which said they were police suspects
Esther McVey
Former GMTV presenter and Conservative parliamentary candidate, trustee and spokeswoman for Madeleine Fund. Has known Mrs McCann since they did their A levels together
Father Haynes Hubbard
Anglican priest at church of Nossa Senhora da Luz (Our Lady of the Light) in Praia da Luz and his wife, Susan, have become close friends and confidants of McCanns
Calum MacRae
18-year-old internet expert runs Find Madeleine website which has attracted more than 400,000 unique users and helped to raise more than £1 million in donations for campaign
Philomena McCann
Mr McCann’s sister, a headteacher, has been key family member to publicise hunt for Madeleine and to defend her parents
Trish and Sandy Cameron
Mr McCann’s sister and brother-in-law have been frequent visitors to the couple in Praia da Luz and Rothley. About 30 other relatives and friends also visited them in Praia da Luz
Why are the McCann’s early television interviews being scrutinised?
Commentators have seized on the lack of emotion shown by Kate and Gerry McCann during a series of televised statements and interviews in the weeks after Madeleine’s disappearance. It is claimed that this was an unnatural response and indicated that the couple were hiding something. In fact, criminal profilers had advised them to display no overt emotion in case Madeleine’s abductor “got off" on the sight of her parents in obvious distress. Off camera, they were deeply distressed and received help from counsellors.

How can the police establish Mrs McCann’s state of mind?
Prosecutors are reported to want access to Mrs McCann’s medical records to see if there is any history of illness such as depression which could explain why she would kill Madeleine. They are also said to want British police to carry out investigations into the couple’s relationship and personal history.

Could Mrs McCann’s handwriting be used as evidence?
A judge has authorised police to seize Mrs McCann’s diary and detectives want a graphologist to study the handwriting, it was reported yesterday. Alberto Vaz da Silva, a criminal psychologist and a handwriting expert, told the newspaper 24 Horas: “It would be possible to discover the temper and the character of the person in question. You can see if someone is lying or hiding something.” However, handwriting evidence is usually used only for forensic science purposes, not to determine a person’s emotional state.

Why could Mrs McCann’s newspaper interview lead to jail?
Mrs McCann could be prosecuted under Portugal’s laws of judicial secrecy for telling the Sunday Mirror that police had seized her bible. She said: “One of the pieces of evidence is that a page from a passage in Samuel about having to tell a man his child is dead is crumpled - so I must have been reading it.” The 24 Horas newspaper said that the public prosecutor could accuse Mrs McCann of breaking the secrecy law, which carries a maximum two years' jail sentence. Varradas Leitao, a member of the Superior Council of the Ministerial Publico, said: “A witness or an arguida, the law is the same for everybody. You cannot divulge procedural acts.”

What are the police doing to find Madeleine or her body?
Portuguese police are reported to be preparing for a new series of searches using sniffer dogs and infra-red equipment in an area between Praia da Luz and the village of Burgau, about two miles to the west. It has also been suggested that they will search the church in Praia da Luz and the town of Arao, where a big operation was carried out after an anonymous tip-off to a Dutch newspaper.

Who is advising Kate and Gerry McCann?
British lawyers Michael Caplan, QC, an expert in international law, and Angus McBride, a solicitor who specialises in protecting the reputation of individuals subject to media or criminal investigation. They have also hired a Portuguese lawyer, Carlos Pinto de Abreu, who filed the libel action against a newspaper which said the police suspected them of involvement in their daughter’s death.

How can the couple win the battle of public opinion?
Clarence Mitchell, 46, has been appointed as their official spokesman. He resigned yesterday as head of the Government’s Media Monitoring Unit and had previously been seconded to the Foreign Office to help the McCanns in the weeks after Madeleine’s disappearance.

What can Mr Mitchell do to help the McCanns?
His job at the Cabinet Office has given him contacts among senior members of the Government and Civil Service. He also has extensive contacts with journalists in both Britain and Portugal and more than 20 years’ experience as a reporter.

Are the McCanns paying for his services?
No. He has been employed by one of their wealthy backers and will continue to work for that person after the Madeleine case is over.

What action will the police take this week?
Portuguese detectives are due to arrive in Leicester to work with a British police team investigating Madeleine’s disappearance. It has been reported that Kate McCann could be interviewed again this week. A Portuguese judge must decide by Thursday whether to approve requests by Portuguese police to secure more evidence.

Who’s advising British police on the case?
Tony Connell, a member of the Crown Prosecution Service’s special casework unit, has been advising the “Gold Group” of senior detectives at Leicestershire Police, which is investigating the Madeleine case. Mr Connell led the review which led to the conviction of Damilola Taylor’s killers.

Could the McCanns be prosecuted in Britain?
It is possible to prosecute a British citizen for a murder or manslaughter abroad under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. This was last done in 2005 when Christopher Newman was convicted at the Inner London Crown Court of murdering Georgina Eager in Dublin.

Can the public support Kate and Gerry McCann’s legal battle?
A fighting fund to help to pay their legal costs is expected to be announced within the next few days. A source close to the family told The Times: “It will be getting set up and formalised as a proper fund. It has to be meticulously thought through.”

Why is the McCanns’ hire car pivotal to the investigation?
Portuguese police claim they have found traces of Madeleine’s hair and bodily fluid in the boot of the Renault Scenic, indicating that it was used to transport Madeleine’s body after her death. Scientists have said that it should be possible to establish whether the hair came from a dead or living person.

Does this mean the scientific results hold the key to the case?
Not necessarily. Kate and Gerry McCann used the Budget rental car to move apartments, taking with them all their children’s toys and clothing, which would have contained large amounts of genetic material. It was also used by friends, relatives and people who worked on the campaign to find their daughter.

Where is the car now?
When the McCanns left Britain they drove the car to the airport. They have since said they will hold on to the vehicle to get their own independent scientific examinations done.

Under what circumstances was the car searched?
Police seized the car last month and took it to an underground car park opposite their offices in Portimão. Police sources say this is an unusual place to carry out such a delicate search.

Is there any other explanation about how the material could have got there?
If the DNA samples did come from Madeleine’s corpse it would seem an amazing coincidence that the McCanns hired a car used by their daughter’s abductor and killer. However, friends of the McCanns claim that the couple are being framed. It has also been suggested that the samples may have been labelled incorrectly.

Why do Portuguese police want to read Kate McCann’s personal diaries?
Detectives want to check for inconsistencies with the information previously given to police and for clues about the personal relationship between Mrs McCann, her husband and other members of the party who went with them to Portugal. Mrs McCann was seen regularly writing several pages a day in the diaries.

What evidence could be held on Gerry McCann’s laptop computer?
Mr McCann sent and received dozens of e-mails almost every day from friends and people involved in the campaign to find his daughter. It may be possible to retrieve those e-mails, which detectives hope could provide information about the events surrounding Madeleine’s disappearance and the couple’s connections with other people.

Why does a Portuguese judge need to authorise the seizure?
Portuguese police must get an authorisation from a judge to request items which are abroad or to retain items taken without the owner’s permission. Mr and Mrs McCann are believed to have taken most of the objects home to Britain. There are also reports in Portugal that police seized a copy of Mrs McCann’s diaries before the couple left the country to ensure they could not be destroyed. A judge must be asked to authorise a seizure without the owner’s consent within 24 hours.

Why didn’t the Portuguese police seize these items in Praia da Luz?
It may be that the items left Portugal some time ago when Mr or Mrs McCann made previous trips to Britain, or a friend may have taken them. The couple left the Algarve on Sunday morning at very short notice. They notified the Portuguese authorities but perhaps police did not have the opportunity to ask a judge to authorise the seizure of items without the couple’s consent.

Has the judge been asked to authorise any other seizures?
Portuguese papers reported yesterday that officers wanted to obtain Madeleine’s favourite soft toy, which Mrs McCann took home. It is also claimed that police seized the Renault hired by the McCanns 25 days after Madeleine’s disappearance. The car contained samples of the girl’s hair and “bodily fluids”.

What else has the judge been asked to do?
It has been reported that detectives want to search the church in Praia da Luz where the couple regularly prayed after Madeleine disappeared. They would only require an order from the judge if the priest or bishop in charge refused to authorise the search. It has also been suggested that police want to search a cemetery beside the church and to excavate roads where sewers were being replaced at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance.

Who is revealing details about scientific evidence?
By law Portuguese police are prevented from revealing details of investigations. However, some officers have been secretly briefing Portuguese journalists.

What scientific evidence have police collected?
In a briefings on Monday night detectives said that they found traces of “bodily fluids” in the car which had probably come from Madeleine with a large amount of Madeleine’s hair in the boot of the car.

Why are the “bodily fluids” significant?
When pathologists refer to bodily fluids they usually mean the putrefying substance created during the decomposition of a body tissue and blood. This “fluid” is evidence that a corpse has been present, but DNA samples are required to identify the body. It is unclear what “fluids” have been found. It might be traces of urine, dried blood or vomit, which would not conclusively prove Madeleine had died.

Does a large quantity of hair prove that Madeleine’s body was in the car?
No. The hair must show evidence that it came from a decomposing body. Other hair could be “transmitted” from items of Madeleine’s clothing and belongings.

Is anyone else confirming these reports?
Sources in Britain who are assisting the Portuguese investigation have agreed that there is “significant” scientific evidence linking Mr and Mrs McCann to their daughter’s death. However, Portuguese officers took the highly unusual step of publicly denying a report which was allegedly based on sources in Britain.

Does the scientific evidence prove that Madeleine was killed?
Because the samples have degraded over time the scientists can never be 100 per cent certain that they came from Madeleine.

What happened in the four hours before Madeleine was reported missing?
Kate and Gerry McCann claim that while they dined at a restaurant with friends regular checks were made on Madeleine and their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie, at their nearby holiday apartment. Mr McCann told police he saw his daughter asleep at about 9pm. A friend, Matthew Oldfield, entered the apartment at about 9.30pm but did not look in the bedroom Madeleine and the twins were sharing.

It is not known if anyone apart from Mr and Mrs McCann saw Madeleine alive between 6pm and 10pm, when she was reported missing by her mother. The timing is crucial but would be only circumstantial evidence in any prosecution. Although a small child could be killed quickly it would take time to hide a body so that it was not discovered in the biggest search in Portuguese history.

Why did Kate McCann cry out “They’ve taken her?” when she discovered Madeleine missing?
Portuguese police are reported to find it suspicious that Mrs McCann immediately believed that more than one person had taken her daughter. This could suggest that she knew who had taken Madeleine, perhaps people who thought they were helping Mrs McCann by removing her daughter’s body.

Alternatively, it could be an off-the-cuff remark by an hysterical mother or perhaps was misheard or misunderstood in the confusion of the night.

What were the movements of the McCann’s friends on the night Madeleine disappeared?
The McCann family had stayed at the Ocean Club resort with three other British couples and their five children, and a single woman. Russell O’Brien, a doctor from Exeter, left the restaurant for half an hour to look after his own daughter, returning shortly before Madeleine was reported missing.

His wife, Jane Tanner, was the only witness to report a man carrying away child from the McCann’s apartments. There is confusion about when members of the party arrived at the tapas restaurant and left to check on their own sleeping children.

How much alcohol did the McCanns and their friends drink on the evening Madeleine disappeared?
Kate and Gerry McCann and their friends are reported to have told detectives they shared four bottles of wine, with another two barely touched before Madeleine was discovered missing.
However, it is claimed detectives have recovered a bill showing they downed eight bottles of red wine and six white during the afternoon and evening.

Why was Madeleine’s bedroom window and shutter open?
Kate and Gerry McCann told police that the window shutter in Madeleine’s bedroom, which could not been seen from the restaurant, had been forced open.
Police tests showed the heavy metal shutter had not been forced up from the outside, so must have been pulled open from inside the room. Assuming that the abductor entered through the apartment’s unlocked patio windows, why would he or she not leave by the same way or the use the front door?
Or was the window opened to make it appear as if an intruder had used it to enter the bedroom?

Why did Madeleine’s sister and brother sleep through her “abduction”?
Sean and Amelie were heavy sleepers who were not disturbed by their sister’s abduction, claim their parents. However, they also slept through their mother’s hysterical response to Madeleine’s disappearance and the presence of dozens of people who joined the search before being carried out by a female police officer. Kate and Gerry McCann have strenuously denied sedating their daughter.

Why were the McCanns allowed to leave Portugal if they are suspects?
The Portuguese authorities allowed the McCanns to return to the UK after they agreed to reside only at their home in Rothley and to return for further questioning if necessary.
Portuguese law states that after someone is declared a suspect, police have eight months to conclude the investigation into that individual. If they require further time officers can apply to the courts for a four-month extension.
If the McCanns refused to comply with a request to return to the Algarve for interview, Portuguese police could issue a European Arrest Warrant under which extradition can be carried out within six weeks.

Why has it taken so long to find the evidence that could implicate Kate and Gerry McCann?
The material was only collected at the end of July and early August in a review of the investigation carried out by Portuguese detectives with the help of British police and two sniffer dogs. Many of the samples are very small, containing just a few cells, while others are of poor quality because of damage by cleaning or simply the passing of time.
A full report of the findings will not be ready for weeks, but many results have already been passed to the Portuguese authorities.

What evidence were police looking for?
Detectives are searching for any evidence that proves Madeleine is dead or contradicts the accounts of Mr and Mrs McCann and other witnesses.

What is the most important forensic evidence?
It appears the Forensic Science Service believes it has discovered compelling new evidence, possibly from more than one source. Portuguese detectives told Mrs McCann repeatedly that they found traces of Madeleine’s blood in a Renault Scenic hired three weeks after she disappeared, suggesting that the missing girl’s parents used the vehicle to carry her body. It is possible to tell if the blood came from a living person or from a corpse, and even the time of death. However, some reports suggest that the quality of the blood sample was too poor to confirm the origin while others have denied any blood was found in the vehicle and claim it was other “bodily fluids”. Unless a body had been placed in a freezer, it would have badly decomposed during the warm weather; leaving a mass of traces invisible to the human eye.

Does any trace of Madeleine in the hire car prove she was killed?
No. Mr and Mrs McCann hired the car to buy new clothes in the town of Portimão a day before they flew to Rome to see Pope Benedict XVI. They then used it regularly for family outings and to collect friends and relatives from Faro airport. They continued using the car until shortly before flying home yesterday. Kate and Gerry and their two-year-old twins would have often carried in the car items used by Madeleine. These items could easily certainly carry Madeleine’s hair and minute traces of skin, dried blood, saliva and vomit. The same could be said of the holiday apartments used by the McCanns and their friends in the Ocean Club resort. However, if the blood came from Madeleine’s corpse the only other highly unlikely explanation would be that a previous hirer had moved the body.
One report suggested yesterday that Madeleine’s DNA had been found on the floor of the McCanns holiday apartment, but because of degredation it was based on an incomplete picture, with only 15 of the 20 genetic markers usually used for such analysis.

What is the DNA evidence that has supposedly been found by the Portuguese investigators?
Newspapers in Portugal have been reporting that “biological fluids” with an 80 per cent match to Madeleine’s DNA have been found underneath upholstery in the boot of the McCanns’ rented Renault Scenic. Some media reports claimed that another DNA sample with a 100 per cent match to that of Madeleine’s profile had been found in the car.

What would this tell us?
Perhaps nothing. If it was sourced from something such as a hair follicle or skin cells then that could have been one of Madeleine’s hairs that had stuck to the clothes of a family member or her “cuddle cat” toy that her mother carries. If it was from Madeleine’s blood or corpse, that could be more significant. The most important issue is the size of the sample found. If there was a substantial amount of material it is unlikely to be from accidental contamination and would indicate that Madeleine had been in the car.

Can investigators establish if the DNA sample comes from someone who was alive or dead?
Unlikely, according to British experts. A DNA profile does not change just because someone dies. You can tell if DNA has degraded but that can happen if, for example, it had been exposed to sunshine.

Does an 80 per cent match with biological fluids indicate that Madeleine was definitely in the car?
No. The sample will have been tested against a definite sample of Madeleine’s. A 80 per cent match indicates that profilers could find only 16 of the 20 markers usually used for such analysis and suggests that the biological traces are tiny and degraded. Additionally, the twins Sean and Amelie could share a high percentage of DNA characteristics as most siblings do.
What complicates the matter further is that all three of the McCanns’ children were born through IVF and it is unknown whether the couple’s sperm and eggs were used for conception.

What about the discoveries of the “cadaver” sniffer dog?
Mr and Mrs McCann were shown a police video of a sniffer dog used to find corpses “going crazy” when it approached the hire car. Reports also claim that is discovered the scent on the vehicle’s key fob. Mrs McCann is reported to have explained that in her work as locum GP she came into contact with six corpses in the weeks leading up to Algarve holiday.

This seems a high number for a locum GP working just a couple of days a week but would be easy to check against surgery records.
The crucial difficulty with the sniffer dog “evidence” is that it cannot distinguish between corpses. This type of dog is trained to find bodies, not identify where dead bodies have been. Crucially, they can become excited by other scents.

Any evidence of Madeleine’s death on Cuddle Cat?
The cadaver dog is alleged to have become excited when shown Madeleine’s favourite soft pink toy, called Cuddle Cat. The cat had become poignant symbol of a mother’s loss as Kate McCann carried it with her at all time from the night of Madeleine’s disappearance.
She washed it four days after the police tests, claiming it had become dirty. The toy was potentially crucial evidence and should have been seized by police very early in the investigation.

What evidence can be found in Mrs McCann’s Bible?
Mrs McCann, a devout Roman Catholic, claims that police told her that a crumpled page in her Bible was evidence that she was involved in the death of her daughter. The page contained a passage from Samuel II, chapter 12, verses 15-19, which recalls how man’s child is stricken with illness after he “scorns” the Lord.
The man fasts for seven days, refusing to get up off the ground, to try to gain redemption — but eventually his child dies. Mrs McCann claims that detectives told her that damage to the page proved she had been reading it.

Why are the McCanns suspects in their daughter’s killing?
Portuguese police refuse to say why the couple have been made official suspects. Under Portuguese law police can not question someone as if they had committed a crime unless they are a “suspect”. It could simply be that police wanted to ask the couple about the evidence they had collected, and that the seriousness of the process has been misunderstood and exaggerated by cultural and language differences. The McCanns believed that they were about to be charged with Madeleine’s death, but it does not appear police disclosed any crucial evidence to them.

All parties have strenuously denied any wrongdoing.
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