A convicted Dutch terrorist who runs a business cremating dead family pets was asked by Portuguese police last night if he had burned the body of Madeleine McCann.
Eef Hoos, 61, uses a site 20 miles from where the four-year-old disappeared. Officers believe Madeleine is dead and that her body has been destroyed.
Two detectives visited Mr Hoos at his run-down farm near Monchique. The property, which has a roundabout and swings in the garden, is marked by a turreted portcullis entrance and guarded by three Alsatians.
From there Mr Hoos operates Creon Starlight, which disposes of animals in huge outdoor ovens built in converted freight containers behind his red-roofed villa.
He said he was asked if a body could have been hidden in one of the dead animal carcasses, but said he told police that he checked everything that was burned.
"I have the names of the people and I see what's in the bags. The police want to see my list of clients," he said.
Mr Hoos said the police asked him if he had anything to do with Madeleine's disappearance.
"They asked if I had spoken with the parents of Madeleine McCann," he said. "They claimed they knew I had spoken to the parents, but it's not true.
"I know there are lots of paedophiles in the area where Madeleine went missing."
He said he told the police he was having an eye operation on May 3, the day Madeleine disappeared.
Two weeks ago, he said, helicopters had hovered above his house for two hours.
Mr Hoos, white-haired and bespectacled, said the police had told him to report to Portimao police station on Monday morning because of his notorious reputation.
He spent seven years in jail in Holland after a series of bomb attacks in 1988, in which one person was seriously injured.
"I blew up a police office, it was political," he said.
Mr Hoos's furnace was shut down in February after neighbours complained about the smell. He still carries out incinerations at a site in Lisbon.
"I have the names of the people and I see what's in the bags. The police want to see my list of clients," he said.
Mr Hoos said the police asked him if he had anything to do with Madeleine's disappearance.
"They asked if I had spoken with the parents of Madeleine McCann," he said. "They claimed they knew I had spoken to the parents, but it's not true.
"I know there are lots of paedophiles in the area where Madeleine went missing."
He said he told the police he was having an eye operation on May 3, the day Madeleine disappeared.
Two weeks ago, he said, helicopters had hovered above his house for two hours.
Mr Hoos, white-haired and bespectacled, said the police had told him to report to Portimao police station on Monday morning because of his notorious reputation.
He spent seven years in jail in Holland after a series of bomb attacks in 1988, in which one person was seriously injured.
"I blew up a police office, it was political," he said.
Mr Hoos's furnace was shut down in February after neighbours complained about the smell. He still carries out incinerations at a site in Lisbon.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1563735/Pet-cremator-is-asked-Did-you-burn-Madeleine-McCanns-body.html
