Sunday, May 1, 2011

Prince Charles website names suspect in Madeleine McCann case

Submitted by mstar on 30 September, 2007 - 05:35

Posted in

Prince Charles is involved in a dramatic intervention in the Madeleine McCann case according to today's News of the World.

An anonymous e-mail sent to the prince's official website says the three-year-old Madeleine was kidnapped from the Mark Warner Ocean Club holiday resort in Portugal by a disgruntled ex-employee.

The informant named a maid who was sacked from the apartment complex in Praia da Luz and claimed she snatched the child in a revenge plot.

http://theinternetforum.co.uk/node/2772

"The only thing to investigate is how the body disappeared."

Kate and Gerry McCann yesterday marked the 150th day since daughter Madeleine vanished clinging to the belief she is alive and praying for her safe return.

Throughout their harrowing ordeal the brave couple have refused to give in to their worst fears, taking strength from their abiding Christian faith.

Yesterday they were battered by further ludicrous claims - this time that their precious daughter died from cracking her head after falling down steps.

Undaunted, they tried to shrug the smear off and attended church near their home.

There, clasping two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie and accompanied by Kate's parents Brian and Susan Healey, they joined in an emotional rosary prayer for Madeleine.

Outside the Catholic Sacred Heart Church in Rothley, Leics, heart specialist Gerry, 39, said: "We continue to hope and pray that our lovely little girl will be back with us soon." Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell added: "Kate and Gerry are devoted Catholics.

"They take great comfort in their faith and during these difficult times find solace in their church visits.

"The only thing that will make them happy is the safe return of their daughter."

As the McCanns prayed, Portugal's 24 Horas publication claimed police had "strong suspicions" that Madeleine died after falling down steps leading to the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.

Detectives, who were said to have received a final forensic report from British police, were allegedly "100 per cent" certain that Madeleine died in the apartment.

Afraid of being accused of manslaughter, it was claimed, the McCanns asked friends to help cover up the death and move the body.

The report said it was "highly possible" some of the friends could be made formal suspects and be re-interviewed by British police.

One police source was quoted as saying: "The only thing to investigate is how the body disappeared."

Mr Mitchell moved swiftly to quash the slur which followed outrageous claims that Madeleine was killed and her body stored in a fridge.

He said: "It's ludicrous and hurtful - all these reports are unsubstantiated. Kate and Gerry have nothing to hide. They did not harm their daughter, even accidentally.

"They continue to want to cooperate with the Portuguese authorities at every stage and hope their efforts are entirely concentrated on finding Madeleine."

Family friends also rubbished the claim that the report from the Forensic Science Service, in Birmingham, conclusively proved Madeleine died inside the apartment.

One said the tests carried out were simply to clarify "fine detail" surrounding samples collected from the McCanns' hire car.

The friend also ridiculed the suggestion that Madeleine sustained fatal head injuries in a fall.

Our source declared: "How can you tell what anyone died of without a body? It flies in the face of reason."

Last night police were probing a new tip-off that Madeleine was kidnapped by a maid sacked from the Mark Warner complex in Praia da Luz.

A source close to the McCanns' legal team said: "There is a disgruntled maid, either a Portuguese or Spanish woman, whose name checks out. But whether this bad odour extends to a kidnap threat, we just don't know.

"Kate and Gerry have not been informed by police of these latest inquiries."

Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson backed the McCanns yesterday, making a scathing attack on the Portuguese media.

Speaking for the first time since it emerged he has helped the family meet their legal costs, he said: "The Portuguese press have behaved abysmally.

"They've been fed inaccurate stories by the Portuguese police. They've all turned out to be a load of garbage. I've never doubted Kate and Gerry's innocence."

Billionaire Sir Richard has been in regular touch with the couple, who returned to the UK from Portugal last month.

The McCanns, who have always maintained their complete innocence, remain official suspects under Portuguese law.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2007/10/01/mccanns-pray-for-help-on-hunt-day-150-115875-19874306/

A clever brand image was created. Madeleine has an unusual iris in her right eye

How couple helped to build ‘brand McCann’ into global phenomenon

Skilful media handlers recruited celebrities and world leaders to a campaign driven by parents’ acceptance of the press as partners

Dominic Kennedy and David Brown

The naming of Kate McCann as a suspect in the disappearance of her daughter is all the more shocking since she has become a symbol of mothers of missing children everywhere.

World leaders and celebrities, from the Vatican, the White House and Downing Street downwards have all been recruited to the “find Madeleine” campaign.

The global missing-persons movement has adopted as its most powerful emblem the mystery of the pretty blonde child who disappeared into the night.

As the McCanns have toured Europe and beyond, relentlessly urging the public to find their little girl, families’ fears that their own children may be abducted have worsened.

Nobody could guess, when the news broke on May 3 that a British child had gone missing, that the riddle would eclipse any crime story of the internet age.

What became “brand Madeleine” arose from a combination of brilliant media-handling skills and, for the first time, interactive websites telling editors how much the public craved such a story.

If the Portuguese police were sluggish about starting to search for the missing girl, nobody could accuse British spin-doctors and reporters of being slow off the mark in their hunt for headlines.

The McCanns dominated the news quickly. As doctors and young parents living a quiet provincial life, they had no experience of dealing with the media.

Fortunately, the Mark Warner organisation that runs the holiday camp where Madeleine disappeared was represented by one of the best PRs in the business.

Alex Woolfall is crisis management head at Bell Pottinger, the public relations outfit headed by the original sultan of spin, Lord Bell. Mr Woolfall’s main clients have included that other global brand Coca-Cola.

For the first fortnight after Madeleine disappeared, he was on the spot in Praia da Luz, acting as gobetween for the family and the growing pack of journalists.

“We were aware from the outset that there was a huge amount of media interest and they were very keen to see the media as a partner,” he said in an interview.

“They find themselves having to ask themselves ‘What can we possibly do that means we will be able to sleep tonight, knowing that we have done everything today that we could have done?’.”

In an unprecedented move, the Government took over news-handling on behalf of the McCanns.

Sheree Dodd, a former Daily Mirror journalist and long-serving senior spokeswoman for the Government, was dispatched to Portugal. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced that she was being deployed as “press officer responsible to act as media liaison officer for the McCann family”.

After a couple of weeks, she was replaced by an even more prominent political figure.

Clarence Mitchell, a former BBC News presenter now working as a senior government spin-doctor, became the voice of the McCanns. He was described formally as providing “consular support in exceptional circumstances”. His costs came to just over £6,000, and Ms Dodd’s are likely to be similar.

A Foreign Office source said: “This has been a completely new situation. We had to do something.”

Mr Mitchell was regarded by journalists as an impressive and helpful figure who was sensitive to the needs of the locals as well as the British.

At first, reports suggested that the McCanns would be reluctant to leave Portugal without getting Madeleine back. But they were persuaded to undertake a foreign tour featuring an audience with the Pope, Mr Mitchell sitting close by.

A clever brand image was created. Madeleine has an unusual iris in her right eye that would make her unmistakable even if she were disguised.

Wristbands were issued with the words “Look for Madeleine”. The letters “oo” were designed to resemble the distinctive shape of the girl’s eyes.

Madeleine’s case was seized upon by organisations promoting the search for missing people.

But adverse reaction began when a cinema advertisement was screened before the latest Shrek film. Parents complained that their children were being frightened.

To date, the Find Madeleine campaign, which has a much-visited website that seemed to be struggling under the weight of demand yesterday, has raised more than £1 million. Mr McCann posts a regular blog. Its last entry, from Wednesday, is quite ominous and suggests that the media may have been tipped off about looming developments.

“We were surprised to find increased media presence in Praia da Luz again today,” he wrote. “All the excitement seems to be over the results of the recent forensic tests.”

Justine McGuinness, a public relations expert, has been recruited, with the help of a headhunter, to become the McCanns’ private spokeswoman in Praia da Luz.

The media feeding frenzy is driven in part by the popularity of Madeleine McCann stories on news websites.

For many of the past 128 days, her name has been the most-searched item.

It’s not surprising, then, that the Daily Express has put Madeleine’s picture on its front page almost every day. Its previous favourite cover girl was that other British blonde who came to grief mysteriously in foreign parts: Diana, Princess of Wales.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2409958.ece

PHOTOCALL DISSUADED AT PORTUGUESE ORPHANAGE : Lib Dem hopeful behind McCanns' campaign

PR expert Justine McGuinness: behind the McCanns campaign

The campaign by the McCanns to find their daughter has been masterminded during the past two months by public relations expert Justine McGuinness.

The 37-year-old former Lib Dem parliamentary candidate, who finished second to Conservative MP Oliver Letwin in the race for the West Dorset seat in the 2005 General Election, was selected by the McCanns via a headhunter.
She was chosen for the position specifically because of her background in politics and is paid a 'notional' salary from funds raised by the campaign.

Since taking up the post she has acted as the McCanns' personal spokeswoman and organised events to keep the hunt for Madeleine in the public eye.

These have included a succession of interviews and photocalls with the couple, and Gerry McCann's visit to Washington DC in July on a fact-finding mission about the latest techniques for tracking missing children.

But she has been criticised for adding to the sense that the campaign has become an overly slick, and cynical, PR operation.

Recently, she reportedly had to be dissuaded from arranging a photocall for Kate McCann at a Portuguese orphanage.

Prior to McGuinness's arrival in Praia da Luz, the McCanns' media handling was run, in an unprecedented move, by a team from the British Government.

To help the family cope with the enormous level of interest, first Sheree Dodd, a former Daily Mirror journalist, was dispatched to Portugal by the Foreign Office.

Then Clarence Mitchell, an ex-BBC news presenter now working as a senior government spin doctor, became the voice of the McCanns.

Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-480808/Lib-Dem-hopeful-McCanns-campaign.html#ixzz12c0S2OLm

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

FRIDGE:Kate and Gerry McCann's friends refute ‘missing hours’ claim as smears continue

The parents of Madeleine McCann have pleaded for an end to the distressing smear campaign that has suggested that they may have killed their missing daughter.
Tomorrow is the 150th day since Madeleine vanished. Kate and Gerry McCann will attend a church service near their home in Rothley, Leicestershire, but there will be no special event to generate publicity for the search.

It was claimed yesterday that police in Portugal believe that Kate McCann killed Madeleine while putting her to bed at their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz between 7pm and 8.30pm on May 3 and then hid her corpse in a fridge, with the help of friends.

The respected Diario de Noticias newspaper said that officers believed that Mrs McCann accidentally killed Madeleine while her husband was playing tennis.

The child’s body then “passed through various locations” before going into the boot of the car hired by her parents 25 days later, it reported. As a result, detectives want to inspect fridges at the Ocean Club complex where the McCanns were staying with a group of seven British adults.

It is claimed that there is a window of six hours in Madeleine was killed and her body hidden.

Friends of the couple have refuted this by releasing details of the family’s movements.
The police theory was described as “total rubbish”. A source close to the McCanns said: “Have you seen the size of the fridges in those apartments? Of course they did not stuff her in a fridge.

Kate was not in the apartment alone with Maddie.

They had both been playing tennis, then they put her to bed together and were then down for dinner \ by 8.20pm.”

The report is the latest in a series of allegations in the Portuguese media credited to anonymous detectives from the Polícia Judiciária. There are concerns that the McCanns are victims of “black propaganda” put out by police to explain why they were made arguidos, or official suspects, over their daughter’s disappearance.

Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns’ spokesman, said: “We do not know who is putting all this out in Portugal but for the family’s sake it’s time for it to stop. Every one of these nonsensical allegations causes real pain and hurt for both Gerry and Kate, who cannot help but be aware of them. It makes a most awful situation far, far worse, because they know it’s not true.

“I am very grateful for the media support — it is immeasurable in terms of what has been done to help find Madeleine, but these reports are increasing the pain for Kate and Gerry. We just hope that everyone can see these ridiculous rumours for what they are. It is very hard on the couple because they are not allowed to talk about the investigation and cannot defend themselves.”

Mr Mitchell said that the McCanns would attend church tomorrow. “It will be just another day without Madeleine. The only thing which would make Gerry and Kate happy is to see her safe return,” he said.

It was also reported that the couple, both 39, may speak out about their ordeal in a television interview.

The McCanns have previously turned down requests for interviews with Oprah Winfrey and Larry King but are said to be considering a request from the veteran American broadcaster Barbara Walters for an interview to coincide with the launch of an £80,000 advertising campaign for the search for their daughter.

The couple, who previously rejected interview requests saying that they did not want to be seen as celebrities, are now said to be furious that they cannot speak out because of Portuguese judicial secrecy laws. The law, however, prohibits them only from discussing evidence in the case.

The McCanns had used their campaign to find Madeleine as an opportunity to raise awareness about other missing children and to call for better alert systems.

Portugal, which is the present holder of the rotating EU presidency, is to call for an EU-wide alert system.

It will ask member states at a meeting this week in Lisbon if they want to expand to all 27 countries a new French alert system involving a nationwide media campaign and messages in stations and on motorways.

Counting the hours

2.29pm The last photograph of Madeleine is taken, at the Ocean Club pool. The camera’s clock reads 1.29pm, but the family says it was out by one hour. Mr and Mrs McCann spend afternoon playing tennis. The family insists that there are records of Madeleine attending the resort’s children’s club

5.30pm Madeleine has high tea at children’s club. Staff at the Paraiso restaurant insist that the McCanns dined there with their children, but the family say this is incorrect

6pm Madeleine is picked up from the children’s club by her parents

8.20pm The McCanns join seven friends for dinner at a nearby restaurant after Madeleine has been put to bed

9.05pm Mr McCann checks on the children and sees Madeleine asleep in her bed. He says that he recalls a door being left ajar

9.15pm Jane Tanner, a friend of the family, says she remembers seeing a man carrying a child wearing pink pyjamas similar to Madeleine’s

9.30pm Matthew Oldfield, a dinner companion, checks on the children, but only listens at the door; he does not physically see them

10pm Kate McCann discovers Madeleine is missing

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2551987.ece

May 5th : BBC...McCanns started the smear campaign against PJ from the offset...

Holiday girl abducted, police say

Mr and Mrs McCann made an emotional appeal for information

Police investigating the disappearance of a three-year-old British girl from a Portuguese holiday resort say it appears she has been abducted.

Officers say they have a suspect in mind, and believe Madeleine McCann remains in the area and is still alive.

Her parents, from Leicestershire, left her at their apartment at Mark Warner's Ocean Club in Praia da Luz on Thursday, while they were at a nearby restaurant.

Doctors Gerry and Kate McCann have spoken of their "anguish and despair".

In the first official briefing on the case, Guilhermino Encarnacao, director of the judicial police in the Faro region, said officers are working on the assumption she is being held between 3km and 5km (1.8 and 3.1 miles) from the resort.

We all just stopped what we were doing

Bar owner James Wright

Volunteers join in search

They had about 30 calls from potential witnesses and have created an artist's impression of a suspect.

Responding to criticism that the police had been slow to respond, Mr Encarnacao said officers arrived at the scene 10 minutes after being alerted to the disappearance.

An investigation unit began work within 30 minutes, he added.

Police are expected to provide a further update on their investigation later.

Window opened

Relatives have flown to the Algarve to be with the couple, who were holidaying with their three children.

Madeleine disappeared while her parents were at a nearby restaurant

Speaking to press on Friday evening, Mr and Mrs McCann, from Rothley, pleaded for the return of their "beautiful" Madeleine.

Mr McCann, with his wife at his side, read out an emotional statement outside the holiday apartments on Friday evening.

"We cannot describe the anguish and despair we are feeling as parents of our beautiful daughter Madeleine," he said.

"We request that anyone with any information relating to Madeleine's disappearance, no matter how trivial, contact the Portuguese police and help us get her back safely."

The Ocean Club resort offered a creche service but the couple decided to leave Madeleine and two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie sleeping in the apartment.

They had taken turns to return from the restaurant to check on their children.

Madeleine, who turns four next Friday, was last seen by her father at about 2100 local time.
When Mrs McCann went to check on her about an hour later, she found the bedroom's outside shutter and window had been opened and her daughter missing.

Resort staff and guests helped the McCanns search the complex grounds into Friday morning and police were notified.

Pictures of Madeleine have been widely distributed, and ports and the Spanish police put on alert.

British Ambassador John Buck, who is with the McCanns in the Algarve, said they have been joined by three Family Liaison Officers from Leicestershire Police.

Mr McCann's sister Philomena, criticised the Portuguese police for initially "playing down" their response to the disappearance.

She has been in phone contact with her brother.

Speaking from her home in Glasgow, she said: "He thinks it's just too little, too late.

"It was hours before the local police turned up and we're talking two bobbies that totally downplayed the incident and said that Maddie had maybe just wandered off."

However, she said that the family was elated to hear the police believed Madeleine was still alive.

"There was a distinct feeling of elation, you know - but it's been a while since we actually heard it and it's really important to keep your emotions in check," she said.

The Mayor of Lagos, Julio Barraso, defended the police from accusations that they had been too slow to act.
He told BBC News 24: "During all the night of Thursday until Friday they have been here and they started the investigation and I believe that humanly it's not possible to ask for more."

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6627605.stm

Monday, April 18, 2011

May 15, 2007 by Steve Purcell

Some of Britain’s biggest names have pledged money to a record £2.5 million ($5 million) reward for the safe return of 4-year-old Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal while on holiday with her family.

The girl from Leicestershire, England, vanished from a holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on 3 May.

Celebrity contributions to the reward fund have included £50,000 ($100,000) from Simon Cowell, £100,000 ($200,000) from Richard Branson, an unspecified amount from footballer Wayne Rooney, and a “staggering” contribution from billionaire “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling.

Madeleine’s parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, are still in Portugal helping with the search. Mr McCann said, “Until there is concrete evidence to the contrary, we believe Madeleine is safe and is being looked after.”

A website has been set up to provide information about Madeleine and to help speed her return: www.bringmadeleinehome.com