Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 21:19, 17 May 2013

Madeleine McCann disappeared on the evening of Thursday, 3 May 2007, from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, a resort in the Algarve region of Portugal. She was on holiday there from the UK with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, her twin siblings, and seven friends of the McCanns, when she went missing days before her fourth birthday.

The children had been left at around 20:30 in a bedroom in the ground-floor apartment, while her parents ate with their travelling companions in a tapas restaurant 130 yards (120 metres) away. The parents or friends checked on the children throughout the evening; Madeleine's mother discovered she was missing during a check at 22:00. The Polícia Judiciária, Portugal's criminal investigation police, initially worked on the assumption that Madeleine had been abducted, but later came to regard her parents as suspects. It appears that they misinterpreted forensic evidence and evidence from sniffer dogs supplied by Leicestershire police, and concluded that Madeleine had died in the apartment.

Robert Murat, a local resident, was given arguido (suspect) status in May 2007, and the McCanns were named as arguidos in September that year. All three were cleared in July 2008, when Portugal's attorney-general formally closed the case. Over the years unconfirmed sightings of Madeleine were reported in Portugal and elsewhere. The McCanns continued to investigate the disappearance using private detectives, and in May 2011, at the request of the British Home Secretary, Scotland Yard launched a case review called Operation Grange. The officer in charge said in April 2012 that the team had identified 195 fresh leads within the case files, was collaborating with a team of Portuguese police in Porto, and believe that Madeleine may still be alive. In May 2013 Scotland Yard announced that they had drawn up a list of persons of interest.

The disappearance generated international media attention, with controversy surrounding the police investigation, the actions of Madeleine's parents, and the media coverage. Because they had been named as suspects in 2007 by the Portuguese, the McCanns found themselves at the centre of intense scrutiny from the British tabloids. They and their seven friends were awarded substantial damages against the Express Group in 2008, which they donated to the Find Madeleine Fund, and the Daily Express and Daily Star published apologies. Robert Murat and two others were also awarded substantial damages against the Express Group, News International, Mirror Group Newspapers, and Associated Newspapers. The McCanns testified in November 2011 before the Leveson Inquiry into press standards in the UK.

Family and friends

Madeleine McCann

Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003, in Leicester, England) lived at the time of her disappearance with her parents and younger twin siblings, brother Sean and sister Amelie, in Rothley, Leicestershire. She was made a ward of court during the summer of 2007 on application by her parents, so that the court's statutory powers could be used on her behalf in legal disputes. The application effectively made Mrs Justice Hogg Madeleine's legal guardian.

A notable identifying feature is a coloboma of her right eye, where the pupil runs into the iris in the form of a black radial strip reaching from the pupil out to the edge of the white at the '7 o'clock' position, about 30° clockwise from the bottom. The McCanns released age-progression images in May 2009 of how Madeleine might have looked at age six, and Scotland Yard released another in 2012 at age nine.

Kate and Gerry McCann

Kate Marie McCann (née Healy; born 1968 in Allerton, Liverpool) is a general practitioner (GP). Before the disappearance she worked as a part-time GP in Melton Mowbray. Kate studied medicine at the University of Dundee, initially specialising in gynaecology, but later becoming an anaesthetist. Gerald Patrick McCann (born 1968 in Glasgow) is a cardiologist at the Glenfield Hospital in Leicester. He attended Holyrood Secondary School and studied medicine at the University of Glasgow. The couple met when Gerry was working at Glasgow's Western Infirmary, and were married in 1998. Both are practising Roman Catholics.

Tapas Seven

The McCanns were on holiday with a group of friends from the UK, Dr Russell O'Brien and his partner Jane Tanner, spouses Rachael and Dr Matthew Oldfield, and spouses Drs David and Fiona Payne, as well as the latter's mother Dianne Webster. Russell O'Brien, Matthew Oldfield, and the Paynes had studied medicine together at Leicester University. The McCanns had been on holiday before with the Paynes, and had readily agreed to join them when a spring break in Portugal was suggested. The group travelled there together with their eight children. The nine adults met up at 20:30 every evening during their holiday in the resort's tapas restaurant, including on the evening of the disappearance, as a result of which the friends came to be known in the press as the Tapas Seven.

Disappearance

Evening of 3 May 2007

The apartment the McCanns were staying in, 5A Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva, was part of the Ocean Club resort run by the holiday company Mark Warner. The McCanns said they had taken Madeleine back to the apartment just before 18:00, after a day out, to prepare her and her two-year-old siblings for bed. The parents left the apartment at 20:30, leaving the patio doors unlocked, to dine with their friends at the resort's open-air tapas restaurant, which lay on the other side of the swimming pool from their apartment. The restaurant was around 130 yards (120 metres) away from the apartment, a 30–45 seconds' walk according to Kate. They left Madeleine in bed, wearing a pair of short-sleeved, pink-and-cream Marks and Spencer's Eeyore pyjamas.

The McCanns and their friends took turns checking on their children. At around 21:05 Gerry entered the apartment to carry out the first check. All was well, except that he said the children's bedroom door was further ajar that he recalled having left it; he said he pulled the door almost closed before returning to the restaurant. Gerry said later that he believed the abductor may already have been in the apartment at that point, hiding behind the door.

Possible sighting of the abductor

Another dining companion, Jane Tanner, left the restaurant to check on her own children, and at around 21:15 noticed a man walking quickly along Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva, the road the McCann's apartment was on, heading out of the resort. She said he was carrying a child who was wearing white or light-coloured pink pyjamas with a floral pattern, and cuffs or turn-ups on the pyjama bottoms. The child, whose feet were bare, was lying horizontally and limply in the man's arms. Tanner assumed the child was a girl because of the style of the pyjamas.

She described the man as white, dark-haired, of southern European or Mediterranean appearance, 35–40 years old, wearing gold or beige trousers and a dark jacket, and said he did not look like a tourist. His height was given as 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in). Kate McCann believes this was the abductor carrying Madeleine. According to Kate, Tanner passed the information to the police as soon as Madeleine was reported missing, but the description was not given to the media until 25 May.

Further along Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva, Gerry – on his way back to the tapas restaurant from his 21:05 check – stood chatting briefly to Jeremy Wilkins, someone he had become acquainted with at the resort. Neither man noticed Tanner as she walked past them to join the rest of the group at the restaurant, although she saw them.

Fifty minutes later an Irish family saw a man carrying a child wearing light-coloured pyjamas, this time on Rua da Escola Primária, still near the McCann's apartment, walking in the direction of Rua 25 da Abril. They described him as mid-30s, 1.75–1.8 m in height, with a slim-to-normal build, wearing cream or beige trousers. They also said that he did not look like a tourist, and added that he had not looked comfortable carrying the child.

Madeleine reported missing

At 21:30 Matthew Oldfield checked on the McCann's children, but after hearing no noise from their bedroom he left without seeing Madeleine.

When Kate went to check at around 22:00, she found the children's bedroom door wide open and Madeleine missing. Her Cuddle Cat and blanket were still on the bed, but the bed was empty and the bedroom window and its outside shutters were open. The McCanns discovered later that the window could be opened from the outside. After searching the apartment Kate ran back toward the restaurant, screaming "Madeleine's gone! Someone's taken her!" At around 22:10 Gerry sent Matthew Oldfield to ask the resort's 24-hour reception desk to call the police, and at 22:30 the resort activated its "missing child search protocol."

The police stated that officers arrived within 10 minutes of being alerted, and an investigation unit began work within 30 minutes. Kate wrote in 2011 that two officers from the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR) first arrived at 23:10 from Lagos, a town five miles away. Shortly afterwards, Gerry's telephoned his sister in the UK, who alerted the British Consulate in the Algave, the British Embassy in Lisbon and the Foreign Office in London. By midnight, according to Kate, the GNR had contacted the Polícia Judiciária (PJ), the criminal police, who she said arrived at around 1 am from Portimão, 20 miles away.

Several of the McCanns' friends contacted the media in the UK, hoping to enlist their help. According to Kate, a police officer placed tape across the doorway of the children's bedroom, but she said the police left for the night at around 3 am without securing the rest of the apartment. The resort's manager said that 60 staff and guests continued searching until 04:30, while border police, the Spanish police and airports were alerted. According to the Portuguese police, two patrol dogs were brought to the resort at 2 am and four search-and rescue dogs at 8 am. Kate wrote in 2011 that the British police told her roadblocks were first put in place at 10 am the morning after the abduction. Interpol issued a global alert known as a yellow notice five days later.

Portuguese investigation (2007–2008)

Early stages

The PJ initially worked on the assumption that Madeleine had been abducted by an international paedophile or adoption network. On 17 June Chief Inspector Olegário de Sousa said that the presence of so many people in the apartment on the night of the disappearance might have destroyed evidence and could prove fatal to the investigation. Police examined photographs taken by holidaymakers to see if any suspects could be identified. The Maritime Police searched the coast, including the caves, and sewers and waterways were searched. The police also requested the help of the SIS, the Portuguese secret service.

Robert Murat

At 07:00 on 14 May 2007, searches began at Casa Liliana, a villa owned by Jennifer Murat, a British citizen, near the McCann's holiday apartment. Police sealed off the house, and at 16:00 the swimming pool was drained.

Three people, including Jennifer Murat's son, Robert Murat, were questioned in nearby Portimão. Robert Murat, who has dual British-Portuguese nationality, had drawn the suspicion of Lori Campbell, a Sunday Mirror journalist, who informed the police. Murat's former classmate, Gaynor de Jesus, said that Murat had acted as a translator for the police in their dealings with the McCanns. Murat said his interest in the case had stemmed from his recent loss of custody of his own three-year-old daughter, who looked like Madeleine. In 2009, speaking at a Cambridge Union debate, Murat accused the journalist of trying to convince the Portuguese police that he was acting suspiciously, in order to break the story.

Robert Murat was given arguido (suspect) status on 15 May 2007. Before being given arguido status people are treated as witnesses; arguido status gives them extra rights, such as the right to remain silent. A factor in Murat being made a suspect was that Rachael Oldfield, Russell O'Brien and Fiona Payne – three members of the Tapas Seven – said they had seen him in the Praia da Luz complex on the evening Madeleine disappeared. Chief Inspector Olegário de Sousa told a news conference that police had searched five houses on Monday, had seized materials that were being subjected to scientific tests, and had questioned two other unnamed people as witnesses. Two cars used by the Murats were examined, and computers, mobile phones and video tapes were taken from their villa. It also emerged that a British architect, who built the villa in 1993, told police about a hidden basement within the property. Murat said he was being made a scapegoat so that the police could be seen to have found a suspect.

On 19 May, Portuguese detectives flew to England to interview Dawn Murat, the estranged wife of Robert Murat, and detectives re-interviewed other witnesses connected with Murat. Murat was interviewed for a second and third time on 10 and 11 July. On the second day detectives from the Polícia Judiciária questioned three of the Tapas Seven, Rachael Oldfield, Russell O'Brien and Fiona Payne. The three were also brought face to face with Murat. Police examined discrepancies between statements from the four, in particular claims from the friends that they had seen Murat outside the resort on the night of the disappearance, whereas he said he had been at home with his mother. His mother corroborated his alibi.

Police also questioned Sergey Malinka, a 22-year-old man of Russian origin, from whose property officers removed a laptop computer and two hard drives. Malinka had set up a website for Murat and the two had exchanged phone calls since Madeleine's disappearance. Police said that Malinka had been questioned as a witness for approximately five hours. Malinka denied that he had contacted Murat, and said he was completely innocent. Inconsistencies in his account apparently included his saying that he had not contacted Murat in a year, but Murat's mobile phone records allegedly showed that he had called Malinka at 23:40 on the night Madeleine vanished.

Police searched Casa Liliana again on 4 August 2007. Vegetation was cleared and the grounds were searched using scanning equipment and a British sniffer dog. No evidence was found that linked Murat with Madeleine. Murat's computers and other possessions were returned to him in late March 2008. He was cleared of any involvement and his arguido status was lifted on 21 July.

Gonçalo Amaral

The investigation was thrown into confusion on 10 June 2007 when Gonçalo Amaral, the detective in charge of the case – who was head of the regional Polícia Judiciária at the time – was charged along with four other officers with offences related to the inquiry into the 2004 disappearance of Joana Cipriano. Cipriano went missing in September that year from a village seven miles (11 km) from where Madeleine disappeared. Amaral was removed from Madeleine's case and from his post in October 2007.

British police involvement

DNA analysis

A team of British mobile phone experts flew to Portugal on 29 May 2007 to analyse mobile phone data from the area, using triangulation techniques, at the time of the abduction. Experts from the British Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre flew into Portugal on 31 July to assist local detectives, for whom all leave had been cancelled, by developing a psychological profile of a possible abductor.

In August, British detectives again flew in to assist. They were accompanied by specially trained sniffer dogs, equipment for underground detection, and ultraviolet instruments for identifying blood. In early August, the British police found microscopic traces of blood on the wall of the apartment from which Madeleine disappeared and that had not been detected by the Portuguese police; using sniffer dogs and ultraviolet technology they discovered the blood despite the apartment having been cleaned and reoccupied. Samples of blood, hair and fibres were sent to the British Forensic Science Service in Birmingham for DNA analysis.

On 15 August Sousa said that the sniffer dogs, who could only pick up the scent of a body that had been in situ for more than two hours, had detected the scent of a dead body. John Barrett, a former Scotland Yard dog handler, said that the dogs used to detect a "death smell" on Kate's Bible and clothes were brought in too long after Madeleine had vanished; he said the scent lasts for no longer than a month.

It was this forensic evidence – from the dogs and the DNA analysis – that Matt Baggott, chief constable of Leicestershire at the time, told the Leveson Inquiry in 2011 was misinterpreted by the Portuguese police, leading them to conclude that Madeleine had died in the holiday apartment and that the McCanns had faked an abduction to cover up the death. Baggott was aware at the time that the DNA evidence was being wrongly interpreted, but because the Portuguese were in charge of the inquiry, Baggott decided not to correct reporters who were being briefed by Portuguese police that the McCanns were implicated.

McCanns as suspects

The Polícia Judiciária interviewed Kate for a second time on 6 September 2007 at the police station in Portimão. Pinto de Abreu made a formal application for the couple’s status to be changed from "witness" to "assistant" in the investigation to allow the McCanns to be given more information about the progress of the investigation.

Kate returned for another interview on 7 September and was formally declared a suspect. She exercised her right to remain silent, and was released without being charged. Gerry was interviewed at the same police station on 7 September, and was also named as a suspect. Before she became a suspect Kate said, "The police don't want a murder in Portugal and all the publicity about them not having paedophile laws here, so they're blaming us." Gerry said, "We are being absolutely stitched up." Pinto de Abreu said that claims by relatives that police had offered Kate a plea bargain if she admitted to accidentally killing her child were the result of a misunderstanding. Despite their arguido status, the McCanns were allowed to return to England, and arrived there on 9 September 2007.

On 10 September 2007, Sky News reported that the analysis of DNA samples returned from the Forensic Science Service showed "the presence of Madeleine's body in the boot of the family's hire car five weeks after she disappeared." Shortly afterwards, the national director of the Polícia Judiciária, Alípio Ribeiro, cautioned that the tests had not been conclusive and forensic scientists pointed to the dangers of contamination. Kate told detectives there was "no way" Madeleine's blood could have been found inside the car, which they had hired some 25 days after the disappearance. To enable the McCanns to carry out independent scientific tests, the car was kept in the garage of tycoon John Geraghty at his villa near Praia da Luz.

Other steps

The case file was handed given to the local prosecutor, José Cunha de Magalhães e Meneses, on 11 September 2007. Meneses decided that there was sufficient evidence to pass the case to a judge, who had the power to approve any charges. The judge appointed was Pedro Miguel dos Anjos Frias, Portimão's juiz de instrução criminal. In addition to Meneses, a district prosecutor, Luis Bilro Verão, was appointed to oversee the investigation. On 12 September Attorney General Fernando José Pinto Monteiro said that further police action was necessary, after which there could be a reassessment of possible bail conditions for the suspects.

Also on 12 September, Anjos Frias authorised the seizure of Kate's diary and Gerry's laptop, thought to be at the McCanns' home in England. Social workers visited the McCanns on 13 September at their request. The McCanns said they believed that their phones in the UK had been tapped early on in the investigation. Clarence Mitchell resigned in September 2007 as director of the Central Office of Information's media monitoring unit to become the McCanns' media spokesman. In his first media appearance, the following day, he said that there was an innocent explanation for any potentially incriminating evidence the police may have found.

In an effort to rebut accusations that Kate had been on medication at the time of the disappearance, her hair was tested in November 2007. Toxicology tests showed no evidence that she had taken drugs in the past eight months. The twins were also tested for sedatives; no traces were found. A team of four Portuguese detectives and scientists were briefed by the Forensic Science Service at Leicestershire Police headquarters on 29 November about the forensic tests that the Birmingham laboratory had carried out. The results were understood to be inconclusive. In early February 2008, Alípio Ribeiro, the national director of the PJ, said that there "perhaps should have been another assessment" before the McCanns were declared arguidos.

It was reported on Spanish television in April 2008 that parts of the McCanns' interviews with the Portuguese police had been leaked. These were reported to include a statement that Madeleine had remonstrated with her mother for leaving the children unattended when they had been crying the previous night. Clarence Mitchell said that the leak was a "deliberate smear," and that it was curious it should emerge on the day that the McCanns were in Brussels promoting a child-welfare initiative. The Polícia Judiciária denied that material had been leaked.

In the judgement from the Tribunal da Relação de Évora by Judge Fernando Ribeiro Cardoso on 29 April 2008, it was revealed that the McCanns were being investigated for allegedly neglecting their daughter, and that the police inquiry covered the possibilities of homicide, abandonment, concealment of a corpse and abduction.

Other lines of inquiry

Detectives tried to trace a British man who left the harbour in his yacht shortly after the disappearance, after having moored there for two years. A witness reported seeing a man carrying a child in his arms down to the marina hours after Madeleine disappeared. On 29 May 2007, detectives questioned four boat owners, three of them English, whose vessels were moored at the marina in Lagos, five miles (8 km) from Praia da Luz.

In June 2007 Spanish investigative journalist Antonio Toscano said Madeleine had been abducted by a French sex offender as part of a Europe-wide paedophile network. Police also examined hundreds of reports from psychics and clairvoyants who claimed to know where she was; the police said they decided to check them all in case they might contain a message from the kidnapper. The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf received a letter on 13 June 2007 that suggested Madeleine was buried on a hillside near Arão, nine miles (14 km) north-east from Praia da Luz. The Portuguese police searched the area.

A trace of DNA was found on 1 June 2007 in the bedroom from which Madeleine disappeared. The DNA did not match that of the McCanns, their three children, or Robert Murat. The PJ handed the sample over to the national forensic science laboratories, the Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal, and said there was a new suspect. In early August there was a suggested link with Urs Hans Von Aesch, who had been on holiday in the area at the time of the disappearance. Von Aesch, a resident of Benimantell, Spain, was implicated by Swiss police in the abduction and murder of five-year-old Ylenia Lenhard in July 2007; he committed suicide shortly after she was taken.

The occupants of the apartment above the McCann's holiday apartment reported an intruder who had apparently entered with a key; there had been a similar burglary in the complex some weeks earlier. On 17 August 2007, search warrants were signed for the home of a new suspect.

The position of the Portuguese police was clarified on 16 August 2007 by Alípio Ribeiro, national director of the Polícia Judiciária, who said that there was a strong hypothesis that Madeleine was dead. António Cluny, president of Portugal's public prosecutor's service, said on 24 September that all options from abduction to Madeleine's death remained open.

In May 2009 Briton Raymond Hewlett, who had been jailed for sexual offences against young girls, became a person of interest. Hewlett denied any involvement and agreed to meet investigators working for the McCanns. He subsequently said he had seen Madeleine before her disappearance, but required payment before he would help investigators. He did voluntarily give police in Germany a DNA sample. Hewlett died of natural causes in December 2009.

In August 2009 it emerged that, 72 hours after Madeleine disappeared, two British men were approached in Barcelona by a woman who reportedly asked, "Are you here to deliver my new daughter?" The woman, described as a "Victoria Beckham lookalike," had an Australian accent and spoke fluent Spanish or Catalan. An E-fit picture was released showing a woman with short, spiky hair.

In February 2011 a private investigator said he had identified two key suspects and believed Madeleine might have been taken to the United States. A 36-year-old man told police that Madeleine had been taken by a Portuguese paedophile ring that hunts children in the Algarve region, then smuggles them out of the country.

Investigation closed

The Portuguese police investigation team was reduced in October 2007, and was formally closed in July 2008. Gonçalo Amaral was removed from the case in October 2007, and Paulo Rebelo, an assistant national director of the Polícia Judiciária, replaced him 8 October. Other departures decreased the number of officers assigned to the case from a peak of 200 to just six detectives which, with holidays, could mean as few as three working on the case at any one time. Alberto Costa, Portugal's Minister of Justice, told a parliamentary committee in Lisbon on 13 February 2008 that Portuguese police were "at a stage now where we are approaching the conclusion of the process."

Luis Antonio, the estranged husband of Murat's girlfriend Michaela Walczuch, was questioned by police for a second time in early February 2008. The Tapas Seven were interviewed by Leicestershire police, with Portuguese police in attendance, in England in April 2008. The Portuguese police planned the next month to hold a reconstruction of the night of Madeleine's disappearance, and asked the McCanns and their friends to attend, but it was cancelled after the friends declined to participate; they were reported to have concerns that it was not going to be televised, which they said rendered it of questionable value.

Alípio Ribeiro resigned as the national director of the Policia Judiciária in May 2008, citing media pressure from the investigation. He had publicly said the police had been "hasty" in naming the McCanns as suspects. Ribeiro's replacement was named as José Maria Almeida Rodrigues, a senior detective based in Coimbra.

Fernando José Pinto Monteiro, the Portuguese Attorney General, said on 1 July 2008 that prosecutors had received the final police report. He announced on 21 July that the case would be closed due to lack of evidence that any crime was committed by the persons placed under formal investigation. The files would be periodically reviewed and could be reopened if new evidence emerged. The police released the files, running to 17 volumes comprising over 11,000 pages, on 4 August 2008.

Unofficial investigations (2007–2012)

At least five firms of private investigators were engaged to make enquiries. At the end of May 2007 the McCanns hired Control Risks Group. A British businessman, Brian Kennedy, paid for private investigators to search in Morocco. Spanish agency Método 3 were also engaged. Hogan International, headed by Noel Hogan, former Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent, carried out a cold case review in 2008, in conjunction with Método 3. US-based Oakley International was hired for six months in 2008. Oakley International owner Kevin Halligen was being sought in November 2009 by the FBI on an indictment for fraud. Allegations included the suggestion that he failed to pay over to investigators £300,000 that he had received from the McCann fund. Another, unnamed, US organisation was engaged in August 2008, also on a £500,000 six-month contract. Método 3 continued to follow up information from Spain and Portugal.

Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragão Correia paid for the Barragem do Arade reservoir, 35 miles (56 km) east of Praia da Luz, to be searched by divers in early February 2008. He said he had received intelligence from underworld sources that Madeleine had been killed and dumped in a lake. The search resumed in the middle of March, funded by the Sociedade Portuguesa de Engenharia e Construção. Several items were found in the reservoir, including lengths of cord, some plastic tape and a single white cotton sock. Two plastic bags, one containing small bones, were found on 14 March 2008, but the bones belonged to a small animal. Correia gave up the search for lack of funds.

Stephen Birch, a South African property developer, said in July 2012 that ground radar scans he had made showed digging and what could be human bones below a gravel driveway in Praia da Luz. The PJ declined to excavate the driveway, a decision that was supported by the McCanns.

Response to the disappearance

Madeleine's Fund

The McCanns implemented a publicity campaign that kept the disappearance in the public eye in many countries. There was criticism that the media attention may have been counter-productive in a number of ways.

An official site for the search was set up and a fund-raising campaign, known as Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned, was launched. The directors of the company running the Fund decided that no money from the Fund would be used to pay the McCanns' legal costs. There were appeals from political leaders and sporting personalities, and over £2.6 million was raised. The parents had an audience with the Pope and embarked on a tour of key European and North African countries, together with a visit to the United States, to raise awareness.

Sightings of Madeleine

There were several reported sightings in Portugal and elsewhere. The Portuguese police said in July 2007 that they believed it was likely that Madeleine, if still alive, was being held in Portugal. The McCanns gained limited access to police files concerning possible sightings in July 2008.

Criticism of the parents

The parents were criticised for having left their children alone, despite the availability of a babysitting service and a creche. In an interview with the BBC in May 2007, the McCanns acknowledged the criticism, and spoke of the guilt they felt. On the 10 Downing Street website a petition to the Prime Minister was started in June 2007 requesting that Leicestershire Social Services "fulfil their statutory obligation to investigate the circumstances which led to three-year-old Madeleine McCann and her younger siblings being left unattended in an unlocked, ground floor hotel room." In response, Leicestershire County Council said it was "discharging duties in ... a full and professional manner," and that "ll agencies are acutely aware of the traumatic ordeal that the McCanns are experiencing." The family declined to comment.

Gonçalo Amaral book

In July 2008 retired police officer Gonçalo Amaral, who was in charge of the Portuguese police investigation until he was removed from it in October 2008, published a book, Maddie, a Verdade da Mentira (Maddie, the Truth of the Lie). The book alleged that Madeleine had died in the holiday apartment and that the McCanns had invented the abduction. A Portuguese judge issued an injunction in September 2009 that stopped further publication or sales of the book, and banned Amaral from repeating his claims. The McCanns also sought 1.2 million euros ($1.7 million) in damages for defamation. In December 2009 Amaral responded to the publication ban by publishing a second book, A Mordaça Inglesa (The English Gag). Amaral lost an appeal against the injunction in February 2010, but in October 2010 the Court of Appeal in Libson overturned the ban, stating that it violated Amaral's freedom of expression.

Criticism of the police

There was extensive criticism of the Portuguese police in the British media. It was reported that there were delays in obtaining and analysing forensic evidence, neither border nor marine police were given descriptions of Madeleine for many hours after she vanished, and officers had not been seen making extensive door-to-door inquiries. Critics alleged that the scene had not been secured as tightly as it would have been in the UK, and that the lack of appeals for help and information had surprised British police experts.

The police failed to ask for surveillance pictures of vehicles leaving Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance or of the road between Lagos and Vila Real de Santo António, on the Spanish border. In August 2007 Mark Williams-Thomas, a former detective with the Surrey Police, who became a child-protection expert, described the initial forensic tests as "inept" and criticised the three-month delay in the Portuguese acceptance of the British offer of expert help. He said the police should have sealed the apartment immediately, on day one, then conducted a thorough forensic examination.

The Portuguese police were working under legal restrictions, which meant they were unable to release information because they were constrained by Article 86 of the Portuguese penal code. This says that information must not be released during a criminal investigation, unless the circumstances are exceptional.

Parallels were drawn with the disappearance of another child, Joana Cipriano, who disappeared on 12 September 2004 from her home in the village of Figueira, seven miles (11 km) from where Madeleine was last seen. Chief investigating officer Guilhermino da Encarnação was also involved in that investigation, in which no body was found, but which ended with the conviction of Leonor and João Cipriano, Joana's mother and uncle. Gonçalo Amaral and four other Portuguese police officers were later charged with offences unrelated to Madeleine's case. A judge decided in February 2008 that Amaral would stand trial; he was accused of falsifying evidence and covering up for the other four, who in turn were accused of torture.

Other alleged mistakes the police were accused of having made included misreporting the height of the man Jane Tanner and the Irish family saw carrying a child on the night of the disappearance. The height was given in a press release as 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m), but it mistakenly appeared as 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) in the English version. Madeleine took a favourite toy to bed with her on the night she disappeared, on which an abductor could have left some trace of DNA evidence, but police did not check it. On 1 June 2007, June Hughes, from Glasgow, who had stayed in the apartment the previous week with her husband, expressed surprise that the police had not made any contact with them. Family members complained on 9 June of harassment by the police when they tried to put up 'missing' posters at Lisbon Airport. There were suggestions that the Portuguese authorities wanted to prevent the posters from being displayed over concerns about damage to their tourist industry.

There was criticism that, on 6 June, two of the senior police officers involved in the case, Olegário de Sousa and Gonçalo Amaral, the head of the regional Polícia Judiciária, were seen laughing during their lunch break at what appeared to be an in-joke as the McCanns appeared on a television news broadcast. Gonçalo Amaral, in an interview given to the Diário de Notícias in October, said "The British police have only been working on that which the McCann couple want them to and which is most convenient for them." Subsequently the PJ's national director, Alípio Ribeiro, told journalists at a conference in Lisbon on 2 October, that Amaral's "commission of service has ceased". Amaral returned to his post in the PJ branch of Faro, the seat of the district. Tavares de Almeida, the deputy head of the inquiry, asked to be put on unpaid leave shortly before it was announced that he had been indicted over the alleged torture of a suspect in an unrelated investigation.

Richard Branson, who contributed £100,000 to the McCanns' defence fund, stepped into the debate on 15 October 2007, when he criticised the Portuguese police and press for "overstepping their mark" by accusing the McCanns of involvement in the disappearance.

Libel cases, Leveson Inquiry

The McCanns, the Tapas Seven, Robert Murat and two others brought libel actions against several news organizations. The Daily Express and Daily Star published front-page apologies to the McCanns in March 2008, and agreed to pay £550,000 in libel damages, money that was donated to the Find Madeleine Fund. The Tapas Seven were awarded £375,000 in damages in October that year against the Express Group, along with a published apology in the Daily Express, after the newspaper suggested they had misled detectives to cover up for the McCanns. That award was also donated to the Find Madeleine Fund.

A group of British newspapers settled with Murat for a £600,000 payout and issued a public apology. BSkyB also paid him damages in a separate libel case. Sergey Malinka and Michaela Walczuch (Murat's girlfriend) were awarded over £100,000 each.

The McCanns testified for two hours in November 2011 before the Leveson Inquiry into press standards in the UK. They told the inquiry that the British tabloids had declared "open season" on them. Kate described how the News of the World, which was later closed by Rupert Murdoch, had published her personal diaries in September 2008. Her husband said a former editor of the News of the World had "berated" the couple for having given an interview to Hello! magazine on the first anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance. The Daily Mirror ran a front-page story about Madeleine with the headline "She's dead," while the Daily Express published an allegation that the McCanns had sold her. Lord Justice Leveson told the inquiry that the Express had published "complete piffle" about Madeleine's disappearance.

Operation Grange (initiated 2011)

In March 2010 the British Home Office started a secret scoping exercise to decide whether a new investigation was necessary. In connection with this, the British Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre sought help with the case from West Yorkshire Police's major inquiry team, who had found nine-year-old Shannon Matthews in March 2008.

In 2011, at the request of Home Secretary Theresa May, Scotland Yard launched a review of the case, called Operation Grange, at a cost of £2 million. According to BBC Panorama in 2012, the review was financed by a government contingency fund at the request of Prime Minister David Cameron, reportedly after News International persuaded the government to have the British police look into Madeleine's disappearance. In or around April 2011, Portuguese police in Porto also began a review of the case. The officer in charge of Operation Grange, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood from Scotland Yard's Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said that the British and Portuguese teams were working collaboratively.

In April 2012 Redwood said he believed there was a possibility that Madeleine was alive. His team of 28 detectives and seven civilians reviewed 40,000 pieces of evidence – the equivalent of 100,000 pages – and identified 195 items for investigation within the files, as well as several new leads. The British police have no jurisdiction in Portugal and have to rely on the Portuguese police to reopen the case. Redwood urged the Portuguese to do this, and released an updated age progression image of Madeleine. In May 2013 Scotland Yard said it had drawn up a list of persons of interest that detectives say could be investigated if the case were to be reopened.

Notes

1. ^ "McCann, Madeleine Beth", Interpol, updated notice, May 2012.
2. Barbie Latza Nadeau, "Six Years Later, Still No Sign of Madeleine McCann", The Daily Beast, 4 May 2013.
3. ^ Esther Addley, "Madeleine McCann: hope and persistence rewarded", The Guardian, 27 April 2012:

   • "The early decision by Leicestershire police – the 'home force' of the McCanns, who live in Rothley – to stand back in favour of Portuguese investigators was perhaps understandable given international protocols. But by the late summer of 2007 Leicestershire was closely involved in the investigation, lending specialist sniffer dogs and forensics experts to the hunt.

     "It was, the attorney general found, largely due to a catastrophic misinterpretation of the evidence collected by these officers that the Portuguese team came to suspect the McCanns in the disappearance. A blinkered investigation, prejudicial police leaks and a rash of misjudged headlines followed.

     "Last month, Matt Baggott, at the time chief constable of Leicestershire, admitted to the Leveson inquiry that he had known the Portuguese officers, then heavily briefing reporters that the McCanns were guilty, were wrong on crucial DNA evidence.

     "He could have corrected reporters' errors, even behind the scenes, he admitted, but had judged it better not to."

   • Lisa O'Carroll, "Leveson inquiry: ex-police chief defends not preventing false McCann DNA reports", The Guardian, 28 March 2012:

   • "Baggott, the former chief constable of Leicestershire police, told the inquiry on Wednesday he could not have released information about DNA tests conducted in the UK to counter leaks by the Portuguese police that falsely claimed they showed the McCanns had hidden Madeleine in the boot of a hire car in Portugal.

     "Baggott said there were both legal and professional reasons for this. Portuguese secrecy laws made it 'utterly wrong to have somehow, in an off-the-record way, have breached what was a very clear legal requirement upon the Portuguese themselves', he told Lord Justice Leveson.

     "He also said the Leicestershire force's priority was to maintain a positive relationship with the Portuguese police, with a view to 'eventually ... resolving what happened to that poor child'."

   • "Wednesday 28 March 2012: Afternoon session", Leveson Inquiry (Matt Baggott's evidence), following Lord Leveson's question starting 104:38 mins, continuing 115:22 mins (also see statement, question 50, pp. 22–25].
4. Fiona Govan and Nick Britten, "Madeleine McCann: Kate and Gerry cleared of 'arguido' status by Portuguese police", The Daily Telegraph, 21 July 2008.
5. Richard Bilton, "Madeleine: The Last Hope?", BBC Panorama, 25 April 2012, c. 07:25 mins; c. 26:27 mins for the review in Porto.
   • "Madeleine McCann: UK police 'seek to bring closure'", BBC News, 24 April 2012.
   • Sandra Macaskill, "British Police Say Madeleine McCann May Still Be Alive", The New York Times, 25 April 2012.
6. ^ Caroline Davies, "Madeleine McCann case: Scotland Yard identifies new leads", The Guardian, 17 May 2013.
7. ^ Owen Gibson, "Express Newspapers forced to apologise to McCann family over Madeleine allegations", The Guardian, 19 March 2008.
   • Matthew Moore, "Madeleine McCann: Daily Express publishes apology to 'Tapas Seven'", The Daily Telegraph, 16 October 2008.
   • Oliver Luft and John Plunkett, "Madeleine McCann: Newspapers pay out £600,000 to Robert Murat", The Guardian, 17 July 2008.
8. ^ "Wednesday 23 November 2011; afternoon session", Kate and Gerry McCann's testimony, Leveson Inquiry.
   • James Robinson, "Leveson inquiry: McCanns deliver damning two-hour testimony", The Guardian, 23 November 2011.
   • Lisa O'Carroll and Jason Deans, "Daily Express editor was 'obsessed' with Madeleine McCann story, inquiry hears", The Guardian, 21 December 2011.
9. Gordon Rayner, "Madeleine McCann: parents' court bid for information", The Daily Telegraph, 20 June 2008.
10. ^ Gordon Rayner (7 July 2008). "Madeleine McCann parents gain access to police files". The Daily Telegraph.
11. "How common is Madeleine's eye defect?". BBC News. 21 February 2008.
12. Haroon Siddique, "Madeleine McCann's parents release picture of how she might look now", The Guardian, 1 May 2009.
    • "Madeleine McCann: Police release new 'age progression' image", The Daily Telegraph, April 2012.
13. ^ Kate McCann, Madeleine: Our Daughter's Disappearance and the Continuing Search for Her, Transworld Publishers, 2011 (hereafter McCann 2011), pp. 7ff, 19.
14. McCann 2011, p. 284.
15. Richard Elias (14 October 2007). "UK police poised to quiz hundreds in McCann inquiry". The Scotsman.
16. ^ "Who are the McCann tapas seven?", BBC News, 16 October 2008.
17. McCann 2011, p. 42.
18. David Hencke and Rob Evans, "Madeleine McCann case: Resort firm Mark Warner sues insurers for losses", The Guardian, 4 April 2009.
19. McCann 2011, pp. 49, 53–54, 69.
    • For the patio doors, see Angela Balakrishnan, "What happened on the day Madeleine disappeared?", The Guardian, 11 April 2008.
20. ^ McCann 2011, pp. 71–72.
21. McCann 2011, p. 70.
22. Caroline Gammell, "Madeleine McCann: Gerry certain he was in bedroom with kidnapper", The Daily Telegraph, 23 September 2007.
23. Balakrishnan (Guardian), 11 April 2008.
24. ^ McCann 2011, p. 84.
    • "Madeleine: Police Have New Suspect", Sky News, 25 May 2007.
25. ^ "Pope meets parents of Madeleine", BBC News, 30 May 2007.
26. Caroline Gammell (5 August 2008). "Madeleine McCann: Map 'shows where abductor was spotted'". The Daily Telegraph.
27. ^ McCann 2011, p. 98.
28. McCann 2011, p. 73.
29. McCann 2011, p. 72.
30. McCann 2011, p. 74.
    • "Missing child". Polícia Judiciária. Retrieved 30 August 2007.
31. "Madeleine McCann: The evidence". BBC News. 8 September 2007.
32. McCann 2011, p. 75.
33. ^ McCann 2011, pp. 77–79.
34. "Toddler 'abducted' during holiday". BBC News. 4 May 2007.
35. McCann 2011, p. 85.
36. • "Rapto: adopção ou pedofilia?". Portugal Diário. 8 May 2007.
37. "Madeleine evidence 'may be lost'". BBC News. 17 June 2007.
38. David Brown (14 May 2007). "Detectives in search for Madeleine admit they have no suspect". The Times.
39. "Secretas ajudam a procurar Madeleine". AEIOU Quiosque. 7 May 2007.
    • "Algarve: 150 à procura de Maddie". Diário de Notícias. 7 May 2007.
40. Giles Tremlett (14 May 2007). "British man questioned in Madeleine hunt". The Guardian.
    • Richard Edwards and Fiona Govan (14 May 2007). "Madeleine police search Briton's home". The Daily Telegraph.
41. "Villa searched in Madeleine hunt". BBC News. 14 May 2007.
42. "Briton's Villa Searched In Madeleine Case". Sky News. 14 May 2007.
43. David Brown (14 May 2007). "Madeleine police 'quiz British translator'". The Times.
44. Michael White (6 March 2009). "Madeleine McCann claims nearly destroyed my life, says Robert Murat". The Guardian.
45. "Man 'a suspect' in Madeleine hunt". BBC News. 15 May 2007.
46. Steve Kingstone (24 April 2008). "McCann friend criticises 'leaks'". BBC News.
47. "I'm Madeleine scapegoat, man says". BBC News. 16 May 2007.
48. Richard Edwards and Fiona Govan (16 May 2007). "Madeleine police want to interview Russian". The Daily Telegraph.
49. "Madeleine Suspect Tells Sky: 'My Life Is Ruined'". Sky News. 15 May 2007.
50. "Portuguese police in Britain for Madeleine hunt". The Daily Telegraph. 19 May 2007.
    • Ian Herbert (24 May 2007). "Two witnesses are interviewed again over missing girl". The Independent.
51. Fiona Govan (12 June 2007). "Maddy suspect interviewed for second day". The Daily Telegraph.
52. Haroon Siddique (13 July 2007). "McCann friends confront Madeleine suspect". The Guardian.
53. Rui Gustavo (16 May 2007). "PJ faz buscas em casa de Sergei Malinka". Expresso.
    • "Cidadão russo ouvido pela PJ. Apartamento de Sergey Malinka alvo de buscas". Correio da Manhã. 16 May 2007.
54. "Madeleine Police – No Charges Imminent". Sky News. 17 May 2007.
55. "'I Know Nothing About Missing Madeleine'". Sky News. 17 May 2007.
56. "Mobile phone mystery in Madeleine hunt". The Daily Telegraph. 18 May 2007.
57. "New search at McCann suspect home". BBC News. 4 August 2007.
58. ^ "New Madeleine search draws blank home". BBC News. 6 August 2007.
    • Richard Edwards (6 August 2007). "Madeleine McCann: Blood found in bedroom". The Daily Telegraph.
59. "Madeleine suspect gets items back". BBC News. 23 March 2008.
60. ^ Nico Hines (21 July 2008). "Kate and Gerry McCann cleared over Madeleine disappearance". The Times.
61. David Brown (11 June 2007). "Madeleine officer charged over another missing girl". The Times.
62. Paul Hamilos and Brendan de Beer, "Detective leading hunt for Madeleine sacked after blast at UK police", The Guardian, 3 October 2007.
63. Mark Williams-Thomas, "Madeleine McCann: Could Mobile Phones Hold Vital Clue?", Sky News, 27 February 2008.
64. David Pilditch (31 July 2007). "Madeleine: specially Trained Police Fly In". Daily Express.
65. Sandra Laville (7 August 2007). "UK lab to test blood found in Madeleine room". The Guardian.
66. Caroline Gammell (5 September 2007). "Madeleine police handed scientific evidence". The Daily Telegraph.
67. Richard Edwards (15 August 2007). "Madeleine sniffer dogs detect scent of body". The Daily Telegraph.
68. David Harrison and Caroline Gammell (9 September 2007). "Madeleine McCann's parents flying back to UK". The Daily Telegraph.
69. Caroline Gammell (7 September 2007). "Madeleine McCann's mother fears rumours". The Daily Telegraph.
70. Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan (9 September 2007). "Case of Missing Girl Takes Ominous Turn". Washington Post.
71. "The questions put to Kate McCann". BBC News. 6 August 2008.
72. ^ James Sturcke and James Orr (7 September 2007). "Kate McCann 'fears Madeleine killing charge over blood traces in car'". The Guardian.
73. Gordon Rayner (10 September 2007). "McCanns suffer stain of suspicion". The Daily Telegraph.
74. Giles Tremlett and Brendan de Beerr (10 September 2007). "Prosecutor to study evidence before deciding couple's future". The Guardian.
75. "Madeleine parents head back to UK". BBC News. 9 September 2007.
76. "Police Match Madeleine DNA To Hire Car'". Sky News. 10 September 2007.
77. "Police downplay Maddie DNA link". Herald Sun (Australia). 11 September 2007.
78. ^ Steven Swinford, John Follainin and Mohamed El Hamraoui (30 September 2007). "McCanns send sleuths to Morocco". The Times.
79. David Brown and Steve Bird (11 September 2007). "Case against McCann parents passed to judge". The Times.
80. Caroline Gammell (12 September 2007). "Madeleine judge is known as a tough character". The Daily Telegraph.
81. "McCann files to be given to judge". BBC News. 11 September 2007.
82. "Judge to study Madeleine dossier". BBC News. 12 September 2007.
83. David Brown (12 September 2007). "Police to study diary and laptop from McCanns". The Times.
84. Padraic Flanagan (14 September 2007). "Social workers visit McCanns at home". The Times.
85. Caroline Gammell, Nick Britten and Paul Stokes (21 September 2007). "Madeleine McCann parents fear their phones are being tapped in Britain". The Daily Telegraph.
86. David Brown and Steve Bird (17 September 2007). "Portuguese judge balks at ordering Madeleine McCann's parents to return". The Times.
87. Caroline Gammell (19 September 2007). "Madeleine McCann: Parents are 'victims of heinous crime'". The Daily Telegraph.
88. Fiona Govan (23 November 2007). "Madeleine McCann's mother takes drug test". The Daily Telegraph.
89. Fiona Govan (30 November 2007). "McCanns hope to be cleared by Christmas". The Daily Telegraph.
    • "Madeleine police meet in Britain". BBC News. 29 November 2007.
90. ^ Martina Smit (5 February 2008). "Divers search lake for Madeleine McCann". The Daily Telegraph.
91. "McCanns angry over Madeleine leak". BBC News. 11 April 2008.
    • David Charter (11 April 2008). "Madeleine McCann 'scolded parents' for leaving her alone". The Times.
92. "Police deny claims of McCann leak". BBC News. 14 April 2008.
93. David Brown (29 May 2008). "Madeleine McCann's parents investigated for neglect". The Times.
    • David Brown (28 May 2008). "Edited transcript of the judgment". The Times.
94. David Brown (28 May 2007). "Soham phone experts help in hunt for Madeleine". The Times.
95. "Day 55: Vigil As Reporter Backs Up Claim". Sky News. 27 June 2007.
96. David Brown (31 May 2007). "Madeleine police use psychic reports in hunt for girl". The Times.
97. "Lichaam van Maddie vlakbij appartement". De Telegraaf. 13 June 2007.
    • "Madeleine police probing letter". BBC News. 13 June 2007.
98. "'Mystery DNA found in McCann hotel'". The Guardian. 1 June 2007.
99. David Brown (7 August 2007). "Paedophile suicide in new Madeleine link". The Times.
100. Richard Edwards (20 August 2007). "New suspect in Madeleine McCann case". The Daily Telegraph.
101. Ian Herbert (17 August 2007). "Police: no breakthrough in search for Madeleine". The Independent.
     • Richard Edwards (6 August 2007). "Madeleine McCann assumed dead". The Daily Telegraph.
102. Caroline Gammell (25 September 2007). "Madeleine McCann police 'must find her body'". The Daily Telegraph.
103. Matthew Moore (25 May 2009). "Madeleine McCann investigators want paedophile Raymond Hewlett to undergo DNA test". The Daily Telegraph.
     • Richard Edwards (26 May 2009). "Paedophile Raymond Hewlett agrees to Madeleine McCann interview". The Daily Telegraph.
104. "Paedophile Wants Cash For Madeleine Inquiry". Sky News. 5 June 2009.
105. "Madeleine McCann: Raymond Hewlett gives DNA sample to police". The Daily Telegraph. 28 May 2009.
106. Neil Syson (10 April 2010). "Pedophile suspect in Maddie McCann case dies". news.com.au.
107. "Madeleine McCann investigators swamped with calls about new lead". The Daily Telegraph. 7 August 2009.
     • Peter Wilson (7 August 2009). "Search for Madeleine McCann moves to Australia". The Courier-Mail.
108. "Madeleine McCann: E-fits of suspects". The Daily Telegraph. 6 August 2009.
109. "Investigator Says Madeleine McCann Kidnapped by Portuguese Pedophile Ring, Possibly in the U.S." Fox News. 19 February 2011.
110. David Brown (9 October 2007). "McCann children 'were not alone in apartment'". The Times.
111. Aislinn Simpson (6 October 2007). "Madeleine police team shrinks from 200 to 3". The Daily Telegraph.
112. Sam Wilson (13 February 2007). "Madeleine police team shrinks from 200 to 3". The Daily Telegraph.
113. Caroline Gammell (15 February 2007). "Madeleine McCann: Luis Antonio 'questioned'". The Daily Telegraph.
114. "Madeleine interviews set to begin". BBC News. 8 April 2008.
115. "McCann reconstruction called off". BBC News. 27 May 2008.
116. "Madeleine police chief quits post". BBC News. 7 May 2008.
117. David Brown (1 July 2008). "Madeleine McCann inquiry ends: 'parents to be cleared'". The Times.
     • Inspector João Carlos (20 July 2008). "NUIPC-201/07.0 GALGS" (PDF). Policia Judiciária, Ministério da justiça.
118. Brendan de Beer and Ian Cobain (5 August 2008). "McCanns hope for end to speculation as police release complete file on Madeleine". The Guardian.
119. Caroline Gammell (26 September 2007). "Madeleine McCann police fury over private hunt". The Daily Telegraph.
120. Caroline Gammell (4 November 2007). "Detectives promise to find Madeleine McCann". The Daily Telegraph.
121. Dan Newling and Vanessa Allen (3 January 2008). "The McCanns bring in cold-case detectives to investigate Madeleine's disappearance". Daily Mail.
122. Sadie Gray (24 August 2008). "McCann fund 'paid detectives £500,000'". The Independent.
123. Philippe Naughton and Miles Costello (22 November 2009). "Madeleine McCann fund hired 'secret agent' conman". The Sunday Times.
     • Philippe Naughton and Miles Costello (22 November 2009). "Kevin Halligen: On the run from friends, the FBI and his fake wife too". The Sunday Times.
124. Aislinn Simpson (13 August 2008). "Madeleine McCann's parents hire US private investigators". The Daily Telegraph.
125. Cecilia Pires (8 March 2008). "Search for Madeleine to restart at dam". Algarve Resident.
     • "'Underworld' tip leads to new Maddie hunt". CNN. 12 March 2008.
126. "Divers Find Cord, Sock in Reservoir Search for Missing Toddler Madeleine McCann". Fox News. 12 March 2008.
127. Howard Brereton (16 March 2008). "Spanish detective agency confirms bones found are not of missing Madeleine McCann". Typically Spanish.
128. Sara Nelson (21 September 2012). "Madeleine McCann: Is Missing Toddler Buried Under Driveway Close To Abduction Site?". The Huffington Post UK.
     • Martin Brunt (6 July 2012). "Police Probe Madeleine 'Grave' Theory". Sky News.
129. Adam Fresco and David Brown (12 September 2007). "Madeleine's parents consider new fund for legal battle". The Times.
130. Peter Walker (30 May 2007). "Madeleine's parents meet Pope". The Guardian.
131. "More Arrests Expected Over Missing Madeleine". Sky News. 11 July 2007.
132. ^ "Petitioners want McCann inquiry". BBC News. 12 June 2007.
133. "The 'family-friendly' holiday firm". BBC News. 6 May 2007.
134. ""Nightmare" of Madeleine parents". BBC News. 25 May 2007.
135. Haroon Siddique (24 July 2008). "Detective's book claims Madeleine McCann died in apartment". The Guardian.
136. Beverley Rouse (9 September 2009). "Judge bans policeman's Madeleine book". The Independent.
137. "McCann's parents to attend libel case against police officer", CNN, 11 January 2010.
138. Paula Fentiman (11 December 2009). "Case against Madeleine McCann detective postponed". The Independent.
139. Esther Addley, "Madeleine McCann detective loses attempt to overturn book ban", The Guardian, 18 February 2010.
     • Giles Tremlett, "Madeleine McCann book ban overturned by Portuguese court", The Guardian, 19 October 2010.
140. ^ Steven Morris (8 May 2007). "Q&A: Madeleine McCann". The Guardian.
141. Richar Edwards and Fiona Govan (19 May 2007). "Maddy police ignored vital CCTV". The Daily Telegraph.
142. John Follain (20 May 2007). "Algarve police face mounting criticism". The Sunday Times.
143. David Brown (11 June 2007). "Madeleine officer charged over another missing girl". The Times.
144. "Ex-chief of Maddy McCann case 'in cover-up'". The Daily Telegraph. 23 February 2008.
145. Richard Edwards (2 June 2007). "The 15 key blunders". The Daily Telegraph.
146. Richard Edwards and Fiona Govan (2 June 2007). "'We pray someone wanted a girl of their own'". The Daily Telegraph.
147. David Piditch and Matt Drake (9 June 2007). "Maddy – now Portuguese police object to 'missing' posters". Daily Express.
148. David Brown (8 June 2007). "Madeleine officers defend their regular two-hour lunches". The Times.
149. Aislinn Simpson (2 October 2007). "Madeleine McCann chief detective sacked". The Daily Telegraph.
150. "Madeleine police chief removed". BBC News. 2 October 2007.
151. Aislinn Simpson (4 October 2007). "Madeleine: Delay in naming new police chief". The Daily Telegraph.
152. Steven Swinford and Christopher Thompson (14 October 2007). "McCann case detective faces 'torture' trial". The Times.
     • Aislinn Simpson (9 October 2007). "Head of Madeleine McCann inquiry faces trial". The Daily Telegraph.
153. Aislinn Simpson (15 October 2007). "Richard Branson defends Madeleine's parents". The Daily Telegraph.
154. ^ Nico Hines (17 July 2008). "Robert Murat accepts £600,000 after Madeleine McCann allegations". The Times.
155. "Madeleine McCann: Robert Murat accepts libel damages from BSkyB". The Daily Telegraph. 14 November 2008.
156. Robert Mendick (6 March 2010). "Home Office launches secret review into Madeleine McCann's disappearance". The Daily Telegraph.
157. Bruce Smith (19 March 2010). "Shannon cops join hunt for Madeleine McCann". Yorkshire Evening Post.
158. Richard Bilton, "Madeleine: The Last Hope?", BBC Panorama, 25 April 2012, c. 20:48 mins for the contingency fund and David Cameron, and c. 26:27 mins for the review in Porto.
159. "Madeleine McCann 'could be alive' say detectives as new image released". The Daily Telegraph. 25 April 2012.

External links

• FindMadeleine.com

37°05′19″N 8°43′51″W / 37.0886565°N 8.7308398°W / 37.0886565; -8.7308398

• Use dmy dates from November 2012
• 2007 crimes
• 2007 in Portugal
• 2000s missing person cases
• Algarve
• Child abduction
• Crime in Portugal
• Disappearance of Madeleine McCann
• Kidnapped English children
• Unsolved crimes