Madeleine: 'Stranger' Sightings Could Be Clue

Madeleine: 'Stranger' Sightings Could Be Clue


12:01am UK, Thursday May 07, 2009

Laura Bundock, Sky News reporter
Five separate sightings of a "strange man" could help piece together what happened to Madeleine McCann, private detectives believe.





Artist's impression of man seen near apartment from which Madeleine vanished

Three of the witnesses reported seeing a man watching the family's holiday apartment in Portugal days before Madeleine went missing.
Retired British detectives are linking these sightings with accounts from two other witnesses who saw a man carrying a child away from the flat the night she disappeared.
A documentary on Channel 4 tonight will screen a reconstruction of Madeleine's disappearance two years ago. It is the first such reconstruction and has the backing of Kate and Gerry McCann.
In the programme, Mr McCann returns for the first time to the holiday flat in Praia da Luz.


Gerry McCann


He says: "I had one of those really proud father moments when I just thought 'you're beautiful and I love you'.
"And I paused for a minute and then I just pulled the door closed again."
One of the witness statements, from a female tourist who reportedly saw a man outside the flat in Praia da Luz, said: "I grabbed my daughter's hand and pulled her towards me. For some reason the man unnerved me."
She described the man as "very ugly" with pitted skin and a large nose.
The second witness was a 12-year-old girl who says she saw a man twice looking towards the McCanns' balcony. Her description helped the police create an image of the man.
The third witness was a holidaymaker who remembers seeing a man outside the flats behaving oddly.
Their statements have emerged after Portuguese police released 30,000 files on the case.
The two private detectives now employed by the McCanns believe the sightings could be significant.


McCanns' apartment in Praia da Luz


One of the investigators, former detective inspector Dave Edgar, said: "I don't know what the Portuguese authorities have done to eliminate these people from the inquiry.
"So we've got to presume that they haven't done it and go with that."
Among the other witnesses whose accounts have been re-enacted is Jane Tanner, who was on holiday with the McCanns.
She was with Kate and Gerry in the tapas restaurant the night Madeleine vanished.
Kate McCann, who has given up work as a doctor, is filmed in the documentary looking through the thousands of police files.
She remains optimistic that new evidence may come out. She said: "I think we've achieved a lot in the last few weeks, so we're really hoping that somebody who's been sitting there knowing something will suddenly feel the courage and compassion to come forward."
The programme, Cutting Edge: Madeleine Was Here, is on Channel 4 at 9pm tonight

By God I hope this leads somewhere. It seems, as usual, the portu-plod ignored it, as they ignored anything that didn't help frame the parents.

The description given by the girl does not totally correspond to the photofit published, as she thought he should be british, hair short cut, 1cm. Like the other lady, however, she described the guy as ugly, event 'disgusting'.

Did this man take Madeleine? New 'ugly' prime suspect is prowler seen outside the McCanns' apartment


By
Vanessa Allen and Peter Allen
Last updated at 10:31 AM on 07th May 2009

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A prowler spotted outside Madeleine McCann's holiday apartment was
yesterday revealed as a new prime suspect in the hunt for the missing
girl. The heavily scarred stranger was seen five times in the
four days before the three-year-old disappeared, prompting fears he
could have been watching the McCann family.
Although he was
seen by four witnesses, each of whom gave statements to Portuguese
police, astonishingly it has taken almost two years for their accounts
to be linked.












Suspect: An artist's impression of the man seen outside the McCanns' flat



The suspect is one of a series of developments which have given Kate
and Gerry McCann fresh hope that they could finally be closer to
finding their daughter. But their hopes will be tempered today
as they came under attack yet again by the former Portuguese police
detective in charge of the investigation. Gonçalo Amaral accused Kate and Gerry McCann of a sinister cover-up as he plugged his book on the investigation in Paris today.
He
said the couple’s statements all contradicted each other, and that Kate
McCann’s fingerprints had been found on the open window through which
her daughter had allegedly been taken.Amaral, who is now
retired, said justice was never done because the case became a
‘political rather than a police one’ in Britain.


Enlarge





Former detective Gonçalo Amaral poses with his book 'Maddie: To the Truth from the Lies' during its launch in Lisbon last year

In an interview with Le Parisien newspaper published in the French
capital, Amaral said: ‘We constantly noted the contradictions in the
statements of the McCanns and their friends.
Asked directly
why the McCanns would have lied, Amaral said: ‘Because they had been
negligent with their children. They went for dinner and left them
alone. Such behaviour was condemned. They therefore made up the
kidnapping story.’The McCanns have maintained their innocence
since the night their daughter was taken. Though they were declared
'arguidos', or suspects, in the case by Portuguese police, they were
later cleared.
The couple's detectives have spoken to dozens
of witnesses who believe they saw Madeleine being carried through the
streets of Praia da Luz on the night of May 3, 2007.
And
they have taken more than 30 calls from those who believe they have
recognised Madeleine from an age-progressed picture, which shows her as
she might look aged six.
The potential sightings have taken place across the U.S., South America and Europe.
Last
week, the couple also released an image showing how Madeleine might
look today. Produced using 'age-progression' technology, the picture
reveals a smiling six-year-old wearing a pink band in her
shoulder-length hair and a blue dress with frilly white collar.




New image: Home video of missing Madeleine McCann dressed as a fairy

The latest developments were revealed as Channel 4 prepares to
screen a Cutting Edge documentary about the McCanns' hunt for their
daughter.
In the programme, to be screened tonight, Mrs
McCann, 41, says: 'I actually feel the chance of us finding Madeleine
is higher now.' Mr McCann, 40, also makes a direct appeal to his daughter's abductor,
saying: 'It's not too late to do the right thing; they can give her up,
tell us where she is, hand her over to a priest or someone in
authority. Do the right thing.'The couple have carried out their own six-month trawl of the
30,000-page Portuguese police files, which were released last year when
the investigation was shelved.


















Wanted: A TV reconstruction showing a
suspicious man (top left) seen watching Kate and Gerry McCann's holiday
apartment in Praia da Luz, the day before Madeleine went missing.
Later, the reconstruction shows another man seen by Jane Tanner, one of
the so-called 'Tapas Seven', carrying a small child away from the
apartment on the night Madeleine disappeared


This uncovered the four witness statements about the prowler buried in the dossier.

The sinister-looking man was first spotted by a British tourist who
was walking with her young daughter near the Ocean Club on April 29,
2007 - the day after the McCanns arrived in Portugal. She
said she felt 'unnerved' by the man, who was staring at the McCanns'
rented holiday apartment. She then saw him again at about 3pm on May 2
- the day before Madeleine disappeared. 'He appeared to be watching
it,' the woman said. 'He was about 5ft 10in, slim build and
wearing casual clothes. I would describe him as very ugly, (with)
pitted skin with a large nose.'
The man was also seen on
April 30 at about 8.15am by a British schoolgirl, who noticed him
staring at the balcony of the apartment.
Madeleine's
abductor is thought to have entered the flat through unlocked patio
doors on the balcony, while her parents ate dinner with friends nearby.





Kate and Gerry McCann at the National Centre
for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia, U.S,
looking at a computer-aged picture of their missing daughter, Madeleine

A couple from Cheshire then saw the man on either May 2 or 3 staring
at apartment 5A, and standing near a parked white van. An artist's
impression of the man, commissioned by the Find Madeleine fund, shows a
dark-haired, heavily scarred man.
Clarence Mitchell, the
McCanns' spokesman, said: 'This man needs to be traced urgently and
eliminated. These witnesses did talk to Portuguese police but it
appears that nothing was done to find him. He is a vital part of the
jigsaw.'
Mr Mitchell said detectives also wanted to find
the man seen carrying a child away from the McCanns' apartment at about
9pm on May 3 - the time Madeleine is believed to have vanished.
In his Le Parisien interview, Amaral admitted the Portuguese police had botched the investigation.
‘It’s true,' he said. 'At the time there was no set procedure in the case of a
missing child. The crime scene was not well looked after. Since then
such things have improved.




‘I think that a reconstruction should have quickly been organised. We
would have then been aware of the contradictions in the statements of
Kate McCann and other witnesses.
‘Unfortunately, my boss considered
that it was impossible to set up. Next, the parents refused (a
reconstruction).’ He spoke of the evidence that he believes marks the McCanns as guilty.‘An Irish couple confirmed having been aware of Gerald McCann on the evening in question with a child in his arms,' he said.

‘As far as notes are concerned, we discovered Kate McCann’s fingerprints on the window of Madeleine’s room.
‘The form of the fingerprints indicates that she opened this window.

‘Now, she, declares that the window was already opened when she
entered into the room. It is therefore clear that she wanted to orient
the investigation towards the abduction thesis.

‘Moreover, there are the scientific proofs. The dogs detected the
smell of a corpse in the sitting room and discovered a trace of blood
in the same place – traces that were also found in the hire car.’
When it was pointed out that the blood traces were never proved to
be Madeleine’s, Amaral said: ‘Certain, but results indicate that the
samples resemble Madeleine’s DNA profile.’
Amaral was deeply critical of the way police in England assisted the
enquiry, saying: ‘Everything was fine with the investigators at the
scene.
‘On the other hand, it was much more complicated with the police in
Great Britain. The information which we asked for was hugely hard to
find. The McCanns succeeded in influencing British police and won them
over to their theory.
‘In Britain the view of the case became political. At the scene, it remained a police matter.
‘Now the case has been archived. The parents do not feel that it will
be reopened. They do not want the truth to come out. Nevertheless, I
believe there are more lines of enquiry to pursue. Sadly it’s necessary
to find a body.’
Amaral’s
new book has been published in France under the title ‘Maddie – the
forbidden enquiry’. In Portuguese it is entitled 'Maddie: To the Truth
from the Lies'.
Cutting Edge - Madeleine Was Here is on Channel 4 at 9pm tonight.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I posted another report about this 'ugly man' who was watching the apartments because in it reads some things that minxy and i talked about a lot, back in the months following Madeleine's abduction.One thing that jumped out at me was the fact he was heavily scarred....i know brian and merlyn both talked about a prominent scar at one point.I know a lot don't believe people like brian or merlyn however sometimes i find the things they say quite scaringly accurate.
I must say though i feel sorry the poor bugger who's taking the part of the ugly man in the reconstruction he must feel a little urrrm...self conscious now to say the very least!....although i believe as Gerry said....they have a good chance of finding madeleine now what with this reconstruction and Oprah appearance on tv.

ON TO GONCY BABY!!!!..........he says that the finger prints on the window were kates,and that it proved she opened the window???So bl@@dy what. Does that prove she staged an abduction???if thats the case it don't say much about his policing does it. Does it say that someone else hadn't touched them windows??No it doesn't.Imo if the guy was watching the family and making sure he done a professional job of it by leaving no trace at all then he isnt going to c@ck it up by leaving his finger prints everywhere is he!!! He probably wore gloves...he was also heavily clothed wearing a jacket and trousers etc etc.................could that of been because he didn't want to leave any traces of his skin etc behind....touching things and struggling through a window could have ment his bare arms left hairs or skin particles behind.He knew what he was doing.....And of course kate open the window in that room...i will probably open a window when im on holuiday to for god sake,its hot out there.And at some point she would have opened a window. Its hardly crime of the century is it!!!
kate mccans finger prints were found on the window suggesting she had opened it...........WOW!!!! give the dog a bone 10/10 his mammy must be ever so proud of him,no wonder he got taken off the case. He is the case....a blooming head case. Throw him a pie and a bottle of wine for goodness sake and shut him up.

That man is Madeleine's worst enemy.

Negligent you say Amaral? That applies to you.

Pedro Silva wrote:Negligent you say Amaral? That applies to you.

here here pedro !!! exactly. But hes smart enough to smell a buck or two when its on offer isn't he. Although must say i dont think people who grab at every bit of cash they can find are very nice poeple..its greed,especially if your making money out of someone elses plight.Thats the lowest of the lowest imo.And not at all the actions of a normal person who as consideration for how others feel. To me it answers a lot regarding gonc.I don't believe he is a very fella at all. Makes me sort of wonder of how others close to him might see him, or how he treats others close to him to.

everything comes with a price tag for some people.They don't give anythign for free,not even their thought or compassion.

Makes me sort of wonder of how others close to him might see him, or how he treats others close to him to.
All I can say Clairesy, is read the book

Really!!! omg,whch book is this chris....goncs truth of the lie???? I have read extracts of it on line plenty of times heard once he beat his wife although im not sure how true that is.I don't want to buy a copy of the book ,don't want to line his cheesy pockets any more than they have been!!LO

clairesy wrote:Really!!! omg,whch book is this chris....goncs truth of the lie???? I have read extracts of it on line plenty of times heard once he beat his wife although im not sure how true that is.I don't want to buy a copy of the book ,don't want to line his cheesy pockets any more than they have been!!LO

No Claire the forums book! Not that toilet paper

Oh right lol i seeeee!!!!!!

Of course i shall be reading the forums book.LOL i would imagine the antis will be to.....that's the only thing they would have done right to help madeleine anyway at least that way the proceeds go to the fund and not into goncs pocket.

Oh yer and chris.............. i wouldn't even wanna wipe my arss in them books of his anyway.I happen to have a delicate bum and with all the sharp twisted words in there im afraid its far too rough for my ickle botty!!!!

Excuse me but when checking a window to make sure it is locked, you try to open the window, which means that the fingerprints will be in exactly the same spot as if a person opened the window.

Kate didnt even have to open the window, just to check it is locked. Exactly as I did in the apartment that I stayed in over the weekend.

And as for the rest, I can hardly be bothered. The person twisting the truth is not Clarence Mitchell, or any of the McCanns or their friends, it is a certain Portuguese ex copper. Just reading that load of crap that he spouted, and you know that most of it is clutching at straws.

And funny that a couple saw Gerry carrying Madeleine away, when the woman half of the couple would not say that it was Gerry, and that at that time there were unrelated witnesses that state Gerry was in the Tapas bar. Why would Amaral say such a thing, which is easily proven to be false?

I can tell you why, because he believes he will not be challenged over it. And unsuspecting people will believe him. It is all a front. But this particular one is libel, as Amaral must I believe be aware that this statement is completely contradicted by the official files.

dianeh wrote:Excuse me but when checking a window to make sure it is locked, you try to open the window, which means that the fingerprints will be in exactly the same spot as if a person opened the window.

Kate didnt even have to open the window, just to check it is locked. Exactly as I did in the apartment that I stayed in over the weekend.

And as for the rest, I can hardly be bothered. The person twisting the truth is not Clarence Mitchell, or any of the McCanns or their friends, it is a certain Portuguese ex copper. Just reading that load of crap that he spouted, and you know that most of it is clutching at straws.

And funny that a couple saw Gerry carrying Madeleine away, when the woman half of the couple would not say that it was Gerry, and that at that time there were unrelated witnesses that state Gerry was in the Tapas bar. Why would Amaral say such a thing, which is easily proven to be false?

I can tell you why, because he believes he will not be challenged over it. And unsuspecting people will believe him. It is all a front. But this particular one is libel, as Amaral must I believe be aware that this statement is completely contradicted by the official files.

Hi Diane, the documentary touched on this tonight, they admitted that Mr. Smith had said the man could be Gerry but they went on to confirm this was investigated and the PJ ruled out it was Gerry.

The 2 investigators also made it clear, that they only took the job providing it was an independant investigation and if they had found something that pointed to Kate and Gerrys involvement they would have passed it onto the Authorities. They confirmed quite emphatically, there is not a shred of evidence that points to Kate or Gerry.

Having watched the documentary, I am now 100% convinced the McCanns were being watched. I just hope Portugal gives plenty of airtime to this new efit and someone somewhere knows this person that was seen loitering by 3 different witnesses whose statements all tie in with each other.

Please please let something positive come from this.

Tinks

I hope that at some point CI channel picks up the doco and screens it over here. They did it with the Panorama special, but it was about 2 months later. I think I will try to send them an email asking if they can pick it up and if it will be shown.

I always thought they were being watched, I dont believe in coincidences, not when an opportunity had presented itself. It was that someone took advantage of the opportunity that convinced me that they were watched, and that this abduction was planned. Someone knew that Madeleine and the twins were alone, and acted on it. Therefore they were watching the McCanns.

And like you I just hope that all of this leads somewhere.