Madeleine McCann: No evidence our daughter has been harmed, says Gerry

Gerry McCann has said that Portuguese police documents show there is "absolutely no evidence" that his daughter Madeleine has been harmed, and that his family still believe she could be found alive.
By Jon Swaine
Last Updated: 7:09PM BST 15 Aug 2008

In his first public statement since a 30,000-page file from the police's dossier on the case were passed to his family last week, Mr McCann made a fresh appeal for information or details of suspected sightings from the public.
"It will be clear to everyone now, that there is absolutely no evidence that suggests Madeleine has been seriously harmed," said Mr McCann, in a blog on the Find Madeleine website. "Knowing this, we strongly believe that Madeleine is out there and can be found.
The police files, which were put together over the course of an investigation lasting more than 14 months, include forensic reports, witness statements, police intelligence and details of hundreds of possible sightings of Madeleine, who disappeared from Praia da Luz, Portugal aged three last May, reported from around the world.
They outline various leads followed by investigating officers, none of which took them to conclusive proof of her whereabouts or the cause of her disappearance.
The Metropolitan Police passed on a tip-off from an informant suggesting Madeleine may have been kidnapped to order by a Belgian paedophile ring, the papers disclosed.
Hopes were raised when CCTV footage from Brussels showed a girl who resembled Madeleine, but these were dashed earlier this month when a father came forward to explain it was his daughter.
The files also showed that a Briton contacted police after seeing a child, who he said resembled Madeleine, asleep on a train from Brussels to Antwerp, saying she looked like she could have been drugged. She was accompanied by a balding 6ft white man aged about 40.
Another possibility raised in the files is that Madeleine was abducted by a stranger seen, by both a British holidaymaker and a British expat, loitering around the family's holiday resort at the time, whose description and E-fits were not circulated by police.
Meanwhile in early May last year, Anna Stam, a 41-year-old assistant from an Amsterdam fancy dress shop, said she had spoken to a little girl called "Maddy", who said she had been taken from her mother while on holiday, the files explained. E-fit images of the faces of the couple the girl was with were not released to the public.
Further information in the dossier included that the apartment at the Ocean Club resort from which Madeleine vanished was used by holiday-makers for nearly two months before police sealed it off as a permanent crime scene.
During the early stages of the search, Portuguese police wanted to bug Mr McCann and his wife Kate, in order to eavesdrop on their conversations, according to the files. However a judge refused the request.
Mrs McCann refused to answer 48 questions when quizzed by police in September after she and her husband became formal suspects, the files showed. She also wrote a letter begging for an end to the "war" that had developed between the family and investigators.
The dossier also disclosed that British consular officials in Guatemala were forced to apologise to a leading local lawyer after they stopped his daughter in the street, thinking she was Madeleine.
The investigation's final 58-page report, written by the Portuguese public prosecutors who ruled on July 21 that the case should be shelved, concluded that it was "most probable" Madeleine was now dead, but said police had not been able to prove this.
Last September Portuguese police named Mr and Mrs McCann, both 40, from Rothley, Leicestershire, as "arguidos", or formal suspects, in Madeleine's disappearance, but this was lifted when the case was put on hold.
Mr McCann urged anyone who originally provided information to the Portuguese police to contact the family's own team of detectives by e-mailing investigation@findmadeleine.com or calling 0845 838 4699.
"Our investigators continue to explore credible leads and will continue to do so as long as Madeleine is missing," he said.
"We have always believed that this heinous crime could be solved with the help of the public."

Isn’t it sad that Maddie and her family have been made to suffer due to the police trial by media? How can any of them sleep at night knowing full well they had NO evidence against this couple? Did they ever stop and consider the effect this would have on Maddie who was in the hands of God knows who?? Detectives knew there was no conclusive evidence against the McCann’s three days before they interviewed them and made them suspects.
How the hell were they allowed to get away with this? They have spent 15months doing nothing at all in my opinion apart from the obvious which is to hurt the McCann’s as if they needed more PAIN. Do they have a consions a heart?? Is this what they wanted the real criminals to get off scott free with a child ?? Did they not want to catch the real criminal/s in this tragedy??

Did this three year old girl deserve this if so WHY???

How the hell were they allowed to get away with this? They have spent 15months doing nothing at all in my opinion apart from the obvious which is to hurt the McCann’s as if they needed more PAIN. Do they have a consions a heart?? Is this what they wanted the real criminals to get off scott free with a child ?? Did they not want to catch the real criminal/s in this tragedy??

Did this three year old girl deserve this if so WHY???

Hi mandz,

agree with you....although NO she didn't deserve this...no one deserves to be treated like this. Although the way the pj have handled the case makes one wonder whether they are actually capable of working with people at all.
Selfcentred and completely unprofessional.
I have also been wondering why they continued to run around trying to prove the mccanns are guilty of murder etc when they had no evidence madeleine as been hurt at all.Apparently no dna or forensics pointed in that direction....the judge told them to stop following pointless avenues of investigating in that direction to.Although it was 7 months b 4 the mccanns were cleared from the day the judge told them to stop????

IMO the only reason a cop would ignore a abduction case and try to prove the case to be otherwise is because he/she is covering something up...they are frantically running around trying to look as though they are investigating the case, when in actual fact they are avoiding the real issue...........why??what is there to avoid????Why would a professional follow leads that they know dam well are not relevant to the case????

were the mccanns made arguidos solely to shut them up and slow them down with their campaign????.....i think they were.

When a person is hurt ,missing, in danger, injured,lost, etc....the usual response from a person is to run to their aid,try to help them,get help...find out whats happened and do all they can to help etc. Its human instinct to reach out to help someone in need. Some people might not be as assertive as others in helping someone, but we all feel the same desperate need to help them....a person working in the field where they are expected to help others should be there first and foremost doing absolutely everything in their power to help.They are supposed to be qualified in areas normal folk are not......why is it a 3 year old girls terrible plight been treated so flippantly and soo dam laid back by these officers???
Dont they feel the desperate need to help her??....cant they understand the terrible situation she could be in??.....isn't it everyones wish to try and end her sorrow and get her back home with mammy and daddy?????Why are they not doing that???why are they trying to convict her parents of a terrible crime when they know they are innocent??...why would they assume she is dead when they know she could be being hurt out there????

Dont they look at her picture and see a little girl who as feelings and is powerless to help herself???Cant they see that their laid back approach and useless fight to arrest k&g is harming her even more???And don't they want to bring the evil person responsible for hurting her to justice????

WHY??? thats not the normal response from an innocent, caring, concerned, human...thats the response of one who wants to ignore her plight...madeleine doesn't matter to them imo...she is just a statistic and will be filed along side all the other statistics in their books. Thats not normal...its tragic...and its suspicious to.

Hi Clairesy!

I wholeheartedly agree with you.
You enter a profession like that because you want to catch criminals make a difference in society etc however I fail to understand ANY of their ACTIONS?????? I would imagine being on a case where a child is taken would make your blood boil - you would want to catch these people follow all lines of enquiry keep an open mind and don’t rule out the impossible until you have concrete evidence so what were they thinking? She has been treated so badly and everyone of them should hang their heads in SHAME.. RESIGN….

:( She was only 3 years old what a DISGRACE - what an utter disgrace we should be marching the streets with what they have done to her how dare they how dare they :( :( :( :( :(

I agree with all that bot of you have said. In my opinion, all these officers wanted to do was take the easy way out find the best scapegoat and blame them thus ensuring the tourist trade wasn't hit and the PJ came away with their egos intact. I know that not all PJ are to blame and no one is suggesting they are, but there are a few who are to blame and I hold them beneath contempt, it is as if they have never bothered about Madeleine's plight, they certainly never bothered to look for her beyond the first week in June 2007!

Hello All,

I just wanted to go on a little rant here for a minute, and say how utterly DISGUSTED I am with the fact that these anti's even breath the same air as us. How is it possible that people like this exist? I ALMOST equate them with the sickos who took this little girl, almost, but not quite.

As for the person(s) responsible, can anyone tell me how it has come to be that we as a society have become so utterly complacent when it comes to crimes against children? HOW THE HELL IS IT EVEN REALISTIC THAT PAEDO'S WHO HAVE ALREADY BEEN CONVICTED ARE STILL ON THIS EARTH? LET ALONE OUT OF JAIL!!! I just don't get it...am I losing my MIND? How can anyone- judge or jury EVER allow these monsters out? They should all be killed, Medieval style.

And as for that bubbles...I thank god that I don't ever have to hear from that person again. In my opinion she belongs in a secure institution along with all of others she converses with.

That brings me to Enemy #1- Amaral the rotund policeman. What a snake, writing a book full of rubbish just to make a bit of cash to pay for his bills in case he gets locked up in the clink. I hope he gets a taste of what he deserves - Karma.

Sorry all, I'm just well passed being ticked off at this point. These morons have f'ed this right up and I can't wait for the formal inquiry into their dispicable behaviour. I will NEVER return to Portugal again.

Hi Claire from Canada!
I agree why have we become so complacent when it comes to children being hurt / taken etc? One only has to look at the sentences they receive?? A window cleaner got 14months for raping a 6 year old but out in half the time because this was his first time? Some judge in another case told a paedophile that he should make it up to the little girl and buy her a bike?? Can you believe it?????


Words cannot describe the anger we all feel due to the disservice Maddie received. We should be marching the streets at such a disservice - a petition sent to parliament something to let our Government know we are DISGUSTED. This little girl has suffered due to this so called investigation in my opinion and her parents. I feel the British Government should be stepping in due to this. Why should the McCann’s be left to start from scratch 15 bloody months later??
As for them suggesting she is “probably dead” how dare they do this again??? They assumed the McCann's were involved but they were not. Never ASSUME never assume yet they say she is probably dead?? How the hell do they know?? and they should not be saying anything of the kind until there is PROOF.

As for Antiz they are morons they enjoy playing armchair detectives they back slap abductors and the PJ were wonderful people not that long ago to them however they wont accept their findings so they are clinging onto fatboy and his paperback rubbish.