Maddie parents' triple blow

24 February 2008
Daily Star

Kate and Gerry McCann have been hit by a triple setback in the hunt for daughter Madeleine. Dad Gerry, 39, last night revealed they have had no contact with police over a possible sighting of the four-year-old in France earlier this month. He said: "Kate and I had no official notification of the potential sighting from the authorities." Meanwhile, their attempts to clear their names over Maddie's disappearance in Portugal are being held up by Home Office red tape delaying fresh interviews with police. And private eye Antonio Jimenez, 53, linked to the detective agency they hired, Metodo 3, has been arrested on suspicion of helping a gang steal £25million of drugs.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2008, Antonio Jimenez, Brian Kennedy, Madeleine McCann, Metodo3

Cocaine rap for 'tec with Maddie firm

24 February 2008
People
Tom Carlin

A PRIVATE detective linked to the agency hunting Maddie McCann was last night behind bars accused of helping steal £25million worth of cocaine. Antonia Jimenez, 53, is a business partner of the founder of Metodo 3 which is charging £50,000-a-month to search for the missing British toddler.  Jimenez allegedly tipped off a gang about the drugs cache in Barcelona docks when he was a police chief in 2005. He was arrested in a huge corruption probe in Spain on Thursday.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2008, Antonio Jimenez, Brian Kennedy, Clarence Mitchell, Madeleine McCann, Metodo3

'Maddie' cop held

24 February 2008
The News of the World

A PRIVATE detective linked to the agency hunting for Madeleine McCann was behind bars last night-after being arrested on suspicion of helping a gang steal Pounds 25million worth of cocaine.  Retired cop Antonio Jimenez, 53, was remanded by a Barcelona judge investigating a massive Spanish police corruption scandal. Jimenez is a business partner of Maria Fernandez Lado, 57, the founder of Metodo 3, the controversial agency charging Pounds 50,000 a month to search for the missing toddler.  The McCanns spokesman said Jiminez had not been involved in the hunt for Maddie.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2008, Antonio Jimenez, Brian Kennedy, Clarence Mitchell, Madeleine McCann, Metodo3

Donegal trip 'too painful' for McCanns

20 February 2008
Belfast Telegraph

Eileen McCann, who owns Peoples Bar in tiny St Johnston, close to the border with Co Londonderry, said that while she may visit Ireland next month, her son Gerry and his wife Kate will not be returning for the foreseeable future.

She said it could be too painful for the couple to revisit the area, where they had a great time in 2007 just weeks before little Maddy (4) was snatched from a holiday apartment in the Algarve last May.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2008, Donegal, Joe Peoples, Madeleine McCann, McCann pub, St Johnston

Donegal visit for McCann family

19 February 2008
The Irish News
Seamus McKinney

A Co Donegal publican says he's looking forward to a visit from the parents of missing child, Madeleine McCann this Easter. Kate and Gerry McCann are understood to be planning an Easter holiday in west Donegal almost one year after four-year-old Maddie, pictured, went missing while on a family holiday in Portugal.

The couple have strong links with the Dungloe area in west Donegal as well as the village of St Johnston near the Donegal/Derry border. Last night, publican Joe Peoples said he was looking forward to seeing the family as they pass through St Johnston on their way to a holiday home in Dungloe.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2008, Donegal, Joe Peoples, Madeleine McCann, McCann pub, St Johnston

McCann cops: No evidence

McCann cops: No evidence
The Sunday Mirror
10 February 2008
Lori Campbell

Madeleine McCann's parents were yesterday given fresh hope of being released from their suspect status after Portuguese police admitted they don't have any evidence against them.

A review of the case by homicide experts from the Judicial Police has turned up no proof that Kate and Gerry McCann played a part in four-year-old Madeleine's disappearance.

Attorney General Fernando Pinto Montiero told respected Portuguese newspaper Expresso: "The couple's legal status will be considered at the appropriate moment, depending on various elements still to be obtained."

Legal letters outlining 40 questions police still want the McCanns to answer will be sent to the UK authorities this week.

The newspaper reported: "They will only remain arguidos (suspects) if there are screaming contradictions revealed in the answers to the letters sent to England."

Continue Reading... Labels: 2008, Lori Campbell, Madeleine McCann, News of the World, Ross Hall

Cops: We were wrong to suspect the McCanns

Cops: We were wrong to suspect the McCanns
Missing Madeleine Day 276
The Sunday Mirror
3 February 2008
Lori Campbell

Boss admits they were too hasty

Portugal's police chief has admitted his detectives made a huge blunder in rushing to blame Gerry and Kate McCann for their daughter's disappearance.

Alipio Ribeiro said he thought the decision to make them "arguidos" - official suspects - last September was taken too quickly and without proper assessment.

The remarkable admission comes in a radio interview to be broadcast in Portugal today. Last night the McCanns demanded to be cleared immediately and their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Frankly this is a disgrace. It seems that the Portuguese police were not certain of the facts, and the evidence isn't there. Kate and Gerry are very pleased to hear this news - but the most important thing is to focus on exactly where Madeleine is and to work to bring the real perpetrators to justice."

Ribeiro, national director of the Policia Judiciaria which is leading the hunt for the missing four-year-old, told Radio Renascenca: "I think there should have been another assessment before the McCanns were made official suspects. There was a certain hastiness."

The admission is the first by anyone in authority in Portugal that the case had been mishandled.

Portuguese bloggers last night flooded the Internet with demands for Ribeiro to stand down.

One Lisbon-based blogger wrote: "Accusing the McCanns of the death of their daughter without the certainty they did it is disgraceful." No one from the Policia Judiciaria would comment.

THE McCanns' twins Sean and Amelie celebrated their third birthday with a tea party for 50 friends and relatives yesterday. Their parents gave them "a special present from their missing sister".

 

Continue Reading... Labels: 2008, Clarence Mitchell, Lori Campbell, Madeleine McCann, News of the World, Ross Hall