Wasted days in hunt for Maddy

George Brooks / Burke

Wasted days in hunt for Maddy
7 May 2007
Daily Mail
Neil Sears in Praia da Luz

A series of blunders by Portuguese police could have allowed whoever kidnapped Maddy McCann to get away unhindered.

Sources close to the investigation have admitted that they were too slow to react, giving the abductor up to 48 hours to escape.

A picture emerged yesterday of a confused, error-laden inquiry far below what would be expected if a youngster went missing in similar circumstances in Britain.

Despite hopes that the little girl was still alive after more than three days away from her family, police did not have any specific information to confirm this. Nor were they thought to have a name of a prime suspect.

As the desperate hunt by 150 police and 650 volunteers continued, questions were being raised over the nature of the response and whether it has played into the kidnapper's hands. The Daily Mail has discovered that:

• Portuguese border controls were not alerted until late on Friday morning - 15 hours after Maddy went missing.
  
• It was not until Saturday that officers admitted she could have been abducted even though it was almost inconceivable that a child of three could have wandered off and remained missing for so long. Only then did they start searching hundreds of apartments in the busy resort of Praia da Luz.
  
• A full list of guests and staff at the Mark Warner holiday complex was being compiled only yesterday and had yet to be handed over to detectives.
  
• The apartment from where Maddy was taken has not been properly sealed off. Police lines have regularly been crossed by curious passersby who have been able to touch the shutters forced open by her abductor, destroying any possible forensic evidence.
  
• The police 'sketch' of the suspect has a blank where the face is supposed to be.

Growing pessimism last night about the chances of finding Maddy alive was in sharp contrast to the apparent hope expressed on Saturday morning when the Judicial Police the Portuguese equivalent of CID - appeared to suggest that they knew who Madeleine's kidnapper was and expressed hope that she was still alive.

Officers also hinted that they had a description - or sketch - of the suspect. But the Daily Mail has been told that this is simply a hastily-compiled drawing based on the often contradictory accounts of no fewer than 30 witnesses.

One key 'suspect' is a man with thick, dark, side-parted hair, wearing a black padded shirt or jacket and pale trousers. One report claimed that he was based just a 'couple of miles' from the resort.

Other sources close to the inquiry, however, admit they have no real idea who he is and that the descriptions are of a 'number' of suspects.

Similarly, the police's confidence that the toddler is still alive seems to be based simply on hope.

Officers are working on three theories. One is that the suspect is a local paedophile. The other two possibilities are that Maddy was taken either by a childless couple or by human traffickers.

If either of the latter theories is true, then the youngster is likely to be a long way from the resort.

In any event, it is more than likely that she was watched by her captor - or captors - as she played with her parents in the sunshine.

At first the local rural police took little interest in witnesses' reports of suspicious characters seen nearby, because they initially believed Madeleine had simply wandered off.

They took hours to be convinced that an intruder had forced open the heavy shutters at the side of the flat.

Last night an expatriate British businessman described how he saw a couple carrying a young child eight hours after Madeleine went missing.


George Burke, originally from Liverpool, was driving home at 6am on Friday after dropping his son at a station when the man and woman were caught in his headlights and immediately scurried out of sight. He said he thought nothing more about the incident until he heard about Madeleine's disappearance, after which he contacted police.

Mr McCann's sister, Philomena McCann, said:

'The police were doing very little after Madeleine vanished. Mark Warner staff had to organise the searches. The police did nothing for hours.

'They have just played this down from the minute they were approached.'

By Saturday afternoon a chief inspector from Lisbon, belatedly summoned south to beef up the inquiry, was knocking on doors.

He and other officers used master keys to let themselves in when doors were not opened, then questioned occupants.

One British resident, shocked at the delays in the Portuguese response, said he had told the inspector: 'We've been waiting for you - it's taken two days. The inspector said, "I know" and rolled his eyes.'

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, George Brooks, George Burke, Madeleine McCann

I saw suspects with a girl like her

George Brooks / Burke

I saw suspects with a girl like her
7 May 2007
The Daily Express
Matt Drake and David Pilditch

(Note: the released McCann case files show no record of George Burke (aka George Brooks) approaching the Portuguese police in regard to this sighting. See: Apensos V, Vol 1 Page 5)

A British expat told yesterday how he saw a "suspicious" couple with a child like Maddy rushing towards a railway station not long after the little girl disappeared.

Supermarket owner George Burke, from Liverpool, said that a "vicious looking" man and woman were carrying the child, eight miles from where she was abducted.

The sighting was about eight hours after Maddy had vanished from her bed at the Ocean Club resort as she slept beside her two-year-old twin brother and sister.

Father-of-two Mr Burke said he was driving home just before 6am on Friday when he caught the couple in his headlights.

"It was very, very dark, " he said. "It was hard to make out exactly what the couple looked like, but through the gloom I could definitely see a very suspicious-looking man and woman, carrying a child who fitted Madeleine's description.

"Though there was nobody else on the road, they were hurrying across a dual carriageway that leads straight to the train station and marina in Lagos.

"The woman was in her thirties, darkhaired and slim. The man, also in his thirties, was less than six feet tall and slightly stocky.

He had shoulder-length hair and looked quite tanned. They did not look like tourists and they certainly didn't seem to be British.

"You could tell from their posture that they were trying to carry the child without anyone seeing it and they were extremely disturbed when I caught them in my headlights.

"It was only after I returned home to my house in Burgau, along the coast from Praia da Luz, that I realised the importance of what I had seen. I quickly rang the police."

Portuguese police alerted airports, ports and border controls several hours after the alarm was raised, before cordoning the area.

Helped by Mr Burke's description, they have built a profile of the man they believe is their prime suspect. Mr Burke said they told him not to tell the media what he had seen but he decided to break his silence to help to track down the kidnapper.

"I'm the father of two teenagers myself, " he added, "but you can't begin to understand the agony and the distress that the child's parents are going through."

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, George Brooks, George Burke, Madeleine McCann

Missing toddler's mum joins locals at church service

Missing toddler's mum joins locals at church service
John Bingham
7 May 2007
Aberdeen Press & Journal

The mother of missing tot Madeleine McCann knelt and wept in church yesterday as she prayed for her safe return. Kate McCann lined up with Portuguese women to lay flowers at the foot of the statue of the Virgin Mary in the village church in Praia Da Luz on the Algarve at a poignant service to honour motherhood.

Accompanied by her husband Gerry and relatives who have flown out from Glasgow and other parts of the UK, Mrs McCann attended mass with the local community to pray for Madeleine's safe return three days after her disappearance.

The three-year-old vanished from the family's holiday apartment where she was sleeping with her younger siblings, twins Amelie and Sean, while their parents had dinner nearby on Thursday night. Portuguese police believe she was snatched but offered hope saying they think she is alive.

With police stopping cars on nearby roads, search teams scouring the surrounding countryside and airports across the country on alert, police say they believe she is still in Portugal.

In a public display of unity, the family attended the church of Nossa Senora Da Luz on the day the congregation were marking mother's day - a date made more poignant by the events of last week. As children presented flowers to their mothers, 14-year-old Emily Seromenho, whose own mother is English, walked forward to hand five roses to a visibly moved Mrs McCann. As the women then lined up to lay their flowers at the foot of a statue of the Virgin Mary, Mrs McCann joined them walking to the front of the church. Laying the roses, she paused to gaze up at the image.

Emily, whose mother Sarah comes from Ascot, Berkshire, said afterwards:

"The priest asked me to go and get the lady the flowers and I went and gave her the flowers.

"I felt that she was very, very sad, she was crying a lot and I felt sad as well.

"I just said that when it was a part of the service for her to give the flowers to Mary at the top for her to give them in.

"She just said thank you."

Up to 200 villagers packed the tiny 16th century church.

As Madeleine's parents came into the church, accompanied by her grandparents, uncles and aunts, Mrs McCann clutched the same small pink cuddly toy which she has carried every time she has appeared in public since her daughter disappeared. She knelt silently for almost 10 minutes, praying and kissing the kitten-like toy.

In halting English, Father Jose Manuel Pacheco said:

"We are here like all Sundays and today we have a very big intention, we want to be with this family, the family of Madeleine.

"We are with the family, the parish, since the first moment of the event."

Pictures of Madeleine have been fixed to church notices.

Among the congregation was the British ambassador to Portugal, John Buck.

As the service ended, the priest told the McCanns: "We are with you, courage, courage, courage." Afterwards the villagers, many weeping, queued to hug and kiss the couple. Fr Pacheco told the family that the entire community was united with them.

Mrs McCann bravely stood to address reporters, breaking down with emotion. She said:

"Gerry and I would just like to express our sincere gratitude and thanks to everybody but particularly the local community here who have offered so much support. "We couldn't have asked for more. Please continue to pray for Madeleine."

Her husband told how the family still had hope.

"From today's service the thing that we are going to take away is strength and courage and hope and we continue to hope for the best outcome from this for us and for Madeleine."

A spokesman for Mark Warner Holidays, which operates the Ocean Bay Club resort where the McCanns have been staying, said the family would spend the rest of the day in quiet reflection following the service. He said the company had flown over two specialist counsellors who had been helping the couple work through the traumatic past few days. "They have got a lot of support from relatives and they are finding comfort from that."

Meanwhile, the number of volunteers searching for the toddler dwindled yesterday, but organisers insisted there was no question of calling off efforts. Dave Shelton, a Manchester man, now resident in the village, who has been co-ordinating the search volunteers, said that he had spent the day with a small group of around 20 searching forest areas behind the beach. On Friday there were as many as 500 volunteers, but Mr Shelton said organisers had been collecting contact numbers from people offering to help and allocating them to areas. He is hoping there will be more searchers today.

Last night a group of 21 villagers, including a handful of children, met the McCanns in their apartment to say the Rosary together. The group spent around 45 minutes with the couple. The gathering was organised through the local church.

Emily Seromenho, who had earlier handed Mrs McCann the bunch of flowers, said afterwards:

"We just prayed the words of the church and said to Maddy's father that we were all praying for them and we think from our hearts that she is going to appear. "They were sitting there and praying as well with us."

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Ambassador John Buck, Madeleine McCann

Hunt at Black Rock

Hunt at Black Rock
The News of the World
Ross Hall & Carole Aye Maung in Praia da Luz, Portugal
6 May 2007

POLICE hunting for missing Maddie McCann have dramatically widened their search to an extinct VOLCANO, the News of the World can exclusively reveal.

Teams of officers with sniffer dogs were last night scouring what one called a "sinister" area called Black Rock near sea cliffs just over a mile from the resort where the youngster was snatched on Thursday.

The search was widened as the detective leading the hunt claimed they had a good idea who the kidnapper was- and that he believes Maddie may still be ALIVE.

A source close to the Portuguese investigation also told the News of the World that the abductor is believed to have spent days watching Maddie and staking out the McCann family's apartment at the Ocean Club resort in the seaside village of Praia da Luz.

Meanwhile more than 500 British tourists, expats and locals have joined in the ongoing search for the blonde youngster along a six-mile stretch of the coastline.

Last night-48 hours after Maddie was snatched-that search shifted to Rocha Negra-a remote area feared by the local community and an ideal hideout.

Furriel Louis Costa, one of the policemen involved in the search, told us: "You would call it Black Rock. It is a very scary and chilling place. The local Portuguese people do not like to go up there. They are too frightened.

Captive

"It is very big and extends high up above the sea which makes it seem very threatening. You can go up there. But no one ever does. It's not a nice place. It is sinister."

He spoke as hopes rose that Maddie might be alive and held captive following a statement earlier in the day from the head of the investigation, Director of the Judicial Police Guilhermino Encarnacao who hinted that they KNOW the kidnapper's identity.

He said: "There is a prime suspect and we have a portrait sketch of the suspect.

But I am not going to reveal it because it may put the girl's life in danger. We believe that she is still alive and still in Portugal."

More than 150 police officers have been drafted into the area-and yesterday British detectives from the McCann's home county of Leicestershire flew in to join the hunt which also took in the Boavista golf course, again a mile from where she was abducted.

All ports, airports and borders have been put on high alert for any sign of the missing tot.

Maddie disappeared from the Ocean Club in the Praia da Luz resort of Portugal as her doctor parents Gerry and Kate McCann, both 38, ate in a restaurant 50 yards away.

They had chosen not to use the babysitting service provided by holiday company Mark Warner and instead were checking on her every half hour as she slept between her two-year-old twin brother and sister, Shaun and Amelie. A police source last night told us the kidnapper must have KNOWN there was no babysitter in the apartment-and could have been watching the family's movements for days.

He said: "It wasn't just coincidence that this person took her while her parents were out. They would have been watching and waiting and picked the ideal time to take her without disturbing anyone or raising any attention.

"They were only yards away and could see the balcony to the apartment but whoever took Maddie went through the front window which would have been out of sight."

Some sources in the area suggested last night that Maddie may have been snatched by a Russian or Eastern European gang to be sold for up to Pounds 250,000. Police are also investigating a British businessman's revelation that he spotted a couple carrying a young child just hours after Maddie disappeared.


Liverpool-born George Burke told cops he saw a couple carrying a young child at around 6am, seven hours after the abduction, as he drove home from nearby Lagos.


When his headlights lit them, he said they "scurried down a side road and out of sight".

Yesterday the News of the World joined the search for Maddie by putting up and handing out large posters calling for help in tracing the youngster to the masses of volunteers turning up to join the hunt.

Manchester man Dave Shelton, 38, who lives in the village and is co-ordinating the local searchers, said: "People have just been coming and coming. The response has been fantastic." Last night Maddie's distraught extended family gave us a series of loving pictures of the happy tot-who was conceived with the help of IVF treatment-at her home in Rothley, Leicestershire, as they prayed for her safe return.

Her aunt Philomena McCann, 54, said: "It's great to have some hope from the police-but we need something to happen. We want her back. We need to keep strong, for everybody's sake."

Maddie's great uncle Brian Kennedy (pictured left), who lives in the same village as the family, told how Gerry and Kate had already planned her fourth birthday party next Saturday before leaving for Portugal.

"We asked a friend to make her a Dr Who cake. We've told her to carry on making it. We have to think for the best."

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Brian Kennedy, George Brooks, George Burke, Lori Campbell, Madeleine McCann, News of the World, Ross Hall

Little Maddy stolen from her bedroom

George Brooks / Burke

Little Maddy stolen from her bedroom
6 May 2007
Sunday Mail
Michael Seamark

LISBON: A British girl who disappeared from her bed in a Portuguese beach resort while her parents dined nearby was kidnapped, police said yesterday.

Police believe three-year-old Madeleine McCann is still alive and have a drawing of a suspect based on evidence from witnesses, said Guilhermino Encarnacao, head of the judicial police in the Faro area of the Algarve.

He would give no further information about the suspect other than saying there was "all the evidence to show it was a kidnapping" and other possibilities had been ruled out.

He said up to 150 police were searching for the girl, who was reported missing on Thursday. Police yesterday put airports, ports and border posts on alert in their hunt for the kidnappers.

Her distraught parents, British doctors Gerry and Kate McCann, clung to the hope she was still alive.

Despite a massive search throughout the previous night by police, sniffer dogs and holidaymakers, there was no sign of Madeleine, wearing white pyjamas when her parents put her to bed with twins Amelie and Sean.

Her mother relived the horrific moment she discovered her daughter had vanished from her bed while she and her husband were in a restaurant 40m away.

Kate McCann ran from their apartment in an upmarket Portuguese tourist resort screaming: "Someone has taken my little girl."

The parents have told family and friends they suspect their daughter was snatched while her two-year-old brother and sister were asleep in cots beside her.

Madeleine, who was born by IVF treatment, disappeared from the family's ground-floor holiday apartment at the "family friendly" Mark Warner holiday complex in the Praia da Luz resort as her parents ate at a nearby restaurant.

The child's aunt, Trish Cameron, described the frantic telephone call she received after the couple discovered their daughter was missing about 10 o'clock on Thursday night.

"It was my young brother Gerry distraught on the phone, breaking his heart. He said, `Madeleine's been abducted, she's been abducted.'

"They kept going back to check the kids every half hour. The restaurant was only 40 yards away. He went back at 9 o'clock to check the children. They were all sound asleep, windows shut, shutters shut."

Kate then went over to the two-bedroom ground-floor apartment and "came out screaming", said Mrs Cameron.

"The door was open, the window in the bedroom and the shutters had been jemmied open.

"Nothing had been touched in the apartment, no valuables taken, no passports. They think someone must have come in the window and gone out the door with her."

A Briton who runs a company in the area has told police he spotted a couple carrying a young child.

George Burke, from Liverpool, was driving home from nearby Lagos about 6am when he caught the two people in his car headlights.

"I couldn't see them clearly because it was dark and windy. They scurried down a side road and out of sight," he said.

Police helicopters and launches scoured the sea, beaches and villages of the Algarve tourist region as Madeleine's family issued a statement which read: "This is a particularly difficult time for the family and we are all comforting each other."

Dr McCann, a consultant cardiologist at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital, and his wife Kate, a GP, had chosen the up-market resort because it was family-friendly.

The McCanns, both 38, who have been married eight years, were on holiday with a group of doctors.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, George Brooks, George Burke, Madeleine McCann

The net's closing in

The net's closing in
Search for missing Maddy
The Sunday Mirror
6 May 2007
Lori Campbell Kate Mansey and Jon Clarke in the Algarve Portugal

Police in hunt for a man acting strangely at complex Dad: I'm sure she'll be at 4th birthday next week

Detectives were last night closing in on a man they suspect of snatching little Maddy McCann from her holiday apartment.  They said they believed she was being held within three miles of the complex where she had been staying at Praia da Luz on Portugal's Algarve.

Guilhermino Encarnacao, chief of police in the region, said he had an artist's impression of the abductor but he feared that releasing it may put the three-year-old's life in danger.  He said he believed that Maddy had been taken by a sex offender, but there was also a possibility she had been kidnapped for a ransom - Maddy's parents are both doctors, her father a highly-paid heart specialist.

Mr Encarnacao said: "We have a prime suspect. A man has been seen acting strangely and we have a sketch, but we are not releasing it yet. We do not want to put the girl at risk.  "We believe the girl is still in Portugal, and probably nearby. I cannot rule out it was a paedophile who took her." 

Police raised the hope that Maddy could be found as her anguished parents spent a second night waiting for news of their daughter.

Gerry and Kate McCann, both 38, of Rothley, Leics, are staying two doors down from the apartment that Maddy was taken from between 9pm and 10pm on Thursday.  Yesterday Gerry went into the apartment and emerged carrying a suitcase and a bucket and spade for younger twins Amelie and Sean, two.  The couple were later seen walking between apartment blocks in the resort with the twins, accompanied by friends.

They are being comforted by family and specially-trained officers from Leicestershire who have flown to Portugal.

One senior Portuguese detective told the Sunday Mirror yesterday: "We know of two or three local paedophiles living between Lagos and Praia da Luz. We have their names and addresses. We also have a list of English and German sex offenders living in the area from Interpol. We are following up every lead." Yesterday Maddy's heartbroken grandmother told how the family were clinging to the hope she will be able to attend her fourth birthday party on Saturday.

Susan Healy told the Sunday Mirror: "We were looking forward to seeing her next weekend and giving her her presents, but this is just so awful.  "Her father is adamant that she will be found."

Relatives have made her a special Dr Who cake in honour of her favourite programme. Maddy had been asleep on a bed next to her brother Sean when she was snatched.
Her parents had been eating dinner at a restaurant in the Ocean Club resort 100 yards from the apartment.  They had been taking turns to check on the children every half hour as they slept.  But a frantic search was launched when Kate went back to the apartment at 9.45pm and found Maddy gone.

More than 100 locals and holiday makers took part in the hunt. Hotel workers from the Mark Warner Holiday complex held hands in a line and combed the beach while others scoured the resort and nearby roads.  A police source said they had been studying CCTV footage in petrol stations and on motorways near the resort.  There were also reports from expats that a young girl was seen walking down a road with a couple.

Last night 150 extra officers were drafted in to help with the search, as well as people from the Red Cross, Maritime Police and firemen.  It is thought someone had been spying on the apartment and broken in by forcing the shutters on the patio doors and entering the apartment when he knew the adults had gone.  The ground-floor apartment was on the edge of a public road so Maddy's abductor would have been able to make a quick getaway.

Yesterday family and friends flew in to the popular holiday resort from Liverpool, Glasgow and Canada to comfort Maddy's parents.  Looking tired and distraught, her mum Kate clasped her husband's hand as they walked out of the apartment with their twins between them to collect their belongings.

Last night the little girl's great uncle, Brian Kennedy, said: "We fear the worst, but we are hoping for the best."  Mr Kennedy insisted that the couple had acted responsibly when they left the children in the room while they had dinner at the restaurant.  He said: "The children were left only in the sense that when you put your children to bed, you don't stay in the room all night.  "Madeleine is a lovely little girl, an intelligent, bright child. As parents, they are absolutely devoted to their children. You won't find more caring parents anywhere."

The seven other adults, who had been on holiday with the McCann family, left yesterday as planned, leaving the parents free to spend time with worried relatives.

Meanwhile, questions were being raised on how secure the apartments were. There was also criticism of how quickly the police reacted to Maddy's disappearance.

Paula Jones, 34, who manages the apartments where the McCann family were staying said the properties were a hot spot for burglaries.  She said: "We have a real problem with break-ins at the apartments because lots of holiday makers don't double lock the patio doors.  "Burglars wait and watch the apartments so they know who is coming and going and they strike when tourists are out at the beach or in the restaurants."

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Ambassador John Buck, Brian Kennedy, Lori Campbell, Madeleine McCann, News of the World, Ross Hall

Abducted girl's relatives now 'fear the worst'

Abducted girl's relatives now 'fear the worst'
Marc Horne
6 May 2007
Scotland on Sunday

RELATIVES of the young British girl missing in Portugal "fear the worst" after police revealed they believe they know the person who abducted her.

Three-year-old Madeleine McCann, known as Maddy, went missing from a rented apartment in the Algarve last Thursday while her parents, Gerry and Kate, ate in a tapas restaurant a few hundred yards away.

Officers say they have a suspect in mind and believe the youngster remains alive and in the area where she and her family were on holiday.

Guilhermino Encarnacao, head of the judicial police in the Faro area, said "all the evidence" pointed to Madeleine, who turns four next Friday, having been abducted and that all other options had been ruled out.

Officers are working on the assumption she is being held between two and three miles from the resort.

Encarnacao revealed his force had received more than 30 calls from potential witnesses and created an artist's impression of a suspect, but he refused to confirm whether the suspect was a man or a woman, British or Portuguese. More than 150 officers are combing the areas around the holiday resort.

Brian Kennedy, great uncle of the missing toddler, said: "We fear the worst, but we are hoping for the best."

Kennedy said the youngster was a big fan of Doctor Who and that a special customised cake was being made by a family friend for her birthday next week.

On the night of Madeleine's disappearance, the McCanns went out at 8pm after tucking their three children into bed and watching them fall asleep in their apartment beds. The couple, who have family in Glasgow, checked on the children every half hour up until 9pm. Mrs McCann found Madeleine missing when she next walked into the room at 10pm.

The family believes an intruder broke in and abducted the girl while her two-year-old twin siblings slept peacefully in their cots. The family said the shutter had been slid open and the bedroom window had been "jemmied".

"Kate and Gerry weren't out for long and they could see the apartment from the restaurant," said Brian Healy, Madeleine's maternal grandfather. "Someone must have come in the window and gone out the door with her."

The family were staying in a luxury resort in Praia de la Luz which features North African-style villas and sub-tropical gardens overlooking an idyllic beach. The Ocean Club resort offered a creche service, but the couple decided to leave their children in the apartment.

Resort staff knocked frantically on the doors of holidaymakers to get them involved in the search for the missing girl.

"At 11.30pm I went out in my dressing gown and a distressed gentleman told me that a child had been abducted and asked if we could help with the search," said British tourist Paules Moyes.

British Ambassador John Buck accompanied the couple, who live in the Leicestershire village of Rothley, during the search yesterday.

On Friday evening, the parents made an emotional appeal for the safe return of their "beautiful" daughter.

"We cannot describe the anguish and despair we are feeling," said Mr McCann. "Please, if you have Madeleine, let her come home to her mummy, daddy, brother and sister."

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Ambassador John Buck, Brian Kennedy, Madeleine McCann

Shutters had been jemmied.. Maddie was gone

5 May 2007
The Sun
John Askill and Julie Moult in Praia da Luz, Portugal, and James Clench in London

MOMENT HOL MUM'S WORLD FELL TO PIECES

Sun team: John Scott, Guy Patrick, Antonella Lazzeri, Alastair Taylor, John Coles, Gary O'Shea, Emma Cox, David Goodwin, Tom Worden, John Clarke and Doug Seeburg.

SHATTERED relatives and friends told last night of the heart-stopping moment mum Kate McCann discovered her precious daughter was missing.

Kate and her husband Gerry had left blonde three-year-old Maddie asleep with her baby brother and sister as they ate at a tapas restaurant just 50 yards from their holiday apartment in Portugal's Algarve.

The pair took turns to check on the children every half hour. But when Kate returned to the room at 10pm on Thursday there was no sign of her angel-faced girl.

As a desperate police hunt continued in the resort of Praia da Luz last night, Maddie's aunt Trish Cameron told how distraught Gerry described the scene in a frantic late-night phone call.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Ambassador John Buck, Antonella Lazzeri, Madeleine McCann

Nothing describes anguish for our Maddie

George Brooks / Burke

Nothing describes anguish for our Maddie
Hunt for lost Maddie
5 May 2007
The Sun
John Askill and Julie Moult in Praia da Luz, Portugal, and James Clench in London

Hols parents' plea for missing girl, 3

Missing Maddie McCann's distraught parents choked back tears last night as they made a desperate plea to get her back.

Speaking 24 hours after discovering three-year-old Maddie had vanished from their holiday apartment, dad Gerry said:

"Words cannot describe the anguish and despair we are feeling as the parents of a beautiful daughter."

As wife Kate poignantly clutched Maddie's pink teddy, he added haltingly:

"We request anyone with any information relating to Madeleine's disappearance should please contact Portuguese police to help us get her back to safety.

"Please if you have Madeleine, please let her come home to her mummy, daddy, brother and sister.Everyone can understand how distressing this current situation is."

The couple, both 38-year-old doctors, looked red-eyed as they stood just yards from their holiday flat. Earlier, shattered relatives and friends told of the heart-stopping moment mum Kate discovered her precious daughter was missing.

Kate and Gerry, a consultant cardiologist, had left Maddie asleep with their baby twins as they ate at a tapas restaurant 50 yards from their holiday apartment in Portugal's Algarve.

Screaming

The pair took turns to check on the children every half hour. But when Kate returned to the room at 10pm on Thursday there was no sign of her angel-faced girl.

As a desperate police hunt continued in the resort of Praia da Luz last night, Maddie's aunt Trish Cameron told how distraught Gerry described the scene in a frantic late-night phone call.

Trish, of Dumbarton, Scotland, said:

"The kids were all sound asleep, windows shut, shutters shut.

"Kate went back at 10pm to check. The front door was lying open, the window had been

tampered with, the shutters had been jemmied open and Maddie was missing.

"She came screaming back to the group crying, 'They've taken her, they've taken her'. Gerry was crying and roaring like a bull.

"Obviously someone has been watching them, watching the children, seeing where they stayed and seeing they were left alone. It just doesn't bear thinking about."

Maddie's brother and sister - two-year-old IVF twins Sean and Amelie - were left safely in their cots.

Trish, who plans to jet out to help with the search, went on:

"Kate ran and told my brother. He was distraught on the phone to me, breaking his heart.

"He said, 'Maddie's been abducted, she's been abducted'. Nothing else was touched in the apartment, no valuables taken, no passports." 

Describing Maddie, Trish added:

"She's an absolutely beautiful wee blonde girl, with blue-green eyes.

"One distinguishing feature is that the pupil of her right eye runs down into the iris."

Cops yesterday cordoned off the apartment and officers with sniffer dogs were leading the search.

The Sun has offered a Pounds 10,000 reward for information that may lead to the youngster being found.

Maddie - also an IVF baby - was reportedly wearing pink, short-sleeved pyjamas with a cartoon Eeyore on the top.

Last night local reports claimed dogs tracked her scent to a supermarket before the trail ran cold. The store's CCTV cameras were so basic they did not make recordings.

Meanwhile British tourist George Burke claimed he had seen a couple carrying a young child early yesterday morning. Mr Burke, from Liverpool, was driving back from Lagos, just a few miles from Praia de Luz. He said: 

"I couldn't see them clearly as it was dark and windy - but I thought it was odd. They scurried down a side road."

Kate and Gerry, from Rothley, Leics, are believed to have been on holiday with a group of other medical workers. The party comprised nine adults and eight children. It is understood Maddie, who turns four next Saturday, is due to start school in September.

Distraught Kate rang long-time friends Jon and Michelle Corner, the twins' godparents, at their Merseyside home to break the news.

Jon, whose wife grew up with GP Kate in their home city of

Liverpool, said:

"She phoned at about 3am. She just blurted out that Maddie had been abducted.

"She said, 'They've broken the shutter on the window and taken my little girl'.

She's still devastated. She's very upset that the police don't seem to be doing anything."

The McCanns were staying at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz, western Algarve - a popular spot with Brits. They booked the break with holiday firm Mark Warner.

The complex consists of individual villa-style accommodation mixed with small bars, restaurants, cafes, boutiques and shops.

Resort boss John Hill said 70 staff and guests searched until 4.30am after the family raised the alarm, while border police, Spanish cops and airports were notified. He said: "It was a very emotional and frantic night."

But he insisted there was NO physical evidence Maddie had been abducted from the apartment. He said: "We are still hoping Madeleine is asleep under a bush and we'll find her soon."

He said the family's apartment was surrounded by others - all with "sophisticated" door locks.

Guests were quizzed to check if they saw anyone acting suspiciously. Mr Hill said Mark Warner offers families a babysitting service where they can leave children for the night.

He added: "Those facilities were available but were not being used."

Counsellors were being flown out from Britain to assist the stricken parents, he added.

John Buck, the British Ambassador in Portugal, drove in from the capital Lisbon to be with the family after they begged him for help.

Among those who joined Thursday night's search for the tot were British expats, holidaymakers and off-duty police officers.

Paul Moyes, 47, from Cheshire, owns a holiday apartment with wife Susan in the McCanns' block.

Knock

He said:

"There was a knock on our door at about 11.30pm from a hotel guest telling us a girl was missing and asking us to help."

Family pal Gill Renwick revealed how panicking Kate sent her a text saying: "I need help."

She said:

"Kate was at the police station in hysterics. When we spoke she said the police weren't doing enough."

Speaking about the Pounds 1,500 family holiday, pal Gill went on:

"It's the first time they have done this.

"They are very careful parents. They chose Mark Warner because it is a family-friendly resort."

Trish Cameron added:

"In hindsight, yes, Gerry and Kate wish they hadn't left the children alone, but it's hard when you're on holiday. They're excellent parents and very protective of their children."

Maddie's worried grandparents have flown to Portugal to join the search. Brian and Susan Healy said as they headed for the airport: "We're worried sick."

The couple had earlier been comforted by friends at their smart semi in Mossley Hill, Liverpool.

Family friend Pat Perkins, 61, said:

"Susan can barely speak. We're just trying to stay positive.

"Kate and Gerry are such good parents. It's a very loving family, they didn't leave their children in any danger. You just don't expect something so awful to happen.

"I recommended Portugal as a holiday destination. They love children over there."

Sun team: John Scott, Guy Patrick, Antonella Lazzeri, Alastair Taylor, John Coles, Gary O'Shea, Emma Cox, David Goodwin, Tom Worden, John Clarke and Doug Seeburg

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Ambassador John Buck, George Brooks, George Burke, Madeleine McCann

Taken while she slept

George Brooks / Burke

Taken while she slept
5 May 2007
Daily Mail
Michael Seamark

The distraught parents of missing three-year-old Madeleine McCann were clinging to hope that she was still alive last night.

As a desperate hunt continued in the Algarve, her mother relived the horrific moment she discovered her daughter had vanished from her bed while she and her husband were in a restaurant only 40 yards away.

Doctor Kate McCann ran from their apartment in an upmarket Portuguese resort screaming: 'Someone has taken my little girl.'

Kate and her husband Gerry, a consultant cardiologist, have told family and friends they suspect their daughter was snatched while her two-year-old twin brother and sister were sound asleep in cots on either side of her. Madeleine, who was born by IVF treatment, disappeared from the family's ground-floor holiday apartment at the 'family friendly' Mark Warner holiday complex in the Praia da Luz resort as her parents ate at a tapas restaurant close by.

The child's aunt, Trish Cameron, yesterday described the frantic telephone call she received after the couple discovered their daughter was missing around ten o'clock on Thursday night.

'It was my young brother Gerry distraught on the phone, breaking his heart. He said: "Madeleine's been abducted, she's been abducted".

'They kept going back to check the kids every half hour. The restaurant was only 40 yards away. He went back at nine o'clock to check the children. They were all sound asleep, windows shut, shutters shut.'

Kate then went over to the two-bedroom ground-floor apartment and 'came out screaming', said Mrs Cameron. 'The door was lying open, the window in the bedroom and the shutters had been jemmied open.

'Nothing had been touched in the apartment, no valuables taken, no passports. They think someone must have come in the window and gone out the door with her.'

Portuguese police yesterday sealed off the three-storey block and forensic specialists fingerprinted the ground floor window of the McCanns' apartment. All airports, ports and border posts have been alerted.

But despite a massive search throughout the night by police, sniffer dogs and dozens of holidaymakers, there has been no sign of Madeleine, wearing white pyjamas when her parents put her to bed with twins Amelie and Sean in the bougainvillea-clad apartment.

Intriguingly, a Briton who runs a company in the Algarve has told police he spotted a couple carrying a young child early yesterday.

George Burke, from Liverpool, was driving home from nearby Lagos around 6am when he caught the two people in his car headlights. 'I couldn't see them clearly because it was dark and windy. They scurried down a side road and out of sight.'

Last night, as police helicopters and launches scoured the sea, beach and village, Madeleine's family issued a statement which read: 'This is a particularly difficult time for the family and we are all comforting each other. At this time all the family's focus is in assisting the UK and in particular the Portuguese authorities in securing Madeleine's safe return.'

Mr McCann, a consultant cardiologist at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital, and his wife Kate, a GP, had chosen the up-market resort because it was family-friendly.

A friend of the couple, Jill Renwick, said: 'This is the first time they have done this. They are very, very anxious parents and very careful.'

She said Madeleine - known as Maddy - was ' gorgeous, active and chatty and intelligent, not shy. She is four next week and starts school this year.'

The McCanns, who have been married eight years and recently moved into a £600,000 detached house in Rothley, a suburb of Leicester, were on holiday with a group of fellow doctors and other young children, paying around £1,600 for a week.

In the evenings, Mark Warner offers a drop-in creche service enabling customers to leave young children with staff while they enjoy a relaxing dinner.

Customers may also pay for individual baby-sitters but the McCanns, both 38, chose not to use either service, instead taking it in turns regularly to check their three young children themselves from the restaurant on the other side of a swimming pool from their apartment.

After Mrs McCann raised the alarm, Mark Warner said it immediately launched a search of all areas within the complex and the peaceful, 1,000-population fishing village.

Resort manager John Hill said: 'As well as staff, we had guests helping, also the majority of the Praia da Luz village.

Police were informed at the same time as the alarm was raised. They arrived about

10.45pm and after statements were taken from the family police decided to escalate the situation.'

Paul Moyes, 47, from Cheshire, and his wife Susan own a holiday apartment in the same black as the McCanns. He said: 'There was a knock on the door at about 11.30 from a hotel guest telling us a girl was missing and asking us to help in the search.

'There were uniformed police, plain clothes and even off-duty local officers. The search went on all night, people were using torches.

'We searched the beach and the hotel grounds with scores of people. Quite a few of us own holiday homes here so it's a close-knit community and something like this is terribly shocking.' Michael Hannar, from Pontefract, Yorkshire, owns a ground floor apartment close to the McCanns.

He said: 'I don't believe a three-year- old child would have been strong enough to open the window or shutter.

'Mine are difficult to open, especially if the window is fully closed. The shutter is also difficult to open.'

Family friend Mrs Renwick said the McCanns - who met while training at the Western Infirmary at Glasgow - felt let down by police. 'I spoke to them this morning and they said the police had done nothing overnight and they felt as if they'd been left on their own.'

Resort manager Mr Hill said: 'We're in a sleepy fishing village and manpower for the police, I agree, was low at the time. After the CID were involved more police were called.'

In Leicester, neighbours spoke of the loving, protective parents. Tracey Horsefield, a 32-year-old nurse, said: 'They never let those children out on their own. I have never seen Madeleine without her parents.'

Mr McCann's mother Eileen, 67, from Glasgow, said the couple had been desperate to have children and eventually underwent IVF treatment.

'Madeleine made their lives complete when she came along. The three children were very close and I don't know how they will cope - how any of them will.'

Madeleine's uncle Michael Healy said: 'There has been some negative spin put on this, with people criticising them for leaving the kids.

'But it's nonsense, they were close by and eating within sight of where the children were and checking on them. No one was rip-roaring drunk.'

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, George Brooks, George Burke, Madeleine McCann