Cuts hold up Maddie UK probe

Cuts hold up Maddie UK probe
29 August 2010
News of the World
Lucy Panton

A NEW probe by British cops into missing Madeleine McCann is being held up in a row over funding, we can reveal.

Police forces face cuts of tens of millions of pounds to their budgets leaving no spare cash to pay for what would be a costly re-investigation.

Home Secretary Theresa May held a meeting with Kate and Gerry McCann early this month to discuss the search for their daughter.

Senior officers at Scotland Yard have been consulted about taking on the case. But despite the apparent early progress we can reveal that there are two key stumbling blocks.

No police force can afford to take on the job which could take at least two detectives away from other duties for as long as a year.

A source said: "The real issue that needs to be resolved is who is going to pay for it? No police force can afford to agree to take on the case without knowing where the funding will come from.

"The other issue which is as important to resolve is to ensure that British officers will have full access in Portugal.

"At the moment there is no agreement in place that the Portuguese authorities are going to allow and co-operate with a British re-investigation.

"The review has highlighted the need for a thorough re-investigation starting from scratch. The Metropolitan Police have been consulted and are likely to be given the job, but not until all the problems have been ironed out."

The McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, appealed directly to former Home Secretary Alan Johnson and now Mrs May for extra help.

Madeleine was three when she went missing from her family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz in May 2007. This year we broke the news that the Met's Homicide Command have been approached to discuss taking on the investigation.

Jim Gamble, head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, told Labour ministers there were huge holes in the original inquiry.The treasury are set to slash eight per cent of the policing budget for the next three years threatening jobs.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, CEOP, Find Madeleine Fund, Jim Gamble, Lucy Panton, Madeleine McCann, News of the World

Goncalo Amaral - Fired, Sacked, Kicked-off, Booted etc.

In keeping with the excellent *balanced* reporting the media has given the McCann case...here is a list of examples of the headlines related to Goncalo Amaral - describing his transfer from the Madeleine case in one or more of the following terms: "FIRED, SACKED, BOOTED-OUT, KICKED-OFF, AXED" (etc.)

I have studied these as I've compiled the lists, and must admit that there has been absolutely NO evidence of unbiased reporting in the case of Madeleine McCann.  It is, in my opinion, an insult to the British public that journalists do not have enough respect for their readers to stick to the facts and to avoid sensationalism or spin.  Apparently ethics no longer exist in the news media.  (Thank God for the Internet.)

Headlines follow:

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Antonella Lazzeri, BBC, Forensic Science Services, Gonçalo Amaral, Gordon Brown, Lucy Panton, Madeleine McCann, Nick Fagge

Maddie DNA clue

Maddie DNA clue
11 November 2007
The News of the World
Daniel Sanderson

Evidence found on clothes may be profile of abductor

POLICE believe they may have found vital DNA left by the abductor of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann.

It was taken from strands of hair discovered in a bag of clothes dumped at a Portuguese roadside-which also held a green child's T-shirt with DNA links to Maddie.

The hairs were on an adult's blue fleece and a pair of jeans.

Detectives are now checking all known Portuguese child sex offenders, trying to link the DNA with a name.

Police sources in Portugal last night described the news as a significant breakthrough.

One said:

"DNA was found on the clothes that didn't match Madeleine's. This is a big step forward.

"The bag could have huge significance because it could finally give us a trail that could lead us to her."

Last week we revealed how the white carrier bag was found in a lay-by near Faro airport, about 50 miles from the resort of Praia da Luz where Maddie disappeared on May 3 The clothes inside were tested at a UK forensic lab in Birmingham. Its report shows two hairs contained sufficient information to compile a strong DNA profile.

Police are now working on the theory that whoever dumped the bag-which also contained a pink and blue pencil case with heart motif-could have snatched Maddie.

Meanwhile, mystery fingerprints found on shutters of the McCann family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz have finally been identified-and they belong to A COP.

Bungling police wasted weeks checking this clue before British experts asked if they had eliminated all the police.

Officers who attended the scene were eventually rounded up and fingerprinted, revealing the culprit's identity.

MADDIE'S distraught parents Kate and Gerry McCann are preparing to be quizzed "any day" by Portuguese cops.

Detectives are expected to travel to Leicestershire soon to re-interview the couple.

They will also quiz close pals dubbed the Tapas Seven, who dined in a restaurant with the couple on the night Maddie vanished.

and Lucy Panton lucy.panton @notw.co.uk

£ 1.5M REWARD FOR MADDIE'S SAFE RETURN: DETAILS AT NOTW.CO.UK

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Lucy Panton, News of the World

I traced Maddie DNA to the sea

I traced Maddie DNA to the sea
'The Locator' gives fresh hope to the McCanns
7 October 2007
News of the World
Lucy Panton

RENOWNED international manhunt expert, dubbed The Locator, sensationally revealed he has uncovered a telltale DNA trail left by snatched toddler Maddie McCann.

In a shock new twist, ex-cop Danie Krugel tracked a "forensic route" he believed her kidnapper took from her family's Portuguese holiday apartment through alleyways, roads and paths down to a nearby beach.

There the trail goes cold-crucially supporting the theory that Madeleine was then taken out to sea in a boat after being abducted on May 3.

And the McCanns are convinced Krugel's evidence means four-year-old Maddie was taken ALIVE and gives them hope she can still be found.

The experienced investigator told us:

"I spent four nights in July carrying out my searches.

"I've been able to trace where Madeleine was in the resort and have drawn a map which has been given to the police.

"I can't reveal details as I don't want to alert anyone who might try to disturb the scene. But I believe I've traced where she was taken that night and now it's down to police to use their search experts to do the rest. The area to which my investigation led me is a difficult one to search."

"We tried to contact the family at the very beginning to offer our help, but unfortunately we didn't get called in until a couple of months after Madeleine went missing."

Desperate

News of Krugel's findings came as the News of the World discovered that forensic tests on DNA found in the apartment and hire car are "inconclusive"-completely refuting Portuguese police claims that they incriminate to Maddie's distraught parents, still branded official suspects.

In their desperate bid to find Madeleine the McCanns called in South African Krugel after hearing of a string of remarkable successes in his homeland, where he earned his nickname The Locator.

Krugel's hi-tech methods are a closely guarded secret and he refuses to give details of his techniques.

But his method uses DNA fragments and Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite technology to find missing persons, alive and dead.

The McCanns gave him a sample of Maddie's hair found on a coat that had been left at home in Rothley, Leicestershire, to carry out his probe, with the full cooperation of the cops in Praia da Luz.

Krugel's starting point was the ground floor apartment in the Mark Warner complex where she vanished, just a short distance away from the tapas bar where Kate and Gerry were dining with seven friends.

Using his secret techniques Krugel began tracing and following a DNA trail on a 15-minute route to the sea.

Portuguese cops were then called in to examine his dossier of evidence and immediately decided to carry out searches based on the information. A source told us:

"In fact TWO searches were carried out although this has never been revealed.

"The police were worried that media in the area would see them but they managed to do it all without anyone finding out.

"They didn't find any trace of Madeleine but this did not mean Mr Krugel's information wasn't accurate. The investigations show the only option was for Madeleine to have been put on a boat and taken out to sea."

After police made inquiries around the nearby Lagos marina and other local boating communities there emerged the two theories that Madeleine's body was dumped at sea or she is still alive having been taken by boat abroad, possibly to Morocco.

Krugel's results also match a crucial eye-witness account on the evening of May 3 by Kate and Gerry's close friend Jane Tanner.

She said she saw a man carrying what appeared to be a child wrapped in a blanket close to their apartment.

In a witness statement to cops Miss Tanner said the child looked similar to Madeleine. The man has never been traced. Ironically for the McCanns, it was the work of Krugel that resulted in sniffer dogs being brought in and the couple being declared suspects.

Our source said:

"It was suggested to the Portuguese police that after they'd searched the beach they should then use the dogs from Britain. And it was the behaviour of the dogs that caused them to believe they'd found this so-called 'scent of death'.

"This in fact may not have been the case but the police became convinced Kate and Gerry were involved.

"They are ignoring all the statements to the contrary, the DNA evidence said to have been found in the hire car which can be easily explained, and also the work of Mr Krugel who has had many successes."

"The Locator" traced victims of infamous South African paedophile Gert van Rooyan in the late 1980s. Six girls, aged 11 to 13, had vanished and police were baffled.

Using hair from the missing girls he repeatedly pinpointed the same spot and when the area was excavated bone fragments of victims was found.

He also traced the body of missing five-year-old girl, Naledi Ntebele, in just 20 minutes.

The News of the World has learned Kate and Gerry could finally be cleared after new forensic tests carried out in the UK have proved "inconclusive".

DNA testing by the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham on samples of body fluids and blood have NOT provided a positive match to Madeleine.

An FSS source said that further "more complicated" tests were being carried out and denied claims they were holding back information from the Portuguese. Earlier British experts accused the Portuguese of overplaying early DNA evidence to put pressure on the McCanns.

In the days that followed it was alleged that Portuguese police had found fluids and hair from Madeleine in the hire car.

Leaked reports claimed bodily fluids and blonde hairs apparently belonging to Maddie had been found in the Renault, leading to speculation that they used the car to move her corpse weeks later.

Proven

But a source close to the forensic inquiry insisted yesterday:

"The testing carried out so far remains inconclusive. There are no complete DNA profiles that could implicate the McCanns.

"Tests are still underway and if they come to the same conclusion the case against the McCanns will collapse."

As the argument raged, investigator Krugel told us he had asked for no money or even expenses for his work on the case.

"I wanted to assist the McCanns and offered my services," he said.

"We tried to contact the family at the very beginning but unfortunately we didn't get called in until months after Madeleine went missing."

A source close to the McCanns said:

"The work of Mr Krugel should not be underestimated and gives great hope to Gerry and Kate.

"Many people have contacted the couple to try to help but while their hearts may be in the right place they just don't have the expertise to be of assistance. But Mr Krugel has a proven record of finding people and his methods are extremely credible.

"The results in Praia da Luz crucially match many other strands of the investigation which all point to Madeleine being abducted and still being alive on that night when she was taken.

"Kate and Gerry just want police to concentrate on this evidence and find Madeleine. It's so frustrating for them.

"It is important to mention Kate and Gerry used Mr Krugel with the full cooperation of Portuguese police. The fact they carried out searches as a result of his work prove his credibility with them.

"Yet sadly they seem to have decided to no longer follow this line of inquiry."

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Lucy Panton, News of the World

Exclusive: Maddie was alive on beach

Exclusive: Maddie was alive on beach
The News of the World
Lucy Panton
7 October 2007

STARTLING new evidence from a world renowned manhunter last night

CONVINCED Gerry and Kate McCann that missing daughter Madeleine was snatched ALIVE.

Danie "The Locator" Krugel's hi-tech satellite probe tracked the child's DNA along a route from their Portuguese holiday apartment down to a nearby beach-and there the trail went cold, backing the theory she was taken away by boat.

A McCanns' source said: "This gives us great hope."

FULL STORY - Pages 4 & 5

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Lucy Panton, News of the World

Find the maid: New Maddie Suspect

Find the maid: New Maddie Suspect: 
Amazing twist in investigation as cops hunt for suspect with a grudge
30 September 2007
The News of the World
Lucy Panton, Crime editor

* Sacked worker in 'revenge plot'

* Anonymous tip to Prince Charles

BRITISH cops launched an urgent hunt for a new suspect in the Maddie McCann case-after an astonishing tip-off from the PRINCE OF WALES.

An anonymous email sent to the prince's official website insists three-year old Madeleine was kidnapped from the Mark Warner Ocean Club holiday resort in Portugal by a disgruntled ex-employee.

The informant named a maid who was sacked from the apartment complex in Praia da Luz and claimed she snatched the child in a crazed revenge plot.

British police are now liaising with Portuguese detectives over the dramatic new twist which is revealed 150 days after Maddie vanished.

Officers believe the tipster entrusted the new information to Prince Charles because he and wife Camilla came out firmly in support of Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry.

Factual

In a statement released from Clarence House in May, the royal couple said they had been following the case "closely and with deep concern" and "fervently hoped" Madeleine would be reunited with her family.

As soon as the whistleblower's email arrived on the royal website aides passed it to Scotland Yard.

Officers from Leicestershire police- the McCanns' local force-are now trying to trace the writer.

The detectives have already established that the named ex-employee EXISTS and the checkable details appear to be ACCURATE.

A police source said:

"There have been hundreds of Madeleine theories, sightings and tips sent into UK cops from members of the public. But this one is different.

"It's incredibly detailed and so far, from the inquiries being made in Portugal, it appears to be based on factual events.

"UK officers have been taking a back seat in the hunt for Madeleine as it's a Portuguese inquiry. But they couldn't ignore this information.

"Any clue which could shed new light on the case will be dealt with seriously. This could be very significant."

After being told of the tip-off, McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said last night:

"We have continually said that any lead with a shred of credibility should be swiftly and thoroughly investigated by the police.

"Kate and Gerry are encouraged by any development that brings focus firmly on to finding Madeleine.

"Legitimate police activity is entirely proper and hopefully will bring about an end to the rampant unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations that have been so hurtful and distracting in recent days and weeks."

Yesterday it was not clear exactly how far Portuguese police have got with the new information. They have been given the name of the maid, who is thought to be Portuguese, but it is not known whether she has been physically traced.

But it has been established that the woman was sacked and left on bad terms with bosses at the resort.

The email tipster claimed the maid was incredibly bitter and wanted vengeance on her former employers.

An inside source added:

"The vital next step is for the police to track down the woman and either question her or put her under surveillance.

"She needs to be ruled in or out of the inquiry as soon as possible."

Meanwhile UK police are now focusing on tracing the informant who they feel may have MORE vital information which needs to be probed.

The Madeleine mystery has been the No1 topic of conversation among the dozens of British and Portuguese workers employed at the Algarve complex, owned and managed by Mark Warner.

Most of those hired as nannies, pool lifeguards, tennis coaches and front- of-house staff, such as receptionists, are young Brits. And the teams of maids, waiting and bar staff, pool cleaners and security officers are mainly Portuguese.

The housekeeping staff are given keys to the apartments which are cleaned at least twice a week.

There is no security monitoring of the staff who are free to come in and out of the complex unchecked.

But they are easily identifiable and all wear uniforms-red shorts and Mark Warner T-shirts for the kids' club workers, white uniforms for maids and smart suits for receptionists.

Dumped

The new lead comes as desperate Portuguese police are STILL working on the discredited theory that Maddie may have been accidentally killed by mum Kate and then assisted by dad Gerry to cover it up.

The cops' latest claim was that the body may have been kept in a fridge before being dumped.

They are said to be focusing on a "mysterious and fatal period" of 90 minutes when they claim Kate was alone in the apartment with her children while Gerry played tennis.

McCann spokesman Mitchell dismissed this latest line as "utterly ridiculous" and begged for an end to the smear campaign. The stress on the couple was visible yesterday as they went for a 20- minute jog together near their home in Rothley, Leicestershire. A local said:

"It's great to see them back doing the things they love, but Kate looked dreadfully pale and thin. The strain shows."

Portuguese police have come in for huge criticism for missing vital clues in the investigation. Crucial forensic tests which should have taken place in the first few hours were not carried out until several months after Maddie vanished on May 3.

And door-to-door inquiries, documenting what locals and visitors saw, are still incomplete. The McCanns' apartment was described by one experienced cop as "the worst-preserved crime scene" he had ever witnessed.

It was not taped off until 10am the next morning and was compromised by hundreds of people passing through.

Family, friends and assorted helpers all wandered freely about the apartment and it was 48 hours before any fingerprinting was done.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Clarence Mitchell, Lucy Panton, News of the World

Exclusive: Maid's kidnap plot: We reveal new Maddie suspect

Exclusive: Maid's kidnap plot: We reveal new Maddie suspect
The News of the World
Lucy Panton
30 September 2007

Cops hunt for worker at resort

COPS hunting Maddie McCann are probing a sensational new tip-off that she was kidnapped by a maid sacked from the Portuguese resort.

Detectives have a confirmed NAME for the suspect, said to be seeking revenge on the Mark Warner complex in Praia da Luz.

A police source said last night: "It could be a very significant lead."

FULL STORY - Pages 4 & 5

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Lucy Panton, News of the World

THE LOST HALF HOUR

THE LOST HALF HOUR
9 September 2007
News of the World
Lucy Panton

PORTUGUESE police are concentrating on what they claim is a missing half hour in accounts of the night Madeleine disappeared.

The McCanns told detectives they believed they arrived at the Tapas restaurant at 8.30pm.

But months into the investigation, Portuguese detectives now allege they did not turn up until almost 30 minutes later.

Friends' statements show there may be differences of opinion over what time Kate and Gerry arrived with some of the pals stating it was just before 9pm.

Police want to quiz the couple again over what they call the "missing half hour".

A police source said:

"We believe the timetable of events that evening is crucial to the inquiry. We want to know how they could make such a mistake over the time they arrived."

Early on in the investigation the McCanns said they got to the restaurant at 8.30pm.

Based on arrival timings given by their dining companions, that would mean the tragic couple arrived first before their friends.

But police sources say statements given by those pals show the McCanns arrived just before 9pm-and that by then all of their friends were already there.

Checked

The statements claim that Russell O'Brien, Jane Tanner, Matthew and Rachel Oldfield were first to arrive at around 8.45pm.

At 8.55 David and Fiona Payne were said to have turned up with Fiona's mum, Diane Webster.

Some statements indicate that the McCanns turned up two or three minutes after the Paynes.

If these new timings are accurate police are questioning why Gerry would go back and check the children just 5 minutes later.

He is reported as saying he checked the apartment and all three children were sleeping at 9.05pm.

This was confirmed when on his way back he stopped to speak to Jeremy Wilkins, another guest at the resort he had met playing tennis earlier in the week.

At 9.10pm Jane Tanner said she crossed Gerry's path on her way to check her own children.

Around that time she says she saw a man carrying away a child she now believes was Madeleine.

She describes the man as aged 35, dark-haired. wearing beige trousers and black shoes. She said the girl, who appeared to be sleeping, was toddler age, bare-footed and wearing pink pyjamas like Madeleine's.

No one else out that night reported seeing this man.

Portuguese cops have piled on the agony for the McCanns by retracing their steps and naming them both as official suspects. They believe the couple may have been involved in the disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine. And they think one may be covering up for the other.

Officers are probing a "three-hour window of opportunity" on the theory that during this time Madeleine was killed in the apartment and her body hidden somewhere nearby.

It starts the last time the children were seen alive by anyone but their parents and ends when Kate and Gerry were seen in public.

The last time Madeleine was seen alive was by staff at the Ocean Club creche at 6pm.

The McCanns were then alone with their children for almost three hours at the most if they did arrive at the Tapas restaurant at 9pm.A police source said:

"The couple are being monitored to see how they react to every new piece of information they receive.

"The pressure has slowly been mounting on the McCanns over the last month as new information has been fed into the inquiry." 

Sources say the couple have been kept under surveillance following the discovery by a dog of the smell of death in their apartment on August 1.

Police now claim they have detected blood in a Renault Scenic car hired by the McCanns 24 days after Maddie's disappearance.

During questioning, GP Kate was asked why she had washed Madeleine's favourite toy "Cuddle Cat". Cops believe she has was trying to hide forensic evidence of her daughter's death.

Washed

The police claim the smell of a corpse was found on Kate's T-shirt, jeans and on Cuddle Cat.

Kate says she washed the toy on August 5-four days after police dogs picked up "the scent of death".

She insists she washed the toy simply because it was covered in dirt and sun tan lotion.

Portuguese police are relying heavily on a Cracker-style profiler who has been studying the McCanns' behaviour. The profiler has reportedly claimed that he suspects that the couple, from Rothley, Leics, could be "distracting" themselves from the horror of what they might have done by getting involved in the massive media campaign.

Doubts have also been cast over the lack of emotion and the controlled composure of the couple since their daughter disappeared.

The profiler has told cops that this matches that of a couple who are united and focused in a bid to cover up a tragedy.

But former Chief Inspector Albert Kirby, who led the hunt to trap the killers of toddler James Bulger, said:
"There is very little time for the McCanns to have murdered their daughter and disposed of her body.

"And they would have had to carry her body a short distance away and concealed it without anyone spotting them. The body would have also had to remain concealed and unfound for a long time despite the police search.

"The Portuguese police must believe that one of them managed to conceal the body in a flat or a bush."

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Lucy Panton, News of the World