In the tradition of our “comments continue” posts, and having the “comments continue” post reached 190 comments, this one has been put up to allow us and our readers to continue to comment on the case, especially taking into account that a German suspect has been named.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-52914016
ReplyDeleteMadeleine McCann: German prisoner identified as suspect
29 minutes ago
A 43-year-old German prisoner who travelled around Portugal in a camper van is now the focus of Scotland Yard's investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann 13 years ago.
Police believe he was in the area where the little girl, then aged three, was last seen in May 2007.
They are appealing for information about the van and the suspect's other vehicle, a Jaguar.
The man transferred it to someone else's name the day after she vanished.
"Someone out there knows a lot more than they're letting on," said DCI Mark Cranwell, who is leading the Met inquiry.
Madeleine went missing from an apartment on a Portuguese holiday resort on the evening of 3 May 2007, while her parents were with friends at a nearby tapas bar. The most recent Met Police investigation, which began in 2011, has cost more than £11m.
The force said it remained a "missing persons" investigation because it doesn't have "definitive evidence" as to whether Madeleine is alive or not.
Scotland Yard said the German authorities had taken the lead on this aspect of the case because the German suspect was in custody in their country.
Detectives said the suspect, who is not being named, was in jail for an "unrelated matter" and had "previous convictions", but they declined to supply more details.
'Critical' information
An appeal on German television was broadcast this evening at 19:15 BST.
DCI Cranwell said the prisoner, then aged 30, frequented the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, staying for "days upon end" in his camper van and living a "transient lifestyle".
He was in the Praia de Luz area where the McCann family was staying when she disappeared and received a phone call at 7.32pm, which ended at 8.02pm.
Police have released details of the suspect's phone number and the number he dialled saying any information about them could be "critical" to the inquiry.
They also want the person who called the suspect to come forward.
"They're a key witness and we urge them to get in touch," said DCI Cranwell.
"Some people will know the man we're describing today... you may be aware of some of the things he's done," he said.
"He may have confided in you about the disappearance of Madeleine.
"More than 13 years have passed and your loyalties may have changed," he added.
"Now is the time to come forward."
Police said the suspect was one of 600 people that detectives on the inquiry, known as Operation Grange, originally looked at, though he had not been a suspect.
After an appeal in 2017, "significant" fresh information about him was provided.
Since then, Met detectives have carried out "extensive inquiries" in Portugal and Germany in order to gather more details about him.
Scotland Yard said they were trying to "prove or disprove" his involvement in the case and retained an "open mind".
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ReplyDeleteThe Madeleine McCann case: a timeline
3 May 2007: Alarm is raised after Madeleine is found to be missing
September 2007: Kate and Gerry McCann are made "arguidos" - formal suspects - in their daughter's disappearance
July 2008: Portuguese police halt their investigation and lift the "arguido" status of the McCanns and another man, Robert Murat
May 2011: Prime Minister David Cameron asks the Metropolitan Police to help investigate. A two-year review follows
March 2012: Portuguese police launch a review of the original investigation
July 2013: Scotland Yard says it has "new evidence and new witnesses" in the case and opens a formal investigation into Madeleine's disappearance
October 2013: Detectives in Portugal reopen the investigation, citing "new lines of inquiry"
January 2014: British detectives fly to Portugal amid claims they are planning to make arrests
December 2014: Detectives question 11 people who it was thought may have information on the case
September 2015: The British government discloses that the investigation has cost more than £10m
February 2017: Portugal's Supreme Court dismisses a long-running libel case against Goncalo Amaral, former head of the local police investigation, ruling that his book, which alleged the McCanns disposed of Madeleine's body, is protected by freedom of expression laws
April 2017: The only four official suspects investigated by police are ruled out of the investigation but senior officers say they are pursuing a "significant line of inquiry"
November 2018: An extra £150,000 is granted to continue the investigation. It is the latest in a series of six-month extensions which take the cost of Operation Grange to an estimated £11.75m
March 2019: Netflix screens an eight-part documentary about Madeleine's disappearance. Her parents, who did not participate in the film, feel it could "potentially hinder" the police investigation
June 2019: The UK government says it will fund the Met Police inquiry, which began in 2011, until March 2020
June 2020: Police reveal that a 43-year-old German prisoner has been identified as a suspect in Madeleine's disappearance
https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/03/german-prisoner-named-as-suspect-in-disappearance-of-madeleine-mccann
ReplyDeleteMadeleine McCann
German prisoner identified as suspect in disappearance of Madeleine McCann
Unnamed suspect, in prison on a separate charge, was in the vicinity of Praia de Luz on 3 May 2007
Ben Quinn
@BenQuinn75
Wed 3 Jun 2020 19.14 BST
Police have identified a German national as the new prime suspect in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal 13 years ago, as a fresh international appeal for information was launched.
The suspect who is currently in prison in Germany has not been named. He was in the vicinity of the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on the evening of 3 May 2007, and had a telephone conversation that ended just over an hour before the child went missing from the holiday apartment where she had been sleeping alone with her younger twin siblings as her parents dined at a nearby restaurant.
He was described as being white, with short blonde hair, possibly fair, and being of around six foot tall. Now aged 43, in 2007 he was 30 – but it was said that he may have looked as young as 25. The man, who is in prison on an unrelated matter, had been in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, with short spells in Germany during that time.
In what they described as a significant moment in their investigation, the Metropolitan police released details of the telephone number used by the man and a number he had been called from, along with photos of a camper van he was said to have been using to live “a transient lifestyle” in Portugal’s Algarve.
An appeal for information was made for anyone who recognised the numbers, the camper van and also a Jaguar car linked to the man. German police also issued an appeal with additional details on national television.
“Our main line of inquiry is this suspect,” said Stuart Cundy, the Met’s deputy assistant commissioner.
“He is the main focus of our investigation, which is why we are making this appeal, to help us with that investigation, to prove or disprove his involvement.”
Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, issued a statement through the police in which they welcomed the appeal. Madeline would have turned 17 on 12 May this year.
“We welcome the appeal today regarding the disappearance of our daughter, Madeleine. We would like to thank the police forces involved for their continued efforts in the search for Madeleine,” the couple said.
“All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know, as we need to find peace.”
Police said that significant information regarding the man had emerged after investigators made an appeal in May 2017, the 10th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.
After German federal police authorities were engaged by British and Portuguese forces in November 2017, a “huge amount of work” had taken place so that investigators could understand all that they could about him and his connections to Praia da Luz.
Images were released of a distinctive VW T3 Westfalia campervan, an early 1980s model with white upper body and a yellow skirting and a Portuguese registration plate; as well as a 1993 Jaguar car that was registered in Germany. On 4 May 2007, the day after Madeleine’s disappearance, the suspect got the car re-registered in Germany under someone else’s name at a time when police believe the car was still in Portugal. They want information from anyone who may have seen both vehicles, which have been seized and are in the possession of police in Germany.
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ReplyDeleteIn what was described as an unusual action, police released the details of two Portuguese mobile phone numbers. Members of the public are being asked if they recognised one of them, +351 912 730 680 , which was used by the suspect or if they had stored it in their contacts. It was called by someone else from the number +351 916 510 683 on the night of Madeleine’s disappearance at 7.32pm for a conversation that finished shortly after 8pm.
“We are not saying the person making that call is a suspect in this case. They are someone we need to identify as key person and we need to get in touch with them,” said Cundy, who added that any information in relation to the numbers could be critical.
Some people would know the man who the police were describing, he said, appealing to them directly.
“You may be aware of some of the things he has done. He may have confided in you about the disappearance of Madeleine. More than 13 years have passed and your loyalties may have changed. He is in prison and we are conscious that some people may have been concerned about contacting police in the past. Now is the time to come forward. We are appealing to you.”
Other details about the man’s lifestyle and properties in the Algarve were due to be released on Wednesday evening on a German television programme similar to the BBC’s Crimewatch, but British police want the public to focus on the details of the telephone numbers and the car.
The Met investigation is still being treated as a missing person’s investigation rather than a murder inquiry, said Cundy, and police did not have definitive evidence as to whether Madeleine was alive or dead. German police are treating the case as a murder investigation.
More than £11m has been spent on the British end of the investigation, known as Operation Grange. Funding, which was formed at the request of David Cameron’s government in 2011 after a plea from Madeleine’s parents, is regularly reviewed.
A team of four Metropolitan police detectives continue to investigate. Their investigation has looked at more than 600 people who they believe or believed may be significant and in 2013 four male suspects were identified. Interviews in Portugal led to a search of an area of land close to where Madeleine had been staying but the men were subsequently eliminated from the investigation.
An article from December 2019:
ReplyDeletehttps://amp.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/former-portuguese-police-chief-goncalo-amaral-says-madeleine-mccann-suspect-is-in-german-prison/news-story/13992e3c9cc61ef835a2d95a7f5a7025
truecrimeaustralia
Former Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral says Madeleine McCann suspect is in German prison
News Corp Australia Network
December 1, 2019 1:19am
Former Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral has revealed a German paedophile suspected over Madeleine McCann’s disappearance is not Martin Ney.
The ex-cop sparked speculation Ney was the prime suspect after saying in an interview earlier this year investigators were focusing on a German paedophile in prison.
The Sun reports that Madeleine disappeared days before her fourth birthday in May 2007 after parents Kate and Gerry left their children in their apartment in Praia da Luz.
Mr Amaral was the officer initially in charge of the investigation and made the McCann's "arguidos" - or official suspects - before he was sacked from the case.
In his interview with an Australian podcast, he mentioned the possibility of a German paedophile being responsible - but he didn’t mention 49-year-old Hamburg-born child strangler Ney by name.
Instead he described the suspect only as someone who had been ruled out of the investigation into the missing British youngster in 2008 but later jailed in his home country.
Now Mr Amaral, the original lead investigator in the case, has now said the suspect isn’t Ney, who was jailed for life in 2012 for abducting and murdering three children, and sexually abusing dozens more.
When he was shown a photo of him on Spanish TV, Amaral responded: “It can’t be him.”
“A paedophile who is German and serving life for killing children has been spoken about,” he told a show about missing adults and children.
“What I know is that the suspect is not him, it’s another man. He’s also in prison in Germany. He’s also a paedophile.”
In a bizarre twist, Mr Amaral said the suspect looks similar to Madeleine’s dad Gerry before saying that Ney bears no resemblance to him.
The slur comes after years of legal wrangling between the former police chief and the missing youngster’s parents over his book The Truth of the Lie.
He claims in the controversial 2008 book that Gerry and Kate McCann had covered up their daughter’s accidental death in their holiday apartment.
The McCanns have made a last-ditch attempt to the European Court of Human Rights after losing a libel fight against Mr Amaral in Portugal.
Last year Mr Amaral claimed MI5 spies had helped to cover up Madeleine’s death and disappearance.
He said British secret agents “for sure had an involvement” in an Australian documentary which aired in April 2018.
The McCanns have repeatedly said the fake accusations against them have harmed the search for Madeleine.
Scotland Yard launched its Operation Grange investigation in 2013 and still has a team working on the youngster's disappearance.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and is republished here with permission
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeA-8_iizeU&feature=youtu.be
ReplyDeleteMartin Brunt’s version:
ReplyDeletehttps://news.sky.com/story/madeleine-mccann-disappearance-police-reveal-details-about-latest-suspect-11999972
Breaking
Madeleine McCann disappearance: Police reveal details about latest suspect
The German, who is in prison for other offences, had his car re-registered in someone else's name the day after the girl vanished.
Martin Brunt
Crime correspondent @skymartinbrunt
Wednesday 3 June 2020 20:34, UK
Scotland Yard has revealed vital new information about a suspect wanted in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
The 43-year-old German lived in a ramshackle old farm building two miles from where she vanished in Praia da Luz on Portugal's Algarve coast in May 2007.
The suspect suddenly left the rented property a year before Madeleine disappeared, but police think he stayed nearby in the area.
He is described as white, 6ft tall, slim, with short blond hair. At the time of Madeleine's disappearance, he was 30 years old.
Detectives have seized a camper van they believe he used, and are examining it for potential forensic clues.
The man is currently serving a long sentence in a German prison, where he is also suspected of other offences.
Sky News is not revealing the suspect's identity for legal reasons and Scotland Yard has not named him.
The suspect's name was given to the Metropolitan Police in 2017 after the 10th anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell said: "We know a lot about the suspect, but we need to know more about his movements on the night Madeleine vanished and in the days before and afterwards.
"We know he was in the resort on the night, about an hour before Madeleine was last seen about 9pm.
"He took a phone call on his Portuguese mobile from another Portuguese mobile. The call lasted half an hour.
"While this male is a suspect we retain an open mind as to his involvement and this remains a missing person inquiry."
Police want to hear from anyone who recognises the suspect's phone number and the number calling him.
They are also keen to hear from anyone who recognises the suspect's distinctive VW T3 Westfalia camper van and a Jaguar car he was also using at the time.
The day after Madeleine disappeared, the suspect had the Jaguar re-registered in someone else's name.
The property the suspect rented sits on a remote hillside along a footpath that runs from above the beach where Madeleine and her family played during their week's holiday in May, 2007.
A former neighbour of the suspect said: "He arrived in the mid-90s and rented the place from the English owner.
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ReplyDelete"He went back to Germany at one stage and moved another German guy in to look after it, then came back and threw him out on the street.
"He was always a bit angry, driving fast up and down the lane, and then one day, around 2006, he just disappeared without a word. I think he left some rent unpaid."
The neighbour added: "About six months later I was asked to help clean up the place and it was disgusting, absolutely vile. It had been trashed, with broken stuff like computers all over the place.
"We found a bin bag and inside were wigs and exotic clothing, whether just fancy dress or something stranger I couldn't tell."
The neighbour said she was contacted by Scotland Yard detectives who asked her about the man last year, without revealing any detail of their suspicion.
This year she was visited by Portuguese detectives who showed her photographs of the man and asked more questions.
It is understood that many neighbours, friends and acquaintances of the suspect have been interviewed as police try to establish his movements around the time Madeleine disappeared from her family's holiday apartment.
Madeleine was nearly four when she vanished without trace after being left sleeping with her younger twin siblings while their parents dined nearby.
He parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, said in a statement: "We welcome the appeal today regarding the disappearance of our daughter, Madeleine.
"We would like to thank the police forces involved for their continued efforts in the search for Madeleine.
"All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know, as we need to find peace."
Portuguese police abandoned their investigation after 15 months then reopened it in 2013, before Scotland Yard began its own probe.
This month, the Home Office gave the Madeleine squad another year's funding of £300,000 to keep its investigation, Operation Grange, going. It has so far spent £11.75m.
Cressida Dick, the Yard's commissioner, said last year that the squad would keep investigating while there were "active lines of inquiry to pursue."
More recently the UK and Portuguese forces have worked together to explore the theory of the German suspect and a second, perhaps lesser, undisclosed theory which is said to be the subject of a delicate operation overseas.
I believe the dogs.
ReplyDeleteJust as you should and were always meant to. Well done, Mark Harrison and Martin Grime are as honest as a day is long (in Alaska).
DeleteRGE
The blog has an opinion about all this, which we will hopefully expand soon. We are working on the interview that opened the TVI news tonight in Portugal which we found to be very enlightened.
ReplyDeleteWhat is happening is so, so obvious that it hurts.
We recommend readers watch a movie: The Perfect Storm, about a fishing boat that sank in the middle of the Atlantic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Perfect_Storm_(film)
Spoiler alert: the powerful are just as shameless as Jules and BRC. No surprise.
Their power is transient, and with so many cracks it's hard not to let the light in. Look where the brave won't dare to go, everything else is a multifaceted amalgamation of bygone fairy tales and choice movie scenes designed for one purpose only - geographical distraction in a shrunken world.
DeleteThe planet is a big place, but a tiny village is not.
It's no wonder so many of the fake abduction leadership members look ill. Not Dave and Fiona though, they look fantastic - and weren't leaders anyway.
There was also so much evil said about them that was totally untrue. Some person of some kind of alleged *expertise* was directly instrumental in pointing the nonce finger at both David Payne and Robert Murat. Only a nasty, duplicitous, greedy coward could do something as dangerous, deranged and reckless as that.
And karma's still a bi**h, in spite of the number of appearances on syrupy sweet TV propaganda shows, then pathetically placed on YouTube and disseminated to even more people who are being sold yet another lie about Madeleine's fake missing status.
I don't hate or DISLIKE any of the swingers (?) but I absolutely abhor the continued never-ending blockbuster of the Madeleine is forever missing tosh.
No, she's not missing! Not now, not ever....
Stop playing this malicious game on the public, movers and shakers. Enough is enough and life is much more than a one-way street constructed of your material, and produced by your very own - down the rabbit hole, (don't you dare look over here), design.
And Textusa, I just wanted to say, before I say something I may regret re the risible 2020 British orchestrated missing (not really) circus, you rock! Okay!!!
RGE
This is quite a campaign in MSM. I'd be completely convinced by it if it wasn't for the fact it isn't him
ReplyDeleteI believe the intruder theory can be discounted by employing the use of basic mathematics. If he was indeed hiding behind the bedroom door when Gerry opened it, he couldn't have been more than a couple of inches wide at most, making it extremely unlikely he would have had the strength to carry Madeleine off through the window.
ReplyDeleteTextusa sisters - I would always believe your written word over any others. Awaiting your perspective with baited breath.
ReplyDeleteme too.
DeleteWe have been admonished by an old friend that we haven't warned that we published a new post today:
ReplyDeletehttps://textusa.blogspot.com/2020/06/henrique-machado-on-tvi.html
Our apologies!
:)