Part Eight: Madeleine McCann

[Pook]

Now???

*shakes head*

[rashomon]

The section taken from the link posted below is just an example of how complicated it is in the McCann case to sort through info and assess it.
It lists the differing accounts allegedly given by Jane Tanner of the man she saw carrying a child she later believed to have been Maddie.
I seems that at one time, Tanner was not sure that the man was carrying something; the locations where she saw him seem to vary too:

http://www.mccannfiles.com/id30.html

Also, if JT saw the lower part of pink pajama legs (as shown in the artist's drawing), hardly likely that it was Maddie because the pajama bottoms she wore were white also did not reach down to the ankles (see further down where there is a picture of the PJs).

This site I took the link from contains a lot of info:

http://www.mccannfiles.com/index.html

[Jaysah]

I was in London the week before the fourth of July and saw several London newspapers which screamed the headlines MCCANNS IN THE CLEAR. I did not read all of the articles, but I did skim them, and it appears that LE in both countries have pretty much exonerated the McCanns, who say that they will continue to look for Madeleine.

[Bailey]

Investigations have so far failed to find Madeleine McCann

Saturday, 4 April 2009 21:55 UK
Madeleine McCann's father Gerry McCann has returned to Portugal to advise private detectives filming a reconstruction of her disappearance.

Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said Mr McCann and two family friends have returned to the resort area of Praia da Luz to help with the filming.

The reconstruction will be shown in a Channel 4 Cutting Edge documentary.

Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, was three when she vanished from the Algarve holiday flat on 3 May 2007.

The aim of this is to get that critical piece of information that could still help to find Madeleine

Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell

The reconstruction - being filmed by the McCanns' own private investigators - will focus on what happened on the night, as described by witness statements.

Negotiations are under way for the reconstruction to be shown on Portuguese television and in other European countries, and it will be also be available on the Find Madeleine website.

Mr Mitchell said: "The aim of this is to get that critical piece of information that could still help to find Madeleine. Gerry has returned with that aim.

"Certain aspects of the witness testimony were hidden deep in the police files and these particular aspects have received very little attention. The private investigators feel that it is very important to highlight these things.

"It's being done simply in the hope that it will jog someone's memory."

'Harrowing'

The McCann's friends Jane Tanner and Matthew Oldfield, who were with them on the night Madeleine disappeared, will be interviewed on the programme, to be aired on 7 May.

A man was said to have been "acting suspiciously" two days before Madeleine disappeared, and Ms Tanner said she had seen a man carrying what may have been a sleeping child.

Channel Four commissioning editor for documentaries Mark Raphael said: "The disappearance of Madeleine McCann is one of the most harrowing unsolved crimes of recent years.

"Two years on, Kate and Gerry McCann are still searching for their daughter. We hope that this documentary and reconstruction may be able to provide vital new leads for the investigation."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7983413.stm

[Royalpurple209]

Madeleine McCann's Parents Release Photo of How She Might Look Now

Saturday, May 02, 2009


Madeleine before she vanished (L) and how she would look now

A striking image of how Madeleine McCann might look now, if still alive, has been released by her parents.

The picture was sent out ahead of the second anniversary of her disappearance.

Gerry and Kate McCann employed a forensic imaging artist to produce a photographic impression of how the youngster would have aged in the two years since she went missing.

It will be used on posters to be distributed worldwide, as part of the couple's continuing search for their little girl.

Madeleine was just three years old when she vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 2007.

If still alive - and the McCanns believe there is a "very real likelihood" she is - she would now be five, nearly six, years old.

Unveiled on Oprah Winfrey's live chat show in the United States, the image depicts the child at six years of age.
The expert, at the United States National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, used pictures of the parents at around the same age to produce the "age progression image".

It shows a smiling Madeleine, wearing a pink head-band in her fair shoulder-length hair.

The couple believe it is the most realistic image possible of how she might look today, their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said.

It is published on posters alongside an old photograph of Madeleine, for comparison, under the headings Have You Seen This Little Girl? and Don't Give Up On Me.

Mr Mitchell said: "It was difficult for Kate to see the image at first, but over time she has got used to it and both Kate and Gerry believe it's the best image possible of what Madeleine may look like now."

The posters urge anyone who has seen Madeleine to contact their local police force immediately, or alternatively call +44 (0)845 838 4699 or visit www.findmadeleine.com.

SKY NEWS

[crimeshot1]

Pervert says he never saw Madeleine McCann

Raymond Hewlett, the pervert who Madeleine McCann investigators want to question, says he didn't kill her and he never saw her in real life - only on TV and on posters.

The 64-year-old was said to have been living in the Algarve in Portugal when Madeleine McCann, 3, went missing from her holiday apartment in 2007. Hewlett has been living in Germany undergoing treatment for throat cancer, and detectives have been keen to speak to him there.

Hewlett is reported to have said, “It’s obvious why they’re interested in me. But they can all think what they like. I didn’t kill the McCann girl. It’s the truth and it’s never going to change." He also said the only time he had ever seen Madeleine was on television and in posters. Hewlett said there was someone who could verify his alibi but that he didn't want to bring them into it.

However, his wife has insisted that the person cannot verify his alibi. German-born Mariana, 33, confessed that a female friend who Hewlett insisted could vouch for him on the day Madeleine vanished cannot remember where he was.

People who say they knew Hewlett while he lived in Portugal have reported details that continue to interest detectives, but Hewlett has refuted various claims made about him.

8 July 2009.

Hewlett was jailed several times in the UK for sexually assaulting young girls, including an attack in 1978, in which he put a gun to his victim’s back.

http://www.ukparentslounge.com/index...e+McCann&ind=0

[Bailey]

A judge at Lisbon's Civil Court has banned any further publication of The Truth Of The Lie by Goncalo Amara

A Portuguese judge has banned further sales or publications of a former policeman's book which claimed Madeleine McCann is dead, a spokesman for the missing girl's parents said.

Published: 2:46PM BST 09 Sep 2009

Clarence Mitchell said Kate and Gerry McCann were ''absolutely delighted'' that a judge at Lisbon's main Civil Court had banned any further publication of The Truth Of The Lie by Goncalo Amaral.

He said the book had hampered the search for missing Madeleine and added to her parents' distress.

Mr Amaral worked on the investigation into three-year-old Madeleine's disappearance from an apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007 during a family holiday.

He was removed from the investigation after criticising British police.

The injunction, granted today after a hearing last week, means he has to ensure that all unsold copies of the book are removed from shops and warehouses across Europe or he faces a 1,000 euro-a-day (£877) fine.

Mr Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry McCann are absolutely delighted that the judge in Portugal has done the right thing by granting this injunction."

He said Mr Amaral's claims that he believed Madeleine was dead were "threatening the search".

Mr Amaral said he did not believe the McCanns' account that Madeleine was taken while they were eating with friends nearby.

Mr Mitchell said the Mr Amaral's claims had "added to their distress".

In a statement, Kate and Gerry McCann said: "We are pleased with the judge's decision today preventing further distribution and sale of Mr Amaral's book and DVD - The Truth Of The Lie.

"Mr Amaral's central thesis has no evidence whatsoever to support it. To claim, as he did, that Madeleine is dead, and that we, as her parents, were in some way involved with her disappearance has caused our family incredible distress and it continues to do so.

"Without doubt, Madeleine will have suffered as a result of the negative effect this book and DVD will have had on the search for her. Sean and Amelie need protection, too, from such awful claims."

Twins Sean and Amelie, now four, are the couple's younger children who were also in the holiday apartment when Madeleine went missing.

The statement ended by saying: "Hopefully this injunction today will go a long way towards reducing further unnecessary and unjust distress to us all and allow people to concentrate completely on what is important - finding Madeleine."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...Cann-book.html

[Bailey]

Kate McCann, the mother of missing British girl Madeleine McCann, speaks during a news conference Wednesday, Sept. 23 2009, at a hotel in Lisbon.

By BARRY HATTON - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — The mother of missing British girl Madeleine McCann said Wednesday she has gained fresh hope for her daughter from the discovery of American Jaycee Dugard, who was found in California 18 years after being kidnapped.

Kate McCann said she and her husband won’t give up the search for Madeleine, who vanished in May 2007 during a family vacation on Portugal’s southern Algarve coast.

“I just think that it’s so vital and so fair for Madeleine that we don’t give up on her, that we look for her,” Kate McCann told a news conference during a daylong visit to Lisbon, Portugal. “We’re not going to stop.”

Dugard, now 29, was reunited with her family last month after being snatched outside her South Lake Tahoe home when she was 11. She allegedly was kidnapped and held captive.

Kate, accompanied by her husband Gerry, was in Portugal for the first time since Madeleine disappeared a few days before her fourth birthday. Gerry had twice previously returned to Portugal to check on the investigation. The couple said they met with their Portuguese lawyers and advisers in the Portuguese capital to explore ways of moving the search forward.

Earlier this month a Lisbon judge banned the sale of a book by a Portuguese detective who had worked on the case and claimed Madeleine was dead. The ruling came after the McCanns took legal action to halt the book’s distribution.


“Our main worry, obviously, was people believing that Madeleine was dead,” Kate McCann said of the injunction. “Obviously, if people believe that she is not alive then people will stop looking for her.”

Gerry McCann said there was no evidence his daughter is dead. He said a team of private investigators is still working on the case and is going through “hundreds of thousands” of pieces of information.

The search is being financed by family, friends and other private donations, he said.

In August 2008, Portugal’s attorney general ordered police to halt their investigation because detectives had uncovered no evidence of a crime. The case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.

The McCanns have waged a far-reaching international campaign to find their daughter, but there has been no reliable indication of what might have happened to her, despite numerous reported sightings from around the world.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/20...075021-ap.html

[crimeshot1]

Everton, Benfica fans given Madeleine McCann T-shirts

(AFP) – Oct 22, 2009

LISBON — Everton's Europa League match at Benfica kicked off here on Thursday with fans of both teams wearing T-shirts to raise awareness about missing girl Madeleine McCann.

Madeleine was three years old when she went missing while on holiday with her family in Portugal in May 2007.

Her parents launched a high-profile campaign to keep her image in the public eye and fans attending Thursday's match at the city's famous Estadio da Luz were given T-shirts featuring her face and the words, 'We're Still Looking For You'.

Madeleine is pictured wearing Everton's blue home jersey in one of the most widely circulated photographs of her.

"I will never, ever forget that image of a beautiful, smiling child in an Everton shirt," said Everton chairman Bill Kenwright.

"I believe that I was one of the first people outside the family to see it and it moved me greatly.

"In truth, like everyone else, I have felt nothing but deep sadness and mounting frustration as the search for Maddie has continued.

"However, I continue to be inspired by the dignity and the faith which (her parents) Kate and Gerry have displayed throughout their dreadful ordeal.

"This is just our way of reminding people - not just in the UK and Portugal but across the globe - that this child is still out there somewhere."

The Merseyside club have produced 6,000 T-shirts for their match against Benfica - 3,000 in English and 3,000 in Portuguese.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

[Royalpurple209]

Video Released of Updated Digital Images of Madeleine McCann

Tuesday, November 03, 2009


Computer-generated image shows how Madeleine McCann might look now, right, and with dark brown hair and tanned skin in case she is living in Africa.

British police have released new age-enhanced pictures of Madeleine McCann as part of a fresh appeal for information.

The images were published in an online video which officers want Internet users to spread worldwide.

SLIDESHOW: Where Is Madeleine McCann?

They hope the video will prick the conscience of "someone close" to Madeleine's abductor.

Investigators want a friend, colleague or relative of the culprit to finally reveal the secret they have kept since Madeleine, who was four years old, vanished from her bed in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.

Click here to watch the video.

The appeal comes in a 60-second film which can be viewed on the Web site of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (Ceop).

The simple film is available in seven languages and shows two images of Madeleine based on how she might look today, aged six.

One picture shows her with a deep suntan she might have developed if she is living in southern Europe or North Africa.

The initiative follows the McCann family's concern that little was being done officially to find their daughter.

The Portuguese police shelved their investigation last summer after clearing Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry of any suspicion and failing to develop any clues to the mystery.

Ceop's head Jim Gamble said: "The person we are looking to reach is likely to be a partner, family member, friend or colleague of the person or people who were involved in Madeleine's disappearance.

"If you haven't divulged your secret because of love, loyalty or fear, be assured that it is never too late to reveal the information to your local police."

He added: "If you are a parent or carer, a student or member of the public who is a social networker, blogger or e-mailer, or if you run any type of online environment, big or small, please look at the film today, link to it, share it with your friends and post it in the online communities you occupy."

Interpol is backing the appeal and any information will be passed to the Portuguese authorities, who have said they would renew their investigation if fresh evidence emerged.

McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry believe this appeal will give fresh impetus to the search for their daughter."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,...est=latestnews

[Bailey]

Monday, December 21, 2009, 09:30

Cash raised to search for missing Madeleine McCann could run out within three months, according to the family's spokesman.

The Find Madeleine fund, set up by the youngster's parents, Kate and Gerry, is down to £500,000 and could be gone by March or April, according to the family's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell.

Mr Mitchell told the Leicester Mercury that the McCanns, both 41 and from Rothley, were "not fretting" about their dwindling reserves, but were considering how they could top up the sum to maintain their efforts to locate their daughter in the new year.

Donations flooded in after Madeleine vanished from the family's apartment in the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia de Luz in May 2007.

More than £2m was sent in by well-wishers in the 10 months after she went missing, but donations have tailed off.

At the same time, spending has continued on teams of private investigators hired to locate her, as well as publicity to keep the case in the public eye.

Mr Mitchell said: "Essentially the fund is healthy – there is still about £500,000, which is what we expected.

"Having said that, it is diminishing and at the current rate of spending it will be gone somewhere around March or April. However, nobody is fretting about that."

Mr Mitchell said the fund's directors would hold talks with wealthy supporters of the McCanns early next year, including Scottish double-glazing tycoon Brian Kennedy.

He said: "It will be entirely down to those supporters, including Mr Kennedy, to decide if they wish to continue.

"Kate and Gerry may consider some active fund-raising, which is something they have not had to do yet."

Mr Mitchell said the cash would have run out already had it not been for sizeable libel payments won from several British newspapers for false stories printed about the couple.

Further cash – thought to be about £1m – could come from a continuing libel action against Portuguese policeman Goncalo Amaral, who was involved in the early investigation of the disappearance.

He has published a book and DVD, called The Truth Of The Lie, which contain claims that Madeleine is dead.

Mr Mitchell said: "It is true that there may be some money at the end of that (the Amaral libel case). If there is, it will go directly into the fund.

"Kate and Gerry have always said, however, that they have never gone into a legal action for monetary reasons.

"They have done it to stop people like Mr Amaral saying hurtful things that could have a harmful effect on their efforts to find Madeleine. Even if the money were to run out tomorrow, the search would not end. Kate and Gerry will not give up.

"The money does, of course, help and they are thankful for the support they have had."

Last week, the McCanns issued a fresh plea for information as they prepared for a third Christmas without Madeleine.

The family said: "There will be a spare place at the Christmas table again this year. If you know anything, do the right thing and help us fill it."

www.findmadeleine.com

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.u...l/article.html

[crimeshot1]

Madeleine McCann news: Parents of missing girl to hold celebrity party to raise funds

January 18, 4:22 AMCrime ExaminerCindy Adams

To raise funds to help in the search for their missing daughter, the parents of Madeleine McCann have planned a star-studded party.

According to the Daily Star, Kate and Gerry McCann have invited Harry Potter author JK Rowling, billionaire Virgin owner Sir Richard Branson, UK radio personality Nicki Campbell, and Scottish tycoon Brian Kennedy to attend the soiree.

Each attendee will pay £150 per ticket ($250 USD) to commemorate the 1,000-day anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.

The party will take place at The Roof Gardens in Kensington, west London, on Jan. 27. According to the Star, millions have been donated to the fund to find Madeleine who was three when she went missing during a family vacation in Portugal.

Her parents insist she was abducted, however, Goncalo Amaral, one of the Portuguese detectives that worked on the case, wrote a book arguing Madeleine died in an accident and that the McCanns covered up by claiming she was kidnapped.

His allegations received further publicity last week when hearings were held in a Portuguese court regarding the banning of Amaral’s book.

The McCanns are concerned that the negative publicity may hinder donations to the search fund and hope the party will spark new interest in the case.

http://www.examiner.com/x-1168-Crime...to-raise-funds

[crimeshot1]

McCanns In Charity Run For Missing People


1:05pm UK, Saturday March 13, 2010
Huw Borland, Sky News Online
The parents of Madeleine McCann have joined 450 runners to take part in a 10km charity run for missing people.

Gerry, 41, and Kate McCann, 42, lined up at the first ever Miles for Missing People in London's Hyde Park, alongside other families whose loved ones vanished.

The couple wore matching white T-shirts bearing a smiling picture of their daughter and the words "Don't give up on me".

There are moments when you swing between hope and despair, sometimes you feel different emotions at the same time which can be very confusing.

Rachel Elias


Mrs McCann and her husband Gerry, from Rothley, Leicestershire, were on holiday with their three children in Praia da Luz, Portugal, when Madeleine went missing in May 2007.

In an earlier statement, Mrs McCann said: "Gerry and I know the pain that having Madeleine missing has caused us, but sadly we are not alone.

"There are thousands of families across the UK waiting for news.

"That's why Missing People provides support for missing children, vulnerable adults and families left behind, and we want to do all we can to help them."

Rachel Elias, 40, from South Wales, sister of former Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards, who went missing in February 1995, was among the runners.

She said: "I am running it for my brother and for all the other people who have disappeared and to support the work of this charity.

"They have been a tremendous source of strength over the last 15 years.

Rachel Elias, sister of Richey Edwards, Nicki Durbin and Kate and Gerry McCann

"(Edwards) was legally declared dead in November 2008, but there is no certainty over the loss, there is that hope.

"There are moments when you swing between hope and despair, sometimes you feel different emotions at the same time which can be very confusing."

Nicki Durbin, 41, from Suffolk, whose son Luke disappeared in 2006 aged 19 following an evening at a nightclub in Ipswich, also supported the event.

MORE NEWS and VIDEO

[crimeshot1]

Still Missing: Madeleine's Parents Thank Helpers

10:26am UK, Monday May 03, 2010

Damien Pearse and Tom Bonnett, Sky News Online

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have thanked everyone who has supported them in the three years since their daughter vanished.

In a message on www.findmadeleine.com,Kate and Gerry McCann said: "We know we couldn't have achieved as much as we have without this help.

"Milestones and anniversaries are never easy, but the work to find our little Madeleine will continue regardless, with the same determination and tenacity as it always has and for as long as it takes.

"It might be three years without Madeleine but it certainly doesn't feel like we're at the end of the line - far from it.

"Madeleine. Still missing, still missed, still looking!"

A new video and photograph of Madeleine have been released to mark the third anniversary of her disappearance.

A short film shows her parents pursuing attempts to find their missing child over the past three years.

It shows them handing out posters in Portugal as well as chasing up leads from their home in Rothley, Leicestershire.

It includes a new photograph of a grown up-looking Madeleine wearing blue eye-shadow accompanied with a pink bow in her hair and a gold bead necklace.

The video, produced by family friend Jon Corner, was originally shown at a fund-raising event in London in January to mark the 1000th day since the little girl's disappearance.

With the Dido song Here With Me as a soundtrack, it begins with a computer graphic of the holiday complex in Praia da Luz in the Algarve where Madeleine vanished.

It goes on to show Mr and Mrs McCann in and around the resort in the early days after their daughter went missing on May 3, 2007.

There are also scenes of the couple answering telephone calls and sifting through emails back in Britain.

The film closes with the message: "Thank you for not giving up on Madeleine. Together we can bring her home."

McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "The video is designed to remind people that the search for Madeleine is ongoing.

"Just because she's not in the headlines every day doesn't mean nothing is being done. Kate and Gerry are still devoting a large part of their daily lives to the search."

:: Information about Madeleine's disappearance can be passed to the McCanns through their website, www.findmadeleine.com, or by calling their investigation line on 0845 838 4699.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Madeleine-McCanns-Parents-Kate-And-Gerry-Thank-Everyone-Who-Supported-Them-Three-Years-On/Article/201005115623767?lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15623767_M adeleine_McCanns_Parents_Kate_And_Gerry_Thank_Ever yone_Who_Supported_Them_Three_Years_On_