▪ Skies over the Costa Blanca were clouded by a mass of colour, to mark the first anniversary of the disappearance of British infant, Madeleine McCann. It is hard to believe that an entire year has passed since Madeleine McCann vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, on the Algarve, Portugal, just days short of her fourth birthday. As most readers will be aware, little Madeleine was enjoying a holiday with her parents, Jerry and Kate McCann and their two-year-old twins, when she mysteriously disappeared. - 5th May 2008

▪ The police chief from Portugal who came in for public condemnation for how he dealt with the Madeleine McCann case has resigned from his job it has been reported. Alípio Ribeiro explained to a local radio station that he had had enough of being in the spotlight in press reports. Madeleine McCannThe now former police chief had given a number of public opinions about Madeleine's disappearance despite the official laws about secrecy in such matters, and in February, he had claimed the police were too quick to include the little girl’s parents among the suspects. Four-year-old Madeleine McCann, from Leicestershirein the UK, vanished from a holiday apartment in the resort of Praia da Luz on 3 May last year. José Maria Almeida Rodrigues has been named as Ribeiro’s replacement. - 5th May 2008

▪ The BBC has apologised to the parents of Madeleine McCann for planning to screen a film about a girl involved in a kidnap plot - called Madeline - on the weekend of the anniversary of their daughter's disappearance. The Corporation changed its schedule at the last moment, replacing the eponymously named film with another children's hit Herbie Fully Loaded. Viewers were told about the change moments before the programme was due to be aired on Sunday afternoon, a year and a day after Madeleine disappeared from her parents apartment in Praia da Luz, Algarve. The BBC apologised and said the McCanns, from Rothley in Leicestershire, were aware of the blunder. But a friend of the couple's criticised the poor planning. - 5th May 2008

▪ MADELEINE McCann’s parents returned to the Liverpool church where she was baptised to mark the first anniversary of her abduction. Kate and Gerry McCann attended an emotional service at Our Lady of the Annunciation at Bishop Eton RC Monastery in Mossley Hill to pass the poignant milestone on Saturday evening. It is the local church of Kate’s parents Susan and Brian Healey. The mass was led by Father Desmond Keegan, assisted by Father Paul Seddon, who married Kate and Gerry in 1998 and later baptised Madeleine. Throughout the service Kate stroked the hair of her three-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, while Gerry sat with his arm around his wife’s shoulder. In a moving service attended by hundreds of well-wishers, Father Seddon spoke of a “very beautiful little girl” who had been in the hearts of everyone over the past year. - 5th May 2008

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann will soon get their wish of stepping out of the public eye, according to reporters in Praia da Luz covering the one-year anniversary of their daughter's disappearance. The couple believe the coverage is "unsustainable" and hope the attention will fade after Madeleine's fifth birthday on May 12. And so do many members of the press pack that descended on the sleepy Algarve resort at the weekend. The place was swamped by media, with agitated scenes and plenty of jostling outside the church as McCann representatives released balloons. But there was a feeling that, just like the familiar yellow and green balloons, the media frenzy would soon burst too. Britain's national newspapers and TV stations already seem to have lost interest. The Sunday Mirror - which has been as keen on 'Maddie' as any other paper - demoted the anniversary to page 11 in its European edition. And even Portuguese broadcasters and British local media - for whom, of course, it is a far bigger story - think it is on the slide. - 5th May 2008

▪ British ex-pat Robert Murat says he will happily take part in a reconstruction of the night Madeleine McCann disappeared if asked to do so by Portuguese police. Detectives want to recreate a "Crimewatch-style" event later this month in Praia da Luz, the Algarve resort where the toddler vanished just over a year ago. Her parents Gerry and Kate McCann - who are still considered suspects, or 'aguidos' in the case - have not ruled out a return to Portugal. But the two doctors say they are worried about how helpful it would be for the police investigation given the huge media interest in the story. "It is under discussion. It is back to what additional information will help the search," Mr McCann added. But Mr Murat, the third suspect in the case, confirmed through his lawyer Francisco Pagarete that he would help out if asked. Mr Pagarete told Sky News Online: "If there was a reconstruction, he would take part - he likes having tea with his mother. - 5th May 2008

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann want to step out of the media spotlight after the first anniversary of their daughter Madeleine's disappearance. In one of their final interviews for the one-year landmark, the couple said they had only survived the past 12 months by not blaming each other for what happened. The couple said they hoped the attention on them would fade after Madeleine's fifth birthday on May 12. Mr McCann said the media coverage of her disappearance was "unsustainable". He even suggested that it might have led to Portuguese police naming him and his wife as arguidos, or formal suspects, in the case in early September. "You look at where it's led for us, the problems it's created," he said. "I'm sure a lot of that media coverage kicked in to what happened in Portugal, that generates a pressure, and when people get put under pressure, bad decisions are made. - 4th May 2008

▪ Kate McCann has thanked the community for their support during a church service to mark a year since her daughter disappeared. Mrs McCann stood up during the 30-minute service at the Anglican parish church of St Mary and St John, in Rothley, Leicestershire, and expressed her gratitude to the congregation. She thanked everyone for praying for the four-year-old and for supporting the family over the last year. And she asked the 250-strong congregation to "keep praying, pray like mad" for her daughter. Mrs McCann and her husband Gerry left the church holding hands and clutching bunches of flowers. Led by the Rev Rob Gladstone, prayers were said for Madeleine and for other missing children during the special service. - 3rd May 2008

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann have attended a church service to mark the first anniversary of their daughter's disappearance - as police in Portugal refuse to rule out bringing charges against them. Kate and Gerry were joined by members of the community at the Anglican parish church of St Mary and St John near their home in Rothley, Leicestershire. Led by the Rev Rob Gladstone, prayers were said for the four-year-old and other missing children. Kate stood during the 30-minute service and thanked people for their prayers and support over the last year. Madeleine's great uncle, Brian Kennedy, said afterwards: "We would like to thank all the members of the churches here in Rothley and also those who are of no particular church for joining us today to remember the world's missing children and especially, of course, our own Madeleine. "This is a difficult week and we have had many kind messages from residents here and from around the country which have been a great help." Among the congregation was Connor Ward, who cycled from his home in Northern Ireland to Rothley to be at the service and raise awareness of the search for Madeleine. He said: "The service was very moving. It was quite emotional for everyone." Speaking about Kate, he said: "She seemed very strong. I am very surprised that she spoke but it was brilliant that she did." Police say they are still gathering evidence following reports that officers were on the verge of exonerating the McCanns, who are official suspects. Alipio Ribeiro, national director of the PJ, told Portugal's Lusa news agency that officials had not decided whether to bring charges or drop the investigation. - 3rd May 2008

▪ Kate McCann has thanked the community for its support during a church service to mark the anniversary of her daughter Madeleine going missing. Mrs McCann expressed her gratitude to the congregation during a 30-minute service at St Mary and St John church, near their home in Rothley, Lancashire, thanking them for their prayers and support. Speaking after the service on behalf of the family, Madeleine's great uncle, Brian Kennedy, said: "We would like to thank all the members of the churches here in Rothley and also those who are of no particular church for joining us today to remember the world's missing children and especially, of course, our own Madeleine. "This is a difficult week and we have had many kind messages from residents here and from around the country which have been a great help. - 3rd May 2008

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann will remain formal suspects over her disappearance, Portugal's police chief said as ceremonies were held Saturday to mark the first anniversary since she went missing. "The judicial police are continuing to collect and analyse all the elements of proof that may exist," police director Alipio Ribeiro told the Lusa national news agency. "For the moment, investigators have made no decision over any charges or, on the contrary, whether to close the case," he added. Gerry and Kate McCann were made formal suspects on September 7 last year in one of the many dramatic twists in the case since Madeleine went missing from a holiday apartment in the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz on May 3. A British man who lives near the complex was also made an official suspect. The McCanns have repeatedly denied any involvement in their daughter's disappearance and Ribeiro said earlier this year that investigators may have been hasty in naming them as suspects. The Briton, Robert Murat, has also strongly denied involvement. Madeleine disappeared days before her fourth birthday as her parents dined with friends in a tapas restaurant in the resort. Despite a number of reported sightings around the world, Madeleine has never been found. - 3rd May 2008

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents have launched a direct appeal to anyone who has spoken to Portuguese police about her disappearance to contact them. A year on from their daughter's abduction and with their relationship with the Portuguese investigation team having become strained, Gerry and Kate McCann said it was now their right to know what information, including every potential lead, was out there. Mr McCann said: "This is something we have been working on behind the scenes, putting into place what we knew was going to be massive media attention on us and trying to capitalise on that to get our message out. "We have used the documentary as a platform, told a story of where we are at ... to bring the focus completely back to what this was always about, and that's finding Madeleine." Mrs McCann said: "There has been that much speculation in a lot of the media, particularly the written press. "I find it upsetting, but it's upsetting for Madeleine. It's taking away people searching for Madeleine." With the anniversary of the child's disappearance from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz falling on Saturday, the McCanns believe this could be a "last chance" in their search. - 2nd May 2008

▪ The first anniversary of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance is the “last chance” to raise her profile on an international stage, her father said. Gerry McCann and wife Kate have gone on a media offensive to highlight their missing daughter in the days leading up to May 3, 12 months after she vanished from their holiday apartment in the Algarve.Knowing that the media spotlight would be on them as the anniversary approached, the couple have used the milestone to appeal for information. “This is the last chance in terms of international reach,” Mr McCann told ITN. “We have got to appeal as far and as wide as possible. We need that reach with the focus at this time.” In back-to-back television and print interviews, the couple was repeatedly asked why they left Madeleine in the unlocked apartment and how they cope with the criticism of that decision. - 1st May 2008

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents said on Thursday they believe their daughter is still alive, a year after she disappeared while on holiday in Portugal. In an interview with the BBC, Kate and Gerry McCann said they thought she may have been abducted from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve last May. "She's still out there and we're asking for help to find her," her father said in an interview with the BBC. Kate McCann said they would keep looking for their daughter until they receive concrete evidence that she is not alive. "What a disservice it would be to Madeleine to assume otherwise, without any evidence," she said. The McCanns, who are still official suspects in the case, have given a series of interviews to mark the first anniversary of their daughter's disappearance. On Wednesday, they said in an ITV documentary that they have received hate mail blaming their "drunken arrogance" for the loss of their daughter. They said they were inundated with messages of support, as well as letters from psychics, conspiracy theorists and people who thought they should not have left their children alone. - 1st May 2008

▪ The anguished parents of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann insist they have not given up hope, a year after their lives were shattered when she vanished from their Portugal holiday flat. Far from it: as they prepare for the anniversary this weekend, Gerry and Kate McCann hope to reinvigorate their high-profile campaign to find their daughter alive. "I don't feel as if Madeleine is dead," said her 40-year-old mother, insisting the chances of finding Madeleine alive are "as good now, if not better" than immediately after her disappearance. "I really feel she is out there and we will find her," she added. Madeleine went missing on May 3, days before her fourth birthday as her parents dined with friends in the Portuguese beach resort of Praia da Luz. Her younger brother and sister were in the room too, but they did not wake. Despite a number of reported sightings, Madeleine has never been found, while her parents were made formal suspects in the Portuguese police probe last September, triggering their return to Britain. Much media attention has focused on their suspect status, even if they recently won more than 500,000 pounds in compensation from a newspaper that repeatedly alleged they were implicated. Now, a year, on, they want to refocus on finding their daughter. Gerry McCann, 39, who like his wife is a doctor, said the couple were determined to create something positive from their personal agony by their ongoing campaign to introduce a network to find missing children in Europe. "We knew the night she was taken that some children are murdered and, of course, that was our worst fear," he told Hello magazine, in a joint interview to mark the anniversary. - 30th Apr 2008

▪ Kate McCann has told how she refused to be "railroaded" by Portuguese police when they first accused her of being involved in Madeleine's disappearance. Speaking a year after her daughter disappeared, aged three, she said in a TV documentary that she reacted angrily as detectives declared her and husband Gerry "arguidos" - formal suspects - in the case. The McCanns are banned by Portuguese judicial secrecy laws from speaking about what happened inside the police station. But she came close to openly addressing claims that police tried to press her to say she accidentally killed Madeleine to face a reduced sentence. She told ITV: "There was no way I was going to be railroaded into something. "It felt like you're in the middle of a horror movie really, a nightmare." Thinking back to the realisation they might be implicated, Mrs McCann said: "It just hit home - 'they haven't been looking for Madeleine'. "I just felt yet again my daughter's had such disservice... I just thought she deserves so much better than that, and I thought I'm not going to sit here and allow this." - 30th Apr 2008

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann have revealed how they were targeted with hate mail after their daughter Madeleine disappeared. The missing toddler's parents were branded "scum" in one vitriolic message, they reveal in an ITV1 documentary. In Madeleine, One Year On: Campaign For Change, Mr McCann is seen reading out a hate-filled rant contained in a Christmas card with a snowman on the front. The writer of the card calls them "thieving bastards" for using the money from the Find Madeleine Fund to make two payments on their mortgage. "Gerry and Kate, how can you use money given by poor people in good faith to pay your mortgage on your mansion?" the message reads. "You f** thieving bastards. Your brat is dead because of your drunken arrogance. "Shame on you. I curse you and your family to suffer forever. - 30th Apr 2008

▪ A DRUNKEN man told police to "find Madeleine" as he was arrested, Calderdale magistrates heard. Jason Matthews, 29, admitted assaulting PC Tim Parsons outside the Punch Bowl pub, Bailiff Bridge, Brighouse. Andy Wills, prosecuting, said police were called to the pub after reports of criminal damage. Officers followed Matthews along Bradford Road to speak to him and found him drunk. Mr Wills said: "Officers had to help him into the car to question him. "As they did, two men approached and Matthews became annoyed at them being there. "Officers said they would let him go, and even offered him a lift home. "He swore and became abusive, threatening to beat the officer up if he saw him in town. "He kept saying 'Go and get a real criminal, a rapist or murderer. Go and find Madeleine. You haven't found Madeleine, have you?' - 29th Apr 2008

▪ The investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is like no other I have seen before. I have followed this case from the beginning. I visited the village of Praia da Luz within hours of Madeleine’s disappearance and have returned on numerous occasions to examine what happened on May 3 last year.I believe that Madeleine was abducted outside her family’s apartment by an opportunistic paedophile with local connections. And I would be very surprised if this person has not been back to the area or still frequents it.On the evening she disappeared I believe Madeleine woke up and cried for a short time while her parents were dining at a nearby tapas bar at the Ocean Club resort. When she realised that her parents were not there she climbed out of bed and walked around the apartment. She found the back patio door partly open so she walked out, went down the small flight of steps, through the metal gate and turned right down towards the entrance to the tapas bar. It was at this point that she was abducted. Interestingly, police dogs first tracked a scent down this exact route. It is a vital clue that has been largely ignored. Unfortunately, although this area is in range of a CCTV camera at the nearby super-market, it was not working that night. - 28th Apr 2008 ▪ The father of missing four-year-old Rothley girl Madeleine McCann believes his daughter is still alive. n a television documentary, entitled Madeleine, One Year On: Campaign for Change, the youngster's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, told how they were filled with renewed confidence their daughter could be found alive after visiting a specialist centre for missing children in America. At the end of last month the McCanns, from Rothley, Leics, visited America to see how the country's Amber Alert system was used to track down missing children. Mr McCann, 39, and 40-year-old Mrs McCann, are still searching for their daughter Madeleine, who disappeared from their holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz on May 3 last year. - 27th Apr 2008

▪ The mother of Madeleine McCann has admitted for the first time to having “desperate” days when she considers giving up the search for her daughter. Kate McCann, 40, says that lack of progress in finding Madeleine has left her feeling “down, desperate and exhausted”. The couple have also received a death threat and legal sources fear the Portuguese police may charge them with neglect for leaving Madeleine alone while they dined in a nearby restaurant. Despite all this their spirits have been lifted since they travelled to Washington last month where they met Ed Smart, whose daughter Elizabeth was taken from her bed by a homeless preacher. She was found after nine months of campaigning. Footage of the emotional meeting between the McCanns and Smart, to be broadcast in an ITV documentary on Wednesday, was released as the couple prepared to use this week’s anniversary to reenergise the search for Madeleine. Kate said: “You have days when you’re so down and desperate and tired, you think you’ve got to switch off and I think, okay, we’ve tried really hard and we’ve come up with nothing and now we need to make the best of what we’ve got. [But] we’re never going to hit that day. It doesn’t matter how small the possibility is [of Madeleine being found alive], the possibility is still there.” - 27th Apr 2008

▪ Gerry McCann says he has so little contact with Portuguese detectives he cannot be sure if they are still looking for his daughter. He said he and his wife Kate were receiving no information on the progress of the Madeleine investigation and had been given no explanation as to why police files are still being kept secret. Rachael Oldfield, one of the couple's close friends and a key witness in the case, described the situation as "astounding". Interviewed for a documentary, Mrs Oldfield said the couple have had no direct contact with Portuguese detective Paulo Rebelo, the man heading the inquiry. And she accused the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) of "outrageous" leaking and "double standards" over Portugal's strict secrecy laws. Kate and Gerry McCann were declared "arguidos" - or formal suspects - in the case in September although they deny any involvement in Madeleine's - 25th Apr 2008 ▪ Portugal's Policia Judiciaria has issued a rare public statement defending itself against allegations that interviews with Kate and Gerry McCann had been leaked. The McCann's were furious when interviews about the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine were leaked to the media. The McCanns believe transcripts of statements they gave to detectives in the hours after their daughter went missing on May 3 last year were deliberately slipped to the media by the Portuguese authorities. The excerpts include the disclosure that Madeleine and her brother Sean apparently woke up crying the night before the three-year-old's disappearance, but her parents did not hear her as they were in a nearby restaurant. The police statement singles out the couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell, who last week angrily demanded an inquiry into how transcripts of their statements to detectives came into the public domain. - 15th Apr 2008

▪ Madeleine McCann "suspect" Robert Murat is planning to sue 12 British media outlets for libel. London-based solicitors Simons Muirhead and Burton said the Anglo-Portuguese ex-pat was pursuing defamation actions against 11 newspapers and one TV station. The law firm listed libel actions against Sky, the Daily Express, the Sunday Express, the Daily Star, the Daily Mail, the Evening Standard, the Metro, the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror, the News of the World, the Sun and the Scotsman on its website. Mr Murat, 34, lives just yards from the holiday apartment in the Portuguese seaside resort of Praia da Luz where Madeleine vanished on May 3 last year. Detectives took him in for questioning 11 days after she went missing and made him the first "arguido", or formal suspect, in the case. - 15th Apr 2008

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann have threatened to pull out of plans to return to Portugal to help police reconstruct the events around their daughter Madeleine's disappearance amid a furious row over leaked interviews. The McCanns believe the Portuguese authorities deliberately slipped transcripts of statements they gave to detectives in the hours after their daughter went missing on May 3 last year, to the media. The excerpts include the disclosure that Madeleine and her brother Sean apparently woke up crying the night before the three-year-old's disappearance, but her parents did not hear her as they were in a nearby restaurant. The interviews disclosed that Madeleine asked Kate at breakfast on May 3: "Mummy, why didn't you come when we were crying last night?" The couple are demanding a full internal investigation from the Portuguese Ministry of Justice into whether the detail was deliberately passed to a Spanish journalist to "smear" them on the day they launched a campaign for a new child alert system in Brussels. Their local MP Stephen Dorrell said he would raise the matter with the Foreign Office. It is understood the McCanns' Portuguese lawyers will be protesting to the relevant authorities there. - 11th Apr 2008

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann have pleaded for Europe-wide backing for a cross-border missing child alert system. Addressing a meeting at the European Parliament in Brussels, Kate and Gerry McCann urged Euro-MPs to put their names to a declaration demanding swift agreement on a US-style "amber alert" system. Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Madeleine asked her mother just hours before her disappearance: "Why didn't you come when we were crying last night?". The three-year-old's stark question emerged amid leaked passages from police interviews given by the McCanns directly after their daughter went missing in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007. The couple are said to be angered by the timing of the leak and convinced it was a "blatant" attempt to smear them. In an address to Euro-MPs on the missing child alert system, Mrs McCann said: "We implore you to support our declaration. Please do not wait for another child and family to suffer as we have. "I cannot explain just how totally devastating this was. If anyone was wanting to inflict the greatest amount of pain on us then they have done that." - 10th Apr 2008

▪ Claims the Madeleine McCann fund was approached for money to assist the search for Shannon Matthews are being investigated, police have said. It is understood during the time nine-year-old Shannon was missing, the McCann family was asked for money towards helping find the schoolgirl. One man has been charged with Shannon's abduction. Her mother, Karen Matthews, has also been arrested. Police have until Wednesday lunchtime to charge or release Ms Matthews. The Madeleine fund was set up to help in the search for the three-year-old who has not been seen since she went missing in Portugal in May last year. It is understood one request to the fund was made by a man claiming to be a freelance journalist who was seeking money to help in the search for Shannon. - 8th Apr 2008

▪ Kate McCann is said to be "upset" over a request that she and her husband Gerry take part in a reconstruction of the night their daughter Madeleine went missing. Sky's crime correspondent Martin Brunt reported that Portuguese authorities were requesting that the McCanns go back to Praia da Luz for a "Crimewatch-style" event in mid-May. But it is feared Mrs McCann, whose four-year-old daughter vanished on May 3 last year, would find such a trip too traumatic, Brunt said. A friend of the couple said: "Kate is upset. There's been no sense of concern for her feelings or the anguish it will cause her. "On an emotional level she is not sure she can go through with it." The friend added: "The family will consider it. If it's felt that there's a chance of it helping to find Madeleine then, of course, they will do it. - 8th Apr 2008

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann have been asked to return to Portugal for a reconstruction of her alleged abduction, Sky sources understand. Crime correspondent Martin Brunt said Portuguese authorities were requesting that Kate and Gerry go back for a "Crimewatch-style" event. But it is feared Mrs McCann, whose four-year-old daughter vanished on May 3 last year, would find such a trip too traumatic, Brunt said. He added the reconstruction could involve friends - dubbed the Tapas Seven - who were dining with the McCanns while the child was allegedly snatched from a holiday apartment in the Praia da Luz resort. The parents' spokesman Clarence Mitchell told Sky News: "Kate and Gerry very much welcome the idea of any reconstruction that is televised... that could generate important new calls and new leads in the search for Madeleine." - 8th Apr 2008

▪ Portuguese police are due to arrive in the UK to sit in when the friends of Kate and Gerry McCann are interviewed. The detectives, led by Paulo Rebelo, who is in charge of the Madeleine McCann case, will not actually question the friends of the couple but will be present at interviews carried out by officers from Leicestershire Constabulary. The McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, will not be questioned in relation to the disappearance of their four-year-old daughter from the Algarve holiday resort of Praia da Luz on May 3 last year. Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the couple welcomed the interviews and were happy to be reinterviewed, but a request had not been made by Portuguese detectives. Instead they will question the McCanns' friends - known as the "Tapas Seven" - who were with them the night Madeleine disappeared. They will be interviewed as witnesses and are free to leave at any time, said a spokeswoman for Leicestershire Constabulary. No lawyers will be present. There had been speculation that diaries and Madeleine's Cuddle Cat toy could be seized by Portuguese officers, but it is understood that no property will be searched or seized.- 5th Apr 2008

▪ KATE and Gerry McCann will launch a child safety scheme in Brussels next week while Portuguese cops interview their friends in Britain. The couple will be present when a draft declaration calling for a European-wide missing child alert system goes before the European Parliament. Portuguese police will spend a week quizzing the Tapas Seven, who dined with the McCanns when Madeleine vanished. - 5th Apr 2008

▪ Two individuals, both related to the Madeleine McCann case, have this week once again seen their names in print; Robert Murat, the first official suspect in Madeleine�s disappearance, was given back a number of personal possessions that were seized by police in connection to the crime, as Russian resident, Sergey Malinka, who has had business dealings with Robert Murat and a witness in the Madeleine McCann case had his car incinerated in mysterious circumstances. - 29th Mar 2008

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann have agreed to take part in a television documentary marking the first anniversary of the disappearance of their daughter. Gerry and Kate McCann have signed a deal with ITV to produce the one-hour documentary which will focus on the disappearance of Madeleine as well as other missing children. Cameras have followed the couple since January and will show footage of the McCanns travelling around the world in the search for their daughter. The four-year-old went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3rd 2007. Since that time a worldwide search has taken place and Mr and Mrs McCann have been named as 'arguido' suspects in the investigation. ITV's controller of current affairs and documentaries, Jeff Anderson, has said that the channel will donate £10,000 to the Find Madeleine Fund and that the parents will receive no money for their appearance in the programme. - 27th Mar 2008

▪ Salvador del Valle is the Spaniard who has reportedly confessed to the police of his involvement in the death of the five year old from Huelva, Mari Luz Cortés. The parents of Madeleine McCann say they want to question Salvador del Valle, the man who has been arrested in Spain in connection with the disappearance of the five year old from Huelva, Mari Luz Cortés, whose body was found earlier this month 54 days after she disappeared. Salvador del Valle lived just a few yards from the Cortés family in the Torrejón district of Huelva, and has reportedly told the police that he was involved in the death of the child, but that the child died by accident after falling down the stairs. His wife and sister and brother also face charges for covering up the case, and he has been taken to the courts in Huelva today where he is expected to declare before the judge later. - 27th Mar 2008

▪ PORTUGUESE police will fly to the UK next month to quiz three friends who dined with Kate and Gerry McCann the night Madeleine disappeared. Detectives believe Jane Tanner, her partner Russell O'Brien and David Payne could provide a breakthrough. Police are also keen to interview Justine McGuiness, a psychologist and former family spokesman who comforted Kate, 39, after Madeleine vanished last May. Spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the McCanns' friends are keen to help.- 23rd Mar 2008

Portuguese police have returned computers and other possessions they seized from Madeleine McCann "suspect" Robert Murat, he has said. He described the move as a "very positive sign" - but is still waiting to be officially cleared of involvement in the young girl's disappearance. Mr Murat, 34, lives just yards from the holiday apartment in the Portuguese seaside resort of Praia da Luz where Madeleine vanished on May 3 last year. Detectives took him in for questioning 11 days after the child went missing and made him the first "arguido", or formal suspect, in the case. They also searched the villa he shares with his mother and seized a number of his possessions, including three computers, clothes and a pair of shoes. - 23rdh Mar 2008

▪ A CAR belonging to Russian computer expert Sergei Malinka, who has been questioned by police as part of the Madeleine McCann investigation, was destroyed in an explosion in the early hours of Thursday (March 20) morning in Praia da Luz. The incident is said to have taken place at around 5am next to his apartment, where the word “fala” (talk) had been written on the pavement next to the car. Witnesses told The Resident that two cars were involved in the blast and maintain that one belonged to Malinka. Police first interviewed Malinka on May 16, 2007, around two weeks after Madeleine McCann went missing. Police searched the home of the IT expert, who designed a website for Robert Murat and was seen talking to Murat several times in the days after Madeleine’s disappearance. He was adamant that he was interviewed as a witness, not a suspect. He has lived in Praia da Luz for around seven years and has always maintained he had nothing to do with Madeleine’s disappearance. - 21st Mar 2008

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann's £550,000 libel award over false newspaper allegations that they were responsible for the death of their daughter Madeleine will be used to help fund the search to find her, the couple has announced. They were not present at London's High Court for the settlement of their action against Express Newspapers when a judge heard of the "untold distress" they had suffered as the result of publication of more than 100 defamatory articles. In a statement read out on their behalf after a hearing before Mr Justice Eady, the couple, whose four-year-old daughter went missing from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 last year while her parents dined at a nearby tapas bar with friends, described the allegations against them as "grotesque". They said: "As part of our settlement, Express Newspapers have also agreed to pay damages, by way of a donation of £550,000 to the fund that was established to help find Madeleine. We feel it is entirely appropriate that the search for Madeleine will now benefit - directly out of the wrongs committed against us as her parents. - 19th Mar 2008

▪ With her blonde hair, large eyes and pale cheeks, this little girl's resemblance to missing British girl Madeleine McCann had police rushing to the Sydney CBD yesterday. The false Maddie sighting began when a woman notified police after she spotted a little girl getting off a train from Wollongong at Central station holding the hand of a "French-speaking man dressed in black" about 11am. Shortly after, witnesses at Town Hall station saw CityRail staff shadowing a middle-aged man wearing a black beret, black jeans and a black shirt walking with a blonde girl aged about four, dressed in a pink frock. The train guards followed the man and girl to the Luneburger German bakery cafe underneath the Queen Victoria Building. When police arrived about 20 minutes later, they called for backup before approaching the man. The Daily Telegraph saw three police officers talking to the man and the little girl during lunch-time rush hour. - 12h Mar 2008

▪ The Portuguese lawyer who had been financing the search of a reserviour says he can no longer afford to continue. The Spanish detective agency Método 3 has said that some bones found in a plastic bag at the bottom of a lake in Portugal are not those of the missing British youngster Madeleine McCann. The Portuguese Judicial Police confirmed that the bones are from a small animal. A search had been carried out in Arade reservoir all last week by seven divers who were working for the Portuguese lawyer, Marcos Aragao Correia. The lawyer has been working by himself at his own expense for more than a month in the search for Madeleine, and had said that he is 99% certain that the girl is dead, and that her body was thrown into the reservoir which is found some 40 kms from the apartment where the McCann family were staying in Praia da Luz last May 3. He now says he will abandon his search in the area, as he no longer has the resources to continue. He says he decided to start his own search after receiving some clues in the case three days after Madeleine vanished, and that his line of investigation coincides with that of the Spanish detective agency contracted by the McCanns. - 16th Mar 2008

▪ Missing schoolgirl Shannon Matthews has been found alive - 24 days after she disappeared. She was discovered around a mile away at the home of a man related to her stepfather, say Sky News Online sources. Police smashed their way into a flat in Lidgate Gardens in the Batley Carr area of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, and emerged carrying Shannon, neighbours said. A 39-year-old man was arrested at the address on suspicion of abduction. The man is "remotely related" to Shannon's stepfather Craig Meehan, according to Sky sources. The nine-year-old was found "concealed" in the base of a divan bed at the address. Shannon has now been made the subject of an emergency police protection order. Neighbours said the young girl looked "quite calm" and officers confirmed she was okay as she was brought out. Resident Mandy Dixon, 37, said: "I couldn't see Shannon's face - she was covered up. She was clinging to the officer for dear life." - 14th Mar 2008

▪ A team of divers has resumed its search of a remote Algarve reservoir in the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann. So far they have recovered nothing but several lengths of cord, some plastic tape and a single white, cotton sock. Human rights lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia is funding the private search in the belief that Madeleine's body was thrown into the Barragem do Arade shortly after being killed by an abductor. He claims he was told of the girl's fate by an underworld contact. It's the second time the lawyer has paid for divers to explore the reservoir which lies in rolling hills a 20-minute drive from Praia da Luz, the holiday resort from where Madeleine vanished in May last year. In December - when Portuguese police refused to act on his claims - he paid around £3,000 for a first search.- 12h Mar 2008

▪ RELATIVES of Madeleine McCann joined a march in support of families of missing people yesterday. The young girl’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were unable to attend the demonstration in central London but voiced their support for its aims. Two mothers whose sons vanished a decade apart organised the event to lobby the Government for funding to help those left behind. Meanwhile Mr McCann has spoken of the couple’s sorrow at the news that the remains of a missing five-year-old Spanish girl have been discovered. The body of Mari Luz Cortes was found last week floating in an estuary near Huelva in southern Spain. - 8th Mar 2008

▪ A Europe-wide missing-child alert system would have "without doubt" saved Madeleine McCann, an expert on child abduction said. Lady Catherine Meyer, who founded a charity to tackle child abduction, called for a single Europe-wide telephone number that parents could ring the moment their child went missing. A Europe-wide alert system may have helped to find missing Madeleine McCann. The system, similar to the Amber Alert in the United States, would flash the child’s details up on television and motorway signs. All ports and airports across Europe would also be alerted. Lady Meyer, wife of Sir Christopher Meyer, the former British ambassador to Washington, said: "I am without a doubt sure that if an Amber Alert was in place when Madeleine McCann went missing she would have been found, without a doubt." -68th Mar 2008

▪ Police have found the body of a Spanish girl who disappeared less than two hours' drive from where Madeleine McCann went missing. Mari Luz Cortes was discovered floating in an estuary near the southern city of Huelva, 120 miles from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz. The five-year-old vanished on January 13 when she went out to a newspaper stand. DNA tests will be carried out on the badly decomposed remains, which were identified by her clothing. Madeleine's parents have offered their prayers and sympathy to the girl's family. Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, sent Mari Luz's parents messages of support after her disappearance. The couple had also planned to include her in their poster campaign in Spain. The McCanns' spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: "Kate and Gerry are aware of the reports and it's clearly very upsetting for them. "Their thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time. "Kate and Gerry had kept a very close eye on the search for Mari Luz and they felt there was a degree of connection between the two families. "They sent messages of support after she went missing." No arrests have been made over the disappearance of Mari Luz. - 8th Mar 2008

▪ The senior British detective involved in the Madeleine McCann case has returned from the Algarve after a series of meetings with Portuguese police. Detective Superintendent Stuart Prior of Leicestershire police spent 48 hours in Portugal, discussing how his force can help in the continuing search for the missing girl. High on the agenda was the Portuguese police request to re-question the seven friends who dined with Gerry and Kate McCann at the tapas bar on the night Madeleine vanished in May last year. It is believed the Algarve detectives are unhappy with so-called inconsistencies in statements the friends gave them before they returned to the UK. Leicestershire police, as the McCanns' local force, are likely to carry out the new interviews on behalf of the Portuguese authorities. A force spokesman said: "Since Madeleine's disappearance we, together with other law enforcement agencies, have been working closely with the Portuguese authorities. "Mr Prior has attended a series of meetings with his Portuguese counterparts. He travelled to Portugal on Tuesday and returned this afternoon. "He went to discuss how the request for mutual legal assistance is to be executed and seek clarification over terms of reference." It is several months since Portugal's police director announced that he wanted to re-interview the McCanns' friends and it is not clear why the process has taken so long. The family's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "The sooner this takes place the better. No-one will be changing their story." The McCanns hope that any new development in the investigation might lead to the lifting of their arguido status under which they remain official suspects in their daughter's disappearance. - 6th Mar 2008

▪ A Europe-wide missing-child alert system would have "without doubt" saved Madeleine McCann, an expert on child abduction said. Lady Catherine Meyer, who founded a charity to tackle child abduction, called for a single Europe-wide telephone number that parents could ring the moment their child went missing. The system, similar to the Amber Alert in the United States, would flash the child’s details up on television and motorway signs. All ports and airports across Europe would also be alerted. Lady Meyer, wife of Sir Christopher Meyer, the former British ambassador to Washington, said: "I am without a doubt sure that if an Amber Alert was in place when Madeleine McCann went missing she would have been found, without a doubt." She added that British police were "decades behind" America in terms of acting with speed and efficiency to find missing children. "Police say child abduction doesn’t happen in Britain, they say 'there are just one or two highlighted cases’, but it does happen here," she said. "It is just not reported properly." A spokesman for the McCanns said: "Kate and Gerry fully support any effort to increase co-ordination across Europe in the case where a child has gone missing. "In America they have the Amber Alert system for sending children’s details across the country quickly. - 6th Mar 2008

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents were said to be "encouraged" after a survey suggested public opinion in Portugal was shifting in their favour. The Correio da Manha poll found that 38.6% of those questioned still believe Kate and Gerry McCann were involved in their daughter's disappearance in the Algarve. On the other hand, 30.7% thought the couple, from Rothley, in Leicestershire, were completely innocent. This compares to an earlier poll run by the Portuguese newspaper in which 39.9% of people interviewed thought the couple were guilty and 26.8% believed they were not to blame. It is a small change but the McCanns, still official suspects in the police investigation, believe the tide could be turning for them after 10 months of speculation and accusations. Their spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: "It's encouraging to see that public opinion is shifting in Kate and Gerry's favour. "People are right to believe that Kate and Gerry had nothing to do with their daughter's disappearance and are right to be sceptical of some of the coverage in recent months." The poll came as the McCanns' private detectives were investigating another lead in their search for the little girl. A British couple reportedly spotted a "package" being put onto a jet ski on a beach close to where Madeleine went missing in Praia da Luz. Mr Mitchell said: "Detective agency Metodo 3 are looking at it and endeavouring to get to the bottom of it. The timing is potentially significant as is the placing."- 5th Mar 2008

▪ A British couple claim they saw a small bundle being smuggled on a jetski and taken out to sea just a few miles from where Madeleine McCann went missing. The witnesses say that they had been on an early morning swim, about nine hours after the toddler disappeared, when they saw a man in a dark wetsuit the riding the vehicle with a 2ft- to 3ft-long black package on the front. He then appeared to take the bundle it to a small “official-looking” grey boat moored just off the coast at Salema, six miles up the coast from Praia Da Luz where Madeleine went missing last May. Despite the fact that the couple reported their sighting to the Ocean Club resort, where the McCann family had been staying, police have not yet investigated the incident or called them in to be interviewed. The witnesses, who did not want to be named, are from south-west England and were visiting relatives Patrick Matthews, 37, and his wife Eliza, 25, in Salema, near Praia da Luz. The McCann’s official spokesman Clarence Mitchell said that Kate and Gerry McCann were concerned the Portuguese police had not followed up such a “potentially significant lead”. Over the past few months several witnesses have come forward claiming to have seen young children bearing striking resemblance to Madeline. Last month a Dutch student told authorities that she saw Madeleine at a roadside restaurant near Montpellier, France. - 4th Mar 2008

▪ A PORTUGUESE newspaper poll has showed that LESS people have faith in the police probe into Madeleine McCann's disappearance while more believe Gerry and Kate are innocent. In a survey by Correio da Manha, 60.4 per cent of people believe the investigation has been carried out well - a drop of around 30 per cent since last year. Of those surveyed, 11.9 per cent said the Portuguese police were doing 'so-so', while 16.7 per cent said that they had done a bad job and 11 per cent did not have an opinion. Polls carried out in May of last year showed that 90.3 per cent thought the police had done a good job, and only 2.1 per cent thought they had not. And on a scale of 1 to 100, the poll showed the police in Portugal were rated an average of 94.1 in May, 81.6 in September falling to 74.2 at present. Correio da Manha also claims that 38.6 per cent of those surveyed in an opionion poll believe Kate and Gerry are responsible for the "disappearance of Maddie's body." However, 30.7 per cent believe that Madeleine's parents had nothing to do with it, and another 30.7 per cent did not have an opinion. The same question was asked in September 2007, when 39.9 per cent considered the McCanns to be guilty, while 26.8 per cent said they were innocent and 33.2 per cent did not know. - 3rd Mar 2008

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann face yet another potential disappointment after reports emerged last night that Madeleine McCann has been spotted in Britain. Detectives are said to be launching a major inquiry into the claim that the missing four-year-old was seen by a man in Dorset. Retired civil servant Alan Cameron alerted police after a Portuguese couple turned up at his home in the village of Stratton. Mr Cameron became suspicious when he saw a girl matching Madeleine's description sitting in the couple's car. It is the first time a sighting of Madeleine has been reported in Britain since she vanished while on holiday in Portugal last May. Mr Cameron, 66, told the Sunday Express: "They knocked on my door and said they had come to buy the garden furniture I'd put on sale in a local ad." "Straight away they struck me as odd. The woman said she was Italian but they were speaking fluent Portuguese. "The man had a few days' growth on his face and was wearing filthy clothes. He told me they ran a language centre in Weymouth but then the woman hit him and told him to be quiet.". Mr Cameron, a former clerk with the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the girl spoke in English and appeared distressed. "I hear a voice, in perfect, clear English say 'I need to use the toilet'. I could see that she was blonde and four years old." "I said of course and the woman grabbed her and scooped her under her arm. She didn't allow the girl to walk and deliberately pushed the hood of her jersey over her head. She was sobbing. This little girl was unhappy and she was scared. "I knew straight away it was a face I'd seen in the news. I'm convinced of it." - 24th Feb 2008

▪ The disgraced former head of the Madeleine McCann police investigation will stand trial accused of falsifying evidence in a separate missing child case, a judge has ruled. Goncalo Amaral, 48, who was sacked from the Madeleine inquiry last year, is accused of covering up for four of his officers who are accused of torture. He was in charge of the Madeleine case when her parents, Gerry and Kate, were named as suspects last September. His boss has since said officers had acted "hastily" in making the McCanns arguidos (formal suspects). The trial Mr Amaral faces relates to the investigation into the disappearance of eight-year-old Joana Cipriano from a village seven miles from Praia da Luz in the Algarve four years ago. Her mother, Leonor, and uncle, Joao Cipriano, were convicted of murdering her. Both claim they were beaten and tortured into confessing during a police interrogation that took place without the knowledge of the public prosecutor. Mr Amaral is said to have helped cover up the alleged torture. Judge Ana Lucia Cruz, who sits at the court of instruction in Faro, ruled yesterday that Mr Amaral would stand trial on charges of falsifying evidence and failing to report a crime. Four inspectors will stand trial accused of torture. The officers claim that Mrs Cipriano tried to commit suicide by throwing herself off a staircase. Mr Amaral was sacked from his position as chief of the Judicial Police in Portimao in October last year. He continues his job as a police officer and denies any wrongdoing. Mr and Mrs McCann, both 39-year-old doctors from Rothley, Leics, deny being involved in their daughter's disappearance. - 24th Feb 2008

▪ Melissa Fiering, an 18 year old tourist from Holland called the police after spotting a girl resembling Madeleine at a L'Arche motorway service station near Montpellier on 15 February. Speaking to the Hart van Nederland newspaper, Fiering reportedly said "when I saw the little girl, I recognised her immediately". She also described a "tall swarthy man" accompanying Madeleine, who later hurried child away when Fiering called her name. Fiering had followed the case on television and said that she recognised Madeleine because of the deformity in one of her eyes, lending it the appearance of a so-called 'cat's eye'. She said that girl looked "skinnier about the face" and had shorter hair than she remembered from media images, but was nevertheless convinced it was her. "I was listening to music out loud on my mobile phone" said Fiering, "and the girl started dancing to it. Then I called out 'Madeleine' and she looked up." The man with her was about six feet tall, with black hair, a black leather jacket and several days growth of stubble. When I shouted out, he put on her coat and hat and bundled her away". After calling the police, Fiering claimed that she was kept waiting on hold for half an hour. When viewing CCTV footage of the event, French police saw a man, and a young girl resembling the missing British girl, but after thorough inspection determined that it was not Madeleine. - 21st Feb 2008

▪ A girl resembling Madeleine McCann has been spotted in France by a woman who says she had the same eye blemish as the missing girl's. Police have dismissed the sighting, but how common is the defect? Referred to as the "mark of Madeleine" the blemish on the four-year-old's right eye has played a key part in the campaign to highlight her disappearance, emphasised in posters and videos. It's was at the centre of the latest possible sighting of her. Dutch student Melissa Fiering says she saw a girl who looked like Madeleine McCann at a service station in the South of France. She believed it was the youngster, who went missing from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz last May, because she had a dark smudge on her right iris. However, police examining CCTV evidence have determined it was not the missing girl. It's not the first reported sighting of Madeleine, but a spokesman for the McCann family said it was "more worthy than most" because of the eye defect. The blemish is called a coloboma of the iris. Its precise incidence is not recorded in the UK, but figures suggest it occurs in about 0.007% of the population. A 1989 study in China found two cases in a survey of 26,512 children under 12 years of age. That would mean a prevalence of 7.5 per 100,000. - 21st Feb 2008

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann are waiting to be shown CCTV footage of a girl said to bear a "striking resemblance" to the missing four-year-old which was filmed less than a week ago. A Dutch student spotted the child at a roadside cafe in Montpellier in southern France last Friday, and claims the girl responded when she called out "Madeleine" to her. A "tall, swarthy" man who was with her put a hat on the girl’s head and immediately bundled her away, according to Melissa Firing, who says the girl had the same distinctive fleck in one eye as Madeleine. French police were already investigating allegations that young children, including babies, are being "sold" at impromptu auctions in car parks along the Mediterranean coast. Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann, described the sighting as "encouraging" because Miss Firing had described specific details about the girl which made the sighting "more worthy than most". The entire incident was captured on the restaurant’s CCTV cameras and the footage has been seized by French detectives, who are expected to send a copy to Leicestershire Police so that the McCanns can see it for themselves. Since Madeleine went missing from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz last May there have been numerous sightings of her across Europe and in North Africa, all of which have proved false. Mr Mitchell said the McCanns, who remain official suspects, had been informed of the sighting on Tuesday, but were wary of becoming "emotionally committed" until they had seen the footage for themselves. Miss Firing, 18, who lives in the Dutch town of Nijmegen but is a student in Barcelona, told the Hart van Nederland newspaper: "When I saw the little girl, I recognised her immediately. At first I could not believe it. She was about six feet away from me. - 20th Feb 2008

▪ The anguish Rhys Jones’s parents suffer at not having justice will get worse, Madeleine McCann’s grandmother has said. Susan Healey, 62, mother of Kate McCann, was joined by another Liverpool mother united in grief as they sent their best wishes to Stephen and Melanie Jones six months after their son was shot dead. Mrs Healey and Mary Kelly, 42, whose son Liam, 16, was shot dead in Liverpool in 2004, said Rhys’s parents will feel punished the longer they wait for his killer to face justice. Speaking about the difficulty of living without justice, Mrs Healey said Kate McCann, 39, wrote to Rhys’s parents in the days after his murder to offer sympathy. She said: “Because Kate had been through such a trauma it was an obvious thing to do for someone from Liverpool. “It gets a lot harder; each day is harder than the day before. “I can sympathise with them absolutely for not having justice, I really hope they get it at some point.” She added they must be strong for eldest son, Owen, 18, saying: “I am very sorry for Rhys’s parents but the only difference is they know what happened to Rhys and his mother got to hold him. “They have to live their lives for their other child. “It is easy to give up but you have to go on. “I have great sympathy for Rhys’s parents. “It beggars belief that the police know who it is but can’t do anything. “Is everybody too afraid to make a stand?” Mary Kelly, of pressure group Mothers Against Guns, is still awaiting justice for her son - who in 2004 was Merseyside’s youngest gun victim until Rhys took that grim distinction. Despite a 19-year-old being sentenced to 21 years for his murder, Merseyside Police want to trace another man for the murder. Ms Kelly said: “It is torment. “When the phone rings I hope it is the police to say they’ve caught him. - 20th Feb 2008

▪ The grandmother of Madeleine McCann today said it may be too painful for the missing girl's parents to return to a Donegal village where they all spent a happy Easter holiday last year. Eileen McCann, who owns Peoples Bar in tiny St Johnston, close to the border with Co Londonderry, said that while she may visit Ireland next month, her son Gerry and his wife Kate will not be returning for the foreseeable future. She said it could be too painful for the couple to revisit the area, where they had a great time in 2007 just weeks before little Maddy (4) was snatched from a holiday apartment in the Algarve last May. In exclusive pictures published by the Belfast Telegraph in the weeks following her disappearance, Madeleine was seen with her cousins happily playing on the beach and enjoying an ice cream during the Easter break in Donegal. On their annual trip to the county last year, Kate and Gerry took Madeleine and their twins Sean and Amelie to St Johnston to see the pub where Gerry's father John was born. Eileen McCann said today that the family would not be coming to Donegal following their ordeal. The McCanns have been named as official suspects in their daughter's disappearance by police in Portugal and have come under fire for leaving their three children alone in the apartment while they dined nearby in the Ocean Club complex at Praia de Luz. "This time last year, the whole family was together, all Madeleine's cousins were there in Donegal at Easter," she said. - 20h Feb 2008

▪ MADELEINE McCann’s grandmother has said the family’s torment is like “being crucified day to day”. Susan Healy, 62, pleaded with people to stop criticising her family and launched a scathing attack on the press. She said: “It is almost like being crucified day to day. I read the most stupid things, about Kate not crying enough, or whatever.” She added: “Kate and Gerry know they made a mistake and shouldn’t have left the children, they know that, but they certainly don’t deserve what has happened to them. “If the Portuguese can’t find out what happened to Madeleine, we have to find out. Mossley Hill-based Mrs Healy, mother of 39-year-old Kate, reiterated the family’s need to know what happened to Madeleine in May last year when she vanished while on holiday in Praia da Luz. The civil servant, who lives in Liverpool with husband Brian, said: “We will go on fighting for justice. “We want Madeleine back and we want to find out what happened to her.” - 18th Feb 2008

▪ Police searching for Madeleine McCann are also investigating five attempted child abductions in northern Portugal. They began when a nine-year-old girl was bundled into a car as she got off her school bus. Two more children were attacked last month and last Thursday two men tried to lure a girl of nine into a car. Last Saturday, another child escaped abduction. One police source said: "It is causing a lot of alarm." The attempted kidnappings happened 300 miles north of Praia da Luz, where Madeleine vanished from her family's rented holiday apartment in the Ocean Club last May 3. Private detectives investigating her disappearance believe she may have been abducted by a paedophile. Meanwhile, it emerged that detectives have been unable to trace several people who may have visited or stayed in the McCanns' holiday apartment. - 18h Feb 2008

▪ Police investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance have been alerted over a spate of attempted child abductions in northern Portugal, it has been revealed. At least four children have been targeted in the last month in the region of Coimbra, where a nine-year-old girl escaped from an abductor in December. Police are investigating if the cases are connected, and if they could be related to Madeleine's disappearance from Praia da Luz, some 300 miles away in the Algarve, last May. Meanwhile, it is understood Kate McCann is quitting her job as a locum GP to devote her life to children's charities. Mrs McCann has not returned to work since Madeleine's disappearance in May and has reportedly told friends she feels she has a lot to offer charity organisations. Private detectives searching for four-year-old Madeleine believe she was targeted by a paedophile network and smuggled out of Portugal, and that other children could also have been taken. In the first reported attempted abduction, in December last year, a man bundled a nine-year-old girl into his car as she walked home from her school bus stop in the village of Charneca, near Coimbra. The terrified girl told police he held on to her and drove her about a mile away, but she managed to escape when he was forced to brake to let another car pass on the remote, narrow road. She ran crying back to the village and told police her abductor spoke Portuguese with a Brazilian accent, wore an earring and drove a grey car. Since then there have been two more attempted abductions in nearby villages, including an attack three weeks ago when two men in a car tried to grab a 13-year-old girl after she also got off her school bus to go home. Her mother, who was waiting for the girl, saw the men and screamed, and they released the teenager and fled. - 17th Feb 2008

▪ Staff at the resort where Madeleine McCann vanished have again been quizzed by detectives. It comes as they prepare to re-interview pals of Kate and Gerry McCann in a last-ditch bid to crack the case. Pool cleaner Luis Antonio, the husband of suspect Robert Murat's girlfriend Michaela Walczuch, was one of five questioned in Praia da Luz. The fresh interrogations came days after Portugal's justice minister Alberto Costa said the investigation was coming to a conclusion. A judicial source told Portuguese newspaper 24 Horas: "Several police interviews have been repeated. "The statements are being analysed to try to find any lead that could result in a new line of investigation." It is understood investigators will also re-interview three friends who were dining with the McCanns the night their daughter disappeared. They are to be probed over alleged inconsistencies in their statements within weeks. Lawyers for the McCanns want it to happen soon. They are also demanding an urgent review of the couple's "arguido" suspect status after Portugal's top police officer suggested detectives acted "hastily" in accusing them. In his internet blog yesterday, Gerry McCann vowed not to give up looking for his young daughter, adding: "We hope the police are similarly determined". - 16h Feb 2008

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents will never give up searching for her despite the police investigation coming to an end. John McCann revealed brother Gerry and his wife Kate feared comments by the Portuguese justice minister this week could mean that the police will no longer look for her. John, who also revealed the £1.2million Madeleine Fund is dwindling, said: "They want to be able to concentrate on searching for Madeleine instead of defending themselves from a false accusation." Spokesman Clarence Mitchell said lawyers were deciding on a response but added: "If the case is shelved then we ask that Gerry and Kate have their arguidos status lifted first. "We also ask that our detectives have access to police files on the case." - 15h Feb 2008

▪ Portuguese police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have questioned the estranged husband of suspect Robert Murat’s girlfriend for a second time, it has been claimed. Luis Antonio, who still shares an apartment with Michaela Walczuch although they are separated, was interviewed again by detectives in the hope that new leads may be found. Luis Antonio is the estranged husband of Robert Murat's girlfriend Michaela Walczuch. Mr Antonio, 37, who worked as a pool cleaner at the Ocean Club resort where Madeleine disappeared last May, was one of five people questioned with links to the complex, according to newspaper 24 Horas. A source told the newspaper: "Several police interviews have been repeated and the statements are being analysed to try to find any lead that could result in a new line of investigation." Mr Antonio and Miss Walczuch were initially interviewed after Murat, 34, was made an official suspect, or arguido, two weeks after the little girl vanished, but have always been considered witnesses. Murat, who lives with his mother less than 150 yards from the resort where the McCanns were staying, has always denied any involvement in the case. Earlier this week, justice minister Alberto Costa told a parliamentary committee in Lisbon that police were approaching the “conclusion” of the investigation. But 24 Horas claimed the investigating judge presiding over the case, Judge Pedro Frias, was considering a request to extend the secrecy surrounding the files by another 90 days. - 15th Feb 2008

▪ The parents of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann hope to be dropped as formal suspects soon, after a Portuguese minister said the inquiry was almost over, a spokesman said Thursday. There was no evidence to implicate Kate or Gerry McCann with the disappearance of their daughter, who vanished while the family was on holiday in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz on May 4 last year, said spokesman Clarence Mitchell. "We remain confident that the Portuguese authorities will realise this and that Kate and Gerry's arguido (official suspect) status will be lifted in the near future," he said. He was speaking a day after Portuguese justice minister Alberto Costa said that investigators are "at a phase where we are approaching the end of this procedure." Madeleine's disappearance, shortly before her fourth birthday, triggered a worldwide publicity campaign by her parents -- who were classified as formal suspects by the Portuguese police in September. Another Briton, 35-year-old Robert Murat, was also placed under investigation by police in May. But no sign of Madeleine has been found as yet and no charges laid against any suspect. Murat's lawyer, Francisco Pagarete, said he thought the authorities were "preparing public opinion for a dismissal of the case." "If the minister is beginning to say that the inquiry will not be dragged out much longer, then he is effectively saying there will not be a trial," he said. Last week the national director of the judicial police, Alipio Riberio, admitted there had been a "certain hastiness" in making the parents formal suspects. According to the Portuguese penal code, an inquiry must be made public after eight months if there is no charge or formal closure, except in cases of "exceptional complexity." In January, the public affairs ministry claimed this clause in order to prolong the confidentiality of the investigation by a further three months. - 14h Feb 2008

▪ A new poster campaign has been launched to raise awareness of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and two other children. The "Don't You Forget" Valentine's Day campaign will send out images of the three missing youngsters to businesses and public sites across Spain and its islands. It is hoped the posters will be displayed in banks, schools, churches, stations and other prominent places. Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, said: "As far as we are concerned our search continues every day for Madeleine. We will leave no stone unturned. "Our investigators are continuing to follow up leads but we still need public assistance. That's why this latest phase is going out." Two A3-size posters have been produced - one depicting Madeleine, alongside five-year-old Mari Luz Cortes, and one showing her with seven-year-old Yeremi Vargas. Mari Luz went missing on January 13 this year in her home town of Huelva, 120 miles from Praia da Luz - where Madeleine went missing last May. Yeremi Vargas disappeared from his home in Gran Canaria on March 10 last year. Mr Mitchell said the reason why the other two children are included is "out of courtesy to their respective families". "They are going through the same agony as Kate and Gerry. Their children are missing in the region in potentially similar circumstances," he said. A letter in Spanish will accompany the posters, explaining their purpose and giving information on how to contact the authorities for those who believe they can help. In all, some 17,400 packs have been produced, costing the Find Madeleine Fund £3,000. - 14th Feb 2008

▪ The investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance is said to be nearing a conclusion, as her family launches a new poster campaign. The four-year-old's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were named as suspects, or arguidos, in the case after she went missing on May 3, 2007 from the resort of Praia da Luz on Portugal's Algarve. On Wednesday, the country's justice minister Alberto Costa said the police probe is "approaching the conclusion of the process" and added that it is "premature" to say whether the investigation would reveal what happened to Madeleine. Mr and Mrs McCann's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said the couple are waiting for news in light of Mr Costa's comments. It is thought detectives in the case wish to talk again to the couple and the friends they dined with on the evening their daughter disappeared. Mr Mitchell said: "In light of Mr Costa's comments yesterday and the fact that the police are still intending to come over, we are waiting to hear whether they are coming over to interview the friends or Gerry and Kate." Mr and Mrs McCann have launched the latest phase in the search for their daughter which they hope will help two other families who have also had children go missing. The "Don't You Forget" drive involves two A3 mail shots - one showing Madeleine and five-year-old Mari Luz Cortes and one with the Leicestershire youngster and seven-year-old Yeremi Vargas - which were posted out to businesses and public sites across Spain and its islands. Mari Luz went missing on January 13 in her home town of Huelva, 120 miles from Praia da Luz - where Madeleine went missing. Yeremi disappeared from his home in Gran Canaria on March 10 last year. Mr Mitchell, said: "As far as we are concerned our search continues every day for Madeleine. We will leave no stone unturned. Our investigators are continuing to follow up leads but we still need public assistance. That's why this latest phase is going out. - 14th Feb 2008

▪ The detective who first accused the McCanns over missing Madeleine was in court yesterday charged with covering up the alleged torture of a mum. Chief Insp Goncalo Amaral - axed as head of the Madeleine investigation in October - was at the packed hearing in Faro, southern Portugal, to find out if he will himself face trial. He is accused of lying to protect his officers from charges of police brutality after Leonor Cipriano was claimed to have been beaten into a confession. The mum was convicted of murdering her nine-year-old daughter Joana, who disappeared in September 2004 seven miles from Praia da Luz - where Madeleine vanished. No body was found. Amaral, 48, was sacked from the Madeleine case after he criticised the McCanns. A family friend said: "They met him once and thought he was just another officer." - 12h Feb 2008

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents were yesterday given fresh hope of being released from their suspect status after Portuguese police admitted they don't have any evidence against them. A review of the case by homicide experts from the Judicial Police has turned up no proof that Kate and Gerry McCann played a part in four-year-old Madeleine's disappearance. Attorney General Fernando Pinto Montiero told respected Portuguese newspaper Expresso: "The couple's legal status will be considered at the appropriate moment, depending on various elements still to be obtained." Legal letters outlining 40 questions police still want the McCanns to answer will be sent to the UK authorities this week. The newspaper reported: "They will only remain arguidos (suspects) if there are screaming contradictions revealed in the answers to the letters sent to England." - 10h Feb 2008

▪ Suggestions that Portuguese police could shelve the case to find out what happened to Madeleine McCann are “not helpful”, the family’s spokesman said this morning. Clarence Mitchell urged Portuguese police to continue their search for the missing girl, who disappeared nine months ago. Detectives suspect Madeleine’s body may have been disposed of in the sea. He was responding to comments made by Carlos Anjos, head of Portugal’s police federation, who had said: “There are bigger problems in the Policia Judiciaria than the Maddie case, with all the respect it deserves. ” Mr Mitchell said: “Mr Anjos’s comments are not helpful. He is not working on the case and we hope the police are working very hard on the case. “We have heard nothing officially that the case was to be shelved but we want the police to maintain this case as an active case.”. He said finding Madeleine or discovering what had happened to her remained the biggest concern for her parents, Kate and Gerry. - 8th Feb 2008

▪ A Staffordshire artist has completed a controversial new project. Peter Mason of Hednesford has created a portrait of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann out of postage stamps. Video journalist Victoria Hoe went along to film the finished work and spoke to the artist. Mr Mason was spurred on to complete his project quickly after receiving messages of support on this website. The messages came after Victoria filmed him starting the work, which he hopes will give publicity to the hunt for Madeleine. - 8th Feb 2008

▪ A senior Portuguese police leader has said his officers had more important problems than finding Madeleine McCann. arlos Anjos, head of the country’s police federation, said “There are bigger problems in the Judicial Police than the Maddie case, with all the respect it deserves.” Madeleine McCann Detectives suspect Madeleine’s body may have been disposed of in the sea. The leader of the Judicial Police Inspectors Union has previously been critical of Gerry and Kate McCann and last year blamed them for “hindering” the investigation to find their daughter. His latest comments quoted in the Portuguese newspaper 24 Horas, come a day after senior police sources claimed the case is set to be closed and the parents’ status as formal suspects revoked. Earlier this week Alipio Ribeiro, Portugal’s top policeman, admitted his officers had been “hasty” in making Mr and Mrs McCann official suspects in the disappearance. - 7th Feb 2008

▪ Portuguese justice said Wednesday the status of a British couple whose daughter disappeared last year had not changed, saying the McCanns would remain formal suspects in the inquiry until further notice. Madeleine Mann was nine days short of her fourth birthday when she vanished from the family's apartment in the resort of Praia da Luz on Portugal's southern Algarve coast exactly nine months ago. Her parents, both health professionals, launched a high-profile international campaign to find her. They were named as formal suspects in September but returned to their home in central England shortly afterwards. "The juridical position of the parents and the missing child will be reassessed in due course," Ana Lima, a spokeswoman from the Portuguese prosecutors office told AFP. Her comments came after the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell called for them to be formally cleared, saying it was damaging their reputation and |ampering the search for the missing toddler.On Sunday, Alipio Ribeiro, national director of the Policia Judiciaria, suggested that police had been too hasty in making the couple official suspects in the case. - 6th Feb 2008

▪ Madeleine McCann's grandfather is clinging to the hope she will be found alive as divers continue their search of a reservoir in Portugal. The frogmen are trawling for clues in Silves, 40 miles from where the British girl vanished in Praia da Luz. But Brian Healey, 67, said: "They haven't found anything yet. We have to believe a miracle can happen. "I still believe she is alive and, until someone tells me different, I will believe.". The divers are not police officers and detectives have already checked the reservoir and ruled it out. The current search is being paid for by a Portuguese lawyer who claims to have underworld contacts. Mr Healey spoke out after Portugal's top policeman said Kate and Gerry McCann had been made suspects - or arguidos - too readily. The grandfather from Liverpool said he was pleased Policia Judiciaria national director Alipio Rebeiro claimed detectives were hasty in giving the couple arguido status. - 4th Feb 2008

▪ The mother of the seven year old boy said Spanish police have been in touch with detectives in Portugal. The mother of Yeremi Vargas, the seven year old boy who went missing from Gran Canaria when he was playing in the street outside his grandmother’s house in Vecindario last March, says police investigating her son’s disappearance have been in contact with Portuguese police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Ithaisa Suárez was quoted by the UK’s Daily Record saying, ‘the specialist police team from Madrid have told me that they have been in contact with the Portuguese police investigating Madeleine. They are working on the theory that people involved in child trafficking are behind these cases.’ Yeremi was last seen on 10th March 2007, two months before Madeleine disappeared from Praia da Luz on the Portuguese Algarve. Yeremi’s mother is reported to believe that both kidnappings were ordered, and that the children were probably sold on. - 4th Feb 2008

▪ Portugal's top policeman has said detectives were "hasty" in making Madeleine McCann's parents suspects in her disappearance. Kate and Gerry McCann were named as "arguidos" - or formal suspects - four months after their daughter vanished from their holiday flat in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz. Alipio Ribeiro, national director of the Policia Judiciaria (PJ), revealed he believes there "perhaps should have been another assessment" before this happened. The PJ - Portugal's CID - is leading the investigation into what happened to Madeleine, who was aged three when she vanished on the night of May 3. In an interview with Portugal's Radio Renascenca, to be broadcast on Sunday, Mr Ribeiro said there was a "certain hastiness" in making the McCanns suspects. The couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell welcomed the senior officer's comments and called for the couple to be formally cleared. - 3rd Feb 2008

▪ British police and child protection officers do not suspect Madeleine McCann's parents of involvement in her disappearance, the couple's spokesman has said. Clarence Mitchell said officials had assured him in private briefings that they were treating the case as one of "rare stranger abduction". He was speaking as he launched an outspoken attack on the "appalling" standards of some media coverage of the disappearance of the Kate and Gerry McCann's daughter in Portugal in May. Mr Mitchell, who acted as the couple's spokesman shortly after Madeleine went missing and reprised this role four-and-a-half months ago, said he was completely convinced of their innocence. He told a packed theatre: "I have never once seen or heard anything from either of them to give me any cause for suspicion in any shape or form. "I have also had briefings privately from the police and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre that also gave me complete reassurance that the authorities, in this country certainly, are treating this as a case of rare stranger abduction, as they call it." But Mr Mitchell said he felt "shamed" as a former reporter by the "sloppiness" and "laziness" of certain journalists in covering the story. Speaking at a debate on The McCanns and the Media at the London School of Economics, Mr Mitchell said: "What we have taken issue with, and our lawyers continue to review, is the aspect of coverage that is not only distorted but wilfully misrepresentative at times of the facts as we know them or the lack of facts. In that vacuum I'm afraid some very sloppy standards have crept in." He singled out "the sloppiness and laziness of some of the journalists, and the lack of independence of thought and checking of facts". - 30th Jan 2008

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann missing in Portugal since May are holding talks with broadcasters about a second TV documentary on their daughter's disappearance, a spokesman for the couple said on Saturday. Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared during a family holiday, hope the documentary will put pressure on European countries to adopt an alert system similar to one used in the United States to provide rapid notification to all states when a child goes missing. The AMBER system, standing for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, is named after Amber Hagerman, a Texas girl kidnapped and murdered in 1996. The McCanns are unhappy that, when the youngster went missing just before her fourth birthday in the resort of Praia da Luz, Spanish border officials were not informed by their Portuguese counterparts until 12 hours later. "We've talked to a few broadcasters and one or two are minded to look at it," the McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell told Reuters of the documentary proposal. "We're not selling Kate and Gerry -- we're trying to produce something positive. "If Madeleine were never found and if some sort of legacy for her was a system which would mean that no other family was ever in this terrible position again, then at least some good would have come out of this." Mitchell confirmed the McCanns had been approached to do interviews with U.S. broadcasters Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters, but the couple's status as formal suspects in Portugal prohibited them from taking part. In November the McCanns took part in a BBC documentary about the disappearance of the youngster. Her parents believe she was abducted from their holiday apartment as they had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant. Despite a series of reported sightings and a huge police investigation, the child's whereabouts remains a mystery. - 26th Jan 2008

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann have been approached to appear on the Oprah Winfrey show and for an interview with American network ABC. The couple's spokesman confirmed that they had been approached by US TV executives. It had been reported that missing Madeleine McCanns' parents were at the centre of a bidding war worth £1m between Winfrey and ABC star Barbara Walters. Both are said to want an exclusive interview with the couple. However, the McCanns and Winfrey's camp were quick to play down talk of a bidding war. The McCanns' spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said they had been approached by both chat show programmes but said no money had been discussed. He also categorically ruled out any interview while Madeleine's parents remained arguidos - suspects - and distanced them from talk of any sort of price war between networks. He said: "There is categorically no truth to the suggestion that any sort of bidding war is currently taking place between American networks or American programmes. "Gerry and Kate will not be doing any sit-down interviews whilst they remain arguidos because of their legal position and this has been communicated clearly to any media, international or domestic, who are continuing to bid for interviews with them." Mr Mitchell added: "Initial contact with both Oprah and ABC has taken place as it has with many other media outlets around the world but nothing has been agreed nor are we aware of any of these programmes being in any sort of competition with each other." He said a bidding war "is not something we would encourage". - 26th Jan 2008 ▪ Eight key witnesses who told police they saw Robert Murat on the night Madeleine McCann vanished could have named the wrong man, it was revealed yesterday. A British businessman with access to the Ocean Club complex where she disappeared looks so similar to the police suspect that even Mr Murat admitted: "It could be me." His lawyer is now set to investigate whether the eight witnesses who said they saw Mr Murat on May 3 could have mistaken the other British expat, Angus Symington, for him. The astonishing likeness between the two men could cast doubt on the witnesses' evidence, which contradicts Mr Murat's alibi that he was at home all night with his elderly mother. The contradictions were believed to have been a key reason why the father-of-one was named as an official suspect, or arguido, in the investigation on May 14. Mr Murat, 34, was shown a photograph of Mr Symington and said: "I'm shocked, I'm amazed by the likeness. "The hairline and the nose, it could be me. Only the chin is different. "I will show this photograph to my lawyer and I hope he will raise it with the Policia Judiciaria." There is no suggestion that Mr Symington was involved in Madeleine's disappearance and he is not a suspect in the case. He sells and manages properties around Praia da Luz, including the Ocean Club, and had legitimate reasons to be in the town on May 3. His office at Ocean Country Real Estate is a few hundred yards from Kate and Gerry McCann's holiday apartment in the resort, which his father co-founded and still co-owns. Mr Symington and Mr Murat are of similar age, height and build, both share British backgrounds and they both wear similar glasses. - 24th Jan 2008

▪ A man with a similar appearance to that of a suspected abductor of Madeleine McCann - whose "scruffy" image appeared in two sketches released by her parents - has been traced and ruled out of the police investigation, it has been claimed. The man, who apparently has straggly hair, protruding teeth and a thick moustache, was found living in a village just eight miles from where the four-year-old disappeared in Praia da Luz in the Algarve last May. New image of Madeleine McCann suspect watch: The man seen loitering on the beach at Praia da Luz. Police in Portugal have apparently interviewed the man – named locally as pig-farmer Joaquim Jose Marques – on two different occasions but eliminated him from inquiries. Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann, said as far as they were aware the man had not been traced and Metodo 3, the Spanish private detective agency hired by the couple, was still following up "dozens" of leads sparked by the images. The pictures were circulated around the world after British holiday-maker Gail Cooper gave a detailed description to an FBI-accredited artist of a "strange-looking man" seen loitering near the McCann's holiday apartment on three separate occasions before Madeleine vanished. The image matched a description given by a friend of the couple Jane Tanner who claimed to have seen a man carrying a child wearing identical pyjamas to Madeleine on the night she went missing. More than a million posters are being distributed across the Iberian peninsula and Morocco, while the two sketched have been passed on to Interpol. - 24th Jan 2008

▪ PORTUGUESE POLICE have not commented on the release of a new sketch of a man that was allegedly seen in Praia da Luz around the time that Madeleine McCann disappeared. A spokesperson from Polícia Judiciária told The Resident that the PJ “is not commenting on any aspect of the investigation until it feels that it is appropriate”, referring to the new sketch released by Madeleine’s parents via the Find Madeleine website. Meanwhile, the PJ is still waiting for a response to letters sent to the British police at the beginning of the year. The letters, containing many questions the PJ want answered, are designed to clarify some of the testimonies made by Gerry and Kate McCann as well as some of the friends who were with them at the holiday resort in May. The new sketch was released on Sunday and is based on the information provided by Gail Cooper, a holidaymaker who stayed near the Ocean Club apartment from where Madeleine disappeared. According to Gerry McCann, Gail Cooper “found the man, who claimed to be collecting for an orphanage, very intimidating”. He said that, after hearing Gail’s testimony, their private investigators commissioned a forensic sketch by an FBI trained artist. Gerry also said that their friend Jane Tanner, who says she saw a man carrying a child on the night of May 3, feels he has a strong resemblance to that man. According to Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCann family, the sketch had a “tremendous impact” on the public, with thousands of phone calls reporting mixed information about the possible new suspect. - 24th Jan 2008

▪ The family of missing Madeleine McCann have issued an appeal for information after an image of the face of a man they believe could be involved in her disappearance was released to the public. Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann, said dozens of calls had been received since the picture of the man, based on the testimony of tourist Gail Cooper, was issued on Sunday. The olive-skinned man was seen acting suspiciously near the apartment complex in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz where Madeleine vanished on May 3 last year. One of the new images bears a striking resemblance to an earlier drawing of a man seen carrying a child through the complex on the night of Madeleine's disappearance. Mr Mitchell said: "What is important is that the drawings we have done, based on Gail's testimony, are very, very similar to the drawing of the man that Jane Tanner, one of Gerry and Kate's friends, saw on the night of May 3 with a child in his arms. "We are not saying it is definitely the same man, but we are saying 'who is this guy?'. We need to know where he is, we need to know what he was doing and he needs to eliminate himself, if he is innocent." Mrs Cooper described seeing an olive-skinned man with straggly collar-length hair acting suspiciously on a number of occasions in the weeks before Madeleine's disappearance. She said she saw the man walking by himself in heavy rain on the deserted beach at Praia da Luz on April 20. Later the same afternoon, Mrs Cooper said she received a visit from the same man, whom she described as "disturbing". The man was nervous and agitated and claimed to be collecting for a local orphanage, she said. The man spoke fairly good English, but with a heavy accent, Mrs Cooper said, and she got rid of him quickly because she was apprehensive about him. - 21st Jan 2008

▪ An international hunt has been launched to find a man suspected of abducting Madeleine McCann as it emerged the potential kidnapper may not have been working alone. Two men were seen acting strangely in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in the weeks before the little girl, who would be four if she is still alive, vanished from her parents’ apartment last May. New image of Madeleine McCann suspect. The man was spotted loitering on the beach at Praia da Luz. Both knocked on doors in the area of the family’s Mark Warner apartment asking for money for an orphanage in nearby Espiche, but no such children’s home exists. A source close to the investigation said while inquiries were being made into the orphanage, a 12-year-old local Portuguese girl came forward to say that she, too, had seen a man acting suspiciously in early May. Metodo 3, the private Spanish detective agency hired by Kate and Gerry McCann, have taken statements from three relevant witnesses and hope to have three e-fit images drawn up in the near future. The McCann’s official spokesman Clarence Mitchell, released the images. The sketches, drawn by FBI-acredited artist Melissa Little, shows a sallow, olive-skinned man, with straggly dark hair, protruding teeth and a thick moustache. More than a million posters of the suspect - said to be between 5ft 7ins and 5ft 10 ins tall, in his late 30s or early 40s, wearing light coloured trousers and a light coloured safari jacket - will be distributed around the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco. The drawings were based on the account of holiday-maker Gail Cooper, who said she saw the same man of north African appearance acting strangely on three different occasions around Praia da Luz in April last year. - 20th Jan 2008

▪ A sketch of a suspected abductor of Madeleine McCann has been drawn after a newspaper spoke to a tourist who reported seeing a "creepy man" by the McCanns' apartment. The News of the World claims the detailed artist's impression was generated using information from the holidaymaker, who had been staying 600 yards from the McCanns in Praia da Luz. The associate editor of the News of the world, Gary Thompson, told Sky News: "The real significance is that the sketch has been shown to Jane Tanner, a member of the so-called Tapas Group. "You may remember she says she saw a man carrying a child. "We understand that Jane Tanner has confirmed the likeness." Mr Thompson said he believed the Portuguese police were taking the photo-fit very seriously. "The important questions are: who is he? Whereabouts is he? We will be urging readers with information to contact the authorities as a matter of urgency," he said. Mr Thompson added that the sketch had been passed to Interpol and officers from the Leicestershire Constabulary - the McCanns' local police force. The holidaymaker who provided the details for the sketch rang police when she saw Madeleine was missing and gave a statement. But the paper says it is only now that the importance of her sighting is being realised. The McCanns have been made aware of the sketch. Photo can be viewed Here. - 19th Jan 2008

▪ Kate McCann has offered her support to the parents of a five-year-old girl who has vanished in Spain, not far from the Portuguese resort where her own daughter disappeared. The 39-year-old contacted Juan Jose Cortes and Irene Suarez, whose five-year-old daughter Mari Luz went missing from Huelva on Sunday after going out to buy a packet of crisps, to say the couple were in her thoughts. Watch: Search for Mari who disappeared 120 miles from where Madeleine vanished. The Spanish border town is just two hours' drive from Praia da Luz in the Algarve where the McCanns were staying when four-year-old Madeleine disappeared from their holiday apartment last May. Mrs McCann, and her husband Gerry, also 39, travelled to Huelva in August to launch a poster campaign and raise the profile of their missing daughter. They sent a message to Mari Luz's parents via the Spanish private detective agency Metodo 3, who have spoken to the couple to see if there are any possible links between the two cases. Spanish police said they were keeping an open mind and have sent dark-haired Mari Luz's picture to Portuguese police amid fears she had been snatched by a child trafficking gang and taken across the border between the two countries. Scores of Spanish volunteers joined more than 150 firefighters in Huelva to search for the little girl, while helicopters and sniffer dogs were brought in to help with the search. - 17th Jan 2008

▪ A 5-year-old girl disappeared in an area searched as part of the hunt for Madeleine McCann. The family of Spanish Mari Luz Cortes fear she has been snatched. Her father, Juan Jose, broke down in tears and said: “Whoever has her, bring her back and everything will be okay.” The area in Huelva, Spain, which borders Portugal, has been searched by 100 police officers and 500 volunteers. Search teams are also hunting on the Portuguese side of the border. Mari Luz went out to buy a packet of crisps from a local shop on Sunday afternoon. She was last seen by the shopkeeper at around 5pm. Her family raised the alarm at 7.30 p.m. after searching the area themselves. Cortes who runs a small construction company, said: “We have no quarrels with anyone. We suspect nobody and everybody because the family doesn’t know how to deal with this situation. “If anyone has taken Mari Luz by mistake or if they thought she was lost, please bring her back. “She’s never left home because she’s very shy, and she never gets lost.” Mari was wearing a jumper and pink leggings and white boots when she went missing. Huelva is just two hour's from Praia da Luz, the Portuguese resort where Madeleine McCann went missing on May 3, last year Gerry and Kate McCann visited the city on Aug. 3, as part of their campaign to find their daughter. The couple, both 39-year-old doctors from Rothley, Leicestershire, believe their daughter was abducted. Private detectives hired by the couple are investigating paedophile gangs based in Spain, it emerged this week. They are concentrating their investigation in Valencia and Alicante on the south east coast. - 15th Jan 2008

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann are "very keen" for Portuguese police to come to Britain and re-interview them if it enables officers to complete their inquiries and eliminate them, their spokesman said. Gerry and Kate McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell has said that it was "almost inhumane" that they were still suspects in their daughter's disappearance. Mr Mitchell said categorically that the couple have "absolutely no plans" to return to Portugal at the moment, but he emphasised they wanted to co-operate with police. He said: "Gerry and Kate, more than anyone, are anxious that the police complete their inquiries and eliminate them as soon as possible. "If that means the police coming to Britain in the near future to re-interview Gerry and Kate and their friends, (they) are very keen for that to happen." He said that there was nothing to prevent the McCanns returning to Portugal, but there were no plans to do so in the immediate future. Investigators have asked for the tight secrecy requirements surrounding the case to be extended, the Portuguese attorney-general's office has said. Reports in the Portuguese press suggested a three-month period has been sought. Portuguese law normally provides for an eight-month term during which documents remain secret and official suspects, police and lawyers are banned from discussing the case in public. That period was due to expire in the McCann case next week. The only official suspects - arguidos - in the disappearance so far are the four-year-old's parents and the British expatriate Robert Murat, who lived near the holiday complex in Praia da Luz where Madeleine went missing on May 3. - 13th Jan 2008

▪ Portuguese detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have asked for the case's secrecy limit to be extended beyond the usual eight months, officials said. Portuguese law provides for an eight-month period where documents remain classified after police identify a formal suspect, with the deadline in the McCann case due to expire next week. Police can ask for an extension and - while a case remains classified - official suspects, police and lawyers can be prosecuted if they discuss it in public. A spokeswoman for the attorney general's office confirmed investigators had asked for an extension but she declined to provide details, although the Portuguese media said a three-month extension had been sought because of the complexity of the case. No date has been given for any decision by the attorney general on the request. Madeleine vanished last May, a few days before her fourth birthday, from her bedroom during a family holiday in the Algarve region. The first formal suspect in her disappearance was Robert Murat, a British man who lives near the hotel from which she vanished. He has denied involvement. Weeks later, Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann were also named as suspects. They have denied involvement in their daughter's disappearance and have launched a worldwide campaign to find her. Murat and the McCanns have complained that they are unable to give their versions of events because of the secrecy laws. - 12th Jan 2008

▪ The boss of a lookalike agency who hopes to make a fortune out of a little Madeleine McCann double said last night: “It’s not sinister – it’s entertainment.” Shona Adams reckons three-year-old Kelsey Lynn Kudla’s similarity to missing Maddie could earn her £9MILLION for starring in a proposed feature film about the vanished tot. And Adams is ready to take a 20 per cent cut. The 41-year-old, who runs London’s Juliet Adams Model Agency, said: “If the film about Madeleine is ever made, then the world is Kelsey’s oyster. “If someone like Steven Spielberg made it, she could make £9million easily – of which I’d take 20 per cent. She will become a name in her own right and make it as a child model or actress because she’s got her foot in the door. “And from there, her earning potential is limitless. It’s not sinister. And if the McCanns are upset, there’s nothing they can do because it’s a democracy. “I wouldn’t back away from it because, if a film is being made, then it’s entertainment.” Parents Kate and Gerry McCann, both 39-year-old doctors from Rothley, Leics, have denied reports that a movie is to be put into production about their daughter, who would now be four. But their spokesman Clarence Mitchell has refused to rule it out – and admits money is needed to continue their privately funded search for Maddie, who vanished on holiday in Portugal last May. - 11th Jan 2008

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann have spoken of their massive regrets over the disappearance of their daughter. Gerry told how the world turned "all black, with maybe tiny points of light" after Madeleine vanished during a family holiday in Portugal. In an in-depth interview with Vanity Fair, he recalled wishing he had spent "five minutes longer" when he went to check on his children. He said: "I wish I hadn't gone to the tapas bar. I wish I'd stayed in the apartment that night. "I wish I'd stayed in the room when I checked on her five minutes longer." Mr McCann also spoke about the many media theories surrounding the youngster's disappearance. He said: "Kate killed her in frenzy, Madeleine was sedated by us, she fell down the stairs - in which case you would have thought they'd have found her body. I've heard all that! "There have been a huge number of theories in the media. But what I want to know is - who told them all that?" The piece also carries comments from family friend Jon Corner, who was with Kate McCann in Praia da Luz in August. She told him she wished she could "roll back time" to the day before the abduction. She explained: "I would slow down time. I would get a really good look around and have a really good think. And I'd think: Where are you? Who are you? "Who is secretly watching my family? Because someone was watching my family very, very carefully. And taking notes." The magazine also interviewed Robert Murat, the other official suspect in the investigation besides the McCanns. - 10th Jan 2008

▪ The parents of missing girl Madeleine McCann have denied media reports that they are planning to turn the story of their daughter's disappearance into a film. "We can categorically deny that we are considering a movie about Madeleine's disappearance. This is simply untrue," her father Gerry wrote on his blog. The youngster disappeared last May shortly before her fourth birthday during a family holiday in the Portuguese beach resort of Praia da Luz. Her parents, whom Portuguese police have named as formal suspects, believe she was abducted from their holiday apartment as they had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant. Despite a string of possible sightings and a huge police investigation, the girl's whereabouts remains a mystery. On Wednesday, most tabloids reported on their front pages that the McCanns were hoping a film might help their search and raise money to pay for a team of private detectives they have hired. The reports said the 1.2 million pounds raised by public donations to search for the missing girl has almost been exhausted and that the parents' spokesman Clarence Mitchell had confirmed meeting film representatives. "Some of the media coverage today has been at its worst since Kate and I were declared arguidos (official suspects)," Gerry McCann said in a blog entry dated on Tuesday. - 9th Jan 2008

▪ A film could be made about Madeleine McCann's disappearance after talks with a major entertainment company. Her parents are considering giving permission for IMG to make a movie or documentary. Their spokesman confirmed to Sky News Online that a meeting with the firm took place last month. But he said Gerry and Kate McCann did not attend and stressed nothing has yet been agreed. Clarence Mitchell said a film would only be considered if the McCanns believed it would help raise awareness of the case or help fund the private search for Madeleine. IMG, the firm behind the award-winning drama-documentary Touching The Void, made the initial approach, it is thought. The resulting meeting in mid-December discussed the possibility of making the story of four-year-old Madeleine into either a film or a TV drama. Mr and Mrs McCann were aware of the meeting but did not attend in person. Instead, Mr Mitchell and another representative of the McCanns met IMG at the firm's London offices. The spokesman said: "We have only had one discussion with IMG. It may or may not happen. "If we feel any particular proposal in the media has validity in helping us find Madeleine, we are happy to discuss it." Mr Mitchell said it was just one of many approaches that have been made by media companies over the missing girl, who vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal in May. In a statement, Darlow Smithson Productions, a production company owned by IMG, said: "Darlow Smithson had a preliminary meeting with representatives of the McCanns about the possibility of an observational documentary following the ongoing search for Madeleine. - 8th Jan 2008

▪ An Irish tourist who saw someone carrying a child in a blanket on the night Madeleine McCann disappeared insists that the mystery man was not Robert Murat. Martin Smith, from Drogheda in Co Louth, was on holiday in Praia Da Luz with his family when they bumped into the man just before 10pm on May 3 last year. The Smith family's suspicions were aroused because the man made no response when they asked if the barefoot child was asleep. "He just put his head down and averted his eyes, which is very unusual in a tourist town at such a quiet time of the year," said Mr Smith. Initially the Smith family thought nothing more of the encounter - and even the next day when the story broke they still didn't make the connection. "We were home two weeks when my son rang me up and asked was he dreaming or did we meet a man carrying a child the night Madeleine was taken," said Mr Smith. "We all remembered the same recollection, and I felt we should report it to the police. "We've all been beating ourselves up that we should have made the link sooner, if only we'd remembered the next day. "But the Portuguese police said you see these things on holiday all the time." The Smiths did contact the Portuguese police once they had returned to Ireland, but say they have had no contact with the officers investigating the case since May last year. "I rang the Portuguese police and they took a statement from me on the phone," said Mr Smith. "They asked me to make a statement to the Gardai, which I did, and two days later Leicestershire police got on to us. "My eldest son, Peter, my youngest daughter, Aoife, and I then flew to Luz to make a statement. - 4th Jan 2008

▪ The parents of missing British girl Madeleine McCann have been named as prime suspects in the disappearance of their daughter, according to media reports. Kate and Gerry McCann embarked on a high-profile campaign to find their daughter. Eight months after four-year-old Madeleine vanished from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, it has emerged that Portuguese detectives still believe they may have been responsible for their daughter's death. Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha says an interim report claiming the couple accidentally killed Madeleine is to be handed into the public prosecutor. The newspaper also says the couple could be charged with perjury and wasting police time. However, the police file is also reported to include the theory that Madeleine may have been abducted. The interim report is understood to be part of the prosecution's bid to extend the suspect status of both the McCanns and Robert Murat, the only other suspect. Murat was named a suspect on May 14, and Portuguese police must charge him, release him or extend his status by January 14. Madeleine's disappearance on May 3 made headlines around the world. Her parents Kate and Gerry McCann say she disappeared from their hotel room at the resort while they dined in a nearby restaurant. They embarked on a high-profile campaign to highlight their daughter's plight, traveling throughout Europe and Africa. A Web site, Find Madeleine, has raised more than a million pounds ($2 million) to help the search. The parents, who are devout Catholics, met with the Pope and enlisted the support of celebrities and sports stars including soccer player David Beckham and author J.K. Rowling. - 4th Jan 2008