Sightings following the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

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Main article: Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

On the evening of Thursday, 3 May 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday, a British child, Madeleine McCann, went missing from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve in Portugal, in which she was staying with her parents. The initial investigation by the Guarda Nacional Republicana, the first police to be called to the scene, concluded that she had been abducted.^[1] After further investigation, the Polícia Judiciária (Portuguese criminal investigation police) subsequently stated that there was a strong hypothesis that she might have died in her room.^[2]

There have been many reported sightings of Madeleine both in Portugal and elsewhere in the world, but none have produced any firm leads. However, several reports have not been conclusively eliminated. On 9 July 2007, the Portuguese police said that they believed that, if still alive, it was likely that the missing girl was still being held in Portugal.^[3]

Contents 1 Value of the sightings 2 Confirmed sightings on 3 May 3 Reported sightings 3.1 In Portugal 3.2 In Morocco 3.3 Elsewhere 4 References

[edit] Value of the sightings

The value of investigating the sightings has been questioned. Criminologist Mark Williams-Thomas said, in May 2008, that sightings in countries, other than Portugal, although genuinely intended, were a distraction and would be of little value after the initial two weeks. He posited the question, who is going to openly walk out with the most wanted child in the world?^[4]

[edit] Confirmed sightings on 3 May

The last picture of the child, as supplied by the family, was apparently taken at 14:29, and showed her sitting by the side of the pool with Gerry and Amelie.^[5] Although the McCanns insisted that Gerry was playing tennis as Kate gave the children supper at the Ocean Club resort at 17:00, Miguel Matias, manager of the beach-side Paraíso restaurant, said that the family were at the beach. In the early evening Matias saw Gerry dancing with his daughter while the family ate a meal on the terrace. Portuguese police confirmed that they had received relevant CCTV footage from Matias.^[6]

[edit] Reported sightings

[edit] In Portugal

Police in the mountainous town of Nelas, northern central Portugal, had received information of a girl matching Madeleine's description who was seen with a man in a supermarket on 8 May 2007.^[7] The man, a Belgian citizen, stopped at the supermarket with his daughter and left the place in a car before police were contacted, but police later confirmed that the sighting had been a false alarm.^[8][9] People in the resort came forward to report unusual incidents including a woman who noticed a man trying to take away a pram and a man who caught a stranger taking photographs of young blonde girls on a beach.^[10][11] Portuguese police also investigated a report by holidaymaker Andre van Wyk. Van Wyk claimed that, shortly after the disappearance, he had seen a girl resembling Madeleine being taken in a cart to a gypsy camp near Portimão, about ten miles (16 km) from where Madeleine disappeared.^[12]

On 9 May, the 24 Horas newspaper reported that police had found a vehicle near Praia da Luz that may have been used by the kidnapper.^[13] Further, CCTV video from a petrol station near Lagos showed a child matching Madeleine's description with a woman and two men. The child was having an altercation with the woman.^[13] The following day it was reported that the car from the petrol station had British number plates and it was claimed that the person caught taking photographs was one of the men on the CCTV footage.^[14][11]

An anonymous witness contacted police claiming to have spotted a Fiat Marea with a forged license plate in Pinhal Novo, Palmela, Setúbal on May 17, which allegedly transported the missing child.^[15] In the middle of November, a Portuguese trucker telephoned the Método 3 helpline reporting to have seen in the Algarve town of Silves, two days after the disappearance, a blonde woman pass a child wrapped in a blanket to a man, who then 'bundled' her into a car.^[16]

Jane Tanner claimed to have seen a man walking away from the apartment, with a sleeping child, at 21:15 on the evening of the disappearance. She added that the child was wearing similar pyjamas to those worn by Madeleine.^[17] The McCanns released, on 25 October, an artist's impression of the person. The drawing showed details of the man's hair and clothing but none of his features.^[18] On 20 January 2008 the McCanns released a new image of a long-haired man claimed by tourist Gail Cooper to be acting suspiciously, in April, at her apartment 600 yards (550 m) from that of the McCanns. He was said by Tanner to have a "strong resemblance" to the man she had seen.^[19]

[edit] In Morocco

Marie Olli, a Norwegian woman living in the Spanish town of Fuengirola, contacted the police on 10 May 2007, claiming she had seen a girl matching Madeleine's description in a petrol station in Marrakech, Morocco. The girl, who was said to have appeared sad, was allegedly accompanied by a man in his late 30s.^[20] At about the same time, a British tourist reported seeing Madeleine near the Marrakech Ibis hotel.^[21] Though Interpol subsequently discounted these sightings, officers from Leicestershire police remained in Morocco for some days afterwards.^[22] A Spanish tourist saw a girl resembling Madeleine as she drove through the town of Zaio in northern Morocco at the end of May.^[23] Attention switched back to Morocco on 4 June, after GCHQ in Cheltenham picked up phone intercept messages in Arabic referring to "the little blonde girl", a German man, and a ferry from Tarifa in Spain.^[24]

Another Spanish tourist, Isabel Gonzalez, has said that she saw a girl fitting Madeleine’s description being dragged across a street, also in Zaio, by a North African woman on 15 June.^[16] Naoual Malhi, a Spanish woman of Moroccan origin, claimed to have spotted the girl with a woman in the village of Fnideq, on 21 August, but private investigators were unable to substantiate the lead.^[25] A photograph of a blonde girl being carried on the back of a North African woman was taken on 31 August by Clara Torres, another Spanish tourist, in Zinat in northern Morocco, but it turned out to be a Moroccan girl.^[23][26] A school inspector claimed to have seen the child in Karia Ba Mohamed around the start of October, but after enquiries the local police were adamant that she was not there.^[27] Also, the Moroccan Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa said, on 4 November, that there was no evidence to suggest that Madeleine was in Morocco.^[28]

[edit] Elsewhere

There were two reported sightings in Belgium. The first was during May 2007 in Liège and the second occurred on 28 July on a café terrace in Tongeren. In the latter case, children’s therapist Katleen Sampermans said that Madeleine was in the company of a Dutch man and an English woman.^[29][30] However, the girl turned out to be the 4-year-old daughter of a Belgian man.^[31]

Security was tightened in Valletta, Malta on 21 June following five reported sightings on the island. The total sightings had risen to 29 by 27 June.^[32][33]

Two women reported seeing a child who looked like Madeleine with a man at a petrol station near Cartagena, Spain, on 21 August. This was discounted after a thorough investigation by the Spanish National Police and Civil Guard.^[34]

An Irish tourist reported a sighting in Međugorje, Bosnia at the beginning of November.^[35] The child was later revealed to be the 3-year-old daughter of Slavko Dedić, a dentist from the nearby town of Ljubuški.^[36]

Dutch student Melissa Fiering claimed that she saw Madeleine with a 'tall, swarthy man', at the L'Arche motorway service station restaurant in the south of France, on 15 February 2008.^[37] However the French police, after examining CCTV evidence, determined that the sighting was not of the missing child.^[38]

The first reported sighting in Britain occurred in Dorset in February 2008. Retired civil servant Alan Cameron said that she was with a Portuguese couple who came to the door.^[39]

A sighting of Madeline McCann was reported in the Sydney central business district on 17 March. The reported sighting, of a middle-aged man carrying a blonde girl, turned out to be a false alarm.^[40]

There have been six reported sightings in Brazil. A witness reported seeing Madeleine on a plane flying to São Paulo, in late March. Five earlier reports had been investigated and discounted.^[41]

[edit] References