Crimestoppers Involved Now

3:55pm UK, Thursday May 03, 2012

Martin Brunt, crime correspondent

Potential new clues in the Madeleine McCann case have been passed to British detectives on the fifth anniversary of her disappearance.
Logs of around 100 pieces of information sent to Crimestoppers have emerged that were never sent to investigators in Portugal or the UK.

The logs contain details supplied by psychics and others who claimed to have dreamed what happened to Madeleine.


For so long we felt we were searching for Madeleine on our own, but that's not the case now

Kate and Gerry McCann
The information was sent to a special Crimestoppers hotline set up a week after Madeleine vanished in May 2007.

For several months all of it was passed to Leicestershire Police, the McCanns' home force, who were investigating UK angles.

But sources say the force was so inundated with information it asked Crimestoppers to stop sending details supplied by psychics and dreamers.

Now it has been discovered the logs were never sent to any of the investigation teams.

A source said the material may prove of no value at all, but it was important it was at least looked at.

"Psychic stuff is often very precise and is therefore easily eliminated, if nothing else," the source said.



Police have released an age-progressed image of how Madeleine could look today

"But sometimes it can corroborate more tangible information already in the system."

Another source said sometimes witnesses claim to have learned details through psychic powers just to distance themselves from what they know.

Scotland Yard said: "We are in close dialogue with Crimestoppers to ensure that all material in their possession - from any source - is shared with us."

Madeleine went missing exactly five years ago from an apartment in the Algarve region of Portugal.

On Wednesday, Madeleine's parents told Sky News they were more hopeful than they had ever been that their daughter will be found alive.

Kate and Gerry McCann also said they were confident the abandoned police investigation would be reopened by the Portuguese authorities soon.

Police have released an age-progressed image of how Madeleine could look today, aged nine.

A statement issued with the photo said: "As a result of evidence uncovered during the review they now believe there is a possibility Madeleine is still alive and are appealing for anyone who is able to provide direct information as to her whereabouts to contact the team."

The three-year-old disappeared just days before her birthday from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz. She has never been found.

Anyone with information is urged to call their local police, Scotland Yard on 0207 321 9251 or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111. They can also email
Operation.Grange@met.pnn.police.uk or visit www.findmadeleine.com

For several months all of it was passed to Leicestershire Police, the McCanns' home force, who were investigating UK angles.

But sources say the force was so inundated with information it asked Crimestoppers to stop sending details supplied by psychics and dreamers.

Now it has been discovered the logs were never sent to any of the investigation teams.

Right, so it wasn't the Portuguese police who f*cked up. Glad we've cleared that one up.

If these 100 are part of the 195 to be investigated Andy ought to have the grace to stop spending any more taxpayers money and hand them over to the McCanns and let them pay for Detectives to chase up.

Iris wrote:

For several months all of it was passed to Leicestershire Police, the McCanns' home force, who were investigating UK angles.

But sources say the force was so inundated with information it asked Crimestoppers to stop sending details supplied by psychics and dreamers.

Now it has been discovered the logs were never sent to any of the investigation teams.

Right, so it wasn't the Portuguese police who f*cked up. Glad we've cleared that one up.

Maybe one day we can look forward to the headline:

"UK police held the clue all along but the bungling Melton Mowbray pork pie eating LP ignored it".

Panda wrote:

If these 100 are part of the 195 to be investigated Andy ought to have the grace to stop spending any more taxpayers money and hand them over to the McCanns and let them pay for Detectives to chase up.

'

I suggested this to my son yesterday but he thought it wouldn't be a good idea for the McCanns, as former suspects, to be paying for the investigation themselves. Made sense to me, as they are still the only people with any concrete evidence against them, albeit circumstantial, so they are hardly a disinterested party...

As for taking the dreams of psychics into account, it just shows how little new evidence there really is imo..

It could be that all these articles about the case are to measure public support for the review so a decision can be made about whether to keep spending tax payers' money on it.

fedrules wrote:

Panda wrote:

If these 100 are part of the 195 to be investigated Andy ought to have the grace to stop spending any more taxpayers money and hand them over to the McCanns and let them pay for Detectives to chase up.

'

I suggested this to my son yesterday but he thought it wouldn't be a good idea for the McCanns, as former suspects, to be paying for the investigation themselves. Made sense to me, as they are still the only people with any concrete evidence against them, albeit circumstantial, so they are hardly a disinterested party...

As for taking the dreams of psychics into account, it just shows how little new evidence there really is imo..

It could be that all these articles about the case are to measure public support for the review so a decision can be made about whether to keep spending tax payers' money on it.

Or it could be Mr Redwood is close to spending up to his £3.5m budget (we know it was over £2m some months ago) and needs to "prove" his team have achieved something before going cap in hand. I must admit it is a little disappointing the super sleuths have taken a year to discover there are Crimestopper reports unseen. Surely step 1 would have been to do the rounds and establish what information existed amongst all those organisations which potentially received information.

Ok, now how about the photographs that CEOP received from tourists that were never sent to the PJ, anything sent to the Madeleine official web site that never reached the PJ, medical records and financial records?

This must be why Leics Police forgot to send the Gaspar statements to Portugal, they were inundated with psychics and dreamers.

With hindsight, LP were not equipped to handle such a case which became one of the most reported in the World, and should have been passed on to Scotland Yard. Look at the evidence.:

1. Stuart Prior advises Rachel Mapilly that "nothing useful would be served " by attending a recon. The most damning IMO

2. LP Posted on view at the Station the FindMadeleine number for people to report any information about Madeleine.

3. The Questions asked at the April 2008 interviews were naff and the answers inane.

4. LP asked Crimestoppers not to send any more info about "Dreams and Psychics" because they couldn't cope....why did they not ask for more help?

5 The delay in sending the Gaspar Statement.

It doesn't look as though Redwood has spent taxpayers money wisely so he was out of order to promote these 195 potential leads. Again a pandering to the McCanns, who have taken control of all the media , quite astonishing !!!!!

Panda wrote:

With hindsight, LP were not equipped to handle such a case which became one of the most reported in the World, and should have been passed on to Scotland Yard. Look at the evidence.:

1. Stuart Prior advises Rachel Mapilly that "nothing useful would be served " by attending a recon. The most damning IMO

2. LP Posted on view at the Station the FindMadeleine number for people to report any information about Madeleine.

3. The Questions asked at the April 2008 interviews were naff and the answers inane.

4. LP asked Crimestoppers not to send any more info about "Dreams and Psychics" because they couldn't cope....why did they not ask for more help?

5 The delay in sending the Gaspar Statement.

It doesn't look as though Redwood has spent taxpayers money wisely so he was out of order to promote these 195 potential leads. Again a pandering to the McCanns, who have taken control of all the media , quite astonishing !!!!!

A link to the website of the official suspects, later explained away by "people might not be comfortable talking to the Police".

Morning Iris,

I remember seeing copy of an e-mail from Gerry to Prior , calling him "stu"!!!!! Stuart Prior has a senior position and should have understood that his first allegiance was to help find Madeleine. Once it was established that Madeleine had not been found after a month and there was no evidence of an
abduction , the McCanns became the natural suspects and a recon would have shown the discrepancy in the Timelines and maybe a breaking of ranks.

Getting really fed up with this now, how much longer will Portugal let these people take the p*** out of your country.
Mr Amaral,you say you have things you have not said, well B***dy well say it or retire into the background.
No doubt I will now have Claudia, telling me how the PJ is not a coffee house.
Well convince please, convince me.

Iris wrote:

Panda wrote:

With hindsight, LP were not equipped to handle such a case which became one of the most reported in the World, and should have been passed on to Scotland Yard. Look at the evidence.:

1. Stuart Prior advises Rachel Mapilly that "nothing useful would be served " by attending a recon. The most damning IMO

2. LP Posted on view at the Station the FindMadeleine number for people to report any information about Madeleine.

3. The Questions asked at the April 2008 interviews were naff and the answers inane.

4. LP asked Crimestoppers not to send any more info about "Dreams and Psychics" because they couldn't cope....why did they not ask for more help?

5 The delay in sending the Gaspar Statement.

It doesn't look as though Redwood has spent taxpayers money wisely so he was out of order to promote these 195 potential leads. Again a pandering to the McCanns, who have taken control of all the media , quite astonishing !!!!!

A link to the website of the official suspects, later explained away by "people might not be comfortable talking to the Police".

They might be happier talking to the suspects? Has this set a precedent? Will LP refer all witnesses to give evidence to the suspects? I guess that could save a lot of police time.