Madeleine McCann....Police target 38 suspects

Madeleine McCann: police target 38 suspects

British detectives open new investigation after reviewing all evidence into disappearance of three-year-old from Portugal
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Sandra Laville, crime correspondent

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 4 July 2013 14.09 BST







Link to video: Madeleine McCann: police investigating 38 suspects
British detectives are targeting 38 potential suspects from five countries as they open a new criminal investigation into Madeleine McCann six years after she went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal.

A formal request for assistance has been sent to the Portuguese authorities as officers from the Metropolitan police pursue what senior detectives involved say are "new theories and new evidence" about what happened to the three-year-old.

Detectives are preparing to be based in Portugal once the authorities there approve, as anticipated, the request to provide assistance to the British investigation.

Officers are also working with police and authorities in three other European countries where potential suspects are based with the aim of asking for their future assistance in carrying out inquiries and arrests.

Scotland Yard asked for media restraint in the coming weeks and months as they began what is being seen as the last chance to discover what happened to Madeleine. Officers believe there is a possibility she is still alive.

The 38 individuals who have emerged as "persons of interest" during a two-year review of the evidence by Met officers come from five countries, including Portugal and the UK. They include 12 British nationals, some of whom are based in Portugal and some in the UK.
Madeleine McCann on the day she disappeared.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who leads the inquiry, has spent the past two years reviewing the vast amount of evidence from the Portuguese criminal investigation, Leicestershire police – the McCanns' home force – and information from seven private detectives hired by Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry.

He said the Met team was in a unique position, having put all the evidence, amounting to 30,500 documents, together, and the criminal investigation would now pursue thousands of leads and key persons of interest.

"I believe that there is a possibility that Madeleine is alive," he said. "The review has given us new thinking, new theories, new evidence and new witnesses to pursue. It is a positive step in our hunt for Madeleine that our understanding of the evidence has enabled us to shift from a review to an investigation."

It is understood that the review has also thrown up forensic opportunities to examine.

A spokesman for the McCanns, Clarence Mitchell, said: "Kate and Gerry warmly welcome this shift in the Metropolitan police emphasis. They see it as a huge step forward in establishing what happened and hope that it will lead to bringing to justice whoever was responsible for Madeleine's abduction."

Detectives are at an early stage of the new investigation, known as Operation Grange, and arrests are not expected in the immediate future.

The original Portuguese investigation was shelved in 2008 but, after a request from the McCanns, David Cameron asked the Metropolitan police to carry out a review, which began in 2011.

The £5m review – which is being paid for by the Home Office – involved getting access to and translating tens of thousands of documents, and has created 3,800 leads which detectives will pursue.
The Ocean Club in Praia da Luz where the McCann family was staying when Madeleine disappeared. Photograph: Linda Nylind
Officers – who are two-thirds of the way through completing their review – have been to Portugal 16 times and shared their findings with the police and the judicial authorities as new information emerges. Prosecutors from London have also travelled to Portugal as part of negotiations to pave the way for the opening of the British investigation.

Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007 as her parents dined with friends nearby.

The 38 potential suspects being examined are understood to include known child offenders who were in the Algarve at the time of her disappearance.

Redwood said none of the individuals was connected to Madeleine's family or friends who were with her parents on holiday at the time.

The Met team's work leads them to believe Madeleine was abducted in a criminal act by a stranger.

Redwood said: "We remain in close contact with Kate and Gerry McCann and they are updated on our current position."

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The £5m review – which is being paid for by the Home Office – involved getting access to and translating tens of thousands of documents, and has created 3,800 leads which detectives will pursue." Is this Reporter for real???

They can't even get the basic facts right, the police haven't targeted ANY suspects yet.

and the McC were nt staying at the Ocean Club, they were staying in an apartment outside the Ocean CLub. I see that SY have asked for media restraint in the coming weeks, better have a word with the McCs and their spokesperson, and sources close to the couple then.

"and information from seven private detectives hired by Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry."

What information supplied by the McCanns who are these 7 Detectives ? Surely not Metodo 3 and Alpha?

I'm surprised at the Guardian taking up the McCann saga , what happened to Hames Murray, Blunt and the Mailonlione.?

and information from seven private detectives hired by Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry.


This is a video interview with Redwood

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk-news/video/2013/jul/04/madeleine-mccann-police-38-suspects-video

Smiths in the frame again - http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/irish-couple-could-hold-the-key-to-solving-madeleine-mccann-case-29396720.html

Luke Byrne – 05 July 2013
AN Irish couple could hold key evidence in a fresh investigation launched into the disappearance of British child Madeleine McCann.

A two-year review of the case documents by British detectives has been upgraded to a full investigation into the youngster's unexplained disappearance.
The review by Scotland Yard, nicknamed 'Operation Grange', was ordered by British Prime Minister David Cameron and funded by the country's Home Office.
It has identified 38 "people of interest" from a number of European countries, including 12 from the UK.
Evidence provided at the time by members of the Smith family, from Maple Drive, Drogheda, Co Louth, was considered credible by the review officers.
Martin Smith and his wife Mary revealed to investigators how they saw a man carrying a young child through the streets of Praia da Luz in Portugal on the night Madeleine went missing.
She disappeared on May 3, 2007, from her family's apartment on the Algarve.
The Smith family told police how they had left Kelly's Bar in the resort at around 10pm
They then passed a man walking down the middle of the street who was carrying a girl aged about three to four years old.
It was claimed that the child's head was lying against the man's left shoulder and her arms were hanging down alongside her body.
Madeleine was almost four when she was reported missing by parents Gerry and Kate McCann.
The Smiths returned home the day after the incident and it was only after they had seen the media reports of Madeleine's disappearance that they noted the encounter's significance. They later travelled back to Portugal to give police a statement.
So far, the review team has examined more than 30,000 documents generating almost 4,000 fresh lines of inquiry, but still have one-third of the information to examine.
Irish Independent

Morning Karen , I think they made the first statement while in Portugal , then months later the Portugese asked the Irish Police to interview them but Mrs Smith declined to be interviewed. Apparently Benefactor Kennedy also visited the Smiths .

Panda wrote:
Morning Karen , I think they made the first statement while in Portugal , then months later the Portugese asked the Irish Police to interview them but Mrs Smith declined to be interviewed. Apparently Benefactor Kennedy also visited the Smiths .

Good Morning Panda

It was actually a while AFTER they (the Smiths)  were back home - when Kate and Gerry legged it from Portugal the way in which Gerry was carrying Sean while exiting the plane "ästonished"the Smiths - as it was in the same way in which the "abductor "carried Maddie  The Smiths contacted the Portuguese Police and informed them of this - then their statements were taken,  wherin Mr Smith (Sr)  stated that the likeness to Gerry was between 60-80%

Then Mr Kennedy legged it to Ireland to try and "buy them off" - PERHAPS!

David Cameron on SKy News -

"in a nutshell " was asked what he thought of the Maddie - re- opening

Question : Is this something that you welcome - DC - Yes it is welcome Police say new evidence leads to follow - this case shocked the nation - STILL shocks the NATION and if an answer can be found - we should try and find it!!

Panda wrote:
Morning Karen , I think they made the first statement while in Portugal , then months later the Portugese asked the Irish Police to interview them but Mrs Smith declined to be interviewed. Apparently Benefactor Kennedy also visited the Smiths .

Yes, to ask if they'd look at photos - like a sort of pretendy identity parade.

http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/MARTIN_SMITH.htm

On twitter "- with Thanks to Deborah Butler

http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2013/07/attorney-generals-office-received-no.html

Wintabells wrote:

Panda wrote:
Morning Karen , I think they made the first statement while in Portugal , then months later the Portugese asked the Irish Police to interview them but Mrs Smith declined to be interviewed. Apparently Benefactor Kennedy also visited the Smiths .

Yes, to ask if they'd look at photos - like a sort of pretendy identity parade.

http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/MARTIN_SMITH.htm

Hi Wintabells...he didn't show them the identikit ones did he. 

Well I've read about 38 suspects. Then 38 persons of interests of which 12 are suspects. Suspected of what exactly. Or persons of interest because of what. They resembed an egg?