Who did the key witness see? Police say it is possible that family saw Maddie being taken by her abductor/Daily Mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2462431/Who-did-key-witness-Police-say-possible-family-saw-Maddie-taken-abductor.html

Who did the key witness see? Police say it is possible that family saw Maddie being taken by her abductor

-Could Irish family have witnessed toddler being snatched?
-Retired businessman saw man carrying blonde child
-Thought at the time it was Gerry McCann, but proved to be elsewhere

By Rebecca Camber
PUBLISHED: 03:55, 16 October 2013 | UPDATED: 03:55, 16 October 2013

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The Metropolitan Police have issued this e-fit picture of a man who they believe may be connected with Madeleine McCann's disappearance

The new Crimewatch appeal focused on a claim by an Irish family that they saw a man carrying a child through Praia da Luz at around the time Madeleine McCann was found to be missing.

Two differing e-fits of the suspect were issued, and police say it is possible the family did see the three-year-old being spirited away by her abductor.

The sighting came when Martin Smith, a retired businessman in his 70s, was walking back to his apartment in the Algarve resort following a meal and drinks at a bar with his wife and children.

At a spot a six-minute walk from the McCanns’ holiday accommodation, they saw a man carrying a blonde child aged around four.

It was just before 10pm and the street lighting was poor.

Although Mr Smith admitted he was not wearing his glasses at the time he later said he thought the man could have been Gerry McCann.

This is an impossibility as dozens of witnesses confirmed he was at the holiday complex at

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Madeleine went missing in May 2007 while on holiday in Portugal with her family

10pm. British police have also said they are certain that Mr McCann has nothing to do with his daughter’s appearance.

Speaking to Portuguese police a few weeks after Maddie disappeared, Mr Smith said it was ‘not possible to recognise the individual’.

His grandchildren were also unable to identify the man or the girl – but thought she could have been Madeleine.

Yet in September 2007 Mr Smith suddenly called police again to say he believed the man he saw could have been Gerry McCann.

He had been watching television coverage of the family returning to Britain. However numerous witnesses say they were with Mr McCann at the tapas restaurant at the time in question – so he could not possibly have been 500 yards away.

This has led to Mr Smith’s account being called into question.

The retired businessman from County Louth, Ireland, was staying in Praia da Luz with his wife Mary, now 65, his son Peter and his wife and their children.

He part owned an apartment in the resort and visited it three times a year.

 

Not once, but TWICE they mention Smith thought it was McCann

Now Fail, all you have to do is point out that of the 'dozens' of witnesses that he was in the bar at the time, non of them are classed independant.  Non of the staff could confirm his presence, for example.

wantthetruth wrote: 

Not once, but TWICE they mention Smith thought it was McCann

Now Fail, all you have to do is point out that of the 'dozens' of witnesses that he was in the bar at the time, non of them are classed independant.  Non of the staff could confirm his presence, for example.

The article should read dozens of witnesses that he was in the bar at the time.

mossman wrote:

wantthetruth wrote: 

Not once, but TWICE they mention Smith thought it was McCann

Now Fail, all you have to do is point out that of the 'dozens' of witnesses that he was in the bar at the time, non of them are classed independant.  Non of the staff could confirm his presence, for example.

The article should read dozens of witnesses that he was in the bar at the time.

The Tapas Restaurant itself is quite small, that's why they had to book, also it is a separate structure from the Bar. I doubt the Resto would hold 'dozens' of people and as it was early in the season I wonder how many were in either?

photo courtesy of mccannfiles.  http://www.mccannfiles.com/id21.html

I'm sure somebody who has more intimate knowledge of the files can say, but I was sure I'd read that the staff were unsure as to who was at the table and when, and apart from the Tapas 7, there were no other independant witnesses. I'll need to check on that though.

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omg - look at best rated - cany got a post through on about gerrys blue sports bag - mods must be having breakfast - can someone grab the comments i dont know how -thanks

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2462431/Who-did-key-witness-Police-say-possible-family-saw-Maddie-taken-abductor.html#comments

Some of the Tapas workers even claim the table was empty by 9.30pm except for the 'older lady' !!

the newest:




Frank_Randle, Nottingham, moments ago

Obviously the police know who the culprits are and this is an elaborate way of setting them up. We've seen it done quite often lately.



VirtuaMcPolygon, windsor, United Kingdom, moments ago

i'm sure i saw the bloke on the left on the tv show benidorm...


southyorks, sheffield, United Kingdom, moments ago

Up until yesterday I always believed the Madeline had been abducted, but reading about the case, I'm shocked that the British Government refuse to consider that Kate and Gerry could be responsible. They had sniffer dogs in the apartment, one is regarded to be the best sniffer dog in the UK and it smelled blood and Cadaver fluid in the flat and in their car that they rented AFTER Maddy disappeared. In the UK that would have been pretty conclusive. I would love for them to find Maddy alive, but the evidence looks quite terrifying.


trish, belfast, 7 minutes ago

have always thought it was the dad !


cheryl, basingstoke, 10 minutes ago

Again I say why has the poor priest said he never wants to hear about them again I think we all know why.



Hayley, Swindon, 16 minutes ago

I think the E-fits looks like Gerry (Madies dad) and the police officer who was in charge at the time. Spooky!! Am i the only one who can see this??





sc, U.K., 20 minutes ago

From about 5.00pm nobody saw Madeleine. Mr Matt, a friend of Mr & Mrs McCaan, entered the ground floor flat at about 9.30pm but did not see Madeleine. At 10.00pm I don't understand why Mrs McCaan did not phone Gerry and friends to say she was missing, instead she walked to the restaurant (and left 2 tots alone, again). I couldn't walked out on two tots when one is already missing! I just looked at how it was.........one has to.


Loopy, France, moments ago

Apparently all their phone calls to each other mysteriously were wiped off their phone logs...I wonder if their calls are on the list the police want to see?...

And the best rated:


Miss Odyssea, London, 3 hours ago

This E fit looks like the dad very spooky


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ME, Wiltshire, United Kingdom, 32 minutes ago

The police must think Mr Smith credible,DM reports they are going to Ireland to speak to him again.




Loopy, France, 14 minutes ago

I agree with Flossie, having read the book you see the case in a completely different light.


Sin Nick, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 5 hours ago

There is still no proof, only a presumption, that there ever was an 'abductor'.



Jess, Middlesex, United Kingdom, 2 hours ago

Well until you find a body in any crime where someone disappears, the police have to use their experience to judge what has happened. It seems pretty evident that she was taken and didn't run off.





meridian, crewe, 31 minutes ago

Didn't Gerry once challenge some journalists "to find the body" and prove it was him?


anyofu, Liverpool - UK, 1 hour ago

There are so many inconsistencies in this story. But the overriding factor still seems to be Madeleines' parents portraying themselves as the innocent victims. They played a huge part in this by leaving their children alone night after night to go out drinking and eating. If they were from a run down council estate they would have been torn apart by the media and the story would have been forgotten long ago.

Sheffield, Sheffield, 2 hours ago

Mr Smith must be shaking his head in disbelief at how his statement gets twisted by the media and powers that be. Please DM show some respect and don't twist Mr Smith's credibility and honesty.

Lioness80, Rugby, United Kingdom, 2 hours ago

Actually if you look at the police files there is no actual proof that Gerry McCaan was at the restaurant, other statements seem to be of the belief that it was 10.30pm that Kate McCaan alerted everybody. I'm just confused by the whole thing, it's just all a mess. The truth will out.

J Smith, UK, 1 hour ago

IIRC there was a public statement from their spokesperson saying that NONE of the diners were wearing watches hence the variations in times between their sworn timelines.

postieian, cambridge, 19 minutes ago

I have read the statements given to Portuguese police and they mention Gerry telling Kate it is 1000 now her turn to check,if you are correct why have police not noticed
Candy, birmingham uk, 2 hours ago

MAYBE..the body was taken from the apartment in Gerrys sports bag which was also missing..BEFORE they even went to dinner...maybe even..that afternoon...who knows hey..

postieian, cambridge, 15 minutes ago

As they say in USA we need to look at the known knows and the unknown unknowns and try and find any disrcrepancies in the evidence

Roseanne, Lisbon, 13 minutes ago

Yeah, the missing bag, which Gerry and Clarence Mitchell denied existed, but that was photographed by the police inside the wardrobe...and Madeleine's missing "comforter", the pink blanket, which was also photographed on top of Madeleine's bed, but that soon also vanished, just about when the police came to collect it...

, Kent, 3 hours ago

I don't agree with the theory that she was walked away. She was in a car within seconds. If you go to the trouble of snatching, you are not going to be caught red handed in the high street. It will have been another Dad with a child from crèche or friends apartment.


Jamie, Stockport, United Kingdom, 57 minutes ago

totally agree. They said it was a planned abduction, then they would have prepared a car. Why would a planned abductor carry the child to walk on the street not worrying that she might wake up and scream




fee45, Canterbury, 41 minutes ago

It was made public, just read the files, they're all online.




linzi, Chesterfield, United Kingdom, 1 hour ago

If as some are suggesting that it was a parent carrying his own child, he is likely to remember exactly where he was and what he was doing on a particular evening 6 years ago. If you were innocently going about your business - you are more likely to be preoccupied with your own children. WHAT I would really like to know was when Madeline was last seen by INDEPENDENT witnesses . ....... not her mum and dad.
Addy Shan, Greater outer space, United Kingdom, 2 hours ago

He couldn't see anything clear his own kids couldn't see anything clea, suspect does look like gerry.

Mordecai McBreenge, Edinburgh, 1 hour ago

Sometimes the guilty will hide in the limelight.

meridian, crewe, 37 minutes ago

Noteworthy was their body language. Much more polished than in the early years.





meridian, crewe, 37 minutes ago

Noteworthy was their body language. Much more polished than in the early years.

Who did the key witness see? Police say it is possible that family saw Maddie being taken by her abductor

-Could Irish family have witnessed toddler being snatched?
-Retired businessman saw man carrying blonde child
-Thought at the time it was Gerry McCann, but proved to be elsewhere

And that's where the whole story falls apart, right there.

3 sentences only in the Daily star article:

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/345388/Ex-Portuguese-detective-attemps-to-smear-Maddie-McCann-s-father-again:



Ex-Portuguese detective attemps to smear Maddie McCann's father again

THE ex-Portuguese detective who accused the McCanns of covering up their daughter’s death tried to smear them again yesterday.


Published 16th October 2013


SMEAR: Goncalo Amaral is being sued by the McCanns for £1million over his book about the case [PA]



Goncalo Amaral, 56, who was sacked from the case, said Scotland Yard’s new chief suspect “may be Gerry McCann”.

He added that Martin Smith, who saw the suspect and a child, was “80% sure” the man was Gerry.

The McCanns are suing Amaral for £1million over his book about the case.

But as has already been said, it's not a smear because it's in Martin Smith's statement!

chrissie wrote:But as has already been said, it's not a smear because it's in Martin Smith's statement!

The fact that the 3 above sentences involving Gerry Mccann are printed in a British newspaper is more important than the cautious title written.

More importantly it is now in the mainstream press, albeit the Star.

jassi wrote:More importantly it is now in the mainstream press, albeit the Star.

It's in the Daily Mail too, albeit with a 'disclaimer' that Gerry had an alibi from 'several people'. We can guess who they are...

(can't find the page to link to)

margaret wrote:

jassi wrote:More importantly it is now in the mainstream press, albeit the Star.

It's in the Daily Mail too, albeit with a 'disclaimer' that Gerry had an alibi from 'several people'.  We can guess who they are...

(can't find the page to link to)

Its at the start of this thread, Margaret  

frencheuropean wrote:

chrissie wrote:But as has already been said, it's not a smear because it's in Martin Smith's statement!

The fact that the 3 above sentences involving Gerry Mccann are printed in a British newspaper is more important than the cautious title written.

I've just email Martin Smiths witness statement to the Editor of the Daily Star.
I doubt he'll read it but he may learn some facts if he does!